string, fluff, and random stuff

A Valentine's Day Update, of sorts

2012-02-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

I've been futzing along, doing a bit of this and that. I installed new parts on my car, the odometer rolled over 100,000 miles so she deserved some freshening up. I glued up the drawer front on my long neglected wood working project, and glued the drawer into the table in the process. My bad. One of those moments when I'm glad nobody was watching. I'm not posting pics of that. I did get the drawer removed (hammer), with only slight damage to the construction, but it will need some 'beefing up'. And all that excess glue needs removal. I'm not really looking forward to that one.

I'm still knitting away at 'that scarf that is taking forever to become a scarf'. I've done just a bit of experimental spinning, plying up and even cabling some of the stuff that followed me home from Port Ludlow last fall.

I think the red/raspberry/pink looks appropriate for Valentine's Day.

Sheep Dreams

2012-02-03T14:53:00.000-08:00

Last night, I had a dream that I woke up because I heard my dog softly 'boofing' at the bedroom window. But I was still asleep, and dreaming. Outside the window were two other dogs looking in, about the same size as my dog, one was a self-blue merle, the other black. They both had prick ears. Apparently, they were in my yard because of the sheep. They were the sheep dogs. There was a small flock of what could have been Shetland sheep; the dream sheep were the right color and size and fleece for that. Although, I can't remember if I saw the tails. There was a ram, some ewes and lambs. In my dream, I walked over to the french doors to get a better look at the sheep. Some of them looked back, but mostly they seemed like they needed to be moving on, and so they headed over to the other side of the yard. And, still in my dream, I climbed back into bed, wondering how sheep got into my yard.

I don't remember ever having a dream quite like that one.

Sometimes, the Math Lies

2012-01-18T14:53:00.000-08:00

I'd been plugging away at the Seaglass wrap, a few rows here and a few rows there. It was plenty wide, but never seemed to get much longer. I figured it was one of those endless knit things that just seem to go on and on. But my inner knitter kept whispering, "its not going to be long enough." I told my inner knitter to shush. After all, I'd done the math. But usually my inner knitter has a reason for saying things, ~~even if~~ especially if I'm busy ignoring her. So I decided to weigh the yarn remaining in the ball. Hmmm, just over one ounce left to go. And this wrap is so far, only about two feet long. "Its not going to be long enough" said inner knitter.

"Bah!" said I, "It will block out." And I kept on knitting, a few rows here and a few rows there.

Inner Knitter tried a different tactic. "Use the tape measure."

I heard that one for a few days. Finally, I used the tape measure. As usual, inner knitter was right. Last weekend, during Sunday's football games, I frogged the 3/4 of the way knit wrap, and started over. This time with 102 stitches. If it doesn't pan out this time, I'm picking a different pattern.

The moral of the story; Sometimes, the Math lies, especially if you didn't block the swatch.

Mrs. Facespider

2012-01-12T16:20:00.000-08:00

She's gone now, but her egg cache remains. She made her web in a quiet corner of the garage door frame. I've never noticed a spider quite like her.

At her biggest, she could almost cover a quarter. Even her underside had an interesting pattern.

Well, I think it looks like a face. What do you think?

Flowers Don't Always Mean Spring

2012-01-12T16:11:00.000-08:00

Way back in October, I noticed something new about one of the agave plants in the yard. The common name is foxtail agave (Agave attenuata), but its hard to tell why, at least for most of the plant's life. And then it starts to make a flower spike.

One week later


2 weeks after that

It started to flower right after Christmas

The bees are crazy for the pollen

Not Quite Lemonade

2012-01-10T20:58:00.000-08:00

I've decided to make the most out of my missing fiber-y mojo. Instead, of whining, I shall attend to the several unfinished wood working/furniture restoration projects occupying space in the garage. First up is the class project from (could it really be?) woodworking class 2 years ago. The pieces are all cut, and the carcass (yup, that is really the correct term) is assembled. Still to be done; fitting and adding the drawer front, gluing up the door, adding the hinges, adding the remaining trim pieces, installing the slide out board, ditto the shelf, installing the top, applying a finish and finally the door and drawer hardware. And I may have forgotten something or another, time will tell. The piece was designed for use as a base for the drum carder, and a place to store fiber-y type tools. It would feel nice to get that finished.

