Virgin Wool

Rest in peace, Mom

2009-10-30T20:57:00.001-04:00

I miss you.

Happy New Year?

2008-12-31T14:02:00.003-05:00

That's ½ of my maple tree resting comfortably on my neighbor's shed, thanks to today's high winds. It's also resting comfortably on the utility pole in the corner of my yard, and I've therefore lost my landline telephone service. Still have cable and electricity, (obviously, or you wouldn't be reading this), but I wonder for how long. Phone & power companies have been notified.

My neighbor is apparently away for the holidays. What a lovely gift she'll be coming home to. (Sorry, neighbor!) Now I wonder just how much this is going to cost me....

I heard and watched the whole thing happen -- quite dramatic. I'm just thankful it's not on either of our houses or cars. But the day isn't over, and the high wind advisory has been extended until 10 p.m. Exciting times!

And a Happy New Year to you, too!

It's appalling....

2008-12-22T12:52:00.002-05:00

I have several appalling things to report, not the least of which is the appalling lack of blogging that has taken place here recently. No guarantees on any improvement in that situation, as the first quarter of 2009 promises to be nightmarish, as far as work is concerned. I do, however, still owe you all a report about my weekend at SAFF, (waaaay back in October), and the fantastic week I spent in New York City for Thanksgiving, (was that already a month ago?!). I would love to be able to blog about both of those lovely times over the course of the next week or two, preferably before the New Year. We'll see what happens....

It's also appalling that my second finished knitted object of 2008 was not started nor completed until last week. Nothing like squeaking one in before the end of the year so I can still call myself a knitter!

Here it is, as a WIP, being modeled by a coworker:

And here is the finished object:

Specs:
Yarn:
* Main: Lion Brand Cashmere Blend (in Navy)
* Stripes: Lion Brand Cashmere Blend (in Cream)
Gauge: 4.25 stitches per inch
Needles: U.S. size 8 (5 mm) Clover bamboo 7" DPNs
Pattern: cast on 84 stitches in main color, join in the round, K2,P2 every round for ~1", then knit every round for ~4", add stripes where desired; decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator
Size: ~20" circumference
Recipient: Diego
Raveled here

This was knit for 13-year-old Diego, one of the 8 children of my office’s sponsored Christmas Mother. Diego is a Dallas Cowboys fan, (I know -- appalling! Insert gasp of horror here!), so I made a hat for him in the enemy’s colors. Turned out quite nicely, I think, despite that major design flaw! My good Christmas vibes must have overpowered the bad hate-the-Cowboys juju. ;-)

What's not appalling is that I have lured another unsuspecting person into the abyss that is fiber crafts. Saturday night I had dinner with a coworker who's going through some difficult times right now, and while eating our Thai food, I "innocently" suggested that she might want to give knitting a try, to help relax her. One stop at a craft store later, and before she knew it, I'd cast on for her and shown her the knit stitch. I stuck around to make sure she was okay with the first few rows of her garter stitch scarf in a dusty rose merino worsted-weight yarn, and after I returned home received a call from her around midnight thanking me for teaching her, and letting me know she was "having a blast" (her words). If that's not music to the ears of a fiber-enabler, what is?

She called me again today and told me that she was already close to finishing her first 200+ yard ball of yarn, and would need help joining the new one, and she also wanted to buy more yarn to start a scarf for her son. (My internal dialogue: "You mean, I can take you to an honest-to-goodness yarn shop?? Be still my heart!") So, we're heading out this afternoon to buy more yarn. I gotta tell ya, this doesn't suck. :-)

And so, although this hasn't been a banner year for my knitting, I'm still quite pleased, all in all.

Here's hoping I can share more of my recent exploits with you, before 2009 is heralded across the threshold. But in case I don't get a chance to say so before then, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Counting down...

2008-12-04T17:22:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the extended blog silence, but, at least now there's light at the end of the tunnel -- I've started a countdown:

As you were.

Another spinning FO

2008-10-23T13:44:00.001-04:00

You may recall that about a month ago I shared a photo of some fiber that a fellow River City Knitter asked me to spin up for her.

Since then, I've taught myself how to navajo ply, (YarnHarlot has a good description of the method, here), then I spun up the singles of this Lisa Souza hand-dyed Blue Faced Leicester (aka "BFL") top:

and then navajo-plied, skeined, washed and dried the yarn.

Here is the finished 3-ply:

I think it turned out okay, for my first navajo-plied handspun. I realize that you reduce yardage quite a bit when you turn a single into a 3-ply, but I do so like preserving, as best as possible, the color sequences that the hand-dyer originally intended:

The colors in this "Joseph's Coat" colorway are so contrasting that if allowed to "barber pole" in a 2-ply, I think the resulting yarn would have turned out much muddier.

The final measurement is about 168 yards, but I haven't yet counted wraps per inch. My guess is maybe sport-weight?

So, experienced spinners, does 168 yards of a 3-ply sport-weight from 4 oz. of fiber seem about right to you, or does it seem a bit scant, like it does to me? Other than the obvious "spin a finer single", how would you recommend I extend the yardage? An airier/loftier fiber prep? I'm always looking to learn and improve....

Anyway, I hope the recipient likes it.

Lots of upcoming fiber events this fall:

This weekend, for the second year in a row, I'm attending SAFF. I need to be in Greenville, SC all next week for work, and since that's less than an hour's drive from the Asheville, NC area, I decided to go down a few days earlier and partake of the fiber festivities. Should be fun!

How many Virginia readers are going to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville this weekend? This is its 3rd year, and I've still never attended. Next year, for sure! (I hope.)

In two weeks is Stitches East, but I'm not sure if I'll be attending. I may just stay home that weekend, since I've got a lot of other travel (business and personal) in store for me over the next month. And I certainly don't need any more yarn or fiber, especially after SAFF. But, we'll see -- I may want to jump on the River City Knitters bus trip just for the camaraderie!

So, if all goes well, I should get out at least one blog post this weekend about my SAFF experiences. After that -- who knows!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Yay, me!

2008-10-05T20:25:00.003-04:00

I won a 2nd place ribbon at the Fall Fiber Festival of Virginia, for my 2-ply skein of spindle-spun Corriedale (plied on my e-spinner):

Along with ribbons, they give out prizes. My prize was a lovely 2 oz. alpaca/merino/angora pin-drafted gray roving from Thistledown Alpacas. That totally rocks!

Since I knew I needed to be there today at 4 pm to pick up my skein, I didn't arrive until around 1:30, and started off by watching a little of the sheep dog trials:

...conveniently located near all the food vendors. So I had a lovely lunch of teriyaki chicken kabob and a spring roll (mmmm). And for company, I ran into L-B, who sat with me and showed off her lovely loot while I ate. Nice loot! After lunch, we parted ways and I began my pilgrimage from tent to tent, visiting lovely vendors and admiring their enticing wares.

Since most of my knitting peeps attended the festival on Saturday, the only other friend I ran into there was the lovely Queen Bess -- it's always fun to run into her at fiber festivals.

In the skein & garment tent, I had to get a shot of the "Best in Division"/"Best in Show" garment:

I had actually seen this on Ravelry a week or two ago, so I wanted to get a shot of it today with its ribbon, in case the winning entrant didn't get a chance to go to the show. It's an Alice Starmore pattern knit with Kauni yarn, which is perfect for fair isle, with its glorious color changes. Lovely autumn colors. Incredible knitting.

I visited every vendor, but was good and didn't go too crazy with purchases. I do have two more drop spindles to add to the collection:

The spindle on the left is a 0.8 oz. lace spindle made of oak, and really spins quite nicely and makes an uber-thin single. It has a notched shaft, (rather than a metal hook), which is new to me, but I like it. I purchased it from The Drafting Zone (Bowie, MD). It's made by a woodworker whose name escapes me, who designed it for his wife who does re-enactments at Mt. Vernon.

The spindle on the right is an Anne Grout glazed ceramic spindle. I must confess that I own three of her spindles already, but those three are top whorls. This one has a bottom whorl, a type of spindle I'm less skilled with, so I thought the pretty whorl will inspire me to practice with that tool:

In addition to my prize of alpaca blend roving, I also came home with some merino and a border leicester/mohair blend, but as the hour was late and daylight was waning, all my photos came out blurry or out-of-focus. You'll have to trust that it's pretty. :-)

I also got a FFF 2008 t-shirt, but again, no decent photos to be had tonight. It's brown.

I have to say, the drive alone is worth spending a precious weekend day at such an event. The rolling hills and lovely farms are so inspiring. I loved this one:

(click for big)

Ahhh...... I love fiber festivals! And now it looks like I'll get to go to SAFF again this year, since I'll be in the area for work. Something tells me that, with two full days wandering around there, I may not be as good at that one. Should I rent a U-Haul?

;-)

Hold on to your chairs...

2008-09-27T15:24:00.005-04:00

*
...I have a scarf update.

Breaking News -- it's longer:

I'm about to finish the first ball of Noro Cash Island, and the scarf currently measures about 20" x 5", so should be an optimal 60" long by the end of the third ball.

I'm really enjoying knitting this. I just do one or two sections at a sitting, and can even put it down mid-section and figure out where I am when I pick it up again later. Yet it maintains my interest as it grows and the colors change. A fun knit. It'll probably end up as some family member's Christmas gift. And when I finish it, I might just start another. Maybe.

Here's a couple of shamelessly self-indulgent close-ups:

Is anyone else as excited as I am about next weekend's Fall Fiber Festival? And look at that weather forecast:

If the weather really is that nice all weekend, I may go both days! Can't wait!

But I must also visit the State Fair at some point, possibly Friday afternoon, to see this year's TNK ribbon winners. Patsy, Amy, Jon and Lou all won ribbons again for their sewn, spun and/or knitted crafts. They are my heroes!

I will end this short post, so that I can go back to playing with fiber.

But before I go, I must say two things:

Rest in peace, Paul Newman. Your sparkling blue eyes will be missed.

Go Redskins, beat the Cowboys!

That is all. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Ziggy-Zaggy Knitty-Spinny

2008-09-21T17:29:00.003-04:00

Two posts in two days (in less than 24 hours time)! Can you stand it?

Don't get used to it!

This morning I took Iris Schreier's workshop, sponsored by our River City Knitters knitting guild, and learned modular knitting using Iris' Zigzag Modular Scarf pattern (P57).

Yesterday afternoon, as I was driving home from the spinning guild meeting, I was mulling over the fact that I still hadn't settled on what yarn to use for this morning's workshop. So on impulse, I veered off the Powhite Parkway onto the Grove Ave. exit and stopped at Knitting Basket, to see what they had in the way of ArtYarns (or anything else, for that matter). I was hoping for some Supermerino, but they only had Ultramerino. Ute suggested Noro Cash Island, which I've since decided is a brilliant choice for this scarf. Noro's long stretches of color are perfection for any striped, multi-directional or entrelac knitting project. That's Basic Yarn Knowledge 101, but I really didn't want to use the scratchier Kureyon or Silk Garden. I hadn't considered Cash Island, and its softness (60% wool/30% cashmere/10% nylon), coupled with its signature Noro self-striping, made it a perfect chioice.

See what you think:

Modular (or multi-directional) knitting is fun! I can't wait to keep working on this. Once you get past the set-up sections and figure out how to read the knitting, it's fairly mindless, which is PERFECT for my feeble brain. And I adore the look of garter stitch fabric, especially in this type of tweedy yarn. I also love the ease of knitting every row, which makes the project even more popular in my mind. I may actually finish this, rather than relegate it to hibernating ("zzz") status on Ravelry. Wonders never cease.

Iris shared her basic formula for knitting this type of project if one wants to stray from the pattern and increase or decrease the number of cast-on stitches -- also handy to know. She also had a little trunk show again, which was just as fun and inspiring the second time around, getting to see and touch all those pretty garments and yarns. Plus we got to hear about how she got her start as a knitwear designer and her philosophy as a yarn designer and manufacturer -- all very interesting. At the end of class, she signed our books, and I was sorry I only had one in my possession (Exquisite Little Knits) for her to sign. I am motivated to get the other two (Modular Knits and Lacey Little Knits). We also got to flip through all the proof pages of her upcoming book - Reversible Knits, and there are some great patterns in there, too. I'll be adding that to my Amazon.com wish list, for sure.

Since we're on the topic of knitting, of which I've neglected for months, it seems, I thought I'd share a few other humble little works-in-progress I have going:

Here's a Spiral-Ribbed Bed Sock (an Interweave pattern from an old issue of Spin Off) that I've been working on, a little bit at a time:

yarn is Dream in Color Classy in "Pansy Golightly"

I like this pattern because it calls for worsted weight yarn and it doesn't have a heel, (basically one long tube that's closed at one end), so it will be fairly mindless knitting until decreasing for the toe. Somewhere around the ankle, I'll also have to start moving the first purl stitch in each row over one, every four rows, to start the spiral. That's not terribly challenging, I don't think.

You'll notice I'm using two circulars to knit this sock -- my first time using that method to knit in the round. I have to say, I love it. But, size (and the tool) matters. I started out using 16" circulars, and as many people have told me, they're just not as comfortable to knit with doing this technique. It can be done, it's just not as pleasant. And I'm all about the pleasant. ;-) So these are 24" Addi Lace needles, which are divine to knit with. I want 2 pairs of every size and length they have. Doesn't mean I'll get them all. I just want them all.

I'm taking my sweet time and not feeling any urgency to finish those bed socks, so don't expect an FO photo anytime soon.

One more thing I've worked on in the recent past, although I haven't touched it in at least a month, is the Prism Long-tailed Wrap. Here it is as an amorphous blob:

colors are fairly true in this photo

Here's a close-up, (colors a little washed out):

yarn is Prism Kid Slique in "Smoke" colorway

It will be pretty once it's done, but I'm not sure when that will be.

All of these are out on my Ravelry projects page, if you need more details.

And since I'm feeling particularly prolific today, I'll share a couple more things in my fiber queue.

This is just a basic ball of Lion Brand self-striping sock yarn I picked up today at Ben Franklin.

But it won't be made into socks. Instead, I'm going to use it to learn and practice navajo-plying. In yesterday's spinning guild program, it was suggested that we use a self-striping commercial yarn so that (a) you don't ruin a perfectly good handspun while practicing, and (b) the color changes in the yarn will help you practice when to close the loop when plying. So, when all is said and done, I hope to have a not-too-terribly-ugly ball of this in a much-bulkier navajo-three-ply on top of the four plies it already has. And what starts out as 438 yards should be reduced to one-third, or about 146 yards. I'm interested to see how it turns out. Might make a cool-looking hat, after it's done. Or it might go straight into the trash can, depending on how things go.

Another spinning project in the queue was handed to me today at the end of our knitting workshop. A fellow River City Knitter who is not a spinner has somehow found herself with some roving:

and was looking for someone to spin it for her. Robin H. volunteered me and my electric spinner (thanks, Robin H! I'm volunteering you to hook me a rug!). Actually, it should be a fun project -- the white roving is about 10 oz. of babydoll wool, (I'd never heard of that breed, until just now.) It's still got a lot of lanolin in it, so should be really nice to spin. It's also got little bits of VM throughout, but the pieces are so small that I'll probably not trouble myself to pick them out, unless they're really big and obvious. (If you more experience spinners reading this disagree, please speak up!)

The multi-colored roving is some Blue-faced Leicester from Lisa Souza, which should also be nice to spin. I think I might wait to spin that until after I learn how to navajo ply, so that I can preserve the color sequences.

And that, my friends, takes us to the end of my fiber update, for now. Not sure when I'll post again. It could be a day, a week, or a month, as lately, I tend to write when the spirit strikes, when time allows, and when I have something interesting to say or show. And that magic trifecta doesn't always come together frequently. So, if you get tired of seeing the same old post at the top of the blog for days and days and days, might I recommend Google Reader?

Hope your weekend was wonderful. Have a great week, my friends!

Is this thing on...?

2008-09-20T20:21:00.004-04:00

...tap, tap, tap....

(...crickets...)

Apparently, I've lost my audience, which is what I deserve for not blogging for weeks. But I'll write a new post and send it out into the universe, and see what, if anything comes back.

First of all, I have some finished yarn to show ya:

Those were all spun and plied on my electric spinner. All are wool of one form or another and purchased from various sources.

Casey approves, and has adopted them as a pillow:

Here's one more skein I've recently finished:

It is 100% Corriedale pencil roving from Crown Mountain Farms in their "As Above, So Below" colorway. The singles were spun on two drop spindles; they were then plied on my electric spinner, skeined, washed, whacked, dried, and reskeined.

