March Winds!

PERSONAL
The weather this week has gone full tilt from sunny, warm and inviting to windy, chilly and angry. Wow!  March winds today for sure!

MARCH Winds!

I had a wonderful weekend, starting Friday when my husband took me out to eat at a local sandwich place, then to a large mall nearby for a leisurely walk. Very nice day, but we didn't want to come home yet, so we stopped at a Mexican restaurant in the mall and grabbed an appetizer and a glass of tea.  Such a nice day and plenty to look forward to on Saturday morning.  Babysitting our granddaughter while her folks helped some friends move into their new house. 

I brought this spinning along to pass the time while our little girl slept.  The colors are so beautiful, and since green is my favorite color, it kept me interested, wanting to keep spinning more and more.  I love when projects do that!

Hand-Painted Bamboo Roving

I love when you get so into something so good, and you just don't want to stop.  Some things in life have to be endured, but the fun ones are as good as gold!
 Today I'm heading out into the weather to teach an old friend how to crochet!  Now this will be one of those golden occasions.
Yesterday was also gold; family all over for Sunday dinner - ham, black-eyed peas and yeast rolls! Photo shoot amongst the flowers and making plans for more of the same!

KNITTING
I've taken this with me a few times lately, but mostly I'm just enduring the last bit of knitting.

ARE WE THERE YET?

Its a soft and pretty sock, but I'm frankly tired of it now.  Ready to be done and ready to start something new.... my short attention span is showing!

GARDENING
A few weeks back I planted seeds for all kinds of greens in the back yard, right before I left on my trip to NC. Kale, Collards, Spinach, Turnips and Lettuce!

Spinach for my guns!

Itsy Bitsy lettuce leaves

the last few turnip seeds tossed at the end of the row

Lettuce sprouts!

 With all the warm weather we've had, they've already sprouted and given me hope for the months ahead! 

SPINNING
Spinning the Watermelon Wool has been interesting and a learning adventure for me - not having a real true creative bone in my body.  I'm not good with color and I just spun this stuff in regular sequence, rather than haphazard.   But it worked out well. 
You can see, the color sequence was melon, white, green, white, repeat.

Watermelon Watermelon

First little skein of the watermelon (looks too orange in this pic!)

I thought there might be some sections where the melon and green would mix, but the white between every color prevented that!  It still looks good though. Can't wait to swatch it and show you how it looks!

I'm sorry, I wasn't listening

READING
If you've been trying to get my attention lately, I may not have heard you.  For the last couple of days I've been listening to another audio book, only this time, I got it from my local library.  While I have an Audible account, I only get one book per month and it will be another week before I get another credit.  My county library system has a method for checking out audio books online and downloading them to your iPod.  I've used the system with my Kindle and with my PC, but this time I'm ultra-portable and flying through yet another book (in my back pocket).

 This book is called Still Life by Louise Penny, and is the first in her Inspector Gamache series.  She is such a good writer, and I am consistently pausing the story to jot down a memorable quote.  Now that's good writing!

KNITTING
The little Walnut Socks are done and have already been worn and thrown into the dirty clothes hamper!  I sit at my desk with cold feet half the time, wishing I had some warm footies to wear.  Now I'm determined to keep a little drawer full of hand knit socks just for that purpose, right close to my desk.  Of course, by the time the weather warms up will be about the time I get around to gathering up a slew of those warms socks. 
Its the thought that counts, right?

Handspun, Handknitted Walnut Footies

SPINNING
My garage is the perfect place lately for carding, with the temps rising above 50 degrees daily.  Today I even left the garage door open for a bit so that I could card with fresh air, even though I had my little heater on.
I try to get all my chores done (the ones I plan on anyway) in the early part of the day so that I can eat some lunch and spend a little time on my hobbies in the early afternoon.  I also dyed some wool today while I was in the garage carding.  I'll post pics of that soon, but right now its drying.
The carding has been prep work for the dyeing, so I can't really post pics of that either. Dang.
This evening though, instead of working on the sea waves throw, I sat down for a bit with my Kromski and spun a watermelon-looking combo of wool roving.

