Holly's Fiber Fanatacism

Elektra

2011-08-15T11:10:00.002-04:00

I just finished this lace shawl. It's a creation designed by Rosemary Hill and its completion makes me want to just jump into another! I used handspun yarn, 2 ply, made from a natural colored bond fleece purchased from Gleason's Fine Woolies. Very tame color for me, so I added a few bright colors of beads for interest.

Thomas in Dan's Vest

2010-11-29T21:07:00.004-05:00

I'd just love to knit one of these babies for all of the men in my life. What a great vest! I'm told my older son's students even like this vest and it's hard to impress high school students!

The yarn is a blend of rambouillet, gulf coast native and shetland fibers that I had blended and carded into roving. It's a 2 ply yarn that I spun fairly fine on my antique Canadian production wheel. The rambo and GCN were white, the shetland brown. So why does the yarn show up as gray? Taupe? One of the great mysteries of spinning. I like the color, but have lots of this fiber. (And I mean lots - 2 giant bags to begin with!) I am still spinning this yarn and will be spinning it for awhile longer. I believe the next project I knit from it will be overdyed another color...maybe garnet!

My next vest will be knit for DH in a 3 ply yarn called snow on blueberries. I have enough for fronts and may use millspun for the back. This winter. Yeah, that's it!

Still Giving Thanks

2010-11-28T20:37:00.007-05:00

Pink and purple yarn, fleece dyed in Harrisville

Iced cardigan knitted in mohair/wool blend of handspun, wildly autumnal colors!

Charlotte's Web Shawl in blues. Must knit late at night - no interruptions!

Black baby alpaca shawl in fircone pattern.

Blueberry Pie...yum!

Banana muffins with chocolate chips - triple batch!

Broccoli and Bacon Quiche

Sunday night has arrived all too quickly again. I spend today scurrying around trying to make the best of the last day of Thanksgiving break. I cooked like a madwoman, finished 2 yarns and did some knitting on a cardigan that I have almost finished. Started a black baby alpaca scarf for Nicole and a Charlotte's Web shawl for me. I even managed to take pictures of some of these things, as you can see. And it's back to school tomorrow. Yay!

Peace at last

2010-09-01T21:49:00.005-04:00

Well, today's heat and back to school activities left me with a sizable headache. My cure? Spinning luscious fiber, of course! A month or so ago, I received a magic box from Morro Fleeceworks, earlier than they had predicted. It was filled with over 6 lbs of a lofty mixture of cormo, alpaca and silk. Yum. The stuff is incredible to spin! I'm tired, need to go to bed, but can hardly stop!

What shall I make from this bounty? Peaceful moments for months ahead and then...to be continued!

Summer is over (if you're a teacher, anyway!)

2010-08-31T12:50:00.002-04:00

What a sad way to begin a post! But it's true. So we started the day with fresh veggies, flowers, and a Molly muffin and home fries from Foxxy Roxy's!

Book group will meet tonight where we will discuss our reading of The Letters by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger. It was a light, predictable, summer read.

I'm off to the grocery store. This is not a job I usually relish, but today the heat will make the air conditioning seem exotic and wonderful! It's strange to have such heat at this time of year, but we will be back to seasonably cool on Friday and Saturday in time for the weekend. Kayaking, perhaps?

Great American Irish Festival

2010-07-25T21:46:00.005-04:00

On a bit of a whim, we decided to attend the abovementioned event. The music was loud and wonderful. We ate some chicken riggies and deep fried Oreos. Wow! And the food was reasonably priced. All in all, a nice way to spend a midsummer's day.

On the way home, we stopped in the town park in Harrisville. For years we have been driving by there and exclaiming how beautiful it is, all nestled there in an island in the midst of the Oswegatchie river. Today was just the day for exploring it. Tiny but lovely, we walked the path, gazed at all angles of the river and enjoyed the cool breeze. All along the path was posted the pages of a children's book called Trout, Trout, Trout. They were fastened to small wooden stakes right at a child's height. Indicators of a literate community always tickle me.

Yesterday we went to the Civil War Reenactment in Massena. Tom always enjoys the battle. Thomas and I wait it out, then head to the river. Noise, smoke, weapons? Nope! There were sailboats on the St. Lawrence and a party boat drove by before we headed home. The day was ended at home with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. Heirloom tomatoes make everything better!

Currently knitting: Twisted Float Shrug with online class by Annie Modesitt, boring brown sock for a gift. I started spinning corespun from a batt I bought from Marilla in coral and peach and glitter. Trouble is, the silk thread I'm spinning around has been known to bleed orange on all it touches! I need to check that out before spinning much more.

New Phone Finally!

2009-12-14T23:06:00.003-05:00

My poor Blackberry died. Not recently...it died sometime during the New York State sheep and wool festival at the end of October. And I haven't missed it terribly, but recent bad weather made me a bit more aware of my vulnerability as I travel the back roads from St. Lawrence County into the Adirondacks. So I had to have an iPhone. Of course. Yikes. It is fun.

But not really as fun as finishing knitted projects. Here is a fun pair of socks I finished for my dad this summer.

I've also been looking at the Holiday Yarns sock knitting club.. Crazy, I know, but it looks like fun and what's better than socks this time of year. Now that I think of it, I need a pair of them on right now! And I would dearly love a snow day. Hmmmm.

Alaska Socks

2009-12-13T23:29:00.003-05:00

I've finished the first installment of my sock club from Alaska. We stopped at a shop called Mission St. Yarn Shop in Ketchikan and they had some of the wonderful sock yarn with cashmere in it, hand dyed, of course. Then I noticed they were offering a fall sock club. Just 3 installments and it would bring back Alaska to us, right? Who could resist? Not me, and my sometimes enabling husband agreed.

