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!

Trek Along With Me

Trek Along With Me

This sounds like FUN! I had a little trouble finding the Trekking XXL yarn, but finally did, and it arrived yesterday. It's on the expensive side compared to Knitpicks, but it's a larger skein (one skein should do two socks) and it's much better quality. I'm going to attempt KNITTING these socks. Still haven't decided on a pattern though. Will be searching the internet today. In case, I have to skeins, so I may crochet one pair as well.

Happy Wednesday!

Sunday

Just to show you what a premium computer time is in this house, I must show you what I discovered on my computer at 8:12 pm tonight. The computer desk was unexpectedly unoccupied, so I grabbed my chance to check my email. Finding AOL minimized on my taskbar, I maximized it to find this message from Eric.



Uh, thanks for sharing, Dude.

As it's 9:38 pm now, I guess I'd best be on the phone....

Socks!

I have now completed three pairs of crocheted socks. The first was really an experiment, made with acrylic baby yarn, which was the only light weight yarn I had at the time. The next two pairs I made with sock yarn.

The first pair (now stretched out because I actually wore them today!) I really like, except the fit is terrible. I have such big feet (size 12) that I was afraid they wouldn't be big enough, so I erred on the large size at every possible opportunity. The result is that when I wear them, I have a mutant second heel over the top of my shoe. But I added the little lacy decoration at the top on my own; it wasn't in the pattern, and I really like it. Live and learn!

The current pair looks stunted, because I over compensated due to the above problem; however, they aren't very much too small, and I think when worn will be fine. They're more comfortable than the other pair, but the thick cuff on them leads toward winter use only. The next pair I make I think I will shorten the cuff by half and possibly only rib the outside fold to make it less bulky. Add a row or two more to the foot length, and they'll be perfect! I really enjoyed the top to toe pattern, much more so than the toe up pattern.

My other WIP is a crocheted scarf, made from a pattern in the Crochet a Day Calendar. It's very interesting how the flowers are made right within the row. Unfortunately, between the bad lighting and needing severe blocking, they aren't very visible in the pictures.
When it's completed and blocked I'll try again. The yarn I'm using makes it very tedious. It's an alpaca yarn I bought on ebay, one of my very rare bad experiences. It took well over a month for it to be delivered, and it's very poorly plied, so it splits constantly. But it is lovely and soft, so the finished product should be ok. I hope.

I have lots of spinning work to do this weekend, and dyeing too, so I'm trying to get my needle work done. But there's a lovely handbag in the One Skein book that just came in the mail today, and it's tempting me....

Plus de changent, plus le meme chose

So my darling, patient husband put our little one to sleep last night, only to have him come awake an hour later, vomiting from one end of the bed to the other. And again, an hour later. And again.... He finally settled about 2 am. I changed sheets three times and was doing laundry til 3 am. Since I have to wake up at 4:30 am, I figured I might as well stay up. So I crocheted socks until it was time to get ready for work.

And it's raining. Buckets. The weather is better in Boston than here. Shocking. Now normally, I like the rain, especially here, when it's not a freezing, chilling rain. But I could have used a nice cheery sunny day today. Though my Asbestos friend Barbara called last night to check on my mental status, which is always a lovely and uplifting thing.

I'll try to get pictures of the socks up later. I took some very valuable advice and crocheted both at the same time (helps keep sizing and pattern consistent, and avoids SSS {Second Sock Syndrome, where one never finishes the second sock}).

Happy Monday to All....

There you go again...

Well, it's been a busy few days. First, Thursday night Murphy's school had their annual "Spring Sing." It was quite lovely, and Murphy did a wonderful job singing. Here's a few pictures:






It was pretty sweet. He looked so grown up in his suit, and he sang with such enthusiasm. We all were very proud of him.

Then Friday night, I took out his stitches. The area looked good, so we band-aided it up and sent him off to sleep. Saturday, his friend Ryan from school had a birthday party. Murphy had talked about this party all week! So we sent him armed with a Spiderman action figure and some kisses and instructions to behave! Mommy did not realize that there would be a Jolly Jumper there. Guess who came home with a bloody chin? He managed to split the area open again. So Mommy weighed the semi healed wound with the trauma of another emergency room visit and possible stitches and made the executive decision to steri strip it and forbid any further jolly jumper rides! The wound edges approximated well, so hopefully he won't have much of a noticeable scar.

While Murphy was busy ripping open his wound, I was busy with my dyeing project. I took four ounces of Merino wool and hand painted it. Murphy had requested green, blue and brown, which rather surprised me as his favorite color has always been red. I did opt for purple rather than brown. Here is the initial picture, with the dye painted but not set.

Here's the roving after the rinse and dry. It's not quite as bright as I would have liked it, since I didn't actually follow directions or anything. I just kind of winged it, and probably should have used more dye, especially of the green. But I kinda like it anyway.


It's very compressed and I'm a little concerned I might have felted it, but it does seem to pull apart, so maybe it will be okay. I'm going to try another batch and try to agitate it less. I'll pick one to try spinning myself before I send it off to my Dyeing for Spring exchange partner.