The green is very much like watermelon rind, and makes my mouth water even when I type it.  And the red is the exact color of the watermelon Bubble Yum gum I used to chew back in the day. (My dentist thanks you, Bubble Yum!)

 PERSONAL
This is the part of the blog where I usually wax philosophical, get deep or even sarcastic.  I wish I were like my husband, who is a professional writer. He's deep and has lots of meaning when he writes.   I am an ordinary person with deep convictions, but very shallow motivations when it comes to writing.  I either like something and write about it, or don't bring it up at all.
However, in this case, I'm going to say something a bit more controversial.  Yes, you know what's coming.  I'm going to talk about television.  Now you may not be a person who watches TV, and I'm sure you've guessed by now that I watch television every day.  And I'm willing to watch, or at least try to watch most programs within reason.  But tonight, I said goodbye to a show I've been watching lately that just crossed the line.  I hate when that happens.  I hate when I've purposely chosen to be open minded and give the benefit of the doubt to something that just flat out lets me down.  C'mon TV show producers! REALLY?  Are we that bad off, that you have to make shows that are so, so pitiful?  Can we just try to take it up a notch?
I realize that Americans have a reputation for putting up with a lot of junk, but even I'm putting my foot down tonight.  Tonight I'm done with a show that started off great, but somehow veered off the road into nowhere-land.  I guess I'd rather not watch television if that's what its come to. Sorry Charlie!

Raise the Flag

If ever there was a time of year to fly a flag, to me, its the time of year when we get back an hour of daylight that some Bozo took from us last fall. Here's to the extra hour of daylight tomorrow!  Woo hoo!!!

SPINNING
Today was beautiful and I spent a long time in the garage.  Its usually super cold in the garage, but today was partly sunny (whatever that means) and I took full advantage of the mild weather.  I dyed wool and carded wool.  Yes!

Carded natural gray roving with my new button DIZ

Pile O' Shamrock Green roving/batts

Here's some wool dyed with dye that I bought in NC last week.  I was going for more of a yellow-green but I seem to have more green than yellow. I'm a novice at dyeing and I did not take into account that the green would overpower the yellow.  Colors can do that, and people can too.  The strong ones sometimes overdo it when you wish you could hear/see more of the lighter ones!

I am finished with the gun metal blue roving. Here's the last of it spun on my new Bosworth spindle.  The other two skeins were plied on the wheel and that taupe hank in the middle is the cashmere from several weeks ago.  Still looking good, sittin' in the wicker basket like a diva.

Gun Metal Blue spindle spun Angora/Wool yarn

READING
The audio book is done, and I am glad.  An audio book about hallucinations keeps you looking over your shoulder a lot, if you know what I mean.  I'm already a jumpy sort of person, and the constant thought of invisible mind tricks can make you a little paranoid!

KNITTING

Second Walnut Sock Footie almost finished!

The Walnut Socks are just about done - doing the toe decreases this evening while watching Breaking Bad on Netflix.  (If you dare watch it, be prepared.)
These little footie socks are so fun and the ribbing around the foot make it go fast and keeps it interesting. I'm clicking the box that says LIKE.  They need to be washed and blocked for a better look, cause right now they look a little rumpled.

PERSONAL
We watched a dvd last night that my son loaned us, called The Big Year.  Its about three guys who are birders or birdwatchers and they are competing for the most sightings in a single year.  Its a really cute movie and especially good if you're the type to keep bird feeders in your yard. 
I took several pictures today of birds that live in my neighborhood and I'll leave them with you till next time!

Robin next door

Nuthatch? Warbler?

Robin looking for worms

Mourning dove early this morning

Wren, maybe?