When I was at this point, I noticed that I would not have enough yarn to finish the second sock. So I contacted the shop owner, Sheri, who very quickly sent me another half skein which was plenty to finish. I've worn then once and they are heavenly - soft, cushy and warm. I can't wait til the next shipment! Now why can't I finish a few sweaters this quickly?

Here they are finished:

In other fiber news, I did a bit of local shopping with the kids this afternoon. Our St. Lawrence Arts Council has a lovely display of fiber art that will be available for viewing until Jan 23. I really enjoyed looking as well as shopping for gifts from the bounty our local artists offer at this shop. I even bought a show piece for a Christmas gift for my husband. It's a wall hanging that merges traditional rug hooking with metal working. The artist is a person Tom has bought jewelry from for me several times, so I can't wait until he sees that I could get something for him from her collection as well. I'll post a photo as soon as we are able to bring it home.

#3...A travel sweater

2009-07-06T10:10:00.003-04:00

This was my Chicago sweater. Most of what you see in the photo was completed on a crazy weekend school trip I took with my son and the Spanish club at his school. We drove to Chicago in a bus which left lots of knitting time. Before we left I happened to stop by my LYS and noticed a new line of yarns they were carrying - The Earth Collection, an organic line of yarns made from different fibers by Plymouth. I chose an alpaca yarn called Ranch. And I never do this, but looked at the accompanying book from Plymouth and loved the sweater on the back called Pandia. I bought the whole lot on a whim at 10% off as I had filled my frequent buyer card. I think it will be a great throw on in all weathers sweater due to the 3/4 sleeves and lace knitting at the top. Someday I'll finish it!

Red ripple blanket

2009-07-06T00:08:00.005-04:00

Now this is a lovely thing. Fun to knit, I'm using those wonderful nylon needles, size 7 as most of the yarn is worsted weight. It's a wonderful collection of yarns, some remnants and some added simply because they have a bit of red in them. Brown sheep plain colors create sedate narrow stripes between wilder and wider stripes of handspun. Often the colors are variegated or tweedy and textured. I should try to remember to bring this along to knit when I must focus on other things. I'm not sure why it got set aside the last time. Probably, I started a new sweater or something. Oh, look, a butterfly. A short attention span is an embarrassing thing. Maybe I'll dig it out and bring it to knitting group night in Massena this Wednesday. I feel better already. Project #2, documented.

An accounting begins

2009-06-26T22:26:00.004-04:00

I wonder just how many projects I have on the needles. Here I plan to start a brutal accounting of these projects, with photos of each. I do need to finish a few. But starting is my second favorite part of the process, and so much easier to achieve than my first favorite which is finishing, of course!

This first is a sock knit of handspun. I purchased the hand dyed roving from Ginny Tullock, aka FatCatKnits, and spun it fractally. This was my first attempt and I am pleased. Having achieved 300 yards of double ply yarn, I thought I'd have enough to finish the pair. Sadly, this seems to be not the case. But no fears as Ginny is a sweetheart who dyed me up another batch of roving. I'm finished with one sock, minus kitchener ending, and have enough from ball #1 to start the second sock. I have started spinning ball #2 and should be good to go for my late August deadline. Project #1, stay tuned for more!

Let go, Winter!

2009-04-02T10:29:00.002-04:00

In the North Country winter, nature provides us
With only a soothing palette
Which by April has become monotonous,
A tapestry of threads of
Brown dirt,
White snow,
Gray sky,
Darker gray branches
Weaving upward with interlocking fingers,
Neutral dark green fir trees, spruce and pine
Spearing the sky.

Look closely
Before complaining bitterly:
This tapestry is shot through with
The bright blue flash of a pair of jays,
Iridescent green of a wood duck's neck,
(Sitting in our uncovered pool)
Drunken fruit cocktail in the sky
Mornings before rain,
And the tiniest shoots of spring green -
Of crocus
And snowdrops
Promising purple and orange and pink.

And that promise
Will have to suffice
As winter's snow quilt melts away
And spring's light counterpane of green
Grows to cover the landscape.

April is Poetry Month!

2009-03-31T13:32:00.005-04:00

One last gasp - winter
Eternal lace blankets all
Both blessing and curse.

Another sad Sunday evening

2008-11-30T22:32:00.011-05:00

I'll never know how vacations slip by so quickly. And then it's Sunday evening again! I'm scrambling trying to get the laundry caught up, fiber pursuits put away where I can find them when I have a few stolen moments.

And another thing I'll never understand is why my mind registers no fiber progress, when evidence says otherwise. I have photos that show a few things I worked on over Thanksgiving in addition to cooking a gargantuan meal and a few other time eaters. These are good things. Maybe the only things that count are those that are finished. These do tend to be few, but I need to start considering work done progress. Look at these:

Socks from a sock blank that are past the heel area, even if they aren't finished by the end of the month as I had hoped.

A hat/cowl (Gryla's Howl from Berroco - a free pattern!) I'm making for a secret Santa gift. This is handspun from this wonderful bond fleece:

Here it is on the wheel, single ply:

Another few spinning projects:

A white cross fleece I'm handpicking and spinning from the cloud on my antique Canadian production wheel.

A Spunky Eclectic hand dyed roving in the Lame Duck colorway. This is destined to become a pair of socks for my dad.

Another Spunky roving in Rosebud. Luscious and my mom is lusting after it. We'll see!

It's nice to see things lined up here...some progress made. Finishing is nice, but working toward is necessary to get to the finished stage. Must learn this in my heart!

