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!

Newest Acquisition

This is Cerridwen. She's my newest wheel, a Baynes castle style. As you can see, she's in pieces. I bought her unfinished, and Peru and I spent Saturday staining her a lovely cherry. This shows her in the bathtub drying.

Sunday, we put her together. One of the most amazing things about our marriage and relationship is that we always work together without bickering. I can't count the number of pieces of furniture that we've assembled, and despite Japanese directions, or pieces missing, or pages of instructions missing, we still manage to have fun doing it. This, of course, mostly consists of me reading the directions, finding tools, holding pieces, etc, while Peru does the real work. So here is Cerridwen, fully assembled.

And here is the side view. It's very different to spin on than my Gem. The ratios are different, the action is different. It took a bit of practice to get Cerridwen spinning well, but it's coming pretty quickly. There is a mysterious clacking noise from the treadle that I'm working on eliminating. I think she'll be a wonderful plying wheel; she spins much faster than the gem with far less treadling. I was worried about being able to control the spin forwards and back, but really had very little trouble at all. I'm pleased as can be with my new baby. I plan to do some serious decorating on her, stenciling some Celtic knotwork and such at some point. My biggest problem now is finding enough time to spin everything I want!

School

Last week, Eric and Murphy both started school. Eric is attending Ventura College, which is a community college in the area. He's studying film arts; acting, film history. He auditioned for and got a part in a one act play already. The logistics of getting him to class are interesting; he's got one class every day at noonish, and one class every night at 7. Good planning, eh? But he seems to like it, and has already made some friends. I'm so proud of him. It's so strange to think of him being so grown up, managing things on his own.

Murphy is back at school as well, and is thrilled to have his favorite teacher again; Sharon. He's in kindergarten and is a math wiz! He can read five digit numbers, add and subtract and multiply. He loves to count the minutes till The Simpsons are on. He loves school and has lots of friends there. One really nice thing is that one kid who was kind of a bully to him last year seems to have grown up over the summer, and Peru arrives at school finding them sitting together and sharing lunch. Wonderful! He really is lucky to be attending such a great school. Thanks, Mammama!

Off to work... more pictures later.

Fiber Festival

Last weekend I didn't post, because I attended the 2006 Fiber and Bead Fest in Santa Monica. It was fun, but much smaller than I expected. Mostly was booths of beads and jewelry, with not nearly as much fiber content as I had hoped. The highlight was the Carolina Homespun booth, where I managed to spend a pretty penny, as they say.

The first purchase was something I'd been wanting for a while; Wool combs. These deadly items are invaluable for getting raw fiber under control. They are four pitch English combs, where one is clamped to the table and the other is swung (carefully!) perpendicularly to align the fiber. I'm waiting to have a quiet child free moment to try them out.

Next purchase was a pound of Ramboulliet top. I bought 4 four oz balls. One I gave to Murphy, and we spent the weekend dyeing it. One I gave to Eric, and he preferred to spin his first, then dye. He gave it a valiant try on the wheel; started off really well, but when the roving broke, had some trouble getting it started again. I unfortunately had to work, and left him in the lurch. We'll have to try later.

One thing I bought was really inexpensive, but I can't believe the difference it makes in my finished product! I bought a Niddy-Noddy. This is a simple little device for winding a skein of yarn or roving. It makes the skein neat and uniform and makes my homespun yarn look so professional! The yarn on it is from Murphy's last dyepot; I'm very proud of it because it's so uniform in size. The colors are really cool too!

The last thing I bought (and wasn't I being restrained?) was this lovely Merino/Tussah Silk blend. Ohhhh it's so yummy, I can't wait to spin it, but I have SOOO many projects going! It's going to have to wait some time, I'm afraid. Which is good; because I'll have gotten lots of practice by then!

There's many more things to tell and pictures to show, but they'll have to wait another day, as it's time for a game of Uno with Murph, and a sleepy bedtime.

Weekend

Well, we have had an interesting weekend. On Saturday the wonderful gentlemen that normally do a lovely job taking care of our yard accidently cut the main water pipe into the house. Just a little nick. Unfortunately, it required turning the water off until it can be repaired. Ever look at those splashy ads in the Yellow Pages, where plumbers advertise in big bold red letters "24 hour Emergency Service!!!!" I have news for you... THEY LIE. Out of six that we called, only one returned our call. And he informed us that it would be $150 per hour for him to come out on Saturday. How many hours do you think it would take to repair this little pipe at that rate? I bet a few. My enterprising beloved gave repairing it the old college try, but with out the proper equipment didn't have much luck. So we're praying for an early visit from the plumber this morning, and fearing a motel stay tonight if it can't be fixed... I REALLY need a shower! And we won't go into the machinations necessary for say, a trip to the restroom. YIKES!