Another dove

This, that and the other thing

Lake Lure NC

This past weekend, my husband and I took a trip to the mountains of western North Carolina, where we used to live.  I was extremely excited to go, because it meant a trip to Asheville to my favorite fiber store, Earth Guild.
My husband and our friend Gary write songs together, and have done so for many years.  Their partnership has landed a platinum record, and many years of supplemental income. In the last several years they have worked together to write an album full of songs which they recorded.

Jamie and Gary leading worship

This weekend they performed the songs, and a few others at a couple of churches in NC.  It was a sweet weekend seeing old friends and enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery in the nation, the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Balcony view of Bald Mountain

Saturday was my day to go to Earth Guild in Asheville, with my dear friends Midge and Gary's wife Debra.
Midge always makes me feel like I'm fifteen, whenever I'm around her.  She's the kind of girl who says what's on her mind, and makes me do the same thing, whether I mean to or not. Lovely Debra got caught up in the whirlwind of girl-talk, telling a whopper of a story that I'd never heard before. I really didn't believe it until her husband, Gary confirmed the story.   Midge, Debra and I walked the streets and enjoyed the light snow, smiling, laughing, and snapping pictures. 

Bamboo Fiber

I bought the dye I expected to buy at the fiber store, as well as a bobbin for my spinning wheel, some bamboo fiber, a diz, and elastic thread for sock knitting reinforcement.

 A lady who does all the fiber dyeing for the store offered me an assortment of jars to use for mixing colors.  I wish I knew her name to thank her - what a sweet and generous gift. And Midge bought a DVD on how to knit, and some yarn to get started!! Woo hoo, I multiplied myself!  Debra's also a knitter and she picked up some novelty yarn and origami paper for her grandson.

Debra and Midge in front of Mayfel's

We ate lunch at a place called Mayfel's where I had the grilled cheese. Yum. And I found another yarn store as we were walking back to the parking garage!

Purls Emporium

I listened to quite a bit more of my audio book, and knitted on the second little walnut sock. Its almost done and I will jump right in on the second purple sock as soon as I'm finished.   Socks go slow, and I'm remembering why I don't knit socks more.  They just take so darned long!

Eutychus Cocoon

SPINNING
A while back I bought a little bag of silk cocoons, de-gummed and ready for spinning.  Only I assumed that I needed to draft them like I would have done for silk hankies.

Silk cocoons, worms removed and degummed

  I assumed I needed then, to do something with the spider web of silk that was floating around in the air, catching on everything including my clothes. It needed to be wound on something like a stick.  Pre-drafting the silk creates a mess; silk is so light that it literally floats in the air.

At the time I bought the cocoons, I dyed some of them, and then pre-drafted them, and then spun some, while wrapping the rest on whatever I could find to wrap them on. But I just knew there was a better way.

I knew that this seemed to be the long way home, and I really wanted a shortcut.  Surely there was a a right way to spin from cocoons.  Interestingly enough (you are interested, aren't you?) I could only find a single PDF tutorial online about spinning straight from cocoons.  But when I found it, I felt like my little bag of silk had been raised from the dead, like Eutychus in the Bible!!  Finally, the right way to use these beautiful leftovers from nature. 

So yesterday morning, and throughout the day, I spun and spun silk cocoons on this tiny little spindle.  I get more compliments on my spun silk than on any wool or other fiber, so its encouraging to find another way to process it.
Its probably the most beautiful fiber in the world. Maybe not the most useful, or the warmest, but really, truly beautiful!

Blue silk dyed in the microwave with food coloring

READING
I got a new audio book yesterday called Hallucinations, and it is fascinating!  While we automatically assume they are connected to mental illness, we can at least admit to having seen a puddle of water on a stretch of pavement, only to find its not real.  We all hallucinate, from time to time, and its way more common than we realize, whether something we hear, feel, see or smell.  Really like this book and the narrator makes this almost-textbook come to life. (Did someone say Eutychus?)