Springside Farms Shearing Festival

2008-05-26T10:07:00.005-04:00

We got in a fiber event after all for my birthday! Earlier plans to attend the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool were thwarted, but I saw a small listing for an event much closer to home and one that seemed to cater to kids. Although not as much fiber as at the more mainstream events, we totally enjoyed our day at Springside Farms.

For the children, there were slingshots where you could loft apples across pastures or try to hit targets, a 150' zipline, a slide, hay jump, a hay ride, petting zoo, and reasonably priced snacks. They also enjoyed the chainsaw carver and small children had pools full of corn kernels to play in. The larger fleece festivals could learn from this event: if you keep children occupied and happy, moms and dads have more time to look and shop. Although on the outside edge of the targeted audience, my 11 year old son, his 15 year old sister and her boyfriend seemed to enjoy themselves for the morning.

So did we. I talked to a fellow about llamas, a nice lady about Icelandic sheep, and bought 1# of black heavenly alpaca roving as well as a 100 gram skein of alpaca sock yarn. Hand dyed in blue and brown. There were handspinners there and the animals were a pleasure to see. A very pleasant birthday for me!

As a bonus of the riding time, I finished As Simple As Snow and my first pretty petals sock.

And here's the added stash. Gotta go spin!

A study in sock knitting

2008-05-20T15:06:00.009-04:00

Past:

I thought I had only knit a couple pairs of socks. My first pair was shorties knit in an acrylic I had remaining from a vest I knit 25 years ago. Lovely color, but it was acrylic. I tried it out to help a friend with the pattern and loved the power of shaping those heels and toes.

Next I came across a group on Yahoo devoted to knitting the socks of Jeanie Townsend. What great patterns she has. So I started Maple Leaf socks. I had just the yarn from KnitPicks in a wonderful fall colorway. My spinning obsession provided the leaf yarn, a bit bulkier than the rest, but that only made the leaves stand out. I loved making those little leaves appear as if by magic. The red/yellow color was perfect! I've worn these many times and the yarn has developed this wonderful haze after delicate machine washing in cold and line drying.

Then there was the love affair with Fleece Artist. I bought a skein in my favorite red range of colors and tried to follow the terse pattern presented on the back of the label. Not so successful, but soft and lovely socks. I should give them to someone with much bigger feet than I have, but they make great bedsocks.

I made a pair of socks for my dad. A spotted affair in bulkier yarn. His taste in socks is less than sedate! And I tried to entice daughter #2 to fall in love with my knitting by making her a pair of fraternal twin socks from Fixation (no wool) in lime green and tropical blue. It didn't work, but the socks are darling. She keeps them balled up in a special place in the back of her sock drawer.

And then, I decided to go crazy and knit a pair of socks from the book Fair Isling on Blue Moon. I picked 2 wild multicolor yarns, because of course I've been madly stashing since I discovered sock knitting, and put them together with bobbles and patterns and stripes. I wear these on days I anticipate I will need mad cheering up! Can you see why? Yarn by KnitPicks and Koigu. Yes, I know, strange bedfellows!

Present:

And now, I'm working on 4 pairs. One is a simple pair for my son. Almost done with sock #1 (far left). KnitPicks yarn. I don't really believe he will wear them, he's 11, so I can't make myself finish! Plus, I don't care for the ribbing. But finish I will.

Next from left is another Jeanie Townsend pattern called Pretty Petals knit in some lovely Brown Sheep sock yarn. I'm nearly done with sock #1 and am intrigued by the pattern. Jeanie makes me challenge myself a bit and I wind up knitting faster that way. Challenge may be the ticket for me.

I had an accident in our LYS when they were having a sale on Fleece Artist Thrum Sock Kits. Ooops. I bought 5 and am sure they will make fine Christmas gifts for those who live here with me in the frozen North. Hell, it snowed yesterday where I work - on May 19!

And on the far right side is a beginning only. My first attempt at handspun socks. The yarn is spindle spun, wheel plied (2), Oatmeal colored with a black design at the cuff. I think I'm designing as I go on this pair that is to be a thank you gift for a lady who gifted me with several fleeces. Note to self...don't get fleeces this way again! The fleeces were not designated for handspinners' baskets. They are chuck full of dirt, hay and other questionable items. And I have so much! I washed the single black fleece and combed a bit to make some fine yarn. But the white -Yikes! I have several of those, have washed one and must comb the yuck out. I like to comb, luckily, but the payoff may not be with finishing these fleeces. I'm near the end of the ball I made and must decide if I should frog the whole thing, or go back to the dirty fleece.

Future:

Here is the stash as it stands, sock yarn only. Normal is a hard concept to define...especially when it comes to stash. I only know that I will feel better if I get some of the 20 pairs I have yarn to knit finished to give as gifts by Christmas. Any takers? Some of this is not yet spoken for!

I guess that makes more than a couple!

No, I swear I'm not weaving...

2008-03-18T21:46:00.002-04:00

...well, maybe just a little. How could I resist the class at the St. Lawrence County Arts Council taught by a local weaver who had a project we could finish between the hours of 10:00 and 5:00 on a Saturday? And how could I resist cutting my handspun into 89" lengths or buying the triloom I worked at all day? And the scarves? Well, see for yourself:

Knitting for Project Spectrum

2008-02-10T18:46:00.000-05:00

I've thought about this one long and hard. How I don't want to add to my burgeoning stash, how I want to finish projects before starting new ones this year and how I really should start knitting up all of my lovely handspun. So here is what I came up with and started last week.

