Tag

Random Tagging
Tag - I'm it. I was tagged by Elisa with the 8 Random Things thingee.

Here’s the deal: Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I was scared to death to learn to knit socks. I mean, come on, it's not life threatening or anything right? So I learned this spring and I'm addicted. I still giggle every time I turn a heel; it's magic!

2. I'm an archeology geek. I love learning about ancient peoples and watch archeology TV shows till my family begs me to please stop, for the children. I wish I'd known about it when I was younger; I might have become an archeologist. The show the "Naked Archeologist" did on "True Blue" which featured indigo dyeing nearly blew my mind, discussing two of my most favorite things at the same time!

3. Boston is in my blood. I love living in CA, don't get me wrong; but I miss Boston a lot, and will always think of Boston as "home."

4. Having kids is amazing.

5. I have a brown thumb. I would love to garden and grow things but I just can't. I kill everything. I want to grow a dyer's garden but can't even get the seeds started. Except for the madder, which is taking over the pots next to it.

6. I have the attention span of a gnat. And it's getting worse.

7. Somehow, I managed to wait for the "Right" one. A miracle for which I never cease giving thanks.

8. There aren't eight interesting things about me.

I'm supposed to tag 8 other people, but honestly I don't know eight other bloggers I'd feel comfortable tagging. So if you read this, and blog, consider yourself tagged. Drop me a line if you are.

The Holidays Begin

While looking forward to the holidays, I also dread them on another level. This year I have to be very careful to not blow my diet; so that will be interesting. After Thanksgiving comes the "Birthday Week from Hell" followed by Christmas cookie baking, and then Christmas. Not to mention New Years. Sigh.

My knitting is going.... well, it's going. I finished the Red Sox World Series Socks except for the logo, which may or may not ever get done. My reward sweater is on hold until after the holidays. I'm working on another pair of socks, and some Christmas gifts. I spun some really gorgeous yarns, which again, I should try to get some pictures of someday. I've been sticking to the spindle as my knee keeps flaring up; not enough to hugely impair my life, but enough to not want to push it too badly.

I did start going to the gym again. Ok, I went once. But I do have intentions to go regularly; but the holiday shopping and such have slowed it a bit. I also walked for about an hour with Murphy downtown on Saturday, which I haven't done in a VERY long time. So it's getting there.

Busy time; and Sparkpeople takes up a lot of time! It helps, so I've been doing it, but it keeps me from writing my blog and checking other blogs I enjoy reading.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Do I blog? Oh yeah, I do.

Ok, so it's been several weeks since I've blogged. I won't blog at work, and have competition for the computer at night, and my motivation has been lacking... so no posts lately. So - the Update.

The Red Sox won the World Series!!! WHOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!! The only problem was they did it too fast. I cast on a pair of "Red Sox" Socks with the very first pitch, and they were only about half done when the series ended. I'm trying to stay motivated to finish them, because I do really like them; but I'm at the boring stockinette foot part on both socks and there are just too many other interesting things to do.

Halloween: Murphy dressed this year for the first time as something other than Spiderman. I think he's been Spiderman for the last five years. This year, he decided to go with something a bit more spooky - The Grim Reaper!! He looked great, and had a lot of fun. I even went trick or treating with him; the longest I've walked at one time in ages. Maybe there's hope.

Sparkpeople: I have now lost 27.6 pounds. My yarn for my reward sweater has arrived, and I'm swatching. I hope to start the sweater this weekend. I'm scared to death but so excited too. I'll try to get a picture of the yarn; it's a merino/silk blend by Zephyr called Juniper and it's a lovely bluey green. Hence the trouble getting back to the Red Sox socks....

Eric got a job. Actually, he got two jobs, but one was kind of strange, and they laid him off (with good references) after only two days. He's bussing tables at a wonderful restaurant called Azu; he seems to like it pretty well. But he needs more hours...

They're literally tearing the floor of my office up; it's a horrible inside/outside carpet that's been there since 1953. Really. They're putting in ceramic tile, and it looks nice and all, but it's nearly impossible for me to get any work done. So I came home early today. Hopefully they'll be almost done by Monday.