Another 1000 Miles

2012-01-09T08:39:00.000-08:00

Took the Boys, my Boys, I miss them already Boys, back to school this past weekend. Sigh. I'm not so good at this letting go thing. It will be end of March before they're back for spring break, if they decide to come back. Home. To me this is still their home, college is a temporary place one spends a few years on the way to 'becoming'.

Notes from the road (I wanted to tweet these, but I don't think tweeting while driving is appropriate.)

Most commonly seen man made road debris; asphalt alligators. Those big hunks of tire rubber that peels off tractor-trailer rig tires. By the way, does anybody know why tractor-trailer rigs are called "semis"?

Most unusual seen man made road debris this trip; duck decoys. It took me a minute to realize what I was seeing.

Most conspicuously absent man made road debris; audio cassette tape. I hadn't noticed its absence until I saw some along the road, and I had a "Wow, I haven't seen that in a long time!" moment. Thanks to the proliferation of CDs and MP3 players, I suppose.

Most common road kill; Barn Owls. Where do they all come from? I'm guessing the California Central Valley is a wintering place for these guys.

Road gripes; we had a ripping headwind all the way from the north side of the Grapevine to Davis, I expected to have a tailwind headed home, but no. Nothing. One of the few legs with no wind at all.

Something I'm thankful for; my backside doesn't feel like it did yesterday when I got home.

'Fessing Up

2012-01-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

The truth isn't always pretty, but here it is. My creative mojo is missing. Gone. AWOL. I don't think its lost, or been absconded with. I think it walked out on me, slipped away while I was busy with other things.

I know I was just brimming with it after attending the Knot Hysteria retreat in early November. Who wouldn't be? So many new things learned, new creative powers waiting to be unleashed.

But, and maybe this is my mistake, I set aside the wild and crazy urges for trying creatively random stuff just for the sake of trying, and buckled down to preparing for the holidays. Making fingerless mitts and cotton washcloths (which seemed to genuinely delight at least one of my college aged nephews!). Reacquainting myself with the logistics of living with my own two boys back in the house for a month. (Did I mention before, that within days of their arrival I was really ready to ship them straight back to campus, too bad the dorms are closed? I have recovered.)

I think my creativity took offense to being set aside, and went off on vacation somewhere, mostly likely a tropical place where most people don't think of wool. I'm sure it will come back, eventually. But if you happen to run across it, lounging about some where, would you please let it know I miss it?

And A Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T16:46:00.001-08:00

Bring it on, 2012!

Merry Christmas to All

2011-12-25T18:59:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone had a lovely day. I know we did. And my family gave me this wonderful dye kit.

It Must be a Random Sort of Month

2011-12-15T12:06:00.000-08:00

Because, I still have very little to show on the fiber-y front.
A Christmas tree was purchased and set up. A lovely 7-8' tall tree. The incredible shrinking tree. Once we got it home I saw that the trunk was too big to fit in our stand (normally we take the stand with, but forgot this time), so I cut off about 4-5" of trunk and put the stand on. Once set up in the house, we saw that the trunk, beside being big around, had a definite bend to it, like no way would it stand up even passably close to straight, with a major 'elbow' about 8-9" up from the bottom. So back outside where I cut off another 8-9" of trunk. Now the tree is maybe 6' tall, it gets a boost from the stand. And it is pretty close to pointing straight up, even though you can still see the trunk is curved. It is a brave little tree, proudly displaying the minimal amount of decorating it received. With an adolescent cat in the house, I felt is prudent to only use the non-breakable decorations.