Here's the obligatory dime photo:

The skein is 1 oz., 112 yards, and about 20-24 wraps per inch -- roughly laceweight.

Last week I was spinning up a 50/50 blend of cashmere/silk, with plans to submit it to the Fall Fiber Festival Skein & Garment competition. Well, disaster struck when I went to ply the luxury yarn, (don't ask - it's still too painful to discuss), so this wool is a last minute substitution.

Here's my entry all ready to go, along with my entry form and $2 entry fee:

high hopes

This is turning into quite the yarn-centric weekend for me, so it seems.

Iris Schreier, a published knitwear designer and the talent behind ArtYarns, is in Richmond this weekend teaching workshops for the River City Knitters knitting guild. At the last minute, Robin H. talked me into attending a mini-workshop Iris gave last night (Friday) at Lettuce Knit, which was quite fun. Iris handed out tiny skeins of ArtYarns supermerino samples, taught us a few of her very unique knitting techniques, and passed around knitted samples from her three previous books as well as from her new book coming out in April. We actually got to see a few pages from her new book, which was cool. Oh, and she has a new yarn coming out that is a machine-washable cashmere/merino/nylon blend. She passed around a crocheted baby blanket made from it that had already been machine-washed, and it was just lovely, and so soft. Can you imagine - a machine-washable cashmere yarn? Think of the gift-giving possibilities!

Another cool thing she showed us was her way to do a mobius cast-on by using a modified long-tail cast-on, which did seem less complicated than Cat Bordhi's mobius cast-on. I hope I can try it sometime. If you have Iris' book 'Exquisite Little Knits', it's the cast on she does for the belt ring, but converted to a long circular needle (at least 36").

Today (Saturday) I attended the Clothos Children spinning guild meeting, my first time attending an actual meeting other than their silent auction back in April. It was a much smaller group this time, and quite nice. They have a show-and-tell session, which is fun, and then a little instructional program, and this time the program was about plying. Some very helpful tips and suggestions were offered, and a demonstration of navajo plying was given. I'm very motivated to learn that technique, and am eager to start practicing next weekend. Once I learn how to navajo ply, I will probably ply everything I can that way, if I have enough yardage, and especially if the colors in the fibers dictate. I'm not a big fan of the barber-poling effect of plied yarns, and when I buy a gorgeously-dyed fiber, I want to preserve the color sequences that attracted me to it in the first place. Plus, it will be lovely to ply from just one bobbin without having to wrestle with a tangly center-pull ball. (See above-mentioned cashmere/silk painful fiasco.)

Tomorrow (Sunday) I'm attending Iris' morning workshop for her zig-zag scarf, which should be fun. I have to admit that I have not been a huge fan of the look of many modular knitted items, but the techniques are really cool, so I'm ready to give them a try. And after seeing some of the knitted samples from ArtYarns designers like Iris and Sharon Sorkin up close and personal, I believe I'm a convert. Keep an eye out for Sharon's Sequined Mohair Lace Vest pattern (I120) (Ravelry link) -- the photo on the pattern sheet does not do it justice. In person, it is gorgeous enough to wear in a wedding or to the opera. And another pattern I loved, (not sure if it's released yet), is for a gorgeous cabled cashmere scarf, where the cables are different on each side. Beautiful and inspirational. The yarns themselves are exquisite, with a price tag to match. But there seems to be some very decent pattern support, so that one can create a beautiful heirloom knitted item with just a skein or two, and therefore worth making a splurge, now and then.

It's getting late, so I will end this. If you're attending tomorrow's workshop, I'll see you there!

The Boss comes to My Hometown

2008-08-19T11:15:00.004-04:00

Oh, one more thing, before I go on vacation...

...I saw The Boss again last night:

Twice in one tour - what a treat! But when they announced he'd added dates, including a show here in Richmond, how could I not?

Another great show. Springsteen was very playful last night, with lots of crowd interaction, taking of requests, pulling young fans on stage, handing out drumsticks, and an unheard-of 8-song encore at the end of a power-packed 3-hour show that never stopped save the brief departure prior to the encore. I was on my feet for most of it, and came home with ears ringing, sweaty and exhausted. And blissfully happy.

My friend and I had great seats - very close to the front, at lower level stage right. My only complaint is that the sound was horrible. Not sure who is to blame - Springsteen's sound engineers, or the Richmond Coliseum. Probably a combination of both. I've seen him there before, back in '05, but our seats faced the stage head-on back then, where all the speakers face, and the sound back then was sublime. Last night there was so much buzz and reverb that it was really hard to make out what the song was, until he started singing the lyrics, which at times were also hard to hear. Because of the sound issues, the singers and instruments sounded out of tune, at times. Such a shame. The reviewer in the local paper also had the same issue. So much for the press having the best seats in the house.

Anyway, if you're a fan and would like to see more photos and two brief videos, I invite you to visit my Flickr photoset.

Enjoy. I definitely did!

And now I bid you adieu for a few days.

I've been plying...

2008-08-18T11:18:00.009-04:00

...and now I've got me a basket o' bobbins that I need to wind off, wash, whack and dry. Once that's all done, I will display the skeins in all their glory, and share the who/what/where etc.

I'm learning that if spinning singles is as enjoyable and zen-like as knitting a beloved project, then plying is like seaming the pieces together and weaving in the ends -- a bit of a chore.

Here's my dilemma. Many, many (most) of the indy-dyers on etsy and other places sell their lovely, hand-painted rovings in 4 oz. increments. And usually, you can only get that gorgeous colorway you love in just one 4 oz. sample. Either they don't reproduce their colorways, or else if there were multiples, someone else has bought the others and you are left with just one. (Sorta like that sale bin of sock yarn at your LYS -- what can you really do with just one skein of Koigu?)

Okay, 4 oz. of fiber is still a decent amount -- you can make a hat, or maybe some socks or mittens, with 4 oz. of yarn, although I think for the latter two items, I'd prefer to play it safe with 6 oz.

Of course, I'd get more yardage with singles than with plied yarn, but considering that I can't seem to spin anything fatter than laceweight, I think that for the time being, everything is going to be double-plied. And once I learn how, I will probably do some navajo three-plying as well, so as to preserve color sequences. But then that cuts down one's yardage to a third of what came out as singles. So, again, more fiber for more yardage seems to be necessary.

So, let's say you are able to get a nice 8 oz. sample of that gorgeous colorway you love. Or, perhaps you're using an undyed, natural-colored fiber, perhaps from a fleece you acquired and had processed (or processed yourself, you industrious fiber artist, you). Or you dyed up an 8 oz. quantity of fiber yourself. (My, aren't you a Jill of all trades!). So, bottom line is, you find yourself with 8 oz. of the same fiber - brilliant.

Here's the next problem. Let's say you've got yourself an electric spinner with a bobbin capacity of 4, maybe 5 oz. When you were buying those little 4 oz. increments of fiber... (okay, let's stop talking in the 2nd person, and move back to first -- this is me we're talking about, after all). So, when I was buying and spinning up 4 oz. of fiber, I could fit the singles all on one bobbin. However, if I wanted to make a two-ply, I had to make a choice -- do I split the fiber and spin it on two different bobbins and ply it together, or do I spin it all on one bobbin, wind it into a center-pull ball, and ply it to itself?

I've done it both ways, and both ways are mildly problematic for me. Not earth-shattering, mind you, but annoying enough to take some of the bliss out of what I was feeling when spinning the singles. If you spin the singles on two different bobbins, invariably you get more on one bobbin than another, and then after you've plied them both together, you've got extra singles on one bobbin. (Here I am, back in 2nd person. Switching to first again.) What I've been doing in those situations is taking the extra singles and Andean-plying them on one of my drop spindles, to make a little mini-skein. Sure, it's cute, but I'd really rather have that yarn back in my bigger skein.

If you spin the 4 oz. all on one bobbin and wind it into a center-pull ball, you've got some wrestling ahead of you. There doesn't seem to be any way around dealing with the challenge of the energized single and how much it wants to tangle. Of course, one could wind the single on a niddy noddy, skein it, wash it and set it before plying, but really -- do I want to add another labor-intensive step to this process? I have found that if I try to ply directly from the center-pull ball, there will be tangling, so I've ended up adding another step, which is to take both ends of the ball and wind them together into another center-pull ball, before plying to add more twist. This works okay, for the most part, although winding the two ends into that second center-pull ball always produces a bit of frustration as I fight to ward off the tangles and the occasional broken single. Don't believe what anyone tells you about how long a single sits on a bobbin and how it "sets" the twist and tames the energy. Not true! Plenty of energy left, after days (weeks!) of sitting on a bobbin!

So, here's what I'd really like to do. I would like to spin up larger amounts of fiber (8 oz., with 4 oz. of singles on each bobbin), and be able to ply them (using a lazy kate) onto one bobbin. This of course, requires a bobbin with a capacity for 8 oz. of yarn. Wheels with jumbo flyers, (Lendrum, Ashford), come with bobbins that can hold that capacity. I don't own it (yet), but there is a jumbo flyer available for my Butterfly electric spinner; however, it does not come with a WooLee Winder, so I'd have to be changing hooks throughout the plying process -- another annoyance. I'm still not ready to buy a more traditional wheel, especially not just for plying, but even if I did, there is no jumbo WooLee Winder for the Lendrum or Ashford, that I know of.

There is, however, a jumbo WooLee Winder for the Roberta electric spinner. I didn't go with that spinner to begin with because I was dissuaded by what I'd read about the very strong draw-in of the bobbin-led Irish tension (like a Louet wheel). But that jumbo bobbin is enticing me to consider it as a second "wheel", just for plying. I do have room on the coffee table for another spinner after all. Dare I?

Another tool I'm considering, if I really want to get serious about cranking out the production spinning, is a dedicated skein-winder with a yardage counter, which would be so much faster than winding off every bobbin (especially 8 oz. bobbins!) onto a niddy noddy. So, I think if I up my plying capacity, I will definitely need one of these....

And then there's a postal scale. It would be nice to know exactly how much a particular sample of fiber or handspun yarn weighs. There have been many times I've wanted to know exact weights and didn't have an accurate or precise-enough scale to measure.

And let's not forget the drum carder I've been considering. Making my own custom batts would be a real kick!

See -- this is the problem with hobbies. Hobbies beget more hobbies. Tools beget more tools. It's never-ending. Cha-ching! Scary....

With all this yarn production I'm considering, the next obvious question is, what will I do with it? The funny thing is, I'm not knitting much (at all?) right now; I'm just enjoying spinning too much. I'm not sure I want to go so far as to start selling handspun yarn, (and I'm not sure I'm good enough for that, anyway). All I can think of is, maybe I could spin yarn for the peeps in my knitting group. I wouldn't want to do it for pay - that just takes the joy out a hobby. But if someone bought the fiber, (their choice of colors and fiber blends), I could spin it up for them. Of course, I'm not sure how well I'd be able to meet their needs, that is, if someone wanted a three-ply fingering weight, they may or may not get that. My inexperience, at this early stage of my spinning "career", means that a knitter would need to be satisfied with what I'm able to create, which may or may not be what they had originally intended. Which is why I couldn't take payment.

It's just something I'm considering; not even sure if I'd have time, but I like to think I would -- I do enjoy it. :-)

Anyway, back to that photo at the top, and managing reader expectations. I am leaving tomorrow for a short vacation down at the beach, and won't be back until late Saturday. I'm not taking anything more with me than a couple of drop spindles, a little fiber, and one or two knitting projects, (ever the optimist). Therefore, since I get most of my spinning production accomplished on the weekends, it could be at least another 10 days-2 weeks before I have any finished skeins of yarn to show you. Just sayin'.

And maybe by then I will have figured out a solution for my plying capacity problem. Maybe I'll even have a new tool or two. :-)

Phun with Phake Photography

2008-08-17T13:52:00.005-04:00

I've been wasting time this lovely Sunday morning over on YearbookYourself.com, where you can upload a photo of yourself and through the magic of the interwebs, it shows you how you'd look in the hairstyle and clothes of different eras.

Some of these make me sentimental, because they really look like my mom:

1950

1952

Some just crack me up:

1960

1962

1964

1966

1968

1972

1974

1978
(snort!)

1980

1982
(the little flower on the chin can't save this atrocity!)

1984

And some are scarily close to hairstyles I've actually worn:

1986

1988

1990

My sister totally had this hairstyle not too long ago:

1992

But not this one, thank God:

1994

And if I ever wondered how I'd look as a blond, here are a few options:

1996

2000
(big bangs are back!)

Such an amusing waste of time. Such an amazing, ageless face I have!

;-)

Spinning Yarns...

2008-07-24T18:52:00.006-04:00

...literally.

But before the yarn and spinning talk, let me first address a minor change in the decor that you may have noticed when you opened Virgin Wool today. There's a new ticker up there, prompted by a suggestion from knitting pal (blogless) Issy. I have moved my knitting ticker down to the very bottom of the blog, and the new spinning ticker takes its place at the top, since that's my current passion, and also because some would argue that after a certain amount of time has elapsed, one cannot call oneself a novice knitter anymore. Ahem.

But even as the buried knitting ticker fades into the obscurity that is a blog footer, I feel I should point out a momentous event that occurred recently:

Sunday was my 3-year knitiversary!
My, how time flies....

I'm so glad that I found fiber crafts, even if at an age when most knitters have been doing their craft for 30+ years. The hobby itself has brought me much pleasure, but more than that, it's introduced me to many wonderful knitters and knit-bloggers and widened my circle of friends exponentially. It's influenced my shopping and spending habits, how I spend my free time, how I spend my time on the internet (Ravelry much?), what I read, where I go on Tuesday nights, where and how and what I do when I travel.... I could go on, but I'm sure you know what I mean, if you're a knitter. If not, you can get an idea by reading the archives of my blog or any of the thousands of other knitting blogs out there.

So, anyway, once again, for the third year in a row, I offer my heart-felt thanks to my sister-in-law Jenny who three years ago gave me a learn-to-knit kit for my birthday and taught me to knit three days later on her birthday, and ultimately created a monster. :-)

I am learning that with the fiber arts, one never says never. When I first learned to knit and soon thereafter discovered that there are people out there who, in this day-and-age still spin their own yarn (!), I thought to myself, I will never do that.

Hee hee!

Now that I've learned how to spin and am reading the associated spinning books and magazines, I'm thinking that the ruling out of weaving way-back-when was also a silly declaration. However, there will be no rush to learn to weave, since my tiny house can't even fit a spinning wheel!

I'm just keeping an open mind....

Okay, now it's time to show my first two finished yarns spun on my Womack Butterfly spinner:

The white 2-ply is mostly Corriedale with a little mystery wool thrown in towards the end. It is under-plied is many places, and started out slightly coarse, but softened up nicely after a wash with Eucalan and hair conditioner. I haven't yet measured the yardage or the WPI, but it's about 4 6 oz., probably about worsted weight, which, by some estimates makes it roughly ~~225-300~~ 400 yards. It seems like a lot of yarn to me, so my guess is it's on the high end of that range.

I might dye it, maybe with some Wilton's food coloring. Or I might leave it as-is. I think it might make a nice Urchin hat, perhaps if held doubled, since that pattern calls for super bulky....

The blue-green 2-ply is the merino I showed in my last post. It was a delight to spin, is also under-plied in many places, and I also don't yet know the yardage or WPI. But again, it's about 4 oz., and probably sport weight, so roughly 300-450 yards. I'm thinking it's on the low end of that range -- definitely doesn't weigh as much as the white yarn. But now I'm thinking the white yarn might actually be closer to 5 oz.

I really need to measure and weigh this stuff.

Anyway, more photos:

After I plied and washed everything, I immediately started spinning some more fiber in my stash:

That's the most gorgeously-dyed fiber I've laid my eyes on in recent memory. Of course the photos don't do it justice, but I just love how it's almost iridescent, like an oil slick. It's 4 oz. of 100% merino that I purchased from a gal up at Susan's Fiber Shop Spinning Retreat back in March.

Gorgeous, right? After my good experience with that first batch of merino, I was really looking forward to spinning this lovely stuff, but quickly discovered that not all hand-dyed merinos are created equal, especially if one is partially FELTED! Ack!! I'm still spinning it, but, if spinning that last merino was like butter, then spinning this stuff is like, well, trying to spin felted merino, for lack of a better metaphor.