PERSONAL
On Sunday we all went to lunch at a local pizza parlor, to celebrate a my daughter's birthday.  She is a doll, and I just love to be with her. 

Betsy's turning 25!

The weather was beautiful and sunny and we checked out a gardening shop, from which my daughter and son in law had bought me a gift certificate.  What a great sensory experience!
Great herbal smells, little bars of soap, potpourri, plants and what-nots.  I bought this to keep on my desk, and it reminds me of the delicate nature of life.

Wee little bird!

  

Get It Together!

PERSONAL
So yesterday we were expecting to babysit our little granddaughter for a couple of hours, and for me that meant straightening up.  It meant putting out the mulch we bought the other day, in the front flower bed and mulching around the two builder-installed Bradford pear trees by the driveway.  It meant sweeping, or better yet, shop-vacuuming the garage.

I like to vacuum because then I can't hear the voices.

 After months of winter with the garage door closed,  a few inches of dust and fuzzy things had accumulated on the garage floor.  With the garage door opened, it was obvious that I am blind.  Blind as a bat!  Good grief, I was embarrassed at what I found.  Sorry folks, I know now what I disappointment I've been.  My sincerest apologies. The garage floor is now somewhat cleaner than before. :-(

Anyway, baby girl came and went, and I had some more good memories to deposit in my mental bank.  She now has discovered that when she makes her pterodactyl sound, and when we put a finger over her little lips, she can make all sorts of fun sounds. I laughed till tears ran from my eyes!  She is a true joy to have around, and  lights up the house when she's here.

KNITTING
Well, its that time.  Time to start the the decreases for the toe of this little ripple sock.  I'm flat out ready to start the next one.  Not even kidding.

Time to start the toe decreases

The cuff has begun with the little Walnut sock #2.  Love these bamboo needles and love the yarn.  Again, not even kidding.

Second Walnut sock started

SPINNING
We're taking a trip to NC next weekend and I am SUPER excited that I'll be going to Earth Guild next Saturday.  This is the store where I learned to love spinning wheels, and where I learned to knit socks, and where I nearly got hit by a bus.  (Okay, the bus part is a bit of a stretch, but there was a runaway bus on the street, the last time we were there!) I plan to buy another bobbin for my spinning wheel, because I only have three, and that means I can't ply three strands into one unless I Navajo ply. 
I also will probably some wool roving or possibly dye.  Okay, probably dye.  Okay, definitely I'm going to buy some dye.  

Banjo

After a lovely, cool, sunny, windy day, I curled up on the couch to watch the last episode of Downton and I won't spoil it.  I will say though, again, how much I love this show.  It is beautiful, elegant, classy and real.  Well done, Downton, and you slay me yet again!

Downton Castle

SPINNING
The cashmere I bought is completely spun (all on my new Bosworth spindle) and plied on my wheel.  It is the softest yarn I've ever spun, and truly lives up to its reputation.  If you're a spinner and have never tried cashmere, I highly recommend it.  Worth every penny!

BANJO cashmere

I like the natural color and I'm going to call it Banjo! 

I started spinning the pure white angora on the same spindle, once I had it emptied.  Again, a pure, soft experience in spinning.  Very much an exotic fiber, and meant to wear close to the skin.

Pure White Angora

GARDENING
Today I bought my seeds for the garden, and scored on the selection.  I think Home Depot had just put them all out, because every single variety was there to be had!

Dreaming of Spring

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get out in the dirt for a while and at least plant some lettuce and kale.  I'm ready to be outside again! And I want to spruce up the front yard and beds before Easter.  I am imagining my our first Easter egg hunt, at least for Instagram purposes!

Grand Central

PERSONAL
In the middle of every home is a kitchen where people congregate and bump into one another.  It is sometimes a pain, other times a blessing to bump into each other.  What we really need to remember is that it is a privilege and a blessing to 1) have someone to bump into and 2) have someplace to bump into other people/pets.