I will finish WIPs for each cycle of Project Spectrum. It turns out that for February and March I'm in great shape. Several of my languishing projects are in the colors selected to represent fire: pink, red and orange. Many others are waiting in the wings as well, but FOCUS. (See how I'm always trying to start something new?)

I'll work on each one for one week, having chosen 8 for the 2 months. I actually finished the scarf below in my first week.

For week #2, I've returned to this ruana I've been working on for awhile. I don't think I'll finish in one week - lots of garter stitch - but progress will be shown.

Week #3 is vacation from school week, so I'll be picking one that needs more attention and knitting as I'll have a bit more time to work on it - probably one of the sweaters.

I love the way just lining up these projects and setting a time limit provides a focus I didn't have before. I abandon projects from boredom or interest in something else, but never really intend to let them go. The spark is always there and this online spectrum is the fan that will fuel the motivation to complete each one. I won't have as many WIPs in other colorways for future months, instead will divide the 2 months into larger segments of time. This surely will make a large dent in my WIPs pile!

My first spindle-plied yarn!

2007-12-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

Here is my spindle work for today! I followed the instructions and photos in the Summer '07 issue of Spin-Off for Andean plying and plied my first yarn on a spindle. I'm such a geek to be so excited about it. I mean, after all, I'm embarrassed to admit I've amassed over 100 skeins of homespun yarn over the last few years...and it's not a business for me! But it's a new skill that was previously a mystery to me and there's something about unlocking a mystery, opening a door, whatever. I never thought I'd like those tiny skeins,preferring the large skeins you can get plying on a wheel, but it's so portable that I may become accustomed to it.

These are some Christmas gifts I knitted for friends. Small, pressure free little items. I love the instant gratification this sized project. The neck warmer and the tiny sweater only took 2 evenings apiece. But on other fronts, I've nearly finished my pink Notre Dame de Grace pullover and hope to finish that this evening.

Selecting the spinning for Tour de Fleece

2007-07-09T22:30:00.000-04:00

...and it's a big decision!

I have been trying to organize my projects and make lists of what I hope to accomplish this summer. I'm about to make a startling disclosure: I have 12 quilt tops, 20 knitting projects and uncounted spinning projects in the works! Several of these are near completion, but my restlessness with the middle stages of a creative effort can not be appeased. About the time I get one third to one half way finished with something, I become disinterested and find either a new obsession or resort to another partially completed effort. I figure if I can channel my energies to the latter, I will be fine eventually. But this constant obsession with brand new projects must stop...yeah.

And that's why I'm planning to spin one pound of California red fleece this month for the Tour de Fleece. Here are the reasons for my choice:
1. It is washed so I can almost consider it an ongoing project
2. I have never spun this variety of fleece before and new is fun
3. It looks like it will process nicely and spin even more nicely into a springy yarn
4. It is manageable in the amount of time I have remaining as I am starting a couple of days late

So that's it, then. I have an appointment with my roving carder first thing tomorrow morning.

I am noticing something interesting about all of the organizing and listmaking I've been doing. Spinning seems to be exempt from it all. I wonder why that is? There seems to be no need to prioritize and itemize tasks remaining. I seem to always get back to spinning projects even without an end product in sight. My inclination is to say that my obsession is still running high with spinning; so high that nothing seems like a chore (slight exaggeration only - I don't love picking VM from some fleeces) from washing to fluffing to carding to spinning singles, dying, plying, washing again and skeining. The rewards inherent in adding lovely finished skeins to the already overflowing basket are enough to keep me creating. I wonder when I will be ready to part with any of it. Currently, I'm very attached to all of it!

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the range of the coopworth yarns from the fleece I finished, the entire- if tiny -Jacob fleece I spun, and the first completed quilt top of the summer.

Thomas' new hat

2007-04-16T18:42:00.000-04:00

Luckily, being sick on vacation had its benefits. I brought along a whole bunch of partially done knitting projects and actually managed to finish up a few. Here is an example. The boy is a work in progress, and what a work he is, but the hat is done! I used Paton's Classic Wool yarn, bamboo double points and only had to redo the decreases up the side once. I think the pattern is a mock rib - all knit on one side and knit one, purl one rib on the other. This late season storm has given Thomas an opportunity to wear it and the fit is great. What a boy!

Our new Siberian husky - Hunter

2007-04-16T18:35:00.000-04:00

Isn't he beautiful? He's 4 1/2 years old and a very nice boy. We're all getting to know each other.

A whole "Turtle" fleece

2007-04-09T15:41:00.000-04:00

This is the entire Jacob lamb fleece I bought at the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival last fall. The sheep's name is Turtle. I plan to spin the colors separately and knit a round yoke sweater with sheep all around it. (Fiber Trends pattern) So far, I have one skein of the brightest, (I carded this with some angora, right), and one skein of medium colored, left. The remainder is the darkest colored and it is all carded and ready to be spun. It's a wonderful, soft fleece and I'm anxious to start knitting with it!

Currently, we're on vacation and I brought tons of knitting projects IP to finish during travel and downtime. What does it mean to spend more time selecting and packing knitting projects for vacation than clothing? And then blog about that rather than vacation? Hmmm...!

I love my secret spin to knit pal!

2007-03-17T13:21:00.000-04:00

My most wonderful spin to knit pal send me a fabulous package from California which I received today. Hooray! And just in time for another portion of the ongoing reorganization of my stash.

Maia sent me an absolutely wonderful skein of chunky yarn, handspun and dyed from multi-colored rovings in just my favorite colors of mainly red and purple. And as if that wasn't enough, she also sent some wonderful hand dyed sock yarn. I bet it will be perfect for a pair of socks from the Fair Isling on Blue Moon book that I just bought. And roving - scrumptious merino and silk in the warm shades of a summer sunset, (rather hard to imagine right now as the snow falls yet again,) but this roving is sure helping. I think I will spindle spin it fine and knit a pair of socks with it.