The first half is done -- here it is on the bobbin:

And I'm a little ways into the second bobbin, although tonight I'm taking a break from it, because frankly, my hands, wrists and fingers are aching from trying to draft that stuff, even after pre-drafting the hell out of it. I have another batch of fiber in a different colorway from the same gal. It's also gorgeously dyed. I'm crossing my aching fingers that it's not also felted....

Note to self: ply the HECK out of this, when the time comes.

Keeping up with the Peloton....

2008-07-13T11:59:00.008-04:00

This weekend finds me continuing to "compete" in the Tour de Fleece, although it's not so much a competition with other spinners as a personal challenge to practice and improve my own spinning skills. It's been a fun challenge, thus far.

I did find out, sort of accidentally, that there are actually two different Tour de Fleece challenges out there on the internet. The first one I linked to the other day:

and another, different one that I found via its Ravelry group:

I've joined them both, because the goals are essentially the same -- you spin every day of the race, take a break during the days of rest, (if you want), and try to meet a personal challenge along the way.

I had no plans to watch the actual race:

but yesterday when I sat down to spin it happened to be on tv, (on Versus - channel 2 on Comcast digital cable in Richmond), so I watched it. I don't really understand all the intricacies of the race, but I'm learning, and the French countryside is quite lovely, and that last kilometer of each day's stage is always exciting, so it's a pleasant sporting event to watch. All those fit young men aren't hard on the eyes, either.

Yesterday I finished up my bobbin of white fiber, cramming on as much as I possibly could, before the arms of the flyer started rubbing against the yarn while turning -- a clear indication that I'd reached the limit of its capacity:

I haven't plied it yet -- I was too eager to get started on something with color. I did talk to Nathan Lee of WooLee Winder on Friday about the problem with the flyer winding on unevenly, and he talked me through how to tweak it so that it will load more evenly with the next bobbin.

So, are you wondering what I picked to spin next? I went with my heart, and picked the superwash merino that my head was telling me to "save" until I was more experienced. But, it's so lovely, how could I not spin this right away?

And just by sheer coincidence, the aptly-named colorway is French-inspired:

and reminds me of my favorite painting:

The Artist's Garden at Giverny, Claude Monet

I hope to visit France and Giverny someday. My grandmother was French, (a WWI war bride), my dad speaks fluent French, but I've never been there. It's on my bucket list.

But I digress....

This morning I turned on the race again and watched their first day on the slopes of the Pyrenees, while I relaxed on the couch with a cat on my lap and spun my merino. Here's what I have so far:

The bobbin looks a little lumpy because of my choice of leader yarn, a rookie mistake I won't make with the next one.

While spinning this morning, I had an epiphany, a breakthrough, a "Eureka!" moment. I had just read last night someone's description on how to do long draw drafting, a skill I really hoped to gain at some point, but was sure would take years of spinning and perhaps several classes with master teachers to acquire. But this morning while spinning and watching those racers on a downhill stretch, I was thinking about what I'd read last night, and before I realized what was happening, my hands figured out what to do, seemingly all on their own. I can now long-draw! I find it hard to express how much this thrills me, and how much I feel it opens up possibilities for me; all I can say is, this totally rocks.

O, joy!

Today, I feel like I've not only kept up with the peloton (the pack), I've actually broken away to take the lead and win the yellow jersey.

Lance knows what I'm talkin' about....

My first bobbin full

2008-07-11T11:53:00.004-04:00

singles spun from 100% Corriedale top
on my new Womack Butterfly electric spinner

No, your eyes are not deceiving you -- that is definitely an uneven bobbin, with more yarn on the left (front) than on the right (back). From my preliminary investigation, (searching in the Ravelry forums using the keywords "WooLee Winder uneven"), this is apparently not unusual for a new WW, and will apparently work itself out as the WooLee Winder flyer gets broken in. I hope that's true. Otherwise, I'll be contacting the WW folks for advice and perhaps a repair. I need to order more bobbins from them anyway....

I also need to order some spinning wheel oil and a tensioned Lazy Kate. I'm open to recommendations.

I've been spinning every day for at least an hour, since the start of Tour de Fleece last Saturday, and I'm really enjoying it. It's very relaxing, and I could keep at it for longer, but during the work-week, I tend to get sleepy in the evenings after an hour or two of spinning. I do look forward to finishing up this bobbin. (Experienced spinners: should I consider this bobbin already finished, since the front is full?)

In any case, once finished, I will then wind it into a center-pull ball and ply it to itself, (that is, if I've given the singles enough twist so that they don't fall apart during plying. Fingers crossed.)

My next minor dilemma is a good problem to have: what to spin next? The prettiest hand-painted fibers I currently own all happen to be merino, but I'm thinking that I should maybe stick with long-stapled fibers for awhile. I'm uninspired by the BFL, Targhee and Rambouillet in my stash, and I'm saving my Polwarth until I feel much more proficient with the spinner. Should I wait for the BFL that I just ordered to arrive? Dare I try the merino?

An announcer's deep voice cuts in, accompanied by dramatic organ music:

What will Mary do?
How will this saga unfold?
Which fiber will Mary pick?
Tune in next time to find out!

;-)

Butterfly in da howse!

2008-07-06T22:27:00.006-04:00

My Womack Butterfly electric spinner is now out of its box and situated in its rightful place on my coffee table, next to the couch:

Now I can actually lay on the couch and spin while I watch tv! How great is that? Can I get any lazier? ;-)

So, let me introduce you to my Butterfly.

Here is the motor end of the device, covered in a cute woven material:

Those buttons on top, front to back, are: the on/off switch, the speed dial, the clockwise/counter-clockwise switch, and the fuse.

The drive band connected to the rotor on the front is a stretchy clear plastic, much like what you find on a Lendrum wheel.

The flyer is a WooLee Winder:

which is probably the most ingenious invention to hit yarn-making since the spinning wheel. I highly recommend it. Basically, it allows one to continually spin and draft without having to stop and change hooks. It also allows more yarn on the bobbin, because it fills it so evenly. And the best thing about this particular WooLee Winder is that it and its bobbins will fit both Ashford and Lendrum wheels, and should I choose to go with either of those makers if/when I eventually get a wheel, I can use it interchangeably. Nice.

Right now I'm getting used to it by practicing with some plain white corriedale. I've found that, for me, right now, low speed, low tension, and spinning from the fold seems to work best to make the smoothest yarn. Not sure why that is -- I'd really prefer to spin from the end of the roving like I can when I'm spindle-spinning. But with the electric spinner, (and I think this is also true for me with wheels), I seem to get more neps and slubs when I spin from the end of the roving/top. Seems counter-intuitive, but somehow it's smoother, spinning from the fold. So, I have more stops and starts, feeding in new fiber to old more often, but the end result is better.

If you'd like to see videos of a Butterfly in motion, Northern Virginia knitter KSee has blogged about it here, including sharing two videos. The spinner really is that quiet, which is how it got its name -- quiet as a butterfly.

Back in March when I was attending the spinning retreat up in Wisconsin, I picked up a couple of pretty orifice hooks being sold by one of the talented and crafty ladies in attendance. So yesterday, when I realized that I would need an orifice hook for my new e-spinner, I remembered that I had the perfect one:

How cool is that?! If I had planned on finding a butterfly orifice hook to "match" my Butterfly spinner, I never would have found one. Gotta love how things work out.

I expect I'll get lots more practice with my e-spinner during the rest of this month. I've unofficially joined the Tour de Fleece challenge:

which basically just requires that you spin every day during the Tour de France. I'm "riding" for Team Rookie and going for the Maillot Jaune (Yellow Jersey).

And once I feel comfortable spinning that white Corriedale, I'm switching to one of my pretty hand-dyed rovings.

Should be fun!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-04T08:47:00.005-04:00

(full story here)
*

Have a fun and safe Fourth of July!

(Edited to add -- check out this great knitted flag hat!)

Holiday Toy

2008-07-03T15:20:00.002-04:00

This has been a painfully slow week at work, and yesterday dragged particularly long, especially as I wasn't feeling all that well. So it was therefore the perfect afternoon for me to come home to this box on my front porch:

What could it be?

And what does that say?

Sounds interesting!

But what is under all those peanuts?

Is that wicker I spy?

It's my new Womack Butterfly electric spinner. I've left it in the box for now, but will be setting it up and taking it on its maiden voyage this weekend. Photos to follow.

Yippee! Happy Holiday weekend to ME! :-)

Too funny not to share....

2008-06-30T14:30:00.003-04:00

Miss LakeKnitter Emmy has a valid point in her most recent blog post, in that Ravelry may be sucking up a lot of what used to be prime blogging time. I can definitely relate.

Being as my latest passion is spinning and drop-spindling, I've been spending a lot of time chatting in Ravelry's Spindlers group, where much inspiration, encouragement, education, admiration and (most dangerously) enabling of stash-enhancement (for both spindles and fiber) is taking place.

Case in point, some recent acquisitions:

Spindle: Lotus Lace Spindle by RestlessPeasant (on Ravelry)
Fiber: 80/20% Merino/Silk in "Cabaret" from Tempted, on The Loopy Ewe

Recently somewhat started a discussion entitled "Spinning becoming a passion?", about how her knitting projects have gone neglected by the wayside, while she becomes more and more enchanted with creating yarn on her drop spindle. Oh, how I can relate.

Many people voiced agreement and cited their reasons for loving spindling, including its portability and the ability to take advantage of stolen moments while on hold on the phone, or waiting for a pot to boil. This prompted someone to suggest the creation of a bumper sticker that says something like "Spindlers do it during every spare moment".

Which then led to an even racier bumper sticker suggestion:

"Wheel Spinners do it in the orifice".

I know, I know. Tacky and classless.

And hilarious.

Made my day.

;-)

Crock Pot Leg o' Lamb

2008-06-20T17:23:00.003-04:00

Being as I live alone, I'm not much of a cook, (the burners on my stove are turned on once a year, whether they need it or not), but I do like my crock pot. So far, I've really only been successful with split pea soup, but I'm determined to expand my repertoire.

I joined the "CrockPot Love!" group on Ravelry, where there's lots of great recipe suggestions, and someone recently posted a link to this awesome blog called "A Year of Crockpotting". Basically, the gal is cooking a different recipe in her crock pot every single day in 2008, and even better, she's blogging about it, complete with photos and reviews of the success or failure of the recipe, and her family's reception of it. Oh, and all her recipes are gluten-free, in case that matters to you. (Not an issue for me, thank God.)

Anyway, I stumbled upon her leg of lamb recipe, and was inspired to try my own. So, here is my version, complete with photos:

The beast:

The "dry" ingredients for the rub:

The liquid ingredients:

In progress:

All cooked and ready for dinner:

It was actually very good, although a bit salty (even with those low-sodium liquid ingredients). I think that rosemary-ginger rub has a lot (too much?) salt in it.

I love the smell of lamb, but this stunk up my house house all day while it was cooking, and that would have been fine last week if the air conditioning had been working, to clear the air. Alas, my heat pump chose that very day to die on me, during our oppressive heat wave, and so the humidity and lamb smell just hung around my hot house all day.

It was still a good leg of lamb, and I'm fairly proud of myself, because it's the first successful non-soup item in my crock pot, and my first, ever, home-cooked lamb.

So now I'm rooting around in books and on the internet for my next inspiration for the crock pot. It may very well be the "Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic" recipe that came in my crock pot's owner's guide. I just need to go buy a chicken. And a boat-load of garlic....

So, what's your favorite crock pot recipe?

Glass Spinning Wheel

2008-06-02T15:31:00.004-04:00

Work has utterly consumed my concentration these past few weeks, so, in a shameless attempt to fill the lengthy void between blog posts, I'm sticking my head up for a second to give you the following:

(Feedblitz email subscribers click here to see embedded video)

So, how portable do you think that thing is? ;-)

While I'm here, how about a brief fiber-related update?

I've been knitting a bit on my Prism longtail wrap with the yarn and pattern I purchased in Wisconsin in April, (I got a lot done down at the lake last weekend), and I'm also spinning almost every day on whichever drop spindle happens to be nearby. The spindle collection continues to grow, and I really need to find some time to document them all. Not sure when that will happen, however.

I am no closer to a wheel purchase, (again -- still no room for one), but have decided that in the meantime, in in the interest of faster yarn production, and thanks in part to inspiration from this video podcast, I'm going to try using an electric spinner, (I can always clear a space on the coffee table for that). I have narrowed my choices down to Jerry Womack's Butterfly spinner (the little wicker gizmo seen for sale in the main building at Maryland Sheep & Wool). He will very graciously ship one out to me on spec, and allow me to test drive it for a few weeks before I pay for it. If I don't like it, I can ship it back. But I've got a feeling I will like it.

I've done a lot of research on the various models, and have even gone so far as to create a Ravelry group for electric spinners (since there was an obvious lack of such a forum), and the folks who own Butterfly spinners swear by them. So I'm looking forward to receiving mine. Jerry says I should have it in a week or two. Maybe then I can finally reduce some of the fiber stash that's been accumulating around the house! :-)

I came, I saw, I bought NO yarn

2008-05-04T22:22:00.004-04:00

Yes, you read that right. Two days at the 2008 Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and I came away with zero yarn. Proud of me?

Don't be. What I didn't purchase in yarn, I made up for in drop spindle purchases and fiber. And I'm giddy with delight.

Unlike previous years, I took very few photos, so don't have much to show you tonight. But I will share my favorite spindle purchase of the weekend.

Feast thine eyes upon this beauty:

That's a Golding ring spindle called "4 Blue Roses", with a vintage enamel ring, a 2¾" carved & painted cherry whorl and walnut shaft, and it weighs 1.32 oz. (The fiber is 70/30% Corriedale/Alpaca top from “A Touch of Twist”.) Needless to say, it's a delight to spin. And Tom Golding is even more delightful in person than he has been in emails. I'd been asking him questions about a few of the other gorgeous vintage spindles on his website, and so he very graciously brought them to the show especially for me to see, hidden away from his main display. I could have hugged him right there. Those spindles were breathtaking in person. But after seeing the blue rose spindle, I knew it was the one for me. Oh, happy day. :-)

Okay, enough about the spindle. Not everyone feels the same way I feel about them, so it must get boring. So, for those who'd like more details about my weekend, I will elaborate.

I left Richmond around 5:30 pm on Friday, and arrived in Columbia, MD around 8 pm. Thanks to Nigel, (my beloved GPS), I made one intermediate stop to pick up some dinner-to-go at Macaroni Grill, and enjoyed it after I checked into my hotel. (I wish Richmond had a Macaroni Grill -- I adore their "Carmella's Chicken Rigatoni" - chicken, pasta, mushrooms, garlic, onions, parmesian cheese -- how can you go wrong?)

Staying at my hotel were Suzanne, Melanie & Lou, and we ate breakfast together both mornings. After breakfast on Saturday, I got to the festival early, and managed to hit all my "must-see" vendors by noon. At various points during the morning, I ran into Patsy & friends, Jane & Donna, and Robin C. and her husband. Oh, and I ran into Gina Bonomo as I was leaving. After grabbing a lamb sandwich for lunch, I wandered by the Ravelry meet-up in the rabbit barn (jam-packed with people), and then decided I'd had enough of the heat, humidity and crowds, and went back to my hotel to relax for a few hours before dinner and the Ravelry party at the Sheraton.

I met up with a few other Ravelers at the best sushi place in Columbia, Sushi Sono, which is conveniently just a quick stroll down the sidewalk from the Sheraton. I had my favorite item on their menu -- Una Jyu (freshwater eel over rice) and some spicy tuna tartar. Dee-lish. The Ravelry gals I met there were complete strangers prior to Saturday evening, but turned out to be fun dinner companions. We wandered over to the party after dinner, and I managed to get a Ravelry tote bag -- cute! Later I ran into Beth and Monet, who were both amusingly entertaining and the life of my little corner of the party. (I do have a photo of that -- dare I publish it?) I stayed long enough to hear Casey, Jessica and Mary Heather talk a little about Ravelry, and then draw numbers for door prizes. Some nice prizes to be had, for sure. Alas, I did not win anything.

Today, (Sunday), I arrived at the festival mid-morning and almost literally ran into Bess at one point, (wearing her beautiful KipFee sweater), which was a lovely surprise. We shopped a bit together and then parted ways. I spent the rest of the day visiting all the barns, buildings and vendors I'd missed on Saturday, and added more spindles and fiber to the stash. Oh, my. I had lamb again for lunch, (and ordered some to-go, for dinner). I love lamb. I then had an ice cream cone and spent a little quiet time on the hill outside the main building -- that's always nice. I took another round of the vendors in the main building, and before I knew it, they were announcing that the festival would be over in half an hour! Where did my day go? For the first time, I missed the sheep-to-shawl competition. I also missed the skein & garment competition -- hated missing that, but them's the breaks. I'm hoping someone else who attended took lots of photos and will share.