So aforementioned cat would have something in the house to climb besides the Christmas tree (and the furniture), I decided to make a climbing/scratching post. I went to the local big box home improvement store and bought one of those cardboard cylinders used as forms for concrete footings. The one I used is 8" x 48". I was going to wrap it in sisal rope, but when I got the rope home and opened the package, the rope stunk! Of whatever they use during processing I guess. So I set the rope aside and decided to use an old doormat/area rug that was sitting around. I cut the tube so it would match the length of the rug, then used a staple gun to attach and wrap the rug around the tube, then trimmed of the excess rug. Then I tied the tube to the weight machine that sits in the family room, mostly unused whilst the Boys are away at school.

Scipio the cat ignored it for a while, but now he scratches, climbs and generally attacks the thing. I've a smaller tube to add to it, some time later. Eventually, I hope to add some cat perching areas to the weight machine. At least then, someone will be using it.

The Boys are home now, and its just like old times. I mostly see them when they're hungry, otherwise they're in their rooms, or hanging out with friends. Ryan did help me make some holiday goodies, chocolate covered peanut butter balls (except really, they look more like breasts). There was melted chocolate left over, so I dipped marshmallows, dried apricots and made chocolate covered almond clusters too.

Fun and delicious.

Making Amends?

2011-12-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've neglected my blog, my knitting and especially my spinning. What's a fiber blog to do? Apologize and move on I guess. Maybe some pictures will help?

Gift Knitting;

A picture from last Saturday at the Davis Farmer's Market. (I was in Davis = the Boys are now home for Winter break!)

A sunny day at sea; (whale watching season starts soon!)

Very random, but I like it. Brown sugar and heavy cream on my oatmeal. (what can I say, the cream was left over from Thanksgiving cooking. I didn't want to waste it. I'm leaving for my workout, right now!)

Time Flies - Sometimes Random is as Random Does

2011-12-02T10:10:00.001-08:00

Image; little bitty clocks with wings, swarming like gnats. Maybe they look like the flying keys in Harry Potter. At least they don't bite, or fly up my nose. But suddenly they are everywhere and its early December. (shhh, I'm trying to ignore what that means about the end of the month.) I'm sure the Time Flies are to blame. Wasn't is summer just last week? No, wait, that was Thanksgiving. Okay then, the week before last. And I still haven't finished up with Knot Hysteria. On the brighter side, early December means the academic quarter is almost over, and the boys are soon home for winter break. I'll need to restock the pantry and the 'fridge.

A Good Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T19:12:00.001-08:00

I hope everyone had a good day yesterday. We did. Surrounded by so much family. Today was a quiet day, and tomorrow we have another big family day planned. Then its time to take the boys back to Davis.

Warning - Rant Below

2011-11-21T16:17:00.001-08:00

Normally, I save my outrage over events in the world at large to fuel large yard work projects, house work projects and the like. But this time, its different. This time, the event hit close to home. Some of you might be aware of the campus police brutality directed against students and faculty at UC Berkeley a few weeks ago. And more recently, the campus police pepper spraying students and faculty peacefully demonstrating on the UC Davis campus.

Both of my boys attend UC Davis. Neither of them were near the demonstration. But as I watched the many different videos of riot-gear attired officers arriving like an invading army on campus with batons, pepper spray and what looked like paintball guns, I was appalled. And then when I saw the officer deliberately step over students seated on the ground, so he could be sure to pepper spray them in the face, I was down-right, mother bear, outraged. He used that can of pepper spray like someone using RAID to kill roaches. I was appalled, dismayed, shocked, angered, riled up and betrayed.

Why betrayed? Because a year and a half ago, I sat in front in a room full of other parents and we heard campus police Chief Annette Spicuzza tell us how much she liked the student body, her job, and how she and her staff work to keep the students, our children, safe. Likewise Chancellor Katehi's Cabinet member who addressed us as well. Apparently, that protection is only extended to students who behave, and leave when told to do so. Those who continue to heed their convictions and stay are treated like pests.