And then there are non fiber treats! Soap, (handmade,) and chocolate. I hadn't had any Black and Green Organic chocolate before. I'm trying to savor it, but both kids and my husband are savoring it with me and you can probably guess what that means! How did Maia know I love almonds? At least there will be no competition for the soap. Ahh, how I love shea butter. We're still on high maintenance skin programs here in the frozen northern sections of New York state, in an effort to retain some moisture before the furnace dries it out totally. But I have a thing about wrapping. And this soap is so beautifully packaged, I'll have to enjoy it for a bit in its wrapped state before I can actually use it out of its tissue paper coating.

Thanks, Maia! I'm off to go play!

My only tolerance for cotton yarn

2007-01-24T21:50:00.000-05:00

And on the knitting front, I just love these ballband dishcloths - both knitting and washing dishes with them. Quick and easy. Sadly, they fade with using, all the more reasong to start out with wild colors!

Coopworth just waiting to be spun!

2007-01-24T21:44:00.000-05:00

Triple Berries

2007-01-24T21:25:00.000-05:00

I have finished processing most of this coopworth fleece. I bought it as a stash buster from Amelia at the Bellwether. Loved its curls and washed it bucket by bucket full in the bathtub. It came out a pure white. I dyed roughly 1/3 in greens and yellows, 1/3 in berry colors (that's what you see here all carded and ready to continue spinning, and 1/3 is being handcarded slowly and spun. All finished yarn so far is wonderful if it isn't soft. I've finished the mixed berries in their yarn form, gifted one skein of it to a friend and still need to ply the greens. Of course, the plain white has a ways to go. Maybe I'll get to it over our winter break next month.

Update on the Fiber Front

2005-07-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

I've been busy. Yesterday I was determined to complete the lace scarf I had started using shetland handspun yarn. I got the last design charted only to discover after starting to knit that I hadn't enough yarn. I did have a bit of grey shetland roving so I started to spin. I finished a small skein of yarn before the fireworks started last night; I guess I'm picking up a bit of speed as that's the fastest I've gone from roving to finished product ever! Of course I couldn't knit as the yarn was still drying after setting the twist...so what did I do? Why, I started another project!

This lovely Noro yarn has been calling out to me from a corner of my bedroom and saying it wanted to become a Bugga Bag. OK, I started to make the transition. And I restarted the Unbiased recycled purse from Knitty.com for good measure. This time I hope the directions are error free as my last nearly finished attempt at Unbiased had me swearing and ripping. I guess these projects seemed so quick to finish that they hardly count. Now if I could finish my pi shawl that quickly, I'd be jumping for joy. That's currently on hiatus.

Strangely enough, the counter on my antique yarn winder has started working again. I assume the humidity has made the wood swell just enough for the gear to catch the cog. I was surprised as I wound on to hear that powerful snap again. I thought I had broken it. I wonder if there's a way to keep the wood hydrated all year long.

And my last thrill of the evening is that I found an ad in the local paper for a local spinning guild that meets in my little town on Thursday mornings. I'm very excited to think I might break away this week and spin with some experienced folks. What fun!

The baby went to camp

2005-07-03T22:22:00.000-04:00

How does this happen? The maturity of your children seems to grow only with startling leaps. One minute he is holding your hand as he crosses the street and planning to marry you when he grows up, the next he is telling you that you are embarrassing him in front of the counselor. And he's gone. Oh, I've been through this before and I know he'll be back, but we have our children with us for such a brief time. And even this youngest that started out as a 5 pound little bundle is taking his first strides toward independence. I'm grateful that he is reaching out eagerly to embrace it, even at the alarming age of 8. And let's enjoy the prospect of a week of dinners with no scatological humor!

On the fiber front, I swatched half the way to camp this afternoon only to find out the yarn was just too bulky for the pattern I was attempting. It's an ebay purchase, a melon colored wool and acrylic blend, apparently bulky in weight. So this evening I found the pattern I had originally intended for the yarn, a cardigan in Family Circle's Easy Sweaters. It will work up fast and the yarn was so incredibly inexpensive that I don't mind knitting it up to match my favorite sunflower t-shirt. Frivolous, you say? The defining adjective of fashion! The real reasonI started it? I needed a mindless knitting project for the summer meetings to come. Sanity is possible only with needles softly producing something lovely. I'm 8 1/2 inches up the back last count. Photos to follow when the new camera arrives.

The perfect summer day

2005-07-02T22:43:00.000-04:00

Low humidity, low temperature, clear skies...how perfect! I even had to wear a sweatshirt to pull weeds in the garden this morning.

Thomas is off to camp tomorrow. He'll spend a week and is very excited about it. We got him all packed this afternoon and he spent some time watching the Live 8 concert with his sister. Don't get any ideas about things being too idyllic around here. Although I was able to spin some wool/angora fiber I bought at our local sheep festival ( Jefferson County Sheep Festival), there was the usual dissatisfaction with dinner and the ever present namecalling. We wonder about charging for each name called and at the end of the summer we can send the proceeds to Heifer Project International or another worthy cause. A quarter per name, maybe? This could have many positive effects, one of which might be to slow down the growth of the new puppy fund that Elizabeth is accumulating. Do we really need another chewing and peeing machine? The possibilities are endless.

I look forward to some car knitting time as we drive to camp tomorrow. I really need to finish one of the shawls I've been working on.