Once again, for the third year in a row, Sunday turned out to be a much better day than Saturday, both weather-wise and crowd-wise. So, I will always recommend that people go on Sundays. It's really like a completely different (sane) event.

My drive home was trouble-free, for which I'm eternally grateful, and now I'm sufficiently exhausted. Time for bed!

And later this week I hope to get some photos of my purchases taken and published here. Need daylight and wakefulness for that. :-)

So, how was your weekend?

The Boss

2008-05-02T11:00:00.006-04:00

Wednesday night I saw my dream-husband Bruce Springsteen and his "heart-stoppin', pants-droppin', earth-shockin', hard-rockin', booty-shakin', earth-quakin', love-makin', Viagra-takin', history-makin', legendary E-Street Band" perform at the John Paul Jones arena in Charlottesville.

I last saw him 2005, when he came to Richmond on his solo "Devils and Dust" tour and gave us an incredible show, one that was very different from what E-Street Band fans are used to seeing. And while that '05 tour and album proved to me his incredible artistic versatility, Wednesday's show underscored his stamina and longevity.

This 58-year-old man, who has been rockin' hard for 30 years, has still got it. With every bit as much energy as his four-hour "Born in the USA" tour I caught in Hampton in 1985, (but alas, only half the length -- the man is pushing 60, after all, and his fans are getting old, as well), The Boss did not disappoint. (Although, someday, somehow, someway, I'm going to see him perform "Rosalita" live...).

Clarence "Big Man" Clemmons

Stevie van Zandt

Max Weinberg

Best songs of the night included a surprise rendition of "No Surrender" early in the show, "Radio Nowhere" from his new album 'Magic'; and oldies like "10th Avenue Freeze-Out", "Born to Run", "Badlands", "Adam Raised a Cain", "Prove It All Night"...

...and "Jungleland":

(Feedblitz subscribers click here to view embedded video)

"Badlands" and "Jungleland" are two of my all-time favorite Springsteen songs, and were easily the highlights of the night for me. A moment that was a close second, however, and that proved that (my dream-husband) Bruce has still got it, was when he slid across the stage on his knees (58-year old knees!) during "Mary's Place". I cannot think of a better song to prove his virility.

:-)

(Newspaper reviews here and here. Set list here. A few more photos out on Flickr, here.)

Fiber Fun

2008-04-26T19:58:00.005-04:00

Thought I'd share just a little of what I've been up to recently, spinning-wise.

Yesterday I decided to try spinning up some cultivated silk sliver that was in my stash, that I'd purchased from Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks at the 2006 Knitters Review Retreat. I had originally thought I'd knit with it, sorta like people knit with unspun silk hankies. But in the interim I have learned how to spin, so decided to try it on one of my Golding drop spindles:

It was a lot easier to spin than I thought it would be. Drafting the silk sliver is sorta like drafting a fairly long staple-length wool, in that you need to keep your fingers/hands fairly far apart to allow the fibers to slide past each other and draft.

Now I'm wondering what I'll do with the singles once I have more of them spun up -- will I two-ply the silk to itself? Ply it with something like a merino? I don't know. But I don't really worry about those things when I spin. I spin for entertainment value alone. The yarn end-product is icing on the cake. I guess that makes me a process spinner, which is a good thing, since the process is slow-going on a spindle.

Here's a more recent fiber purchase:

That's about 8 oz. of Polwarth wool (an Australian breed that is a merino-Lincoln cross), in the "Summer Garden" colorway, purchased from Rovings.com. What you see above is one long strip of roving, starting with the blue end on the left, dyed with large sections of single colors that graduate into the next color, ending with the purpley end on the right. I'm not exactly sure how this should be spun to its best advantage, but I have some time to consider that, as I most likely won't be spinning this until I get a wheel.

Rovings.com is a Canadian company that is breed-specific to Polwarth, and they import the fiber from Australia. I decided I needed more of their fiber after receiving a little sample of it:

with one of my drop spindles. (Incidently, the spindle shown above, a Cocobolo spindle purchased from The Spanish Peacock, is not the spindle which came with the Polwarth sample.) Anyway, after spinning the sample, (in the "Brick" colorway), I was immediately hooked. The fiber is incredibly soft (as soft as BFL or merino, I think), and the bonus is that it has a longer staple length -- 4-6", making it quite lovely to spin. So, about a month ago I talked a few local spinning friends into going in on an order with me, and we received our fiber last week. Nice stuff.

And now I, along with thousands of others, are counting down the days (hours, minutes) until Maryland Sheep & Wool, where we'll get to fondle fiber and yarn to our heart's content. Can't wait! Hope to see you there!

Mad Town Mania

2008-04-21T22:35:00.000-04:00

Wisconsin capitol building

Last week I was back in the greater Madison, WI area again for work, and since it will be my last trip there for the foreseeable future, I took full advantage of my time there, and hit not one, but three yarn shops. (Because apparently I can't get yarn at any of Richmond's wonderful yarn shops, nor online, nor at any upcoming fiber festivals?)

But I think most knitters will agree that common sense often flies out the window when we walk through the doors of a yarn shop.

First stop on my itinerary was Lakeside Fibers, and behind this unassuming entrance:

was room after room of tempting lovelies:

In that last room, way in the back, is a great cafe and knitting spot with a wall of glass that looks out onto this view:

winter is officially over

Can you imagine a better place to buy yarn, sit & knit, sip coffee and eat a cookie? Neither can I.

Downstairs they have a weaving studio, and upstairs in the cafe they sell quite a few finished woven items. Needless to say, I did not leave the place empty-handed.

I looked at this scarf over and over, and almost left without it until I overheard one of the shop owners tell another worker that the weaver is selling her loom and quitting the craft. How could I not get it?

But that's not all that came home with me.

I also could not resist this Prism Kid Slique in the "Smoke" colorway:

(this photo is more color-accurate)

which is for Prism's long-tailed wrap:

They had a store sample in a pinkish colorway that was quite lovely. (I've since found a free pattern on Prism's website that's very similar to the one I purchased, in case anyone reading this is interested...).

I also couldn't leave without this lovely Claudia's Hand Painted sock yarn, in her "Teal Party" colorway:

Teal.
Party.
Again, how could I not?

Next stop was The Knitting Tree:

Smaller than the first shop, but still quite nice, and I had a fun discussion with the owner on the addictive qualities of Ravelry. Oh, and I picked up some Dream in Color "Classy" in a gorgeous new colorway called "Pansy Golightly":

Shop owner Margaret said the iridescent colors reminded her of a shimmery oil slick, and I admit I must agree. I also grabbed Yarn Harlot's latest book. [I didn't even know she had a new one out, I'm so behind on hers (and everyone's) blogs.]

Last but not least, I made a return visit to The Sow's Ear, and was seduced by the siren song of this Colinette kit:

Hey, I'm nothing if not consistent -- I like what I like, and what I like happens to be teal. It's just a good thing that they don't make Rolex watches or Mercedes Benz in teal. And if they do, please don't tell me.

Wisconsin weather was quite spring-like last week -- we had a couple days in the low 70's -- and if it weren't for the bare, leafless trees and lack of pollen, I would have thought I hadn't left Richmond at all. Now that it's been raining buckets here for three days, I'm wistful for last week's Wisconsin sunshine.

The rain does has its advantages, though. Besides the obvious benefits of watering the plants and trees and replenishing aquifers, the giant puddle in front of my porch is keeping me out of yarn shops.

It's a good thing.

Saturday with Bess

2008-04-13T10:21:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday I drove 90 minutes north-eastward to Champlain, VA, near Tappahannock, to visit my friend Bess.

I came to know Bess via blogging. A couple years ago, our mutual knit-blogging friend and TNK founder Jane recommended that I read Bess' blog, and so I did, and became quickly enchanted by her fanciful writing style. A short while later, after exchanging blog comments, Bess & I discovered that we'd both attended the same high school, (although not at the same time). A friendship was born. Since then, we've met in person on many occasions, and usually at some fiber-related event, activity or location. Bess gave me my first drop spindle lesson (and ultimately created a monster). Bess is the adoptive parent of my first digital camera, and I freely admit it was given with a selfish, ulterior motive -- I wanted to see more photos on her blog! More recently she's surprised me with spinning fiber - a pound of a beautiful (teal!) merino-tencil roving. Last Saturday I contributed another drop spindle to her collection. You see how it goes -- that's what friends do.

Since my spinning classes last fall, and my more recent Wisconsin spinning retreat, I've been casually, unhurriedly window-shopping for wheels. Knowing this, Bess, as the owner of three beautiful wheels, invited me to come to her place for lunch and to test-drive her equipment. So, off I went.

As I arrived, I rolled down her mile-long rustic driveway through fields of ... something, (soybeans? winter rye?), and came upon this ruin:

Oh, how I loves me a good ruin. I took this as a good omen for the day. I could insert the obvious joke here -- "she told me her home was rustic, but I didn't realize it was this rustic!" -- but I'd rather just do as I always do when I see an abandoned building, which is wonder about all the history behind it. When was it built? Who lived there? When did it become forever-empty? How long did it take for vines and decay to take over? How long will it take before it collapses? I'm inexplicably fascinated by the evolution of decaying architecture.

You know, in 16th through 19th-century Europe, it was considered the height of fashion to have a ruin (also known as a "folly") in one's garden. But those ancient poseurs with their intentionally-constructed ruins had nothing on Bess. Her ruin came by its rot honestly, over time; there was no fakery involved. Didn't know you were so fashionable, did you, Bess?

As I got closer to her actual house, I was greeted by Bess and her sweet dogs, and after parking and hugs (Bess) and sniffs & pats (dogs), I was introduced to Bess' "Big Darlin'" (BD) husband, Ed. Every bit as tall and charming and deep-voiced as Bess has advertised, Ed was the one who built their lovely home in the late 70's/early 80's, and the home is as charming as its builder. As I was walked in the front door I was greeted by the smell of something delicious cooking in the kitchen. Bess gave me a tour of the place, which reminded me quite a bit of Robin H.'s house down in Clarksville, which was built in the early 1700's. I love old homes, and newer ones, too, that just hearken back to an older era.

After the tour we had a delicious lunch of sandwiches and homemade soup, and then set about the business at hand, which was wheel and fiber play:

L-R: antique wheel; Ashford Elizabeth; Golding

I was given the opportunity to spin on two of Bess' wheels -- her Ashford Elizabeth and her gorgeous, triple-flyer Golding, the Rolls Royce of spinning wheels. Bess feared that I might be spoiled forever for other wheels after spinning on the incredible Golding, and I must admit it is one smooth ride. But I know my limitations, and know I'm a fickle enough hobbyist that I won't be bringing such a precious thing into my house, where it would likely succumb to a cat knocking it over and breaking off something important. But, oh, it was very good to get to test drive a Golding. Now I can die happy.

I'm still leaning towards a Lendrum, at this stage, but am also keeping an open mind. After all, Maryland Sheep & Wool is just a few weeks away, and I'm very excited to be attending it this year as a new spinner. I will be looking at everything with new eyes, test driving lots of wheels, fondling all kinds of fiber, and I can't wait!

In between lunch and wheel play I helped Bess get her laundry off the line before the rain came, and got to see the yurt where she and Big Darlin' (Ed) and Little Darlin' (son William) lived during their early years. Such hippies! ;-) Seriously, such romantic images that lifestyle conjures in my mind! Little House on the Prairie, as Bess referred to it, but perhaps more accurately, Little Yurt on the Rappahannock River. (I know Bess has a photo of the yurt somewhere on her blog, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it to link to it, so you'll just have to imagine...). Also while we were outdoors, we got to see Mama Bald Eagle carrying some kind of prey in her claws back to the nest high atop a tree on Bess' property, near the water's edge. There's definitely something magical and precious about Bess & Ed's place there. I hope the entirety of it always stays in their family.

Back inside, here is Bess snuggling with one of her super-sweet doggies, Miss Priss, while seated in front of her one-of-a-kind Golding:

Here's Tom Golding's inscription on the bottom of the wheel:

And here is all that gorgeous hand-carving in a whirling blur of motion:

I still recall reading Bess' post after she acquired this lovely wheel, at the 2006 MS&W. It's quite a little thrill for me now to not only have seen it in person, but also to have actually spun on it. That Tom Golding - he's a master.

In fact, it was Bess who first introduced me to his spindles, way-back-when. (I've since purchased three of them, and have set my sights on more, when I hit his booth at this year's MS&W.) And it was Bess who told me about the John C. Campbell Folk School, a place I've since visited, an experience that is one of the highlights of my life. With tongue-firmly-in-cheek, I believe at the time I called her an evil temptress for her shameless enabling, but that's an unfair description, even in jest. Bess has actually enriched my life quite a bit, and I'm blessed to call her a friend.

Thanks for a lovely Saturday, Bess!

Susan's Fiber Shop Spinning Retreat 2008 - Saturday

2008-03-30T10:15:00.004-04:00

Saturday was a lovely day here in Columbus, WI, and I got the chance to drive out to Susan's Fiber Shop, which is a building on her farm. Here's her barn and some of her sheep:

She had me try out a couple more wheels at her shop, including a Majacraft Suzie Pro and a Kromski Sonata. That Kromski is lovely -- the best thing I'd spun on all weekend, to date, and she let me bring it back to the hotel to spin on it some more during the rest of the day. (I'd wrestled with the Majacraft Rose at the hotel earlier in the day, and at various points in the afternoon and evening, and never did conquer that machine. The Rose is pretty, but fiddly, so I feel comfortable ruling it out as an option for my first wheel.)

I seriously considered buying the Kromski Sonata from Susan to bring back home with me on the plane, but later changed my mind after I was able to spin on a Lendrum for a bit. Now I'm back to my original thinking, that a Lendrum is probably what I'll end up with, and I don't feel the need to get one this weekend.

So, I won't be breaking my no-wheel-shall-cross-my-threshold-until-there's-room-in-my-house-for-it vow, at least not as of this morning. This gives me more time to declutter the house and make room for it, try out a few more friends' wheels, and most importantly, shop the wheel vendors at Maryland Sheep & Wool. I've waited this long; I can certainly wait another month.

Lots of other cool crafts, classes and demonstrations took place on Saturday, including shibetty-dyeing, shirret, braided rug making, spinning beaded yarns, sock machine knitting and navajo three-plying. Susan says she'll give me a one-on-one lesson of navajo-plying today, and I'm looking forward to that. I did get to try out a navajo spindle, and it's kinda cool but I was correct in my estimation that it won't be replacing my affection for top whorl suspended spindles.

All weekend long there's been a masseuse giving chair massages, which is a nice bonus. I've yet to avail myself of that benefit, and probably won't, as I have to leave to catch my flight in early afternoon.

So, I will end this, but direct you back to my Flickr photoset, where I've added more photos from yesterday.

Thanks for stopping by!

Susan's Fiber Shop Spinning Retreat 2008 - Friday

2008-03-29T09:23:00.005-04:00

Don't know if it's Blogger or my computer or my slow wireless connection here at the hotel, but I'm not able to upload multiple pictures at a time this morning, so I will give you just this one, and then refer you to my Flickr photoset for the full batch of photos from my first day at the spinning retreat.

The rest of this post will be narrative (yawn).

So, I left the greater Madison, WI area around 12:30 pm on Friday and arrived in Columbus about an hour later. The retreat is at a local hotel, and we've taken over what would normally be their breakfast room with 30-40 people and their various fiber tools - spindles, wheels, electric spinners, and fiber, of course.

Shortly after I arrived, Susan got me started practicing on that Schacht LadyBug wheel you see in the above photo, and gave me a quick lesson on spinning from the fold, which I'd been wanting to learn. I practiced that for the rest of the day.

I like this wheel. I don't know that I love it, but I don't hate it, either. Today, (Saturday), I'm going to try using a Majacraft Rose and perhaps a Lendrum. Looking forward to seeing how they all compare to one another. I suspect that if/when the time comes for me to buy a wheel, it will be a Lendrum because of it's affordability, portability and versatility, but I don't want to rule anyone else out yet. Frankly, that electric spinner seems pretty darn cool, and definitely appeals to my very wide lazy streak as well as my space limitations....