As a mother to 2 boys, rowdy raucous physical boys, I strove to instill in them the understanding that use of force to get one's way is simply wrong. Might does not make right. Physical or verbal aggression to achieve one's end or extract revenge is wrong. (I admit, there can be extenuating circumstances where force is necessary). As I watched the actions of the police officers, it was all wrong wrong wrong.

And I tried to teach them about having and using a moral compass. To understand that the one person they have control over is, themselves. That sometimes doing the right thing is definitely harder. To think about the results of their actions. And then be responsible for those results.

What I saw in those videos was, at least according to my standards, my moral compass, it was wrong. It was wrong to send those officers, dressed like that, with those weapons, to disperse that crowd of peaceful demonstrators. And I am angry and sad. Here is a link to some of the videos. Take care if you decide to watch, they upset me, they might do the same to you. Thanks for listening

The WOW Factor

2011-11-20T08:35:00.001-08:00

I wish I could see this in person. I wish I could have this in my house. Or at least see someone else spin on it. Or at least get a better picture. Here is the flyer;

The photos were uploaded back in 2003, but that was long before I was spinning. So this is new to me. Maybe to you too. The wheel was built by Bill Fox, up in the Pacific Northwest, and is made of myrtlewood. That's pretty much all I know.

Yesterday was spin group day. That's where I heard about the myrtlewood wheel. (thanks for the link Juli) Spin group is always a treat, but as everyone set up their wheels, there was something very different about our circle. All of a sudden, being close to an electric outlet was a concern. Care to take a guess? Its the e-spinner invasion. (Cue the scary music.)

In our little group of 5, three spinners were using e-spinners. And the 2 'real' wheels were Pocket Wheels. Bravely soldiering on, doing their part to uphold the old-fashioned foot powered tradition of hand spinning. Maybe in the future when we say 'hand'- spinning, we'll be talking about powered spinning, and we'll say 'hand and foot' spinning to mean using a wheel with treadles.

The day before yesterday was wash-and-dye day. I'm still washing up the great grey fleece, and I'd been thinking that some of it would look cool dyed shades of blue and or purple. Dyeing as part of the washing process sounds sensible. The wool is still wet and recently soaked in a water/vinegar rinse. And I have some blue dye and some red dye. Plus, recent rains mean I've turned off the irrigation system, so I don't feel so guilty about washing fleece. This bit just soaked outside in cold water for a couple of days. I think I let it set out in the (predicted) rain today for a rinse. It is sort of stinky. Maybe I'll try spinning some of it just so I can say I've tried spinning in the grease. Its not a really greasy fleece to start with.

Here are some of the dyed bits.

The light blue wool near the middle isn't merino, but something else I grabbed and tossed into the dye pot just to use up the rest of the dye. See that blue squarish bit nearby? That's a little pile of silk hankies I made from cocoons given to me by my friend, Fluffy's Garden. I sort of got the hang of hanky making, after a bit. Sort of.

Once all the dyed bits are dry, I'll weigh everything so I know how much I have, and then decide, uh, how to use it.

The Part that Comes After That Last Part (spinning)

2011-11-18T19:06:00.001-08:00

Would you like to hear, rather than read, more about my adventures at Knot Hysteria? Use this magic link to jump over the Knitters Brewing Company blog and click on the Postcards From Fiber Camp podcast link. Wendy and Kelie invited me to be a guest podcaster, it was fun!

Otherwise, read on!

Every morning started with the (yummy) breakfast buffet and greeting our lively group of Hysteriacals. At 9 a.m. class started. We were divided into 3 groups and each day we rotated to another class. I was in the blue group and we started our first day with Judith. Look what was in the middle of the floor when we walked in!