On the other hand, I got quite a bit of yarning done. I finished one bobbin of the lace weight blue and plied it; haven't set the twist yet as we have NO WATER!!!!! but did manage to ply and wash some of the heavier weight blue and Murphy's yarn Friday, before we went dry. The blue is so silky feeling; I have to look again and see what variety of wool it is. It's not a blend, that much I know; this is the first wool I took from raw wool to yarn!


This is yarn from the Merino roving that Murphy handpainted. It's gone through some interesting changes, and I have learned a lot from doing it. It's very soft and the color changes are kinda wild, but the overall effect is muted, and thank goodness, not girly pink. I'm not quite sure what to make from it though!

I started several projects this weekend. Some I will post pictures; others are for gifts and will have to wait till the recipient has seen them for posting. Some I'm really excited about. And some are waiting for WATER for blocking...

More later...

Ventura County Fair Part 2

On to the fun stuff at the fair! First thing through the gate, Murphy and Eric hit the big slide.




Then we did some browsing and shopping, and then stopped into Uncle Leo's Barn, which Beardsley & Son sponsors every year. The only thing Murphy was really interested in there were the chickens, for some reason. He was very excited to see a real live chicken, which he did. Which promptly pooped just inches from Murphy's nose, making him gag. A farmer, my child isn't.




Then the Dragon Wagon - the first "all by myself" ride. What a grin on his face; he had a blast!


It was corn dogs and steak sandwiches for lunch, then back to the rides! Here we find Daddy, Eric and Murphy in line for the Tilt-a-Wheel. For the SECOND ride. Sigh. Murphy takes WAY after Daddy. LOVED the Tilt-a-Wheel.


A hang gliding ride; he liked this one after a while but was "a liddle scared" that he'd fall out. Daddy rode beside him and made him feel safe.

It was a wonderful fun and exciting day and we're already anticipating next year.

Ventura County Fair Part 1

Mommy played hooky from work today, and we all four packed up and went to the Fair! We had a total BLAST!!!! First stop was the Home Arts Pavillion, where I had entered five items. Wonder of wonders... I WON!!!!! I won two first place awards.


One for a crocheted scarf,






and another for a crocheted, felted bag.





I also won a second place for a homespun crocheted bag.











as well as an Honorable Mention for a skein of homespun yarn.








I also entered this knitted bag, which didn't win anything.





I am extremely pleased, as I entered on a lark and really didn't expect to win anything. Four out of five ain't bad! Watch out, because I'm already planning for next year!

Musings on Fiber Folk and WIPs

I just discovered, accidentally, the blog Farm Witch. Just a few lines of reading, and I knew I'd found a friend. She sounds like quite an amazing woman.

I started to wonder about the intersection between the pagan community and fiber community. A lot of the fiber lists I read seem to have many pagan/wiccan/whatever members. I say seem to, because their paganism isn't touted, usually, but their screen name, or things they say seem to hint at it. And I wonder if their pagan beliefs and respect for earthen things leads them to spinning, weaving, etc, or vice versa, that the respect they have for fiber animals and handmade things leads them to Mother Earth type spirituality. Not sure it's an important question, just something I was musing today.

Life is settling down after Barbara's visit. Murphy's getting hyper with nothing to do, so Daddy plans a beach trip today. I haven't done too much on the Mystery Stole, as I couldn't concentrate while Barbara was here (wanted to focus on HER while I had her!) and now I'm too tired. I have been instructed that the cardinal rule of lace knitting is DO NOT ATTEMPT WHILE TIRED. Sounds reasonable to me.