In between spinning sessions, Susan gave demonstrations on how to create novelty batts and fiber using a picker and a drum carder and tossing in things like cut up pieces of ribbon, fabric and the like. She also gave a demonstration on how to spin overspun novelty yarns like those created by PluckyFluff. (I think there's an article in the Spring '08 issue Spin Off on a similar topic, but since I haven't received my issue yet.... Are you listening, Interweave...?) Definitely fun and interesting demos, but not something I'll attempt anytime soon -- I'll just be happy to be able to create a decent amount of consistently smooth yarn and have the colors and plies do what I want.

Several of the attendees, as well as Susan herself, are also vendors here, and they've set up shop in their various hotel rooms. There is a lot of fiber, yarn, books, tools, buttons, patterns, and handicrafts available for sale at incredibly reasonable prices. Despite my suitcase space limitations, you better know I picked up a few goodies, including two gorgeous hand-painted rovings, some beautiful batts, a lovely new spindle (surprise!) made by the brother of one of the attendee-vendors, and a couple of patterns. I forgot to photograph the loot yesterday -- perhaps I'll get to that today. I also hope to take a field trip to Susan's shop today, which is just 10 minutes from the hotel. I'll definitely bring the camera.

Today we're having several demonstrations on how to create beaded yarns, how to navajo ply (yippee! been wanting to learn this!), and how to make yarn with multi-colored rovings without muddying the colors, which also seems like a valuable skill.

A gal spinning on a wheel near me yesterday uses the Navajo spindle as her primary spinning tool of choice, so I'm looking forward to seeing her demonstrate that today, although I don't think it will replace my love of the top whorl drop spindle.

Edited to add:

Forgot to mention -- the big buzz around Columbus, WI is that Johnny Depp (and a film crew) have been in town filming a movie about John Dillinger. Susan's niece, I think, got some photos of him in town, and Susan posted them on the wall for all to enjoy. I took pictures of the photos, which are in my Flickr photoset. Supposedly Mr. Depp was staying at the same Marriott where I was staying in Madison, but, alas, we did not cross paths.

Well, I better end this post, jump in the shower and get started with my day. Here's hoping I'm able to post again tomorrow! 'Til then....

Wisconsin wanderings....

2008-03-27T18:53:00.005-04:00

I'm back in the greater Madison, WI area for another training class. This was the view outside the window at the training center today:

I never tire of the white stuff.

I arrived on Tuesday, and it was surprisingly warm -- almost 60 degrees, and much of the snow accumulation seen on my previous visit had melted.

The nearby lake ice was also starting to melt in places, yet was still mostly semi-frozen:

As is customary when I travel, I visited a yarn shop within an hour after arrival:

It's a combination quilt/yarn shop, and has a nice yarn selection for a place that's not 100% focused on knitting, including lots of Noro, Dream in Color Smooshy, Manos, and other lovelies. I grabbed a ball of Kid Merino in a pale mint green with the idea of creating an airy scarf using a mindless YO-k2tog lace pattern on large needles.

Tomorrow, I finish up my training class and then drive an hour to begin my weekend spinning retreat, which I'm very much looking forward to. I hope to have internet access at my lodging, and if so, should have at least one more blog post before I return home Sunday evening.

So, stay tuned!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T07:48:00.001-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T08:48:00.001-04:00

Full Day

2008-03-16T14:28:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I attended my first spinning guild meeting, and I picked a good day to join -- they were having their annual silent auction.

It was like a mini fiber festival -- so many lovely things for sale, including:

fleeces

fiber

spindles, tools, odds & ends

and equipment

That antique wheel is circa 1870, according to someone there, and it sold for $25! I thought about bidding on it, but I stuck to my "no wheel shall cross my threshold until I have room for it" vow. And I'd really rather my first wheel not be a fixer-upper.

I did pick up a few other things:

clockwise from top left:
a batt of dyed angora/cormo/silk blend
~3 oz. of cashmere roving from the goats of Kathy Oliver (of Scarlet Fleece fame)
Spinner figurine
little book -- "Your Handspinning"
Spin Off magazines from 1983 (year of my HS graduation, so they must be good)
Czech glass buttons
spindles from local woodworker ("Leaf Squeezer Turning") in (L-R): Bocote, Bubinga & Paduak woods

I left shortly after the auction was over because I had some birthday shopping to do at the nearby mall. While looking for a parking space, I couldn't help but notice this crazy car:

Apparently the owner works at the mall, because the car is there all the time, according to my sister-in-law who lives nearby. I suppose I've played right into the car owner's hands by posting these pictures on the web for all the world to see, but I found them too amusing to ignore.

Later, family & friends gathered to celebrate my brother's birthday a couple day's early. My always-capable sister-in-law served yummy hors d'oeuvres, traditional corned beef and cabbage, boiled potatoes, Irish soda bread, and of course, birthday cake:

not enough candles

And a good time was had by all.

On that note, I will end this, and wish everyone an early Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hooville Happenins

2008-03-14T22:20:00.009-04:00

Last Saturday I took a little roadtrip and met up with knitting friend Robin H. in Charlottesville.

We rendezvoused at one of C'ville's fine yarn establishments:

The Needle Lady

which, wouldn't you know it, just happened to be having a 40% off sale on select items. I managed to resist most of the temptation and got out of there with just a handful of this:

Noro Blossom
color # 15, Lot A

which will probably make a nice... well... you guessed it -- a hat.

Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch across the way at Hamilton's and were met there by Robin's friend Chan, and then walked back across the mall to Cville Arts:

a cooperative gallery with a really lovely assortment of beautiful handcrafted items, including this gorgeous mosaic bench on display out front:

as well as framed art, pottery, jewelry, and even knitted items and handspun yarn. The owner raises angora bunnies and spins the fiber into yarn, and then knits that yarn into bunnies. Art imitating life! I picked up one of the bunnies:

Uther pen Dragon
hand-knit angora bunny

to give to my niece who has a birthday that's near Easter. The owner puts a lot of love into the creation of these, and was so cute when she wrapped him up -- she gave him a little impromptu kiss on the head, to send him on his way to his new home.

Next, we headed 7 miles east to Stony Mountain Fibers, and met up with two more knit-blogger friends, Margaret and Roseanne.

Such a pretty drive up the road to Barbara Gentry's place:

where she keeps a couple dozen head of Cormo sheep:

Inside the shop, we descended on Barbara's inventory like a plague of locusts, (well, not really, but it's fun to imagine it that way). Here's Robin amidst some pretty yarn and fiber:

and here's the whole gang:

L-R: Robin, Rosanne, Margaret, Chan & Barbara

Barbara was gracious enough to allow me to try out some of her spinning wheels, including a couple of Fricke's, a Majacraft Susie, and her very own Ashford Elizabeth. My favorite was the Majacraft - I really liked its smooth action. And although I'm not a whole lot closer to making a final decision or a purchase, it was still good to get a little more hands-on and feet-on (treadling) experience under my belt.

Barbara has a big bin of pin-drafted Cormo roving from her own flock, which was just too lovely to pass up, so I picked up four ounces:

Cormo

Barbara has her fleeces processed by Zeilinger's, who clearly do a lovely job, so I've made a mental note of that for future reference, should I find myself with a fleece after an upcoming fiber festival. Zeilinger's does have a booth at MS&W after all. But, no, I have no business buying a sheep's worth of wool until I own a wheel, and perhaps not even then, at least not right away....

Soon it was time to say goodbye to all my fiber friends, and head back home down I-64E while being buffeted by Saturday's high winds, which, I was soon to discover, knocked out power at my house. Oh well -- that happens. Just makes you appreciate modern conveniences all the more....

On my way home, I hit another milestone:

Stopped on the side of the interstate to get that shot, as fierce winds whipped the car and traffic whizzed beside me. But you gotta catch these moments while they happen....

Anyone want to take bets on when and where I hit the big 100K?

...and W also stands for...

2008-03-12T21:11:00.006-04:00

wow.

As in, check out this architecture:

which sits incongruously across the street from this:

Yep, that's where I was taking a class last week. Way cool.

I did not make it to another yarn shop before I left, but did find a sushi place in town, so it's all good.

I have to be back there again for another class, week after next, and found out that Susan's Fiber Shop, a mere 45-minute drive away, is having a spinning retreat the weekend following my class, so I'm going to extend my visit through the weekend, and attend the retreat! She's going to loan me a wheel, since I don't yet own one, (and even if I did, I wouldn't be lugging it on planes with me).

Can't wait!

Closer to home, but on the same subject, I think I may attend this weekend's local spinning guild meeting -- it will be my first time. They're having a silent auction, which should be interesting. I look forward to meeting some other local spinners!

I have lots more things to blog about, but will try to post more tomorrow, (I hope).

Ta!

W stands for...

2008-03-03T22:20:00.003-05:00

...white:

...wool:

...and Wisconsin, where I am through Wednesday. Yep, managed to find a yarn shop less than 24 hours after my arrival, and within 2 miles of where I'm taking a training class. And what a great little shop it is. A really nice selection of yarns, a Ladybug spinning wheel that anyone can try out, a little bit of fiber and even some spindles. I resisted the yarn, but yes I did add another spindle to my collection - a 1.1 oz Schacht hi-lo, which I plan to use as a high whorl only (but it's always nice to have options).

The best part about this shop, I think, is that the owner was smart enough to realize that knitters really do love to eat and drink while they knit, and with that knowledge, she devoted half the shop to selling lovely coffee drinks and sandwiches, including a warm seating area where one can sit and knit and/or eat & drink. The shop stays open until 8:30 on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, (another smart move), and I believe the owner said that every other Friday they have a wild, late-evening knit night until 11 pm. That's my kind of yarn shop! The owner, (whose name I failed to catch) was incredibly friendly and welcoming. I've got to be back here in the Madison area twice more over the next two months, so I think I'll be paying her shop another visit. There's also one or two other yarn shops in the Madison area; perhaps I'll try to visit the one near my hotel tomorrow.

Speaking of hotel, here's the view out my window this morning:

that's my rental car there, in the middle

The weather last night and this morning was nothing short of wretched, especially in comparison to the 60-degree temps I left on Sunday. Last night there was pouring rain (an odd "warm" spell for them with temps in the high 30's/low 40's), and rolling fog that made driving the very rural roads from the airport to the hotel a white-knuckled joyless joyride. At some point overnight, the rain turned to snow, and there was a new 2" of the white stuff coating everything by the time I scraped the car before heading to the training site. You know it's a bad sign when the hotel concierge, a Wisconsin native, says as you're walking out the front door, "you're going out in this?".... So, yes, another white-knuckled icy-road experience this morning, but I made it without harming myself, anyone else, or the rental car. My class instructor told us that this has been the worst Wisconsin winter on record - more snow than they've ever measured before. So, I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't -11 degrees like I heard it was a few weeks ago.

But these northerners are nothing if not efficient, and by this afternoon the roads were salted & scraped, clean and dry, with the help of some late day sunlight, so the driving back to the hotel was easy. High temperature today was about 25, which is surprisingly tolerable if one is wearing rabbit-lined leather gloves and the wind isn't blowing. I've always said that I like the cold, and winter, and snow, and that hasn't changed. In fact, when introducing ourselves today we had to share our favorite winter get-away; I shared that I'd never been this far north in winter, and was loving it, despite the horrible driving conditions. I believe tomorrow (Tuesday) should be cold and clear; Wednesday is supposed to see more precipitation.

It's very pretty here, if you like rural, snow-covered pastoral scenery, and I really do. There are farms and barns and silos everywhere, and clapboard houses rule the day -- nary a brick rancher to be seen anywhere. The very modern architecture of the complex where I'm training is quite a departure from the surrounding scenery -- I will try to get a photo or two of it tomorrow. But it stands in stark contrast to the surrounding countryside. Case in point -- that first photo up top was taken from my classroom window.

On one of my next trips up here, I may have to take a little road trip to visit Susan's Fiber Shop, just an hour or so away, in Columbus, WI. I hear nothing but great things, and was quite amazed at her offerings at SAFF last year. It would be fun to see her shop in person.

Well, it's been a full day, and I must say goodnight.

Until tomorrow, I wish you well!

Wanna Buy a Yarn Shop?

2008-02-21T19:17:00.006-05:00

Friend and fellow Tuesday Night Knitter Mary Jane Watkins has asked me to post the following message on my blog, and as sad as I am for her that she's facing such a transition, I will happily do whatever I can to help her out. So, feel free to spread the word:

CONTACT INFORMATION:

email: mjwatkins@live.com
web: http://www.unraveledrichmond.com

Fear of Plying

2008-02-17T18:15:00.006-05:00

Since my last post about my drop spindle collection, I've acquired few more, which I need to blog about at some point, just so I'll have some documentation for my own memory as to where I got them, and what they're made of, etc. It's truly become a serious collection, with no end it sight, so it seems. I daydream longingly about a couple of gorgeous one-of-a-kind vintage Goldings that go for as much as some wheels. Still haven't found the justification to get one of those, but I haven't forgotten about them, either!

One of my more recent acquisitions is this Jenkins Turkish made from Amboyna Burl:

pretty, no?
(and nope, I've not heard of that wood before, either)

After having relative success with my various top whorl spindles, this Turkish was a definite departure, and therefore had a bit of a learning curve, especially as I found very little decent information online about how to spin with one of these. I ended up ordering Wanda Jenkins' "Learn to Spin with a Turkish" book & DVD, and the book itself was good enough to where I was able to figure out what I needed to do. Never did have to watch the DVD....

The learning curve with the Turkish involves the fact that the "whorl" (really the two cross arms) is on the bottom, and there is no hook. Instead one must use a leader yarn and tie a half-hitch, and that took some practice to get the hang of doing smoothly. The nice thing about Jenkins' Turkish spindles is that they have a little nubbin at the top of the shaft so that the half-hitch doesn't slide off until you want it to. These spindles are not only beautiful, but also very well made, incredibly balanced, and spin for ages, so if you're in the market for a Turkish spindle, I'd highly recommend a Jenkins. Their customer service is superb, as well -- I dealt directly with Wanda Jenkins, and she was kind enough to email back and forth with me several times to answer a few of my questions. As seems to be the case for a lot of these mom & pop spindle-making operations, Wanda is the spinner & fiber artist, her husband Ed is the master woodworker. You can't help but have a quality product with that kind of partnership.

The cool thing about a Turkish spindle is that as you wind on your spun singles yarn around the cross arms , you create a center-pull ball that is ready to ply or knit with right then and there. This went a long way in helping me get over another learning curve, namely, plying.

When I was giving my friend Rita her drop spindle lesson a few weeks ago, she teased me that I kept buying spindles because I hadn't yet figured how to ply, and needed new spindles to spin up new yarn once the old ones got full. Well, she wasn't far off. I'd plied yarn on a spinning wheel, but never on a spindle, and for some reason, I had a mental block when it came to spindle plying. It wasn't that I didn't know how. I've been reading up on it and talking to everyone I could about the subject, and could speak intelligently about at least three different ways of plying spindle-spun yarn. I was just afraid to try it -- afraid I'd make a big tangled mess that would frustrate me so much that I'd be permanently turned off of my adored newfound hobby.

But, finally, once I mastered spinning singles on the Turkish spindle, I decided I wanted to use it for plying up two other spindles full of singles yarn -- it just seems so well suited for that.

Before I could ply up those other spindles of yarns, however, I needed to decide what to do with the tee-tiny little practice ball of singles already on the Turkish -- I hated to waste it. Since it was already a center-pull ball, why not ply that to itself? And that is what I did.

To ply my little center-pull ball, I decided to use my Louet top whorl student spindle instead, (top left in this photo), and I just made sure I had it spinning counter-clockwise (S-twist), since the singles were originally spun clockwise (Z-twist).

Here's the resulting tee-tiny hank of 2-ply yarn, all 8 yards of it:

what d'ya think -- fingering weight?

After I plied that tiny ball of yarn, I was just so proud of myself that I had to take pictures, including the obligatory dime-with-yarn photo. (I never knew how much of pain those damn dime photos are!) The fiber, by the way, is a little sample that came with the Turkish spindle, and according to the receipt, it's Crown Mountain Farms Corriedale pencil roving in their "Azure" colorway, (which doesn't appear to be currently available on their website). I'm a big fan of CMF's pencil roving, so was delighted to get another nice sample to play with.

I still haven't gotten around to actually plying up the other two spindles of singles, as was my original intention -- that will have to wait for another day.

And my days are about to become quite full, as tomorrow I start a brand-spanking new job, right here in River City. After 2½ years of self-employment and 8 years of working for people in cities other than my own, I've decided to take a job working for The Man -- the kind of job with a commute and benefits and orientation and evaluations and a dress code. I'm a little daunted by the thought of all that structure again -- I may find myself bristling against it. Here's hoping I don't freak out and run screaming from the building on my first day.