Strawberry Season in the North

2005-07-01T23:11:00.000-04:00

This morning we started the day by picking 18 quarts of strawberries. And the smell of them has been following me around all day. There's a wonderful roadside stand that I pass every morning on the way to work. It's run by a young couple who have built a home and worked the surrounding sandy soil to produce the best fruits and vegetables in the area - all of this in just a few short years. I love to give them business and stop every chance I get. This morning it was u-pick strawberries.

There was a lovely breeze keeping away most bugs and the humidity hadn't joined us yet. The berries were small, but they still produced that thrill as you crawled around moving leaves and suddenly, there it was: a lovely clump of ruby red berries. And this thrill is chief in mind even after hulling 11 of those 18 quarts. Here's another reason to frequent this stand; we paid 12.00 for the 18 quarts. And with any purchase over 10.00, a handful of fresh basil was free. Yippee - pesto and strawberry shortcake for dinner. Yes, summer is finally here.

I did a great deal of plying on my Babe today and still have a lot to finish. That didn't stop me from carding another batch of the excellent Navajo-churro fleece from a sheep named CoCo I have and spinning that up. It's irresistable and I plan to ply 3 strands together when I finish this last bobbin. I haven't done that yet.

Still looking at digital cameras to replace my Mavica. (We're leaning toward a Kodak EasyShare. ) I'm anxious to post pictures here again.

Talk me out of buying this Hitchhiker!

2005-06-04T19:57:00.000-04:00

Look at this sweet machine!
http://www.themerlintree.com/oops011.htm
I have an irrational desire to purchase one. This is in spite of the fact that loose change is a rare commodity and we're planning a costly trip this summer, and the fact that I already have more than one spinning wheel. I consider riding time lost spinning time and this will solve the problem. Plus it's so darn cute I can hardly resist! Lame, huh? My husband just rolls his eyes and he's usually quite tolerant of my obsessions.

OK, back to paper grading now. Maybe I'll forget all about it! Or not.

2005-06-04T19:54:00.000-04:00

Thomas with his favorite bleeding hearts in the background.

2005-06-04T19:53:00.000-04:00

He told me he was looking for patterns in the water as it fell. Hmmmm.

2005-06-04T19:52:00.000-04:00

Thomas bailing.

You gotta love this kid!

2005-06-04T19:42:00.000-04:00

How many active 8 year old boys can entertain themselves with such simple things? We love this boy who can take a job (if it involves water, that is!) and turn it into a pleasurable activity. Thomas had decided to create his own mini pool - in Dad's canoe. All fine and dandy until Dad needed to dump the canoe to mow under it and found it too heavy to lift. Thomas, in his bathing suit, to the rescue. He started bailing and just had to dump water over his own head and look for patterns in the water as it fell to the ground. Check him out!

Lura fleece after a rotten day

2005-04-27T22:05:00.000-04:00

One of my favorite things happened today. I came home to find a new fleece to spin ( packed in a Huggies box. Happily, we don't usually have those around here anymore.) I bought a lovely Jacob fleece from a lady in Oregon - mostly black with some white mixed in.

I'm now debating about how to spin - as variegated or as black and white yarns separately. I've tried to post my picture, but it is saved as a bitmap and Luddite that I am, I can't seem to get Hello to read it. Maybe another day when I'm not fatigued to the point of nausea.

Source of exhaustion? Being sick at heart. Today I learned something I should have known all along: that this leadership group I'm working with at school doesn't share the philosophy we've been working toward for the last 3 years. I'm sorely tempted to close my door, teach my way, and wash my hands of the whole affair. Luckily, it's the last quarter and I can get through 7 more weeks of the nightmare. Thirteen more years of it? That remains to be seen. And I can't rely on a daily fleece on my porch to sustain me!

2005-04-24T17:13:00.000-04:00

Check this out. The yarn on top is the nicest I have spun...and it's made from the nastiest fleece I have purchased. We went to Ottawa to pick up the fleece and I must have washed it 4 times to remove the gross parts. Then I learned that it is possible to comb fine not so long fleece and my worries were over. The purple was made with the same fleece carded. Not bad, but not as nice as the white. I'm dyeing it shades of green for a friend to knit a scarf for her grown-up daughter. Double winner.

2005-04-24T17:09:00.000-04:00

The picture definitely doesn't do these babies justice. These were spun from the luscious roving I had processed. It's a blend of white Romney and grey mohair. I have tons of it as I got a really good deal on both and it makes a wonderful combination. No project in mind yet.

2005-04-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

Balls pictured here are from the practice yarn I spun as I first learned spinning on my Kromski. They are singles waiting to be plied with the combed Cotswold fleece I'm working on as the skeins pictured already have been. This will be enough for a large knitting project.

2005-04-24T17:03:00.000-04:00

This dark brown yarn is spun from some natural colored Navajo Churro I processed and spun 2 ply. I have some off white as well and hope it turns into a skirt I found from the Reynolds company. The original was knitted using lopi lite, but I love the idea of using fleece from sheep nearly extinct that are being brought back to their original numbers through the efforts of responsible sheep farmers. Lots of color work will be needed here and I'm looking forward to this one.

2005-04-24T16:59:00.000-04:00

Another batch finished. I'm much better at completing spinning projects made from already processed fiber, I notice. This was another pre-dyed fleece I got reasonably and had fun spinning and 2 plying.

2005-04-24T16:57:00.000-04:00

Look at these colors - all dyed with leftover Easter egg dye tablets. It's the very sandy Romney fleece I washed multiple times, dyed, combed and plied using my Babe wheel. I love the way that little baby plies. Now to find a project for these beauties... I'm looking at rug hooking. I need another fiber project going around here, no?