Finally; My Wheel

Tonight I drummed up my courage and pulled the resident spinning wheel from the corner and scraped the dust off of it. I've been so afraid to touch it; it's so beautiful and so fragile and I had no idea what I was doing. Since I've gotten the Majacraft, I understand the workings a bit better, so I decided to take the plunge.

It's so sad that it's broken in so many places; the wood is beautiful and in very good condition, other than the damaged parts. My husband reports that he and his sisters would play with it, having contests to see who could getting going the fastest, and I imagine that might be where the breakages happened.


It looks like the footman and the flyer need replacing, though with some tenderness and care, maybe we can use it as is. The most worrying thing to me is a crack in the wheel's center; if that breaks, I think it's pretty much done. I'm hoping to take it to Solvang and see if the experts there can help.


There's a maker's mark on the wheel; Alfred Andresen Co., Minneapolis, Minnesota. I googled it and got no hits at all. I sent emails to the Spindler's List and to The Spinning Wheel Sleuth; maybe someone will know something about it. I've decided to christen it Abigail.




If you happen to know anything about this wheel, or who might help me replace/restore the broken pieces, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy Mother's Day!

Well, we had an interesting day yesterday. Murphy decided to climb the grecian fountain in our front yard and took a dive off of it. "I'll never do that again, EVER EVER!!!!!!!!" My poor baby has a scraped knee and a very deep gash under his chin. So off we went to the local ER, which boasts a staff of one doctor, two nurses, a receptionist and an EMT. A total of 5 chairs in the waiting room, all of which were full and then some. Three ambulances arrived during our wait, resulting in us waiting three and one half hours before seeing a doctor. Luckily, the bleeding was minimal after the first 10 minutes or so, and the pain wasn't bad. We explained as best we could what was going to happen and got him focused on the game boy that Eric was smart enough to remember, so the wait wasn't too bad. Except for Daddy, who has this problem watching people he loves have to wait for treatment, so we sent him home after a bit. He came back just in time for the actual treatment and was able to be the Rock we all depend on. Here's the before pic:

We lucked out, in a way. The covering ER attending was Dr. Gross, Peru and Eric's regular doctor, so we knew him and he knew us a bit. Poor Murph was confused with people in various uniforms running around, doing various things, and he couldn't figure out who the "real" doctor was. So we told him Dr. Gross was the "real" doctor, to which he promptly asked "Why are you so OLD?" As usual with my children, he had the entire place cracking up with the things he was saying.

Dr. Gross was very patient and explained every step carefully, which both Mom and Murph appreciated. Murphy still didn't get it, really. After all was done and we came back home and fed the poor child his Bunnies (Annie's Mac & Cheese), I showed him with a tissue, thread and needle exactly what was done, and how the stitches would be removed next week. He ended up with five stitches, through which he was very brave. Afterwards, I asked him if it was as bad as he had thought it would be, and he said, "No way, it was much better!"

Here's the sutures:
Today, it's much better, "barely hurts at all!" the swelling is down, and he's excited to have something to share at school on Monday. All in all, we were very lucky that things weren't much worse, and I was reminded yet again of how dear and sweet and wonderful my entire family is, and how amazing it is to be able to depend on them always being there when we need each other.

Today, I was welcomed with a lovely song "Turn Around" and a beautiful handmade hat and ashtray from my sweet baby. He was so excited to remember the song and so happy to give me the presents. Very touching. I cried buckets, of course. Later, my Beloved will take me out to our favorite restaraunt for an early dinner. A perfect day, with all my boys about me. I am a VERY happy Mommy.

Amazing Site

The AntiCraft

Attitude galore. Gotta love em.

Latest Doings

Haven't posted for a while as I've been sick, again. Finally, thanks to major antibiotics I'm "Much better now." The only good thing about being sick was I spent mucho time crocheting and knitting and spinning. Here are the fruits of my labors.

This bag is a Mother's Day gift for my Mother in law, who is much missed. The decoration on the bag is a handmade beaded brooch I discovered in a drawer. I thought it was the perfect accent.

This one is for my Mom for Mother's Day. I wish the picture showed the yarn better. It's a thin/thick slub yarn in greens and coral, wrapped in a gold metallic thread. It makes the bag textured and interesting to look at.

This tote may well be one of my favorite creations. The purple yarn at the top was my first foray into the world of dyeing. I like the size of the bag, and I really like how substantial the handles are. My problem now is what do I do with it? Keep it for myself? Or plan something special?

I also created this shawl. It's a mixed media, both knit and crochet. I used a drop stitch pattern and edged it in single and double crochet. I'm pleased with it, as I was trying for a lacy looking wrap, but I have to admit that it's purely ornamental and not useful for warmth at all!
Here's a close up of the stitch.



Aside from these, I've been spinning, spinning, spinning. Still working with the mill end browns on the Majacraft, and the silk on the Bossie. Tomorrow, maybe I'll post pictures of the new silks I ordered...