Speaking of a dress code -- how much of a nightmare is the phrase "business casual"? Enough to strike terror in the heart of this fashion-challenged gal. My entire wardrobe consists either of consultant clothes (way-too-formal suits and dresses), or homeless-wear (sweats & t-shirts). Not much in between. So I found myself having to hit a few department stores recently, to try and fill in some gaps. I met with decent success at Talbots and Dillards; Macys and Saks were a total bust. I may try Nordstroms if I can work my way over to Short Pump tomorrow after orientation. I need some decent shoes, too, and Saxon's purports to carry the odd sizes that'll fit my Fred Flintstone feet.

And speaking of orientation, I've got a boat-load of paperwork they want filled out before tomorrow's first day activities, so I guess I can't avoid it any longer -- better get to it.

Nighty-night!

(Doesn't seem fair that my first day is on a federal holiday. And so, the griping begins...).

Happy VD

2008-02-14T01:07:00.003-05:00

;-)

Go Dukes!

2008-02-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

I am an alumnus of James Madison University who happens to have:

2 brothers
2 sisters
1 brother-in-law
2 sisters-in-law

who also attended that same fine school. Therefore, it's no stretch of the imagination to believe that we were all quite beside ourselves when the oldest grandchild decided to attend our fine alma mater, home of the Purple and Gold.

So, I've been wanting to knit my freshman nephew D. a hat to wear around campus, and I finally finished and mailed it to him last week. (See -- I still knit on rare occasions, when not completely consumed by the drop spindle!)

Anyway, here be the hat:

my same basic formula, just different colors

Specs:
Yarn:
* Main: Elann Peruvian Uros Aran (50/50 wool/llama) in "Dusky Purple" (#1012), ~100 yards
* Stripes: Elann Peruvian Uros Aran in "Mayan Gold" (#1190), ~20 yards
Gauge: 4 stitches per inch
Needles: U.S. size 8 (5 mm) Clover bamboo 7" DPNs
Pattern: cast on 88 stitches, join in the round, K2,P2 every round for ~1-2", then knit every round for ~4", add stripes where desired; decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator
Size: ~22" circumference
Recipient: Nephew D., freshman at JMU

College boy plays snares on the marching band drumline, and last fall they had a "band parents weekend", so a bunch of his JMU-alum aunts and uncles (myself included) horned in on the day to watch the band warm up before the Towson football game.

Here's a little taste of the warm-up:

(Feedblitz email subscribers go here to see video.)

This proud Auntie shot lots more video, but won't bore you with it here.

She will, however, bore you with a few more photos:

the proud parents

I love the following photo because I inadvertently captured the proud papa, (white hat), grandpapa, (green hat), and (bored) cousin (wrapped in brown blanket) in the background:

And yes, he already has a JMU hat, but it's not lovingly handmade by his aunt. So there.

Here's a little bit of the football game:

JMU won

Halftime show:

Here's the best part -- the JMU Marching Band will be performing in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Guess where I'll be on the 4th Thursday in November? Anyone know any good places to stay along the parade route? :-)

Saturday with Friends & Yarn

2008-02-10T15:37:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, some knitting friends and I participated in a little yarn crawl about an hour east of Richmond. Linda, Issy, Sheddy, and myself met at a local Starbucks, and Linda drove, while my GPS ("Nigel") and I navigated, and Sheddy & Issy provided entertaining commentary from the back seat.

Within an hour we had arrived at our destination:

Sheddy, Linda & Issy

-- none other than the fabulous Knitting Sisters yarn shop in Williamsburg, VA. I'd never been to that shop before, and had heard nothing but good things, so was eager to check out their offerings.

Shortly after our arrival we met up with two more knitting friends:

Robin H. & Pam

Shortly after their arrival, another knitting friend, Jennifer, joined us, and while some of us sat and knit in Knitting Sisters' comfy knitting chairs:

Pam, Linda & Jennifer

...others of us shopped their lovely wares:

They carry a lovely assortment of yarns, and I think if I'd been left to my own devices, I might have put a hurtin' on their inventory, but with the distraction of friends and conversation, I was able to resist, and left there empty-handed. I'll definitely be back there, though, next chance I get!

I couldn't resist capturing a little video of the sheepy cuckoo clock they have on the wall. Check it out:

(Feedblitz email subscribers go here to see video)

On our way back to the car, we walked by a home & garden shop with this gorgeous bench out front:

I love garden benches, and weather-proof concrete is surely tempting, if ridiculously heavy, (and probably outrageously pricey). It's fun to dream, though.

After we left Knitting Sisters, we decided to eat lunch at Old Chickahominy House:

They were fairly busy and couldn't seat us right away, but no matter -- we were able to browse their lovely gift shop while we waited:

Lunch was delicious. I had a basic cheeseburger and a piece of chocolate pie for dessert; others in our group raved about the traditional Brunswick Stew, ham biscuits and coconut pie they were served.

Afterwards, Jennifer made a scruffy friend in the parking lot:

The next stop on our journey was Coordinated Colors yarn shop in Yorktown, (click link at your own risk; it's a very busy website), which has a fairly unassuming exterior:

Inside, we were amazed at the quantity and variety of yarns carried in this shop, where you might find Red Heart in the same aisle right next to the Lily Chin. We all agreed that she carried many yarns we had never heard of; her sock yarn selection was incredible. The store owner told us that she donates much of her discontinued yarns to charity, so if you're a charity knitter, give her a call -- she said she's happy to box up yarns sitting idle in her warehouse and send them on to someplace where they can do some good.

I admired this particular entrelac triangular shawl that was on display:

with a very interesting fringe:

I believe Linda purchased the pattern for this shawl, which was knit with a Jojoland yarn. Seems like Noro Kureyon or Silk Garden would work well for it, too....

But again, I left another yarn shop empty-handed. (What's wrong with me? I don't know, except that I think I'm currently a little disgusted with the size of my yarn stash, and am also currently in more of a fiber and drop spindle purchasing mindset.... Look out Maryland Sheep & Wool!)

After leaving Coordinated Colors, we made another stop, this time at Trader Joe's in Newport News, a first-time visit to this grocery chain for many of us. What an interesting place! They were jam-packed with pre-Super Bowl shoppers, but the checkout lines moved quickly. I managed to grab a few yummy items (granola, chocolate-covered blueberries, sweet potato chips, etc.), which I've been munching on all week. Word is that there's a Trader Joe's coming to Short Pump, (which might as well be Newport News, as far as this southside gal is concerned), but it's a nice store, so I'd be happy to shop there again next time I'm near one.

After we left Trader Joe's, we hopped in our cars and went on our way home, but made one last stop to hit the ladies room:

...and look who was going through the drive-thru at the same time:

Fun times, everyone! Let's do it again!

I don't mean to be reclusive...

2008-02-05T22:19:00.000-05:00

...but sometimes I'm just quiet.

I'm an introvert, after all, which is why I really don't mind living alone. When I'm working from home, much of my week is spent in quiet solitude, save for the occasional cooing over one cat or another who wants attention. (Single female, lives alone, two cats, knits, gardens -- could I be any more of a cliché?)

Sometimes I get so caught up in my introverted ways that I get out of the habit of blogging. But I do have several things I want to blog about, and hope to accomplish that in the next few days. Right now, however, I thought I'd take a moment to write about where I've been this evening.

I have a small group of friends whom I've known for almost 20 years. When our schedules have allowed, we meet weekly around one friend's kitchen table, to share our joys, weep over sorrows and pray together over ongoing concerns. One friend is retired, one is an accountant, one is a school nurse.

I hadn't seen these friends in months -- we all got busy last summer and just hadn't had a chance to meet in ages. In early December, Linda, the nurse, invited us for a Christmas dinner at her house, but that was hastily postponed after she learned that her only son had been wounded in Iraq. He's now stateside at Walter Reed and recuperating amazingly well, due in no small part to the prayers and good will of many, many folks.

Tonight, Linda was finally ready to host that postponed Christmas dinner, and it was such a joy to see these women I have known and loved for so long, but hadn't seen in months. We picked up right where we left off, and at one point this evening I looked around the dinner table, feeling incredibly blessed, thinking about how long we've known each other, all the things we've carried each other through, and how blessed I was to have that bond.

As we came through the front door tonight and hugged each other hello, Linda couldn't wait to tell us the latest news about this brave son of hers, who just a few weeks ago had made the difficult decision to allow surgeons to amputate his severely damaged leg. Linda told us that today he walked his first few steps on a prosthesis, unaided. His rapid recovery and incredibly high spirits have amazed and inspired friends, family and doctors alike. Again, I feel blessed to be a witness to such a miracle, when by all accounts he should not have even survived the explosion of that IED, the same explosion that took the life of one of his buddies.

As much as I hated missing my fiber friends at knit night tonight, it sure was wonderful to get to see these other friends, and be reminded of how much they mean to me. Here's hoping we'll be able to get back into our regular weekly meeting schedule around the kitchen table. But don't worry, TNK'ers, I'll make sure it's not on Tuesday nights -- you're stuck with me! :-)

Squirrel Update

2008-01-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

I forgot to post an update earlier in the week on the squirrel situation here at Chez Tiny-'n-Cluttered.

After the critter control guy left last Friday, and as I was packing and getting ready to leave for my long weekend, I continued to hear scurrying and scrambling in the general vicinity of the fireplace. Just before I drove off, I walked around to the backside of the chimney and took one last peek into the trap. Bingo! A furry varmint captured and ready for liberation! I called the critter control folks and they agreed to return the following day to release the squirrel and cap my chimney. I also had them re-screen my bathroom exhaust fan vent (where the starlings like to congregate in the spring), and my gable vents (where bats supposedly like to roost).

The hatches are now sufficiently battened down against another season of wild animal infestation.

I love a happy ending.

Eastern North Carolina Adventures

2008-01-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

I last left you with a description of Sunday, the last official day of our 2008 Knitting on the Lake retreat.

Monday morning dawned clear and very cold on the shores of Kerr Lake Reservoir in Clarksville, VA:

as Rita, Phyllis, Dave and I packed up, checked out of the Best Western, and headed 2 hours southeast to Murfreesboro, NC to visit The Woolery:

As soon as we walked inside, we were met with this beautiful sight:

baskets and baskets of drop spindles
(insert happy sigh here)

I'd seen their drop spindle offerings online, and in fact, I'd already purchased two via mail order. But to get to see and touch that huge selection in person, well, it was nothing short of delightful. Dave teasingly gave me his "permission" to buy six. I managed to get out of the shop with just three -- a Kundert, a Greensleeves, and a Tahkli support spindle & bowl. I also came home with some Louet combed sliver in a their "Cotton Candy" colorway, and some Optim stretched merino roving in their "Peace Sign" colorway. And maybe a few other little goodies.

Surprisingly, I barely looked at the spinning wheels, the very items I came all the way to Murfreesboro to see. They were just not calling to me. I did take a brief, closer look at a Hitchhiker, which, until Monday I'd dismissed outright because of its diminutive size. I had felt sure it would be a back-breaker, and that may still be the case - I did not test drive Woolery's floor model, so that will have to wait until my next opportunity. A tiny wheel has obvious advantages, though, especially in my 900 sq.ft. house, so I'm now reconsidering my earlier dismissal of the cute little wheel with its barefoot-shaped treadle.

But I still feel no urgency to get a wheel. I'm just having too much fun with spindles and spindling. And I'm not the only one!

I was not the only one who left with a spindle in my shopping bag. Phyllis bought a beautiful Kundert, and Rita bought the last remaining sculpted pansy spindle, white with a purple blotch - so pretty! I have one in yellow, myself, or I might have wrestled Rita for that white one.

After we left The Woolery, we stopped for lunch at a local diner, and somewhere along Main Street, between the diner, the fiber shop and the gas station my plans changed. Rita invited me to visit her new home on the shores of the Currituck Sound. Easily swayed by the lure of the coast and my relatively light work schedule as of late, I happily agreed. So, instead of pointing my car northward towards home, I maintained my due-east heading and followed Rita's SUV and Phyllis & Dave's rented PT Cruiser for another 90 minutes, until we eventually arrived in Grandy, NC, and pulled up to Rita & John's lovely abode at a new active adult community in North Carolina's Outer Banks.

Rita's & John's new home
(photo sent by Rita last fall)

After Rita introduced me to her husband John and bulldog Rosebud, she gave a grand tour of her sunny, open and airy home, and then we headed off to dinner at the Coinjock Marina Restaurant. I had the quail (possibly my first ever), but the real hit of the meal, in addition to their delicious fresh homemade potato chips coated with Old Bay seasoning, was their yummy Key Lime Pie martinis, complete with graham cracker crumb-coated rims. I had just one, but could easily have downed a second. Possibly a third....

After dinner, we returned to Rita & John's house, and it was time to get serious with spindles and fiber. A day earlier I had given Phyllis a drop spindle lesson, so Monday evening she received a brief refresher and was then well on her way. Phyllis knows how to wheel-spin, so already understands the concept of drafting, which made her a very good student.

Rita, who has never touched wheel, spindle or unspun fiber in her life, is nothing short of a genius! After no more than a 20-minute lesson, she was flying solo with the park-and-draft method, and I just sat on the couch and beamed with pride at my bright-shining students:

There were no lumpy-bumpy, thick-and-thin beginners yarns for these gals. Right away they were making smooth, fingering-to-sport weight singles, and looking like professionals. I firmly believe that the right tools (good spindles, easy-to-draft pencil roving) make learning this skill a breeze. We all stayed up past midnight playing with our spindles before wandering off to bed.

Tuesday morning we ate scrambled eggs for breakfast that had Phyllis' generously-donated leftover seafood incorporated in them -- yum! I then had an unshirkable conference call at 11, but shortly after that we were on our way to points south.

Our first stop was Knitting Addiction in Southern Shores, where we drooled and fondled and lusted after their huge assortment of Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets in every gorgeous color and fiber combination imaginable. I think I could have dropped a cool grand on that yarn without blinking, and still have left wanting more. But I resisted their siren song and left empty-handed, which, if you'd seen her new Tinkerbell sock yarn in the Aquatide colorway, you'd have given me a medal. I did get a chance to thank shop owner Jeanne in person for donating some door prizes to our knitting retreat. As luck would have it, I was the happy recipient of one of those door prizes, which was, as you might have guessed, a hank of Ellyn Cooper's yarn. Life is very good. :-)

Fortunately for my crumbling resistance, we had a lunch appointment and left the yarn shop before I lost all self control and started rolling around in the silk & merino blends.

The five of us were joined for lunch at the Black Pelican in Kitty Hawk by my sister Terry and her two daughters, all of whom live in Colington. Dare County schools have a five-day weekend every year around the MLK holiday, so it was a nice treat to get to see all of them. At Terry's recommendation, I ordered the chicken salad on pita sandwich, which was delicious and filling.

After lunch, I said goodbye to my sister and nieces, and Rita, Dave, Phyllis & I headed further south, to hit the outlet mall, where I picked up some rabbit-lined leather gloves at Wilson's leather for half price. Gotta love outlet stores. We then drove to Manteo where, alas, the other Outer Banks yarn shop, Fine Yarns at Kimbeeba, was closed. But all was not lost, for just around the corner is a delightful weaving shop, Endless Possibilities. Since both Phyllis & Dave are weavers, that shop was a big hit, and I do believe they left the place quite inspired.

Before we left Manteo, we had to get the obligatory photo of grown adults sitting in the Great Big Chair:

Rita, Phyllis & Dave

Aren't they cute?

By the time we arrived back at Rita's house in Grandy, it was dinnertime, and we had some yummy Chinese takeout. And after dinner Dave, Phyllis & I decided we were too tired and it was too dark to drive to our ultimate destinations, so were treated to another night at Rita & John's beautiful home. (Okay, twist my arm!)

Wednesday morning we were showered, breakfasted, packed and out of the house by 10, but before we were on our way, John was kind enough to give us all a tour of the grounds of their new community, complete with a drive by the lapping shoreline of the Currituck Sound just a few hundred yards from their back door. A little slice of heaven on earth.

I must say that I never expected our knitting retreat weekend to turn into such a fantastic extended holiday, and I am truly richer for such a fun experience with these friends whom I've gotten to know better. Accepting Rita's invitation was one of those carpe diem moments that I highly recommend. Sieze the day, I say, whenever feasibly possible.