2005-04-24T16:54:00.000-04:00

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be. It started out with intrigue regarding a pattern I found online, then discovered I had in a book. I didn't like the fleece I spun in this early spinning project, but it knit up nicely here. Included are some partial skeins of yarn from my stash and a lovely small bit of corriedale dyed single yarn spun on my spindle. In terms of using up leftovers, it was a great success - 4 in one shot! It needs the pocket stitched on, but I'm counting it as complete. I'll make this one again.

2005-04-24T16:50:00.000-04:00

I finally finished an entire batch of spinning. In the interest of lace knitting, I purchased a lot of processed Shetland fleece from an ebay seller, 12 oz in 3 natural colors: oatmeal, silver and brown. That will go nicely with the black Shetland I'm currently working on, but I won't post at this time. I'm reveling in having completed one whole batch!

Sad Sunday again!

2005-04-24T16:36:00.000-04:00

Sadly, it's the Sunday at the end of spring break. I know lots of moms yearn for it to be over, but not this one. We've had some wonderful stay home times and just a few travels to keep things interesting.

I started out by taking a girls only trip to Fultonville, NY to pick up a treasure from an ebay purchase. My friend Tina joined me and we had a great time. It's wonderful to find a person that's easy to travel with. She didn't mind not knowing where we would eat or spend the night or even if we would. Neither of us mind turning around or asking for directions or poking around in random shops striking up conversations with strangers. We came home loaded with nearly free fabric, notions and vintage clothing as well. What fun!

I did spend a moderate amount of time knitting and spinning. I made some progress on projects and yarn which you can see in photos below.

Someone shoot me if I even think about buying another Rambouillet fleece. At least the one I have is a nightmare in terms of dirty ends and it's just too short for me to get excited about combing it. I've been struggling with that to make room for the 2 new fleeces I actually bought from a local person. We went to Alexandria Bay yesterday to buy a Shetland and a Border Leicester fleece from a gentleman recommended by a local shearer that Tom met in his travels. I'm getting drowned in unspun fiber of course, but as long as I can get everything washed before warm weather arrives, I'll be happy. And then there's all that summer spinning to consider.

Time to quit whining, get dinner ready and prepare something fun for my students to do tomorrow. After all, it will be the end of their spring break, too!

2005-04-24T16:35:00.000-04:00

Here are Thomas and his buddy Jake enjoying the finished product. We'll have to save this recipe and share it...not bad!

2005-04-24T16:34:00.000-04:00

Thomas and I made Mrs. Peters' birthday cake from a book called the Seven Silly Eaters. A little diversion for a lull in spring break!

2005-01-30T16:58:00.000-05:00

I'm having a pi shawl frenzy. My spinning is getting finer, so I will spin the yarn for my next one. I just got some natural colored roving that's spinning up beautifully fine. Next to the 8 oz of Navajo churro I bought, washed and carded and the nearly white alpaca roving I have, I've got the makings of a shawl drastically different from the one I'm knitting now. I will master lace knitting!

2005-01-30T16:55:00.000-05:00

This is my pi shawl after about half of the 144 stitch lace design. Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac. The yarn is Moriah from Lisa Souza, a laceweight wool. I hand dyed it and am using 10 1/2 needles after starting on a smaller one.

2005-01-30T16:52:00.000-05:00

My first design project sadly failed. I knit my son a vest using the sideways knit technique used in my red handspun sweater. My best guess is that I didn't knit enough space under the arm as it's too narrow to fit comfortably around his belly and it looks sort of strange. I'll be unraveling this and starting over. Isn't it funny how the self striping showed up right at the buttonhole "placket" area? That won't happen in the second version, I'll bet!

2005-01-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

My current handspun project shot flat, looking like a vest.

2005-01-30T16:47:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Elizabeth. She is sort of modeling a sweater I'm knitting for myself from handspun. It's knit sideways from left to right and I'm just starting the second side. I hope the sleeves don't take too long as I'm anxious to wear this one!

2005-01-30T16:45:00.000-05:00

I just finished this hat for my daughter and she says it just sits on her head. The yarn is ChaCha by Patons. Thank goodness it didn't take too long to knit! I was surprised that the edge didn't roll the way it would with other yarn.

2005-01-22T15:06:00.000-05:00

I'm up to 144 stitches on my Pi shawl. I tried to show our frigid weather as part of the backdrop - those are ice crystals on the inside! I need to start the first lace row and am procrastinating! I'll post more as I make progress.

2004-12-07T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm in love with this new wheel. I had trouble stringing the temporary drive band and getting her to draw yarn onto the bobbin, but once it worked, it was magic. She is completely silent as she spins and I had to drag myself away to take pictures this evening. This is my Christmas gift from my husband. And he was thinking of a diamond ring. I thought he knew me after all these years!

2004-12-07T17:21:00.000-05:00

I love this old skein winder. It had a wicked squeak and layers of dirt, but some oil and Murphy's oil soap did wonders. I hope to wind on a skein of woolen spun merino x corriedale tonight and test her out.

2004-11-27T23:20:00.000-05:00

My first real handspun project! I finished this last night. It's a bit short, but handspun is soo precious. Who knew? I took this from dirty fleece to dyed, plied and knitted scarf. It's not as soft as I had hoped. Luckily, the new SpinOff magazine, Winter, 2004, has some ideas on how to spin woolen that produces a softer yarn. I have plenty left to practice on! It's a gift for a friend.

