Meet Homey Bear

This is Homey Bear. He is knitted from my very first ever yarn. His vest is spun from merino roving that Murphy and I dyed. He's the first, the very very first thing ever created out of my homespun yarn. He's gone to visit Auntie Barbara and keep her company at work when she's having a bad day. I know they'll be good friends.

The winds changed today, and took the ash clouds away from Ojai. There's hope that on Wednesday we'll have some showers to help fight the fire. I'm just glad that for now, the winds have moved it away from homes, and back into the forest.

As much as I love my wheels, lately I've gone back to spindle spinning. There's nothing like a full cop to give me a feeling of accomplishment. Last night I spun some fiber I bought when I first picked up a spindle; the colors are pretty but the wool is quite coarse. I think it was meant for needle felting. And I'll probably use it for felting, in a handbag, at some point. I do love making bags! But it's so lovely to finish the batt of fiber, and have a full cop to admire, nicely shaped and balanced. I'm working on my third cop of a lovely sea blue silk, spun pretty fine. It will be interesting to see how it turns out plied.

I have so much fiber it's hard to know what to do next. I'm really into knitting now, though I've frogged the last several projects I've started. I'm taking that as a sign of maturity, since before, I would keep every single thing I made regardless of how poorly it was done or how much I disliked it when finished. Now, I'd rather play, try new things, rip it out after I've learned a few things, and start over. Get it just the way I like it. Growth, right? RIGHT? Perfectionism? Uh, maybe.

I'm off to start something new. Or maybe, just maybe, fill that third cop of silk....

Snow in Ojai?

Peru was loading up for his gig last night, and it was the strangest thing; snow was falling! Okay, it's not really snow. It's ash. The Los Padres Forest Day Fire is relatively close to my house (as in, close enough to smell and see ash, not close enough to cause real worry). It looks remarkably like flurries, until you open the door and the smell hits you. I am a little concerned for my boss and his wife; their house is a whole lot closer to the fire, and may be part of the evacuation area. Hoping all is well with them!

The pictures below don't really give you the full effect; the white part of the ash doesn't show against white, and the black doesn't show against black, but you can get the idea. Remember, this car was clean less than 12 hours ago.
It's almost to the point where you can see your footprint walking outside. Freaky. So far, I don't think the fire has damaged any homes (other than that soot deal) but I'm not sure, and I know there are evacuation orders for upper Ojai. I'm waving DPNs (double pointed knitting needles) that they get it under control soon, and that no homes are damaged.

Will have pictures soon of some FO's; they're being held till the recipients get them. Can't wait to show you!

Which reminds me; if you visit my blog, please leave a comment once in a while; it's a little strange to feel like I'm posting to no one, makes me feel crazy, like I'm talking to myself. Let me know you've stopped by!

No Time to Post

It's been a busy few weeks. School is finally settling into a routine. Eric has dropped one of his classes, but added two more low credit courses. Murphy's back in school to find that several of his friends are not returning, but he's making new friends quickly.

September is a big birthday month. My brother Keith's is on the second, as is my friend Doug's, who got a new baby boy for his present this year. Roger, my asbestos friend Barbara's other half, is on the fifth. My mother in Florida celebrates hers on the 10th. Billy, Peru's firstborn, arrived on the 13th. Happy Birthday wishes in great abundance fly from our house to all of you on your special day!

Oh, wait, did I forget someone?

Murphy turned six on Thursday. My baby! He's so grown up now, and is such a delight. Memories of four days in the hospital awaiting his arrival, and the precipitousness of his delivery after so much waiting brought me to tears as we celebrated. We had a lovely dinner at Carrow's, where Murphy had funny face pancakes (what else?) and a HUGE slice of chocolate cream pie. Then home to open gifts; Star Wars was the theme and wow, he got a lot! Nana sent a junior version of Monopoly which we're planning to learn today. Auntie Barbara sent all kinds of lovely art supplies in different mediums for creative exploration. Eric gave him "Ratchet and Clank II" for the PS2. Guess what's melting from overuse? We all missed Eric as he had classes and didn't even get to see Murphy on his birthday, but we still had a lot of fun anyway.

I got my final package from my "One Skein Secret Pal." It's a scarf made from a bobbly type yarn; very lovely. Even my husband thought it was beautiful! And some wonderful handmade soap that is currently making my bath "stink good" as my husband would say. Thank you so much, Frances. You were a wonderful partner, and all my good wishes go out to you and your husband.

I've got lots of spinning and yarn stuff done, and will get pictures out soon, I hope. Just never have enough time!

Happy September to all!