So current projects:
1. Need to assemble the Berroco cabled bag. (Procrastinating cause I HATE joining!)
2. Making new gauntlets that fit for Murphy. Did one template, now need to find the perfect yarn.
3. One Skein Pal project is about a quarter finished. Can't tell what it is, as I don't know if she reads the blog, but will put up finished pic. Someday. Deadline; August.
4. Mystery Stole. 7 rows done of clue one, side one. Clue two released already; clue three due tomorrow. I'm a tad behind. But that's okay; I'm not going to rush it. The pattern is gorgeous, and I want MINE to be gorgeous. So I'll be happy if it's ready by oh, say Christmas. Or Yule.
5. I bought a new project bag. I bought it in natural canvas, so I could dye/paint it myself. So, I need to find a design and get it started before the bag gets yucky being used every day.
6. Currently spinning that cool blue stuff I got from thesheepshedstudio.com. I'm trying for lace weight again, and not making it, again, but this stuff has been a major deal; I'm not used to unprepared fiber, so cleaning and carding etc has left it less than ideal. LOTS of neps. I'm fairly happy with it so far. We'll see when it's plyed.
7. Speaking of plying... I have several bobbins full of fiber (a luscious black merino, and luscious white merino, some silk) that need plying, and even though I've had some success, I'm still not entirely over my fear of plying. Someday.
8. Organization. I need to inventory all my fiber and store it properly, and finish the notebook I'm starting for current projects. Slowly getting there.
9. Oh yes, the silk on my Bossie. I have several cops full, nearly ready for (yikes!) plying......

Sigh. I think that's it. For the important stuff, anyway. And this week is the deadline for entering things in the County Fair... do I have the courage?

Barbara!

My very asbestos* friend in the whole world, Barbara, arrived from Boston on Tuesday. She's the most fun, relaxing, non stress person Ever. We've been trying to spoil her with yummy food and play time and some "I'm going to do absolutely nothing at all" time. She did however, have to make pancakes for Murphy on Saturday. She was a good sport.

After pancakes, we went to the beach. Barbara got some solitary rock time.

Murphy got buried in the sand.

Eric hung out and watched the girls in bikinis.


Daddy and Murphy got to play in the surf.

And me? I walked the beach with Barbara and had a blast watching the people I love have fun.

Barbara and I have shopped and knitted and shopped and knitted and talked and giggled and had munchies and generally turned the clock back about 20 years. She leaves tomorrow, which I'm trying not to think about.

* Asbestos friend came from "bestest" friend, a mild corruption, but an apt one. She insulates me from things that would harm me. She's true and real and the person I most want with me in a firefight. And is just has hard to remove! Of course, she's minus that lung disease causing element...

New Yarn

I finished spinning the lime green yarn sent to me by my Dyeing for Spring Exchange partner. I was aiming for lace weight, but didn't quite make it, plied. It's about 21 WPI which puts it at the thinnest category of fingering weight. Still, I'm pleased; it's fairly consistent, and was GREAT to spin.

While I was carding, Murphy decided to try on a new look.

In family news, Murphy is learning to tie his shoes. He's doing pretty well, getting lessons from Daddy. He's practicing on the Spiderman skates Aunt Merridee got him for his birthday.

Eric is learning too.

Now we're preparing anxiously for the arrival of my asbestos friend Barbara, from Boston. She's arriving Wednesday, and we're all holding our breath. Can't wait to see her!

The Yarn Harlot

Ok, finally, finally, I got around to posting the link to The Yarn Harlot's blog. Not only is she a wonderful knitter and teacher, she's laugh out loud spew the milk out your nose funny. I frequently forget to check her blog, and am always rewarded when I finally do remember. I'm hoping the link on my own darn blog will help me remember to check in more often!

Many thanks to Sharon, who graciously brought the Guild's drum carder to Nibbles N Knits last night (where it seems nearly everyone is spinning or crocheting, rather than knitting!) I spent last night and tonight learning how to use it, and carding the fibers that Murphy and I dyed last weekend. I now need to figure out how to retain the color definition when I want to. Oh, there's so much to learn, and so much equipment to invest in, who knew?

Tonight I start the provisional cast on for the Mystery Stole along. It's exciting and a tad scary all at the same time. So I'm off to check knittinghelp.com for the tutorial. Darn! Another link to get up!

Busy Weekend!

We here have had a busy weekend. Amongst all the normal chores and games and other weekend things, The GRADUATE (thanks to Mom and Dad, who managed to get him smiling without looking dorky) Eric got a JOB!!!! Whoo hoo, go Eric! He's the newest bag boy/general slave at the grocery down the block. Very excellent position, so close, decent pay, nice people. And it's my favorite grocery in town. We're very proud of him.

Then, Daddy got to play at Los Corporales, a Mexican restaurant in town. He plays blues with his friends, and this time even got to see someone he really admires at another place across the street. He had a blast. Someday, I'm going to be able to get away to see him play again.

Meanwhile, Murphy and Mom made homemade butterscotch/chocolate/cinnamon chip cookies. Mom hasn't been baking much over the last few years, so this was quite a treat. We had a lot of fun and Murph even managed to scarf a few cookies before bedtime.