Thank you, Rita & John, for inviting me into your home and your lives for two lovely and joyful days and nights. And thank you, Phyllis & Dave, for making the experience even more fun. I feel blessed that I can count all of you as friends. :-)

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to Robin H. for organizing another fun-derful knitting weekend on the lake.

Oh, and I've uploaded some more photos from the weekend out to Flickr, here, for anyone who hasn't had enough already!

Knitting on the Lake 2008 - Sunday

2008-01-21T07:28:00.001-05:00

Sunday, here in Clarksville on Kerr Lake (aka Buggs Island Lake) was another fun day. Our large group gathered once again in the hotel's conference room to knit and chat and visit and spin and spend. Folks packed up and left in dribs and drabs by early afternoon, but a small group of us remained, to stay another night so that we might partake in another adventure today, Monday.

Sunday afternoon I was given a special treat. Robin H., who lives in nearby Buffalo Junction, gave me the grand tour of her wonderful old home, built in 1790, and equally wonderful studio (bigger than my house!), and also introduced me to three of her furry children:

Earl Gray, George & Gracie
(George is licking his chops in anticipation of treats in Robin's hand)
*

Her kitties are so cute, and anyone who regularly reads Robin's blog has seen George & Gracie grow from tee-tiny kittens to the adolescent cats that they are today, full of energy, mischief and spunk, while the older Earl Gray tolerates them patiently.

George especially likes to play with Robin's feather-duster:

and is particularly cute after he's captured his "prey". He will carry it around the room proudly as if he stalked & killed it himself:

before mama Robin must rescue the feather duster from a messy demise.

I also got to meet Robin's husband Andy, and was able to talk them both into joining Rita, Phyllis, Dave & myself for dinner at the Lake House restaurant again.

After dinner we said our goodbyes and thank-yous to Robin & Andy, and headed on back to the hotel.

Since my bedroom had a king bed (rather than two queens like most of the rooms), I had a little sitting area where I entertained "houseguests":

Rita, Phyllis & Dave
*

as we knit, crocheted, spun and chatted late into the evening.

Rita & Phyllis are members of our Richmond knitting group who have both since moved to other parts of the country, so it was a special treat to have them attend this fibery weekend.

Phyllis' husband Dave is a masterful crocheter, and worked all weekend on this beautiful baby blanket:

Today, the four of us are checking out of our hotel and heading to our various final destinations by way of a mutual side trip to Murfreesboro, NC, to visit The Woolery, home of all things fibery and good. Phyllis & Dave are also weavers and spinners, and so will have lots at that shop to capture their fancy, no doubt. I, myself may test-drive a few spinning wheels, although I'm not sure if I'm ready yet to buy. But I wouldn't be surprised if a spindle or two came home with me.... And maybe some fiber....

Anyway, I'd better end this so I can start my day! Later!

Knitting on the Lake 2008 - Saturday

2008-01-20T08:50:00.001-05:00

Saturday was a long, full and fun day, here on the shores of Buggs Island Lake. Lots happened, thanks to the organizational genius that is Robin Hasty. We had vendors (yarn! jewelry! stitch markers! row counters! baskets! soaps, creams & oils! oh, my!), we had door prizes, we had swaps. We shopped, we ate, we knit, we spun (spinned?). And a lot of it was documented photographically by myself and/or Robin H. on her blog.

I'll upload the rest of my photos to Flickr and link to them in a day or so, but today have included a few highlights for you here.

Saturday's high points included seeing some pretty snow falling on the lake:

(click ^ for big)
(can you see the flakes?)

And an even more momentous event -- Tami finished her premie cap!

Tami will be the first to admit that it took a village for her to finish this project. (Just ask Renny, who helped untangle Tami's yarn for what seemed like hours!)

Here's Tami placing her premie cap with the others:

And here it is, resting in its place honor:

Congratulations, Tami! :-)

Now, I must be off to the shower and getting on with Sunday fun!

Knitting on the Lake 2008 - Friday

2008-01-19T08:27:00.001-05:00

We're here!

Robin H.'s mother continues to outdo herself:

Sunset view from my bedroom's patio:

(I think I have the same room as last year!)

Dinnertime antics at The Lake House restaurant:

Premie caps -- this year's charity project:

Check out Robin H.'s way-cool cone-holder thingy:

(knitting & wine go so well together)

Pam & Emmy continue to be adorable, this time in sock monkey PJs:

and sock monkey slippers!

We have a much larger crowd this year:

but Robin H. continues to work her magic to make this a fun event for everyone, and the room doesn't feel crowded at all.

Speaking of which, time to shower so I can go out and play! :-)

See you tomorrow!

It figures...

2008-01-18T12:28:00.001-05:00

...that just as I'm trying to leave town, a !#$%^&*! squirrel has fallen down my chimney. This is the second time in five years this has happened. Why, oh why, didn't I pay to have the guy cap my chimney back then? I called the same critter control folks I called last time. Same guy showed up. This time he set a trap. He'll be coming back tomorrow to check it. I'm sure hoping for a successful outcome this time. It was not so successful 4½ years ago; (read: subsequent terrible odor and flies...).

But, mercifully, I won't have to listen to its heart-wrenching efforts to escape, at least for the next couple of days. My cats, on the other hand, will have hours of entertainment....

Hope to blog later today or tomorrow from our lake retreat venue.

'Til then, have a great weekend!

TNK Two-fer

2008-01-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

Two. Two. Two TNK posts-in-one!

I failed to blog about last week's Tuesday Night Knitters gathering, so will combine it into one blog post along with a report on last night's TNK gathering.

Last week, we had a good-sized crowd:

look at all those busy knitters!

Our avid shawl-knitter Isobel recently finished a Midwinter's Eve mystery shawl, but didn't like the color, so she gave it to Patsy, in exchange for some of Patsy's handspun yarn in a lovely tonal orange. It's a singles yarn that appears to be maybe aran weight and reminds me of Manos, and Issy says she'll be making a vest with it. Wish I'd remembered to photograph the yarn.

Anyway, here's Patsy modeling her new Issy-knit shawl:

love it!

Also not recorded for posterity at last week's knit night was a really cool demonstration of the value of sweater shavers. Linda brought an old pair of handknit socks, one of which looked every bit its age -- i.e. covered in fuzzy pills. The other sock, however, looked brand-spanking, never-been-worn, just-knit, bright-and-shiny new. All thanks to a little de-pilling with the sweater shaver. I am sold! Linda says she may bring her little show-and-tell this weekend, and if so, I'll be sure to get photos then. (What's happening this weekend, you ask? I'll get to that in a moment...).

At last night's gathering, we had an equally large and boisterous crowd:

Hi everybody!

You may recall this photo from about a month ago, of Jon knitting a Hokie scarf for a friendly B&N employee who requested it:

Well, Jon finished it fairly quickly, and last night we were finally able to present Wayne with his new scarf. Doesn't he look handsome?

it says "TNK" on it!

it looks especially nice with his overcoat :-)

In return, Wayne has been sneaking little niceties for us here and there. One of our members spotted this last night on the best selling paperbacks shelf:

and last week, Wayne reserved our tables for us before we'd even arrived. I wish I'd taken a photo of the cute little sign he made. (I was just not on the photographic ball last week...).

Last night, a few of our knitters modeled various knitted items:

Jane and her lovely Arwen-in-progress
*

Linda models her Stripes & Bobbles scarf from Scarf Style
(knit for her by her friend Cindy)

Lou worked on her log cabin blanket-in-progress

Finally, when I got in my car to leave last night, I noticed that my odometer had turned over to this nice round number:

It's a Toyota, so I'm hoping I'll get another 50K out of it before I need to replace it. So far, so good. My next car will be a hybrid, or maybe hydrogen-powered, if it holds out long enough....

This weekend I'll be a few hundred miles closer to that encroaching 100K mark when I drive down to Clarksville for our knitting group's 2nd Annual Knitting at the Lake retreat. If interested, you can read about last year's event, starting here.

Can't wait!

Hawaii flashback = cure for blogger's block

2008-01-07T22:57:00.001-05:00

Happy 2008!

I will not be posting any lists in this, my first post of the New Year. For some reason, I'm in no mood for lists. There will be no look-at-what-I-knit/learned/spun-in-2007 list, nor any what-I-want-to-knit/learn/spin-in-2008 list.

Just life as usual. The status quo. Frankly, I'm still trying to catch up with things held over from last year. I don't really have that fresh-clean feeling of a new year, that I've had in years past.

I'm back in my boring, post-holiday, day-in, day-out routine, and am more than a little blocked for decent blog content, (perhaps I should reconsider the lists?), so tonight, when I started looking at some old photos from my last trip to Hawaii, I thought, "Eureka! Blog fodder!"

Regular readers may recall that I lived there (Kailua-Kona) for a couple of years, ('90-'92). I've been back several times since, and most recently, (in June/July '03) for my old roommate's wedding. Some friends came with me and, after the wedding, we played tourist around the Big Island. I never get tired of the place.

Here's a few reasons why:

beautiful Kona sunsets
*

beautiful Waimea, (aka Kohala),
reminds me of the Blue Ridge Mountains
*

lovely mural on the side of a gas station at Waiohinu
*

Waipio Valley
*

island artwork in Honoka'a
*

weird heart-shaped fruit
(being modeled by my friend Jill)
*

ferns in the Thurston Lava Tube at Volcanoes National Park
*

life clings tenaciously to the side of Kilauea caldera
*

south end of a northbound horse under a sideways tree at South Point

For my next post, if I'm still blocked, maybe I'll post pictures from my friend's wedding....

A hat, a hero, and justice

2007-12-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

A smörgåsbord blog post for your Boxing Day pleasure.

First of all...

A hat:

Specs:
Yarn: Lana Grossa "Easy" 100% merino superwash, purchased at Knitting Basket
Color: 006 Green
Lot: 6206
Yardage: used slightly more than two 55 yard balls, so, ~120 yards, total
Gauge: ~2.75 stitches per inch
Needles: U.S. size 11 (8 mm) Denise circulars w/ 12" cable & Crystal Palace bamboo 8" DPNs
Pattern: cast on 56 stitches, join in the round, K2,P2 every round for ~3-4", then knit every round for 3-4", decrease & finish according to Super Simple Hat Calculator
Size: ~20" circumference
Recipient: BIL John, for Christmas

The yarn for this hat is discontinued, thus I got it on sale, and bought all four balls they had in this color. I still have almost two balls left, enough to do another hat, for sure.

I may go back and buy what they have left in the other remaining colors, because, I always seem to find myself at the last minute looking for chunky superwash wool yarn, which is hard to find, at least locally. You can't beat chunky superwash wool for a quick and easy-to-knit hat that you can give to anyone with confidence and know it might not get destroyed after the first inadvertent toss in the washer. Not that this basic hat is any great work-of-art, but I like to think that the recipient will get more than one wearing out of it.

Sure, there are plenty of chunky acrylic yarns out there, but since most of my finished objects are given away, the greatest pleasure I have with the project is doing the actual knitting, and I therefore prefer to knit with lovely, forgiving, elastic wool. If I'm hating the yarn, I'll hate the knitting, and chances are the project will get set aside for an unspecified amount of time, or, perhaps, forever. A character flaw, no doubt, but, if I'm not enjoying a hobby, and it is no longer a pleasurable activity, then the hobby itself may fall by the wayside, and I'd hate for that to happen.

Therefore: wool keeps this knitter happy and the wearer warm; superwash wool saves the hat from inevitable felting, giving the knitter peace-of-mind. Chunky yarn knits fast and keeps the knitter from getting bored. So, whatever altruistic characteristics you might attribute to this knitter should be blown out of the water. Giving away the hat is the easy part. For this knitter, it's all about the knitting, and if it doesn't keep the knitter happy, it ain't getting knit. (No doubt, another character flaw.)

So here's hoping no one notices how long it's been since this knitter last reported on a finished object. Perhaps I can distract you with the fact that this current F.O. was Christmas knitting and finished on December 21st, thankyouverymuch. Christmas knitting. Finished early. Don't I get credit for that?

[Edited later to add]:

I forgot to mention that for this project, it was my first time doing a Russian Join, and I'm now a convert. Since the yarn is superwash, a spit-splice probably wouldn't work very well, and just weaving in ends for such a bulky yarn is not acceptable, either, in my mind. So, I did a modified Russian Join, where I cut back two of the three plies on each end of yarn to be joined, and sewed the third ply, folded over the other yarn, back into the thicker 3-ply section of itself. (Hope that makes sense.) It's definitely a method I'll be using to join yarns from now on.

In other news....

A hero:

Recently, I shared with some friends and my knitting group about the son of another dear friend who was wounded two weeks ago in Iraq. J.P. has since returned stateside and is currently at Walter Reed army hospital in D.C. Last week, in addition to friends and family, he had another special visitor:

J.P. & W
*

There have been a lot of prayers prayed and answered this past week in regards to this young man. He's got more surgeries in his future, and a challenging road ahead. I am so grateful for his heroic service to our country, but even more thankful that he's safely back on American soil. He was able to spend Christmas with his family, which is a real blessing.

J.P. & nephew
*

And finally...

Justice:

Arrests have been made in the recent mailbox bombings in my neighborhood. Turns out, it really was some bored teenagers. Why can't they just destroy printers like us more mature adults?
;-)

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T00:29:00.001-05:00

A Festivus for the rest of us

2007-12-23T16:46:00.000-05:00

Today is Festivus, the fictitious holiday for the rest-of-us.

In keeping with my extended family's traditionally non-traditional observation of holidays on days other than the correct date, we held our Christmas celebration yesterday, at my parents' house. It might easily have been confused with a Festivus celebration. There was no traditional festivus pole, but we did have the airing of grievances, and the feats of strength.

Two weeks ago, we celebrated my dad's birthday and gave him a new printer to replace his troublesome old one, (a grievance aired), and yesterday, the old printer met its final reward, (via feats of strength):

Dad got the first whack
*

After a few more clubbings...
*

...and kicks...
*

...and punches...
*

the carcass
*

the carnage
*

my souvenir
*

And here's a little video:

(Feedblitz email subscribers go here to see video.)

This event not only satisfied any Festivus celebration requirements, but was also our little homage to the movie Office Space, and specifically the amusing printer scene, (which can be viewed here; I should mention that the soundtrack's rap lyrics are not for delicate ears).

That was definitely fun. And now, the only question remaining is, can Dad's new printer handle printing cover sheets for his TPS reports? (Another slightly obscure Office Space reference.)

After that silliness, we did enjoy more traditional Christmas activities, including eating yummy treats:

the frenzied gift opening by the grandkids:

the annual look-how-much-they've-grown photo of the grandkids:

and the traditional nephew beat-down:

arms held by his loving father
*

What? That's not one of your family traditions? Hmmm....

Seriously, though -- no one sustained any injuries this Christmas, thank God, unlike a previous Christmas gathering in recent history. It's definitely more fun when no one is carted off in an ambulance.

May your Christmas celebration be wonderful, warm and safe.

And Happy Festivus!

Tuesday Night Knitters get ready for Christmas!

2007-12-19T21:20:00.000-05:00

Another fun gathering of the Tuesday Night Knitters, and everyone was busy working on some great projects.

Here, Deb is knitting a scarf on U.S. size 35 (19 mm) needles (!) and holding seven different strands of yarn together:

(I believe she was inspired by Gina Bonomo's recent creation, a 45-minute scarf made with size 50 needles, knit while holding together 15 strands of yarn! Fast, but, ouch!)

Here's Katie, who's got two of her finished shawls on the table in front of her while she works on a third:

The purple-y one on the left, and the orange-y one she's currently knitting are her own pattern -- knit lengthwise, using various bits of stash/scrap yarn, K5, P5, and then drop every fifth stitch while binding off. It reminds me of a cross between an Ab-Fab throw and a Clapotis. Very pretty, very easy, and a stash-buster, to boot. Can't beat that!

The purple shawl on the right is a Delta shawl, and has a lovely shape, I think, (more easily seen if you follow that link, scroll down and click on "Delta Shawl" to see a picture of it.)

Renny wins the mother-of-the-year award for agreeing to knit a cotton afghan for her daughter:

Cotton! Afghan-sized! I'm so spoiled by wool, I can barely knit a dishcloth anymore without my hands aching. It is definitely pretty, and what a wonderful keepsake.

Sheddy, Grace and Sherry worked on various projects down at their end of the table:

Grace has discovered that Burly Spun also knits up fast and goes far!

Jon has been quite the busy knitter. Here's the log cabin blanket he knit for his mother for Christmas:

-- which included ruffles, bobbles, and rosettes along the edges. Another stash-buster project.