Guess that's about it. I know, I should get some pictures. These wordy entries aren't very interesting. That's why I don't blog often enough; too hard to get good pictures! But I'll try this weekend.

Oh! Speaking of weekend; Murphy is SO excited; he's playing the Huskies tomorrow! There are several of his classmates on that team and he can't wait to play against them. I'll try to get some pictures of that as well.

The Yarn Museum

The Yarn Museum My Halloween yarn made this year's show! Check out the Halloween gallery; and some of the other galleries if you want to see really bizarre yarns!

SparkPeople

Haven't posted in a bit. Not much going on. Knee is progressing; I can almost walk without a limp and have intermittant pain, instead of constant. I've started back on a serious diet, with the aid of the website http://www.sparkpeople.com/. There's a lot of extra junk on there, which can take up a lot of time, but mostly I use it to log in my food intake and weigh ins. Today starts my third week, and I've lost 17 pounds so far; though in all honesty probably ten of those pounds were water, as my doc put me on a diuretic for those swollen feet and ankles. But still, even seven pounds in two weeks is good. I'm feeling pretty positive; it's feeling a lot like when I lost a hundred pounds a few years ago. I'm lucky to have so much support; especially from my husband, who makes it very clear that he loves me no matter what my weight is but that he's proud of me for being healthy so I'll be around longer. He cooks in a manner that helps me stay on my diet, too, which makes it so much easier. He doesn't add salt or butter when he cooks, he provides really healthy food in reasonable portions; and best of all, he sprinkles in hugs and kisses liberally. Have I mentioned how much I love this man?

Ok, enough with the schmaltz, eh? The kids are fine; Murphy still loves both school and soccer, and his team is 2-2. Eric is looking seriously for a job (anyone have a lead?) and Peru is still doing the Help of Ojai thing, and taking music gigs as they pop up. The weather has cooled to a comfortable zone and the sun is out most of the time. There are even a few trees out here that manage to change colors, and we get to watch the Sox and the Pats as they're both doing really well so I don't miss New England TOO much.

I finished Eric's socks; pictures soon, I hope. I haven't done much spinning as I'm afraid it'll re-injure my knee, but I"m starting to think I might try soon. I'm going to start a project to help in my weight loss efforts; I'm going to knit myself a sweater in the size I want to be (pretty much the size I got to last time.) This is the sweater:

The pattern is "Gwen" from the Louet company. It's a sleeveless tank, knit top down in one peice, which is what I wanted, as it's the sewing peices together that makes my knit goods look homemade. It's cabled, which doesn't intimidate me too much; I'm pretty comfortable with cables. But this will be the first adult sweater I've ever made. It's also fitted a little more than I'd really like, but then, that will just be incentive to exercise more, right? I figure it'll take me a year more or less to lose the weight, and probably the same to knit this. After I've stuck to the diet one month, keeping the journal, I'll buy the yarn as my reward. Cast off, and away we'll go!

Ravelry: The Great Time Suck

That's what they've been calling Ravelry; and it's true. You can spend hour upon hour browsing patterns, looking up your friends, choosing yarns. Once you get in, it'll be hard to find time to knit anymore!

I had a problem where my blog wasn't showing up on my page, but I think I fixed it. I'll find out soon.

Haven't had much knitting or spinning time lately. Work, family, life has intruded, but it's all good. My wrist still hurts so I don't want to do too much and make it worse. I've been drop spindling a lot. I'll have to take some pictures soon of a lesson I learned about gauge and how one spins can affect the outcome.

Murphy's at soccer, so I'm going to go make food for the guys when they get home.

My Swap Box Arrived!

I love swaps, have you noticed? It's fun to give and receive little presents from people all over. This swap was to use up those small bits of fiber that seem to accumulate; not enough to actually do much with, but too pretty to discard. We were to make some sort of bag, knit, crochet, felted, whatever, and fill it with those little bits.

Jessica is my partner and boy, did she send it FAST! I'm still working on hers. But here's what greeted me at the door last night.