Today, we had a REAL adventure. Murphy helped me dye some fiber! We used Kool-Aid in Murphy's chosen colors; red, blue and brown. Brown was a bit of a challenge for me, not having much experience with blending Kool-aid. I used 2 Tamarind flavor, 1 orange flavor, and 1 ice blue lemonade, which resulted in a color I didn't like at all. It came out a muddy olive color. So I added a couple of packets of fruit punch, which came out a lovely reddish brown. Here are some pictures; hope the colors show true! This is Murphy's design. He went with a spattered, tie-dye kind of motif. He seems to like it, and would like me to spin it, and make him a giraffe toy out of it. I have NO idea why a giraffe. Not what I expected at ALL!

This is mom's fiber. Wasn't too wild about the brown between the two bright colors, but it should be interesting to spin!

This last batch I just used to exhaust the leftover dye. I was amazed at how bright the red came out. I added the orange dye the white in the middle and was amazed at how much it spread! Again, it should be interested to spin!

I have to work tomorrow, but am already looking forward to Tuesday!

New Bags

I haven't posted in a while; still recovering from graduation hangover. Metaphorically speaking, of course. I spent last weekend creating. A lovely woman from the Spindler's List some time ago said that she wanted to clean out some of her stash, specifically some of her earlier homespun she didn't feel was up to snuff. So she was offering it for shipping cost to anyone who would actually USE it. Lucky me, I was first to snap it up. I told her I would most likely make a felted bag from it; and here it is.

I am quite pleased with it. It's completely my own design, made up as I went along. It's shallow, as there wasn't much yarn to work with, but it makes a perfect spindle bag. Just large enough for a spindle or two and some fiber. I'm putting a magnetic closure in as well. I like the bag so well, I'm considering entering it into the Ventura County Fair in August.

I also created this one. This was made from odds and ends of some rug yarn passed on to my by my mother (thanks, Mom!). Again, it's totally my design, made up as I went along. It's not really my personal style, but I'm hoping to find someone who'll like it!


I finally made it to "Modern Gypsy" in Ventura. Heaven. The woman who owns the shop is very nice, and may be having a spinning get together on Tuesdays, which would be FABULOUS. I bought some black merino which I'm currently spinning on the Gem. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with it when it's done, but I know I wanted some black to spin. I also bought two precious ounces of cashmere. Sooooo soft, and a lovely camel color. And I bought some silk roving sheets in white for dyeing. That's going to be FUN.

I joined another "along." This is the Mystery Stole along. It begins July 1st, when the first "clue" will be released. We don't know what it will look like until we finish. It's going to be a bit of a challenge for me, as my knitting skills are fairly novice, and my lace skills are nil. I've now knitted the test swatch 6 times, and this time, I ALMOST have it down. I'm using Misti Alpaca in a natural, which I plan to dye after the stole is complete. I hope. I'm using size 4 aluminum dpn which I HATE with a passion of a thousand suns. The threes I really wanted to use are too small. So I'm going to go buy my beloved bamboo circs in size 4. I finally took an inventory of my needles and hooks, and am hoping to do my fiber this weekend. Will help to remember what I have!

UPDATE: I finallly got a semi decent swatch, with almost visible flowers. (And if you're thinking that the swatch looks a little rough, you'reo right... but you should see what the previous ones looked like!) This is not blocked yet. I'm going to do one more with the size 3s just to see the difference, and get more practice; I apparently need it!

My Trekking Along has sort of died. The ZERO needles I was using were way too small. So I"m going to try again, with size 3 and a different pattern. I will probably not finish them for the Trek Along, especially with the Mystery Stole, which I really really really want to do. I must; anyone who knows me knows I never EVER do swatches, much less six of them!

I'm still spinning the locks I got from the Sheep Shed Studio in a lovely blue, which has a TON of VM in it, but it's so pretty! I'm trying to decide whether I should try to comb or card it, but have done a bit of it just from the lock which is interesting! I get covered with hay. It's my first experience with anything but nice clean prepared roving.

I finished the crocheted flower scarf, but it needs blocking before I photo it.

So I'm pretty busy with fibery things. Still having a blast, really enjoying it. More later, I hope!

The Graduate

Congratulations to my wonderful son, Eric, who graduated from high school on Friday, June 17th. I'm so proud of him! He's turned out to be such a good person. He's smart and generous and has a great sense of humor (a necessary thing in this house!). He's patient with his little brother and passionate about the things he cares about. I am so proud of the person he has become.