New Fiber

I just got my new fiber from Copper Moose Fibers on eBay. Ohhh it's so gorgeous. I bought it in white because I wanted to dye it for the Spindler's Dyeing for Spring Exchange but I had to just grab a handful and try it on my wheel. Thank goodness it came with so many bobbins! A blend of Alpaca, Merino and Tussah silk; it sheds SOOOOOOO badly but oh it's so soft and lovely. I hope I don't trash it! I also got some kid mohair blend in white for dyeing. I'm a tad intimidated by dyeing fiber. I've dyed yarn but somehow the fiber just seems so much more vulnerable and unwieldy! I'm going to do a bit more research on the net and then maybe next weekend bite the bullet. This is so much fun!

How to trade your stash for someone elses!

OneSkein.com

Wonderful Wheel

It came! Far faster than I expected. I got home last night to see a large box on my bed, which I immediately tore open; didn't even take off my coat or shoes! It went together easily, partly because the lovely woman I bought it from thoughtfully included the instructions. Wow.

Wow. What a different feeling! I knew from the Spindler's List that practice is needed; so I sat down and just treadled for a while. Feels strange at first, and it's hard to keep it from going backwards every now and again, but it got better as I practiced. So then I added some commercial yarn, just to get the idea. Finally, I tackled some wool. Frustration! It was really really hard to get it started. The strand kept breaking. I finally figured out that there wasn't nearly enough twist, so I figured out how to keep it from winding on until the twist built up. Tada! I spun an ounce of the sample wool that I got with my original spindle from Mielke Farms. It's a tad rough, but not bad! Then I tried some of the mill end I got from The Sheep Shed Studio. That's a little rougher. It's much harder to draft, so theres'a lot of thick/thin areas. It's also overtwisted, I think. I spun until my fingers ached though, and I think I'm getting better. It took me a while with the spindle too, so I suppose I'll get it! I'm already wondering how I'll do with some silk....

Family Updates

I'm totally heartbroken. Murphy lost his first tooth on Monday, sometime. We don't know exactly when, because it appears he must have swallowed it. I so wanted to save it. It brought me to tears, my baby is growing up so fast! I still have most of Eric's teeth in a medicine bottle in my jewelry case, collected by the tooth fairy over the years. Such a milestone! Since he lost the tooth, we didn't have one to put into the "Tooth Fairy Pillow," so we left the tooth fairy a note. "Dear Tooth Fairy, Sorry I swallowed my tooth. I really wanted a penny from you. Love, Murphy." The Tooth Fairy was very understanding and left him a whole dollar!

Eric is making plans to attend Ventura College; he took the entrance exam and received 40/44 out of 40/45. I'm so proud of him, in so many ways. He's so patient with his adoring little brother, and he's so much better a person than I was when I was his age. Oh dear, I'm going to be the mother of a college student! I literally burst into tears when he brought me his cap and gown today.

My DH has been doing some work with the elderly. He's going to be teaching a computer class twice a week. He and I have both started our diets again, and I'm so proud of him. He's working really hard at it, which motivates me so much. The hardest part is changing your thinking, and he's making huge strides.

And a miracle; right now, we're all relatively healthy! A few scattered allergy symptoms, but nothing worse, thank goodness. It's been a while! It's been a very long winter.

Another miracle: I finally packed away the Christmas decorations. It's only April, after all! We took them down in February, but I've been so sick and tired I just never had the energy to do the intensive planning necessary to pack so much into so little space. But I finally did it last night. Tonight? The dreaded right corner of the bedroom. I'm motivated for that one though; that's where the Gem is going to go!

I can't believe I did it!

I won. I actually won. It hasn't really sunk in yet. I put a bid on a Majacraft Little Gem spinning wheel on Ebay and I won! I'm horrified that I spent that much at this particular time (yes, I'm broke) and yet I'm so thrilled to have the opportunity to actually own a wheel that I'll be able to use! It even comes with the large flyer and bobbin kit. I must say that my usually incredibly supportive husband isn't wild about it; he thinks I should just get the old wheel fixed. Which believe me, I plan to. But I expect it will cost almost as much as I paid for the Gem, and take ages, and I just couldn't wait. Not when I saw that deal! If it's anywhere near what it's described, it really is a great deal. He also thinks that now that I have a wheel, I can sell my spindles. I mean, after all, if you can use a wheel, why use a spindle? I tried to explain, but I don't think he gets it. Maybe I'll have to use a guitar metaphor to illustrate.

On the actual doing things front, I ripped out the fishtail scarf I had started. The needles were too big and the yarn too small, and I didn't like the result. I still plan to make it but have to regroup and reconsider. I started a vest from the Stitch 'N Bitch Happy Hooker book; have a few rows done. I like that it's done in one piece; I hate joining! I'm still spinning the silk, but last night tried to go back to the Corridale on the Kundert; it was SO hard! The silk drafts so easily, so beautifully, and I felt like I was fighting the wool. It's probably not a great idea to go back and forth between such drastically different fibers and spindles, I decided.

So now I'll sit on pins and needles awaiting the arrival of the wheel. I'll try to focus on cleaning and organizing to have a place to put it