Jon has also graciously agreed to answer a request our group received from a friendly Barnes & Noble employee, who asked us to knit him a scarf in Hokie colors:

Reminds me of a Harry Potter scarf -- is there a maroon and orange house, by chance? (I've not read any of the books...).

And last night was my first time seeing Jon's Skully sweater:

I believe he won a ribbon at the Chesterfield County Fair for that. Ain't it great? The man definitely has some mad knitting skillz.

Linda is knitting a very pretty pair of Melinda mittens, using Berocco Memoirs yarn in colors that I'm loving:

The cool thing about these mittens is that they're knit flat and seamed up the inside of the thumb and the outside of the mitten. Good for those who may not like using double points or knitting in the round....

Check out these earrings that Linda was wearing:

Yep, that's Santa in his all-together, with what I believe may be a strategically-placed stocking. Reminds me of a certain, naughty yet humorous Christmas video that's gained some popularity. (There's also an uncensored version, if you dare...).

And with that, I bid you all a very knitty Christmas!

Tuesday Night Knitters Celebrate Robin's Birthday!

2007-12-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, (yes, this post is a week late -- what of it?), many folks from our knitting group got together to help Robin H. celebrate a momentous birthday. We had a wonderful dinner at Carraba's, (I had surf & turf -- the "surf" being shrimp & scallops -- can't beat that with a stick!), and a good time was had by all:

* Patsy, Cathy, birthday girl, Lou
*

Rita & Issy show off their Sursa shawls
*

After dinner, we proceeded to Barnes & Noble to knit for a couple of hours. Amy came and brought her adorable new daughter Zeva, and I had to envy Patsy who had the sweet baby asleep on her shoulder:

Patsy & Zeva -- what a head of hair!
*

Alice brought an array of finished objects, including three hats and this fantastic E.Z. Pi shawl being modeled by Issy:

Alice, Pi shawl & Issy
*

Lots more knitting and gabbing and socializing and general merriment occurred during the evening, but since much of that was not captured on camera for posterity, you'll just have to imagine the good time.

And now it's Tuesday again, time for another knit night. Hope to see you there!

I have always depended on the kindness of bloggers....

2007-12-15T14:42:00.000-05:00

(Here's hoping you read the title of this post and heard a very southern, Blanche Dubois drawl in your head. Otherwise, my feeble attempt at being clever has failed.)

***

Yesterday was a good day to be a fiber enthusiast and have friends with similar interests. A good day to be me, that is.

But before I dive into why I'm feeling particularly blessed, let me give a tiny bit of history.

As a regular reader of the very humorous Crazy Aunt Purl knitting blog, written by the talented Laurie Perry, I have discovered that her readers' comments that follow each post are often as entertaining and informative as her original article. And so I regularly read those comments, and if a reader identifies themselves as a Virginian, I will sometimes start reading that person's blog regularly, too, because I just enjoy "meeting" local knitters. You can never have too many friends, after all.

And that's how I started reading the blog of Liz R., a local knitter. We've been reading and commenting on each others' blogs for probably close to a year now, and yesterday, we finally decided to meet at one of our local yarn shops:

While there, Liz very generously gave me my very first pair of hand-knit socks, all for my very own! She's been cranking out socks all year, (you can see all of them here and here), and had a pair that didn't fit anyone she knew, so, guess who was the lucky recipient??

The yarn is KnitPicks "Bare" that she dyed with Wilton food coloring in a gorgeous blue that I can't help but adore. The pattern is Cookie A.'s Monkey, from Knitty.

I still can't believe these are mine. Monkey socks are the #1 sock pattern on Ravelry right now, (2,885 finished or works-in-progress, and in 1,692 queues). It thrills me to no end that I can now be one of the cool kids and own a pair of these (even if I didn't knit them myself). (And no one but you and I needs to know that, so -- shhhhhhh!) ;-)

Aren't they beautiful?
*

Liz -- they fit perfectly, and they feel wonderful! I can't wait to wear them for a "special" occasion! ("Special", meaning, it's cold enough outside to wear wool socks!) ;-)

While at the Knitting Basket, we did our part to stimulate the Christmas economy, and some 30%-off Noro Cash Iroha in a gorgeous jade green came home with me, along with some fatigue-green superwash chunky merino for a Christmas gift hat for my brother-in-law. Liz selected some beautiful Claudia's Hand Painted sock yarn in a pretty purpley colorway, and we both left the shop as very happy girls. We walked two blocks down Grove Ave. and had a yummy Chinese lunch at Peking, and then hugged, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, happy to have each made a new friend. Thanks again for a lovely day, Liz!

I think we shop at the same optician! ;-)

When I got home from our lovely little outing, there was a package on my doorstep, and in it contained a pound of this gorgeous merino/tencel top:

My benefactress was another dear knitting-spinning friend, also met via blogging - the lovely Queen Bess. Since I'm now a beginner spinner, she had the urge to destash this fiber to me, and who am I to deny her that pleasure? ;-)

Isn't it gorgeous? It is one of those slick fibers that will require my gaining more experience before I can do it justice. There's enough of it to practice with, so every now and then I can pull off a staple length and see if I'm good enough yet to spin that fiber. Maybe tomorrow, if I can get around to plying what's on my Golding spindle, I can free it up and give this fiber another go.

Bess -- thank you so much for such a wonderful gift!

I think the day I learned how to knit, and the day I decided to blog about it -- those two days became pivotal moments that ultimately brought wonderful people into my life. There's something to be said for this seemingly humble little hobby of ours....

Spindle Collecting

2007-12-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

Regular readers may recall that I took some spinning classes back in October, both wheel and spindle-spinning. I don't yet own a wheel, and am not going to get one for awhile -- I'm purposely not bringing a wheel into my house until there's actually room for one. And that might actually require moving. (I say that only half in jest.)

In the meantime, I'm enjoying spinning on drop spindles, and I've acquired several over the past few weeks, all from various internet sources.

Let me introduce you to them....

First, there are those in the pretty dark woods:

Clockwise from top:

Bosworth midi-spindle in paduak wood
Greensleeves "Ethan Jakob" in redwood burl & purpleheart
Greensleeves "Vixen" in paduak wood

Next are the ones with stone whorls:

All made by ButterflyGirlDesigns
(clockwise from top):

Turquoise Howlite
Dalmation Jasper, 1.5" whorl
Dalmation Jasper, 2" whorl
Jadeite

These are my bigger, heavier spindles, which I'm told are good for plying:

Clockwise from top:

Louet student spindle - my first!
Cascade "Mt. Pilchuck" in maple
Kundert "Squiggle" in walnut, cherry & maple

And these last two, (not shown in the first grouping), are my current favorites:

Left: Lily spindle in holly, black walnut & olive woods
Right: Golding spindle in walnut, with vintage turquoise ring
*

Those two are my favorites not only because they're prettiest, but also because they spin the absolute best of all of them. Isn't it nice how it worked out that way?

What I really love about the Lily is that the flower design provides a built-in notch between each "petal", making the spinning process all the more mindless. It also spins and spins for me with just a flick of my fingers -- no thigh-roll required.

resting on Crown Mountain Farm pencil roving in Plane of Bliss
*

The Golding spindle has very quickly become my heart and joy, and working with Tom Golding to design it was a lovely process. I knew I wanted one with a vintage turquoise ring, and he sent me the following two photos so that I might choose my own:

It was hard decision, but I do like my final choice:

And bowing to my Irish heritage and love of dark woods, I had him carve some pretty celtic knots into a walnut whorl:

resting on CMF pencil roving in "As Above, So Below"
*

This spindle, like the Lily, also spins and spins and spins with just a flick of my fingers, and keeps on spinning even as it's about to hit the ground. It helps that Tom cuts notches in the shaft -- that allows for traction that gives a little jump-start to the spin. Heavenly. I could spin with it all day, and I have, almost. It's been wonderful to sit at my desk while on a conference call and spin. I'm building up the copp to be fairly large, and yet it continues to spin well for me, and fairly finely, at that.

Now I just need to decide how I want to ply everything I've spun thus far. Maybe I'll work on that this weekend.

Oh, and don't let me forget to show you some more pretty fiber I've acquired recently:

Those batts are blends of merino, alpaca & angora from Poppy Flower Fibers in "Garden Song" and "Earth & Sky" colorways. Verrrry soft. Can't wait to try spinning them. I just need to free up those favorite spindles of mine!

The package containing these batts was what was in my mailbox Monday night when all the commotion took place. I would have been more than a little peeved if they'd been blown up, that's for sure!

One more bit of fiber acquired recently is 4 oz. of Romney roving from Spunky Eclectic in her "Green Gables" colorway:

Three of my spindles also came from her shop, and with each one ordered she sends a little sampling of her roving so you can start spinning right away -- in my case, some Blue-Faced Leicester in her Rocky Mountain High colorway. Those little samples of BFL are my first exposure to spinning with this particular fiber, and it is soooo incredibly soft and wonderful to spin. I will definitely be getting more.

So, with twelve spindles and several kinds of lovely fiber, I should be a happy spindler for awhile. I just need to find me a niddy noddy!

Aftermath

2007-12-11T13:16:00.000-05:00

air, where a mailbox should be
*

That mailbox is two doors down from me. I don't know those neighbors, but I think they're renters - that house tends to have a high turnover. They seem like they might be decent enough people, though -- they've got a lot of Christmas decorations (garlands, wreaths, lighted deer, etc.) around their house.

If any locals happened to catch the Channel 6 11 o'clock news last night, the report that was "live, on-scene", (which was a lie, that was taped probably a half-hour earlier than it was aired), that reporter was standing on the edge of my yard, and my (intact) mailbox was in the shot. The cops and the bomb squad eventually left around 11.

I think the general consensus is that the mailbox bombing was random and probably the work of some bored teenagers. Of course I now eye suspiciously every car that drives down my street.

My brother-in-law, an attorney and college professor and dean, suggested last night that during the midst of it all, I should run out of my house towards the cops, with my television remote in hand, yelling, "I've got the remote! I've got the remote!", and see what happens. Sage advice from the family legal expert.

The ironic part of it all is that I forgot to check my mail yesterday afternoon, and today, after very carefully opening my mailbox with a long tree branch, there was a package in there. (I knew it was in there last night, and it was killing me that I couldn't go out and get it.) I wonder what would have happened if I had tried to check my mail while the cops were still there, and then pulled a package out of my mailbox? Think I would have been tackled?

Signs it might be time to move to the county....

2007-12-10T22:06:00.000-05:00

So, this afternoon, I heard what I thought was a really, REALLY loud backfire in my neighborhood. Looked outside, didn't see anything. Thought, hmmmm, wonder what that was? And went about my business.

Pretty soon, one, then two, then three, then four firetrucks show up. Cop cars block off both ends of my street. News trucks arrive. I thought, okay, maybe a neighbor had a small fire -- a gas heater blew up or something. I hadn't seen smoke, but there are a few streets back in there that aren't readily visible from my front porch. The firetrucks left, but the cops are still here, like six hours later. This is something bigger.

Curiousity got the better of me and I finally walked out to the cop that's been in front of my house for six hours (he must have to pee like a racehorse by now!), and asked him what was going on. I'm not able to discuss that, ma'am. A-ha! It is something big. One of the news trucks was Channel 6. Flipped the channel -- nothing yet on the news. So I went to their website, and found this.

Yes, when the bomb squad is parked in your yard and the local news is broadcasting in front of your house, it just might be a sign that it's time to move out of the city.

Rest in Peace, Uncle Cliff

2007-12-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

I can't believe we're back here again so soon, saying goodbye to another of my mom's siblings, less than three months since Aunt Kathie died. Uncle Cliff, my mom's youngest brother, and my godfather, died suddenly yesterday, at the age of 73, in his hometown in Nebraska.

Uncle Cliff, in 2006
*

We knew he was being treated for cancer, and we knew that he was suffering similar Alzheimer's symptoms like my mom, but this was still unexpected. My cousin Sarah, one of Cliff's six children, called my dad yesterday, but gave very few details, (and my dad is terrible about extracting important details about major life events. Typical man.)

I asked dad if Sarah seemed like she would be open to hearing from a Richmond cousin, and he said yes, so I called and left her a message, and got choked up and sounded like a complete idiot -- not the first impression I wanted to leave with a cousin I'd never spoken with before, especially as I was calling to offer help and comfort, not cry in her ear. Tonight I had a better hold on my emotions and left a more "together" message for her.

So, we don't yet know anything about funeral arrangements, or if my parents can attend. My dad is currently undergoing daily radiation for his prostate CA, so it is doubtful that they'll be able to go. My mom was told the news yesterday, but according to my dad, seems to have already forgotten about it. I'm toying with the idea of going myself, although I haven't ever been to Nebraska nor met these cousins - we've only emailed. I imagine with the six cousins and their spouses, they may have things under control, but part of me feels like there should be a representative from the Richmond contingent present at Cliff's funeral; someone who can also pay their respects at Kathie's grave, as well as Uncle Mick's (mom's other brother who passed away about a decade ago), and our grandparents' graves. Someone who can mourn for her siblings in place of my mother, whose failing memory won't allow for that. Not sure if it's realistic for me to make such a trip, but it might be do-able. We shall see....

The last time I saw Uncle Cliff was around 1998 or thereabouts, when he came to Richmond and stayed with my parents. I was taking a COBOL class at the time, and since Cliff was an old-time COBOL programmer, he helped me with a particularly difficult programming assignment. I'll always remember him fondly for that. But more than that, he's always been my godfather, which gives him a special place in my heart.

I do think it is merciful, his passing so quickly, even as hard as it is on his kids. Better this than a long-suffering illness.

Here's a picture of my mother and her siblings, back in the 1940's:

Front (L-R): Cliff & Mick
Back (L-R): Kathie & mom
*

It's hard to believe that my mom, the eldest, is the last of her generation in that family. My dad, too -- he lost his sister in April.

Time marches on.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

2007-12-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

...everywhere you go....

The holly is mine, but that's my neighbor's house across the street. Pretty much identical to mine, except mine is white and doesn't have Christmas decor on it. And my roof is newer.

Don't you like how the Christmas lights are reflected in the puddle?

This morning's little "snowstorm" was such a blessing to wake to. All gone by mid-afternoon, of course, but still so sweet, while it lasted. Word is, there's another front on the way. Bring it on!

Thoughtful

2007-12-04T00:05:00.000-05:00

Mary, Mary, who is quiet, but not contrary.

The blog has been quiet for a couple weeks for a variety of reasons. Probably the main reason being that I just don't have much to show, nor tell. A nine-day trip to beautiful western North Carolina with lots of pretty pictures and fiber content is a hard act to follow, that's for sure, especially when you're back to the old snooze-fest of a routine at home.

I'm knitting, a tiny bit, and drop spindling some, too, but I have no FOs to show, so no blog fodder to share.

In a word -- boring.

But, I've had a lot on my mind. Various and sundry things, about life and family and birthday parties and football and work and fiber and lifestyle and living, all of which seem to be in a quiet state of flux. No major upheavals, as of yet, thank the good Lord.

Very recently, I've been seriously considering a permanent change of scenery.

To something like this:

That's actually the view from the dining room of a home I've been looking at.

Thaaaaat's right -- a lake house.

This house:

a somewhat unassuming exterior
*

Here are a couple of aerial shots:

zoomed out to show lake
(house has red X on roof)

zoomed in
*

The place has four bedrooms, three bathrooms. (My current home has just one of each.) So... lots more room for yarn. And fiber. And a spinning wheel. And house guests -- imagine that!

Just sayin'.

It's also about 4 miles closer to my parents, which is a good thing, because, let's face it, they're not getting any younger, and the necessity for care-giving is only going to increase.

But, I need to figure out if I can actually afford it. If I should really be considering two-story living as I get older and more decrepit. If I really want to face the painstaking ordeal that is moving. If I want to leave my tiny, crowded, cluttered, but charming and beloved first home of almost 14 years. When I thought of leaving my flower beds, so beautiful in the spring, for someone else to enjoy or tear out, it made me a little emotional -- still does, actually. They represent so much of who I was for the first ten years or so I lived here. I poured myself into them -- heart, soul, spirit, money, labor, blood, sweat and tears. It would be hard to say goodbye to the gardens. And to my skylights, my beloved skylights.

If I decide to move, there will be some mournin' going on.

So, I've got lots more thinkin' to do....

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T00:01:00.000-05:00

May you have too many blessings to count.

Count them anyway.

:-)