A lovely felted bag with great texture, just the right size to carry a project with me. In light tan, white and gray/black, with a beautiful beaded accent. In the bag were several gorgeous fibers, including a wool/silk blend and some of the softest alpaca. YUM! And some Lantern Moon needles, in size nine, which somehow she new I needed for the project I'm wanting to work on. Thank you, Jessica! I'm going to have to do some serious stash diving to put yours together!

SQUEAL!!!!!!

Got my Ravelry invite; barely signed up and I LOVE it already! Don't expect to hear from me for quite some time. WHOOO HOOOOOO

I want to know WHO!

What bog-brained idiot had the affrontery to schedule the Pats game against the Red Sox game? I mean, really. Against the YANKEES? With Schilling on the mound? Against Clemens? And here we are, in the seventh inning stretch, TIED at 1-1? At least the Pats game has been mostly a wipe, so I can pretty much stick with the Sox. If my heart can take it...

Some pics of those WIPs:

The Seraphina.

Yes, I loathe pink. I haven't the slightest idea why I bought this yarn. It must have been a momentary lapse, caused by the incredibly low price tag, coupled with global warming and too much sugar. Or something.

But I somehow like the texture of it crocheted really tightly; it's like terrycloth. I plan on finishing this, even if it takes a while. It will be warm, which was the original objective.

The Modea Tutu Tank.

Again, with the pink. Purchased around the same time. Amnesia. Something chemical in the air. And again, the price. It was going out of stock, so they were clearing it out at like a dollar a skein. I hadn't yet learned that I hate, I mean, with a hate so deep and black it melds with space, novelty yarn.

This tank is so not for me and my forty-something, ever so slightly (ha!)Rubenesque, I've had two children and a lifetime of chocolate cravings figure. But I figured I'd better do something with the yarn or it'd be in my stash forever. I had four skeins. The pattern called for four skeins. Ergo - WIP.

The Triangle Shawl

This is a creation out of my own desperation. I bought this yarn on Ebay. The picture doesn't show it well, but it's black with strands of turquoise and coral as the second and third plies. The colors are bright and electric and I loved the yarn, even though it's acrylic. But what to do with it? It's boucle, so anything smooth textured is out. I tried pattern after pattern after pattern, and nothing worked. I frogged so many times there were flies buzzing. So I decided to make it up as I went along. Again, you can't see it in the picture, but there are lace flowers about two inches in from the border. I'm toying with trying a central motif but I'd better decide soon. I'm also trying to find a nice shaping that will avoid the triangle bunching at the nape and help keep the shawl on the shoulders. I've seen a deep V shaping on a shawl I really liked, and I may take a stab at it. Luckily, this yarn takes frogging well.

No picture of the Pinwheel Sweater, as right now it looks like a hat and in a photo simply looks like a blob. I'm trying to trust that once off the needles, it will miraculously become a flat, perfect circle but my faith is being stretched. I'm almost to the sleeve shaping, and THAT should be fun.

It's now the eight inning. I am not a happy camper. Have I ever mentioned how much I abhor Derek Jeter? And what moron decided to keep Schilling into the eighth? Must be the same guy that scheduled both Boston games at the same time. ARRRGHHHHHHH

WIPs

Ok, so I lied. Yesterday I updated the OTN bot to include the Seraphina Shawl. I made one a year or two ago, and I love it; but I made it on a huge hook with bulky yarn. As a result, it's VERY open and not warm at all.

So I thought hey, maybe crocheting would be easier on my tendonitis than knitting. You use the hook in your right hand, not left, so no bending on the left wrist. WRONG. I found crocheting much more painful than knitting. So with only 6 rows completed, I"m putting it aside for a bit, despite the fact that I LOVE the fabric it's making. I'm using that rainbow boucle stuff that JoAnne's had last year in the humongous skeins, and I'm using a very small hook, C or D. It's coming out looking almost like a felted fabric, somehow, with much smaller open spaces, so it will be warm. I do plan on finishing it someday, but it'll have to wait for some rehab.