A rainbow circle of Ashland Bay top. Those 3 colors in the middle? They are dyer's primes, very similar to printers primes. If those colors aren't screaming off your monitor, they should be. Judith told us that with those 3 colors, plus black, white and the shades you can see in a line at the top right of the picture, she could make any color she wished. In fact, she started our morning by talking about commercial yarn color choices, and how we didn't have to settle for what was offered to us. After all, why did we become spinners, if not to make the yarn we wanted.

We went over basic color theory. It was a color themed retreat, after all. We learned about experimenting with color combinations to make more interesting yarns. Then we practiced making those yarns, working across multiple colors of top. Worsted style 2 plys, and for the speedier spinners (not me) cabled yarns. Every time we did something to the yarn the interplay of colors changed. Achieving opalescent effects using shimmery merino/silk blends. Talked about how to create gradient yarns like this; (Ravelry Group, post #1) I really want to practice making yarn like that.

Judith demonstrated using combs to blend colored fibers. Somewhere in there we ate lunch, and shopped at the Fiber Store. All the Blue Moon Fiberarts stuff. And the latest books by Stephanie and Judith. We spun worsted style (wheeeeee!) and talked about using silk hankies in spinning. Judith is just wonderful. Class was supposed to end at 4:30, but we just kept going and talking and listening to Judith. Yeah, I'm a fan girl. I already knew that, this just confirmed it.

Aside: I'm about ready to pitch my keyboard, it is really misbehaving.)

Just like breakfast, lunch and dinner was buffet style. But not just any ol' kind of food. Chef Dan put out a great spread, with careful consideration to everyone's eating choice or menu restriction. Me, I can and do eat everything, and I did. But my favorite thing, present at every lunch and dinner, I think, was the Mystery Bay goat cheese. I could give up just about anything else you can spread on bread, and just live on that cheese. And the bread. And ~~maaaaaay~~ (see there it went again!), and maybe some beer once in a while. And coffee in the morning.

I've rambled on. I thought I'd be able to fit all 3 days of class in one post, but that isn't working out so well. So there will be more parts after this part. At least that gives me time to check my class notes!

Can you see the halo?

2011-11-17T22:35:00.001-08:00

Really? Somebody got into your yarn? Why would anybody do that?

Part After Part One

2011-11-14T21:06:00.001-08:00

Making new friends is part of the joy of traveling, and of attending an Event like Knot Hysteria. I didn't know anybody else who was going, but figured a great way to start out was to ask around for a roommate. Its fun to have a roomie to talk with about the goings on of the day. So I put it out to the Knot Hysteria Ravelry group that I was looking to split a room with someone, and before I knew it, I'd had some responses. And a new roommate, Purls Just Wanna Have Fun.

My flight started in San Diego, with a stop over in Oakland. I knew some Knot Hysteria were coming from the Bay area, would any be on my flight. Sure enough, I looked up just in time to spot a beautifully knit sweater, and the lovely Bekala, just as she was stuffing her wheel into the overhead. There was an open seat next to me, and we chatted along all the way to SeaTac. Things just kept getting better and better.

Once we'd found our luggage, it was time to find our ride and our van-pool partners. Our driver was a local knitter, with a van. It was perfect. We could relax and enjoy the fall colors on the ride to Port Ludlow.

This is the Resort at Port Ludlow, and I think its a dandy place to hang out for awhile. The food was fantastic, the room comfortable, the staff ever so nice and helpful and this really tickled me;

free bottled water. There are these pretty looking condos if you need more space.

Its a lovely and quiet location. Rain was forecast for every day, but it didn't.

But I got distracted. We arrived at the resort, checked in and checked in again and got our goody bags. Goody bags?! We get goody bags too? This just gets better and better. I had just enough time to unpack my bags and then head downstairs and have a little dinner, meet my roommate, Purls, and get settled in for opening night.