The ceremony itself was very nice. Nana and Grampy came up from Florida to go with us. It was very hot! Several kids gave addresses which were all nice and mercifully short. One talked about going on in life after school, and MLK's comments that if you weren't anything but a street sweeper, you should do the best job you could, causing people around you to say that you were the best street sweeper ever. All in all, it was a very nice evening. We went home and had cake and presents and collapsed into bed after a very long day.

Eric had a lot of things to overcome in order to graduate. He's had to change schools about every two years for about the last eight years or so, which is hard on anyone. He's had his own problems in dealing with ADHD, and with teachers who didn't understand the process. He worked very hard, especially this year. He's so very much better a person than I was at his age, and I'm so proud of him and so grateful to have him in my life.

So, Congratulations, Graduate! I hope you achieve in life the things that are important to you. I hope you are very happy. I hope you find love to last a lifetime. It's all just starting for you, all possibilities are open. Choose well, and be happy. I'm so proud of you.

Update on Dyeing Exchange

Jen at Crowhill House Fiberworks has been fabulous. She sent me a picture of the roving I dyed which she took after putting it through her drum carder. She also separated the colors. Here's what it looks like: Amazing! It's so fluffy and soft! Then she spun up a sample skein.
Here's the results: I can't believe it. It's.... cool!
I can't wait for the next guild meeting to borrow the drum carder. Guess what's at the top of my Christmas list?

First Wheel Yarn

Finally! It's done! My very first wheel spun yarn. I have a full pound of this brown tweed yarn, looks to be about a dk weight, but I haven't measured it yet. It's plied, washed and skeined and seems to be fairly balanced. I'm so thrilled! The early spinning, mostly gathered into a 6 oz skein, pictured, is less even, less consistent than the end part, in a separate skein. I think that for a first effort, it's pretty decent. What looks blue in the picture is actually white, and far less noticeable in the actual yarn.

I also received my first skein from my "One Skein" secret pal. It's Peace Fleece and has a wonderful story behind it. It's a very pretty teal with flecks of red and green. My secret pal sent a pattern for a nice tote bag with the yarn, and I may very well make it, given my current love affair with making bags. It seems she may read my blog..... Thanks, Pal!

Project Updates

I've started my Trek Along Socks. Oh my. I now know why I like crochet; it's so much faster! I've worked several hours on these socks and only have about an inch and a half or so of ribbing. I'm using size 0 needles, yikes! They're like toothpicks! And getting used to four needles is a trip. But so far, I like the look. I'll be lucky if I can finish them before the entire "along" is over. The parameters are: "Start Date June 1 st – End date August 31 st. You should take a picture, at least once a month (twice would be better) of you and/or your sock on a hiking trail during June, July and August. Post the picture here or on your blog with a link left here for us to follow." I'll be lucky to finish the socks by September! But if I'm really that slow, I'll just trek a bit and knit there, and take a picture. Ok, so I'm not really the hiking type. It's more than likely going to be the bike path behind my house, but it'll still get me out of the house and maybe get Murphy to Libbey Park.

Next project is another knit, mercifully a much faster pattern. It's the
Berroco Brea Bag which is made with a double strand of worsted weight yarn. I'm using a pound skein of a commercial acrylic that I've had hanging around. It's actually a good choice (though I'm not wild about the color, whichi is kind of a grey olive green) because it's stiffness will help keep the bag's shape. I've completed one side, and need to duplicate it, then make a strap. The pattern shows a purchased one, but I may knit or crochet one. I'll decide when I have the bag together.

Finally, the Dyeing for Spring Exchange. The idea was to take 4oz of wool roving, dye it and send it to a partner from the Spindler's List. Yesterday, I received mine from Elisabeth in CT. It's just lovely, a beautiful lime green, and the thing I'm most excited about is that it's Border Leicester wool, which I have been really wanting to spin. Thank you, Elizabeth! As for my contribution, I attempted another batch yesterday. I wanted a kind of dark blend. I used red, blue, purple, and just a touch of black. I didn't quite get what I wanted. the red went hot pink, the blue went purple, and the black just... went. I actually do like the result; it's just not what I was trying for. I understand that happens a lot when dyeing! It also compressed a lot after dyeing, so perhaps that's just the way it is. I'm not sure which I'm going to send, batch one or batch two, but I'd better decide soon; I want to get it in the mail today! Then it's off to try plying on my wheel; Elisa E. from the Spindler's List gave me a TON of advice and I really want to figure this out. I have three bobbins of the brown tweed to ply and one each of white mohair and seamist silk. Please don't let me screw them up!

What kind of spindle are you?

Which Spindle Are You?You are calm, industrious, productive, and natural!