Instead, I started the Pinwheel Sweater in the child's size. I know it's nuts. I've never made a sweater that looked like a sweater. I don't have enough yarn (I'm using Noro Silk Garden, and I only have two skeins). The colors will be, well, interesting, not graduated as they are in the original. But what the hey, it's worth a shot. It's a fun pattern, with no sewing. Sewing pieces together is what makes my sweaters look, well, like hell. I haven't gotten the hang of a smooth join yet, so my seams look bulky and uneven. So that's my current WIP.

I did get my swap boxes, both of them, in the mail yesterday, and only a little late. Now to put Toni's box together. She sent me such wonderful things, I'll have to come up with something really special to thank her.

Antsy for Ravelry

Found you!
You signed up on July 8, 2007
You are #14966 on the list.
1906 people are ahead of you in line.
17775 people are behind you in line.
39% of the list has been invited so far

So, maybe 10 days? I can almost taste it!

The doings of the past week or so

Well, it's been a busy time. Last weekend was Murphy's SEVENTH birthday. Mammama came to visit for the occasion. It was so wonderful to see her, especially seeing her looking so well. She kept us on our toes and we had a lovely visit that was far too short.

Being the dweebs we are, we didn't take a single photo of the birthday party. Duh. Auntie Merridee and Uncle Terry came for the party, as did Murphy's best friend Natie. There was food and fun and good times for all.

Prior to the party, Murphy had his very first soccer game. The Ojai Tigers, I am proud to report, whomped the other team 17 to 2. Murph didn't score any goals, but did have a few assists. He really loves soccer!

The Next Big Thing

Secret of the Stole

Me? A Soccer Mom?

Is this not the cutest child in the history of the world?

Murphy's first soccer practice was last night. He's really GOOD at it! Daddy is a little bummed that basketball is not the chosen athletic activity (Who knows anything about Soccer?) but we're so proud of him anyway.

His team is called the Ojai Tigers with really cool orange black and white uniforms, which fits in really well with a certain plan that Mom has if she's ever allowed to knit again.....

His first game is Saturday, which also happens to be his Birthday Party day... so I'm looking forward to a very busy, very fun weekend. And Mammama is coming today for the celebration; we're all so excited and can't wait to see her!

Enough with the heat, already.

We're currently in a major heat wave. Temps in Ojai Saturday were ONE HUNDRED AND NINE degrees, and it's humid (for here. In Boston, 60% humidity is to laugh!) We've had brown/black outs two days in a row; Saturday it lasted long enough that we packed everyone up in the air conditioned van and took a drive to Ventura, just to get cool. We could live with the brown outs; turn everything off but the ceiling fans and it was tolerable, but when the power went completely, it was brutal. Even at 10 pm the temp was still close to 100.

Brown outs are a new phenomenon to me. In Boston, a "brown out" was what happened just before a black out; the lights would dim, then go dark. In California, a brown out can last for hours. Sort of a 80% power reduction; it's really bad, actually. Everything just keeps trying to start up again. Our computer kept trying to reboot itself, over and over and over every few seconds, until we realized it and managed to track down where it was plugged in. I'm amazed that it wasn't completely fried. Oh, and getting a UPS has now moved to the front of the "important expenditures" column...

I managed to get some dyeing done yesterday. I mordanted a bunch of sample skeins with alum, and test dyed some wood shavings that Elisa's husband Dick donated to the cause (Thanks, guys!) It's a mixed bag of wood types which I have been steeping in alcohol for a week or two. The color is amazing; it came out the exact color of Cocoa Krispies! I dyed a large-ish skein of unknown fiber (wool) that I received in a swap, and it's quite pretty. I'll try to get some pictures up later. Ok, the picture DOES have a pink background, which emphasizes the pinky brownness, but the color does seem pretty true. If I'm up to it (which is doubtful, having promised Murphy pancakes for breakfast which for some reason tortures my knee) I'll try the ebony shavings also donated by Dick. The liquor is quite dark, but I'm doubting that the resultant dye will be black. It's so much fun to play and find out! Always a surprise. ADDENDUM: the ebony is pretty much the same color; a tad darker, I think. It's still drying, will post someday....

I want to knit so badly (some think I *do* knit badly, rimshot) it's really driving me crazy. I don't feel like the brace is helping; my wrist still hurts and I still have the little lump there. Ok, so it hasn't been a full week yet. I'm trying to follow the rules. Sigh.