Knot Hysteria First Part

2011-11-12T19:31:00.001-08:00

Sometimes, an opportunity pops up and you just have to grab it. If I'd thought about it first, or figured out the logistics first, I might have missed. it. By it, I mean the Fall 2011 Knot Hysteria Retreat. I'd never been to one before, or really even had it on my 'must do' list. But when I saw the Yarn Harlot's blog post for the dates, and the instructors, I instantly knew I had to go. Come on, a 3 day intensive workshop with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Tina Newton and Judith McKenzie, and someone else is doing all the cooking!? A no-brainer, all the bases covered with some of the best; spinning, dyeing and knitting.

So I submitted my name for registration, and then went out to garage and told DH of my plans. And waited to hear if I got in. A few days later, the confirmation email hit my inbox. Now it was time to make plans. And finish that cardigan, so I'd have something cozy and hand knit out of hand spun to wear. And book flights and see about a room.

Cranky Computer

2011-11-12T09:41:00.001-08:00

For some as yet unknown reason, the 'puter is acting cranky. Don't know if its related to the problems it was having last week or whenever that was, or something new. But I right now I distrust it. I'm getting closer to a post, I've finally uploaded my few pictures. You can see some pictures here, and some I took here.

Recovery

2011-11-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

I've been away at the Knot Hysteria Retreat of Fall 2011. And I'll get y'all updated tomorrow, by which time I hope to have my spiff together.

Up and Running, for the time being

2011-11-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Casualty report: wireless mouse needed new batteries, the graphics card in my computer is apparently dead but at least the mainboard has on board graphics, and some of the RAM slots in the mainboard don't work any more. I think its time to plan for an upgrade build. That means switching over to newer technology, which means buying more new stuff. New mainboard, new CPU, new graphics card, new RAM and new SATA DVD drive. At least the hard drives don't need replacing.

The day the computer balked, I was all excited to share these moth pictures. I love the subtle coloring on top of the wings and body, and then the surprise of orange hidden underneath. This is Arachnis picta, the Painted Tiger Moth.

They don't eat wool, nor make silk.

And we can get fall color in Southern California, we just have to plant for it.

When Good Computers Go Bad

2011-11-02T07:05:00.001-07:00

My dear friends, I'm attempting to blog tonight from my 'smart phone ', as my computer is apparently suffering from a migraine, or something. The symptoms started last night, when the on screen pointer refused to respond to the wireless mouse inputs. "Maybe low battery", I thought. "Or the blankety-blank RAM needs to be re-seated again."
Non-mousing is usually the first sign that my computer is about to get/be a major headache. Re-seating RAM usually solves the problem.
So today, when my computer wouldn't boot up, I played (okay, I fell asleep at this point, continued this morning, so I don't know what I was about to write) well, to make a long story short, there seems to be something wrong with the main board RAM slots, the graphics card and the mouse. Hopefully, I can get it all sorted out this morning.
Randomly yours,
Shelly

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tricks for Treats!

Fall Cleaning and Mini-Stash Busting

2011-10-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

For some reason, Fall is when I get the urge to tidy things up. But most of the tidying is happening in the yard. The last few days were warm and dry, and I've been trimming branches and clearing out dead growth. I wonder what type of winter we'll have?

With the the cardigan finished, and the phone cozy waiting for me to decide what type of strap to add, I decided to do a little stash busting. (This is a type of tidying up, too.) I've an odd assortment of little bits of hand spun yarns; test samples and what not. I'm tired of keeping track of them and decided to knit some kitty toys. The goal is two-fold; no make that 3-fold; use up yarn bits, work on something simple and mindless, and hopefully give the cat something to play with that will keep him out of my yarn stash. Every time I open the stash containing closet, he runs in and tries to steal yarn. And he doesn't just steal it, once he runs off with it he bites it and tries to disembowel it with his back feet. Naughty Scipio.

While I was knitting these, Scipio kept trying to steal the yarn. Now, he ignores them. Stinker.