2004-11-27T23:16:00.000-05:00

Here is the result of trying out the quilting capacity of a vintage sewing machine. Well, the story is longer than that. It started out as a block exchange I did with a group of Featherweight collectors. After exchanging the blocks, I decided to use them for 3 small wall hangings for friends and family who are breast cancer survivors. This one has been waiting to be quilted for some time now. Today I needed to check out the ease with which I could quilt with a Singer 15 that I hoped to pass along to my mom. It worked so well, I didn't stop until the quilt was complete!

2004-11-16T21:55:00.000-05:00

How about this luscious stuff. It's 2# of roving from Brown Sheep in a coffee swirl color, spun then plied on my Kromski Minstrel. I'm looking for vest patterns to knit for my husband and son.

2004-11-16T21:53:00.000-05:00

Top middle: KoolAid dyed romney fiber I spun on my spindle. Center skein: dyed corriedale roving also spun on my spindle. Variegated green balls: Now we're talking wheel spinning using some green dyed roving which actually wasn't the nicest stuff, but looks pretty.

The much dreaded Sunday evening

2004-11-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

It's late and we've only recently returned from a family gathering which turned out much smaller than we supposed it would. Did this help me to get my grades finished? Of course not! But there are some fiber tidbits that need mentioning here that came about as a result of today - all was not lost!

My mom just received her KnitPicks catalog in the mail. Considering the amount I spend on my last order with them, I'd think they'd at least send my catalog before my mother's. Ha! Anyway, it has a bunch of dying projects featured and Mom is interested in trying to dye neutral colored wool. Yippee! I'd like to use her wonderful spring water and check the same process against my softened and chlorined water to test my theory that the reason I don't get vibrant colors is due to the water quality here. Collecting rainwater was such a pain that using Mom's water source seems like a better plan.

Anyway, that will happen after Thanksgiving. On that same weekend there is an open house at a nearby alpaca farm and even the kids are interested in checking that out. It will be a fiber fun weekend!

I've won a small lot of raw wool from ebay and want to go pick it up as the owner runs a fiber shop. And I've asked a farmer to reserve a romney fleece for me. It's an illness. But a welcomed one. Just poking my hand into a basket of fleece, no matter the condition or purpose is so soothing. It's tactile and unleashes the kid in me. I'm just playing with it, but know it can turn into the most amazing things! (With a lot of time and effort.)

A quilt gathering has been planned for the Sunday following Thanksgiving. I'm sure not quilting as much as I was, but I look forward to meeting with the ladies as another form of my fiber fanatacism.

Now to grades!

Dying, washing and starting a new project

2004-11-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

Well I stayed up late last night and finished dying my recent handspun. I tried the Dharma Trading directions for using Procion dyes as I already had some of these. I used fire red and tangerine, but got less than vibrant colors using their salt, vinegar in near boiling kettle technique. This could be attributed to the chlorine in my tapwater or to the fact that Procion just wasn't made for dying wool. Darn, I'll just have to spin up some more to experiment!

I set the twist on the 7 skeins of coffee swirl plyed yarn I spun. It's still damp or that would have been the new project I started! It softened up and feels great. Now to see if it twists in stockinette and to pick some projects for it accordingly.

I picked through half of my washed fleece - Merino-Corriedale X. There's much less still dirty than I thought. Of course that was the clean half, but it encouraged me to get carding. Which is good since I ordered a romney fleece last night from a farm in Michigan. It looks luscious and I can't wait to receive it. I'm hoping for less lanolin than I found in the fine cross I'm working on now.

And I couldn't resist - I started the recycled silk purse. I found the pattern in Knitty and just love the look of the yarn. I'm planning now to keep that for me as I don't know anyone else who would carry such a wild purse.

Today is catchup day for the rest of my world - making lasagna and bread for Sunday family dinner, finishing up first quarter averages, haircut and any spinning I can squeak in!

Illegal spinning

2004-11-12T10:15:00.000-05:00

My spinning wheel calls to me from the dining room floor where she sits in a sea of fiber waiting for my return. Her call is powerful, and I'm being such a sap about this new obsession (spinning since August, 2004 when I lost my last blog due to obsession with this new craft) that I named her (Chamomile Kromski; Oh, Chamomile, my spinning wheel! What did I tell you?) and she sure knows my name.

I started with a drop spinner and that was fun, I spun a few small hanks, but nothing compares to this wheel. I've spun up 2 # of a coffee swirl color of wool, some Lincoln fleece, and am currently working on a fleece I bought raw to scour, card and love.

The sheep's name is Spice and she is half Corriedale and half Merino, so the fiber is fine, about 4" long and beautiful. I am spinning fine and plan to dye and plye this batch. I have a bit over 7 lbs raw fleece, so I guess my opportunities to try different things are many. There is still quite a lot of lanolin left and some dirt and VM remain after handwashing. I keep toying with the idea of sending it to a mill, but I haven't learned enough about this process to trust it. And it's turning into a matter of honor, frankly. I can do it myself! I've read about other cleaning agents to try and know better to wash in small batches for what I'm doing, so the second wash of the dirtier fiber will be more successful. I'm hopeful that more lanolin will wash out of what I have already spun when I dye it and set the twist. It's all a new experience and that's what I love about the whole process!

Having a part of Spice doesn't stop me from looking around for other fibers - oh, no! I'm currently interested in finding a romney fleece and there is a huge range of prices for these. In my search, I've located an interesting spot to buy fiber in Ottawa, only a 90 minute drive.

On the knitting scene, I did finish 5 scarves for my friend to give his wife and daughters for Christmas and am currently working on a wonderful poncho using Kureyon Silk Garden for me. Progress is slow due to all of this spinning, but it's not about the poncho, it's about having something soothing to do with my hands during all of those aggravating meetings!