More later, I hope.

More Frustrations

I'm typing this VERY laboriously, with a brace on my left wrist. It seems I either have a recurrance of a ganglia which I had surgically removed when I was a teen, or tendonitis. I lean towards the former, my doctor leans towards the latter. Doesn't really matter, as the early treatment for both is immobilization, rest, etc. Therefore, I am under strict orders; NO KNITTING for at least a week. Oh dear God. I can't spin because my knee got really badly worse this week, so I got a cortisone shot for that, which helped until I decided to make zucchini bread. I can't knit. I am probably not supposed to spindle either, but come on! I have to do something! So I'm using the wonderful Jerusalem spindle which I LOVE, but I'm using it very carefully, with my brace on (fun!) making sure not to flex the wrist at all. It doesn't hurt to do it, so I'm assuming it's okay. I finished spinning the merino from my swap partner; today I'll ply it (laceweight, I think!!!!) and maybe dye it if I'm feeling adventurous. The spindle really is amazing; it spins fast and forever, and it holds an unbelievable amount of fiber. It was just starting to act heavy as I was finishing up the last few inches of the fiber. I'll weigh it off the spindle to see how much it holds, but it's a LOT.

Murphy's wonky tooth finally came out. He'll be seven next week and he looks so grown up, so earnest and excited about everything. Children are so amazing. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful ones. School has started, and his favorite subject is PE. This is MY child? Nope; he's his Daddy's boy, through and through. That's a blessing too!

Seeing as there's a line for the computer, and I have some swap boxes and birthday stuff to pack up, this entry is short. Lucky you!

Swap Box Arrived!

My husband and son and I were on our way out to dinner at our favorite restaurant, Sea Fresh (mmmm, calmari!) and I nearly tripped over a big box on our drive. I squealed, scaring both husband and child, and grabbed the box, getting into the car.

Wait to get home to open it? I don't think so!!! In the car, I inspected the box, and then carefully opened it. The return address was marked Israel! WOW! I love these swaps; to be able to contact people all over the world and share a bit of our selves and our culture is a wonderful experience. I always feel I shortchange the people on the other end; American stuff seems to be available almost everywhere, and I have a hard time looking for unique interesting things that I think they might not have access to.

Anyway; on to the booty!!!

First; the fiber.

A HUGE package of white alpaca, just gorgeous! All the alpaca I have has been brown, so white is a treat. Along with it was a smaller package of less prepared fiber that I'll have fun picking and combing ( I am GOING to get those combs set up tomorrow!) I'm already planning what to make of it; a shawl? Some fine lace gauntlets? There's enough there for several decent projects. And there's always a dyeing scheme to plan...

Then there's a heavenly bag of superfine Australian merino. Ohhh yum. White as snow and softer than a cloud; it's just gorgeous. People say it's hard to spin, but not to me; it's like buttah, I swear! I love it. The smaller bag of brown fiber is baby camel. WOW! I can cross one more off my list of exotic fibers I want to spin! Even with bits of twigs and such, it feels so soft I just want to dive right in.

Then she sent some cotton yarn in a really beautiful solid blue color and a varigated brown and gold. This is a godsend, as I've been dying to make a market bag and didn't have any cotton yarn to use. This will be perfect! It's an Israeli brand too. The blue isn't quite as electric as it looks; I really do need to take some photography lessons.

On to the YUMMIES!!!

Some really interesting snack foods. One is a peanut butter flavored puff which she says is very popular with children there. I'll add it's pretty popular with children here too! Murphy couldn't wait to dive in and is thrilled that I've given him permission to take it to school in his lunchbox. I tried to explain where Israel is, and show him how the language is different, but I'm not sure he really grasps the concept. But he sure likes the treats!

While he munched those, I treated myself to a lovely cup of spearmint tea and a bit of chocolate (with hazelnut filling; YUM!). She enclosed a large bag with treat size chocolates of three different types. What a treat!

Last, but most exciting to me, is this amazing spindle.