Julia Child in the kitchen

I was blessed to be a part of a team helping a lady and her daughter move yesterday, and I noticed these 2 things.  Its a good thing to have companions around, either visiting or permanently. And its a wonderful thing to have a place like a kitchen where you get to heat up a cup of tea or coffee, pour a bowl of cereal and put away a few groceries.  Sometimes we take these important elements of civilization for granted.   Take a minute if you will, and thank the Lord for providing these things, if you have them!!  Many do not!

SPINNING
While it would be great to spin for hours at a time, I'm content lately to just spin and card whenever I get a minute.  Here's what's happening lately:

Wool/Angora blend

This is wool and angora blended roughly and spun with a little umph and left a little knobby.  Its 3ply and soft as all get out.  LOVE it!  By the way, Happy Valentines Day, a few days late!

There's still a lot of wool  left in my stash in the garage, to card and spin, and I'd really love to spin it all this year.  I kind of doubt that I will reach that goal at this point, but I'm still gonna try. 

What you can't see in the basket above is the rest of what I carded for this batch.  I'll probably get about 5 skeins at least from this blend, meaning about 3 more.
Can I tell you how I figured this out?  In a very low tech way, I paper clipped all the un-spun wool/angora blend in a large baggie to one end of a knitting needle, then paper clipped those two skeins to the other end of the needle and made a make shift scale.  The bag of wool was much heavier so....do the math.  Roughly.

KNITTING
When I started the Walnut Socks, I also started this pair of socks.

I've been carrying them with me everywhere.  Lots of fun to knit with a little ripple pattern at the top.

These have a slip stitch heel, which looks amazing great.  The yarn seems to be a cotton blend so its not very elastic, but these are footies I hope to wear in the summer, so the cotton thing is a bonus. I got the yarn from my friend Suzanne's stash months ago. 
Don't you like them already?

Walnuts and hashtags

KNITTING
The color of this yarn is pretty close to Walnut, don't ya think?  I LOVE the earthy colors and the heathered look of the yarn!
I'm almost finished with sock #1, and mostly just have to get into the decreases and close the toe.  Let me tell you, making "footies" as opposed to full blown socks is  incredible much more fun because you're in the homestretch before you know it.

Walnut sock yarn on white linen handspun, handwoven bag

Even if you've never taken anatomy in school, this next picture should be worth checking out.  Why, you ask?  To make a sock fit, certain aspects of shaping have to be present. 

First, the cuff has to have some elasticity.  Ribbing of knit 1, purl 1 gives you that in a flash. EZ.

K1 P1 ankle ribbing, with a plain heel flap

Heel shaping means more coverage going down and around the back of the heel, and less square footage on the front or top of the ankle.  This is accomplished with a heel flap, that you later decrease back to the original number of stitches that were present in the cuff ribbing.  If you care one iota about this topic, do click the link for a better visual (thanks to Lion Brand Yarn).

Thankful for these metal sock shaping forms!

The foot portion is usually loose, when I make socks, so I decided to add ribbing in the last portion to snug it up a bit! I'm having fun, in case you didn't notice.  :-)

READING
I haven't read a bit of my novel, since my last post.  #fail  

SPINNING
Working on all the same stuff, so no news is just that. No news.

PERSONAL
I went to the dentist this week, to fix a broken tooth.  Well, actually the dentist did the fixing, while I sat back in the chair trying to answer the dentist's questions about spinning while he and the assistant vacuumed and drilled the daylights out of a tooth three-quarters of a mile down my throat. Gee!
He did a fine job, though, and my husband had a similar procedure done as well.
I left the office rubbing my jaw and sipping water that drizzled down my face. #awkward
But, I am so thankful for my teeth!  While no one ever sees those teeth in the back, they are so important when I eat.  When I want to chew my favorite foods, they are there like soldiers, ready for action! Weapons of minimum destruction.