This is her information about it. "Jerusalem High Whorl Spindle. This spindle, although originally in a larger size, was used in the early '20's in Israel. I reduced the size to allow spinning with today's fine wools. It is a very balanced spindle, and I will be submitting an article to spindleandwheel.com in Sept. and it will explain its history."

As you can see, the whorl is square, with two notches on each side. It is indeed well balanced and spins forever. It's heavy (compared to my featherweight bossies!), but not too heavy, and I picked that baby up and grabbed some of the merino and spun a really fine thread sooooo easily. Oh, I LOVE it. I'm going to be spinning a lot on it, as my knee is still too painful to treadle my wheel.

Toni, I thank you so very much for your kindness and generosity! This package is amazing and far exceeded my expectations. I am truly blown away. I hope your partner is as wonderful to you as you have been to me. Thank you thank you thank you!

Spinning Exhibition

Sunday was the Spinning Competition/Exhibition at the VC fair. Unfortunately, it was mostly cancelled, as the building we were to have it in also held the livestock judging. Two hours after we were to have begun our little deal, they were still judging livestock, with no end in sight. So a vote was taken to suspend the competition for this year, other than the Advanced category, which was held outside the building where we had been demo-ing. Since I was a beginner, I passed, but it was fun to watch. And I still got a lovely basket of yummy fibery goodness for showing up!

Here's a pic of the turquoise top I spun while we waited. The color is unbelievable! I already spun a bobbin of it some time ago; I need to knit a swatch and see if it felts. I have a few ideas in mind, but it's critical to know if it will felt! It's not the softest fiber, but it's got great sheen and is very durable. I'd like to knit socks but this fiber seems to want to spin thicker than fingering weight. Funny how some fiber has a mind of it's own...

So it's on to Monday, and my next adventure. I was driving home from work, when about a block away I feel a huge THUNK. I look back at the road to see what I might have hit, and there's nothing to be seen. So I turn into my street, and suddenly there's that horrible, terrible flopping clunking noise that says "YOU HAVE A FLAT TIRE!" Sigh. I'd complain, but really, I'm so grateful that I was close enough to limp into the driveway rather than being stuck on the side of the highway that the sigh is enough. My fabulous, incredible and eternally patient husband finished assembling the enchilada verde that he was making for dinner, popped it in the oven, and dealt with the whole mess, entrusting me only with removing said dinner from the oven when it was done. Have I mentioned how amazing my husband is? So he takes the tire off, brings it to the tire shop where they mount a new tire, and discover just why my tire went flat. Wanna see?

The round circle is a quarter, for proportion. This is the bottom of a jackhammer. This 10 inch long monstrosity was INSIDE my steel belted radial tire. Yikes. Scary to think where it might have gone if not into the tire!

I'm knitting a triangular shawl out of this gorgeous-even-though-it's-acrylic yarn; black boucle with aqua and orange threads plied in. The pattern is one I'm making up on the needles, so this should be very interesting. I've never not had a pattern to make something before. I tried about 4 different patterns and didn't like the way the yarn looked with any of them, so I'm winging it.

Just finished the gusset on the first Moc Croc but I'm already planning my next pair. I really want to do the Bayerische Socks but I'm not sure I'm up to the task; they are amazing!

Bedtime for the littlest one. Leave a comment if you read my blog; it gets lonely!

Proud of my Dad

Check out the link to the left to see what my retired Dad has been up to in Florida. He's helping to build a railroad! It's such a cool project and he's so excited about it. Here's a pic, stolen from their website; but wander on over and have a look. It's a great thing!

And the final post today. Promise!

I forgot to post the pictures of my Tour de Fleece project; so here they are!




This is the merino tencel blend. I hope you can see the colors; I'm so in love with them. I'd love suggestions on what to do with this; I only have about 2 ounces, and I'd say it was a thin fingering weight.

This is the chocolate alpaca. Oh it's sooo soft! I'm really pleased with the way it came out. Again, I have no idea what to do with it; this one is about 4 oz. A hat, maybe? Or a neck warmer; I know this will be very warm!

It was a fun challenge, and I only missed two days, when my knee was really bad. I reduced my fiber stash right? Of course, I increased my yarn stash....