Whether or not Weather

2011-10-24T11:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was checking out the weather forecast for the upcoming days, and was very surprised to see a chance of showers and or thunderstorms for today. Okay, so no big deal for other areas, but in Southern California we don't get much rain. And the forecast only called for 30%, which is like the Magic 8 Ball coming up with a "Don't count on it" response. So I was caught off guard when I heard the big KABOOM of thunder and looked outside to see it pouring rain, and a slightly soggy dog sitting by the door. But the rain really lasted only long enough to wet the surface, and that's probably all the rain we'll see here for at least a month.

Rain and cool weather, well I nearly dashed to don my freshly made sweater, but then decided it wasn't really that cold in the house. But, thank goodness my new project is nearly done,

for I wouldn't want my mobile to get chilly. This is my Mobile Phone Cozy, and I whipped it up on Saturday in an attempt to use up odd bits of my hand spun yarn and practice some color work. I wanted some quick gratification too, so I held the yarn double stranded. The lower, zig-zaggy stripe is slipped stitch, and the bigger stuff is stranded. This results in an extremely heavy weight cozy, that in an emergency can double as a hand warmer, or even a toe warmer. I'm pretty sure it weighs more than the phone. Now the cozy needs a strap, for those days when my garments have no pockets.

Continuing my quest to use up hand spun stash, I've started on a kitty toy for Scipio. Using some not so fine alpaca yarn. I like to think him having his own wooly toys will keep him away from my wooly stash, but I know better. Right now, Scipio seems to be going through a "what shall I do to vex her now?" phase. For both his sake and mine, as well as the appearance of my furniture, I hope he outgrows it soon.

Lastly, here is a picture of the expanded size Seaglass Wrap. I continue to work on it here and there, and amaze myself with how I can still make mistakes on something so simple. Its good work for conversations, car rides or TV watching.

A Little More Almost

2011-10-21T13:58:00.000-07:00

Night before last, I did not finish the Iced Cardigan. But yesterday morning I bound off the the collar and wove in the ends and did some steam blocking. I love steam blocking, the yarn really seems to pay attention once I've hit it with a bit of heat and moisture.

The next step was figuring out button placement. I almost decided to leave the buttons off. I liked the possibilities of closing the sweater different ways. Yeah, it seems I'm all about the potential; what sort of yarn a fleece will make, what sort of article yarn might make, right down to how many ways can I close this cardigan. (I just considered that maybe its not the potential that I like, its the deciding. And while a thing is still raw, lots of deciding can be going on.)

I finally decided that it would be less fiddly if I just went ahead and put the buttons on. Plus, I really wanted to use those cool abalone shell buttons I picked up earlier this month. Then I had to choose where to put the buttons. More fiddling. I don't put that many buttons on things. Here is the result.

I think it is just a bit big I and when I make another, I'll play around with the sizing. But I do really like it. The pattern is easy, and I've thought of a few modifications. I thought the hardest part was slogging through all the rows of garter stitch for the collar.

Oh, for the record the blue yarn is not my handspun, but all the rest is.

Almost...

2011-10-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Toasty Iced cardigan is almost finished. I'm working on the garter stitch collar now, and since its garter stitch it goes along pretty quickly. Hopefully I'll be steam blocking later today, and adding a new FO picture to the blog tomorrow. Which reminds me, I still need to buy some plastic snaps for this thing.

I hate to leave the blog post without a picture; so I offer this. Part fascination, part blech

These things turn into moths that are almost as big as hummingbirds.

Comb, Spin, Knit, Repeat...

2011-10-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

A sort of "family" shot of progress on the Iced Cardigan. The knitted part is below waist length now, and knits along quickly. I'm thinking of adding some simple (very simple) color work along the bottom.

Hot Weather

2011-10-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Cool Kitty

Scipio hangs out by the pool. Yesterday and today are unseasonable warm. Even by Southern California standards.

Hurrah for Local Fiber Fests!

2011-10-13T12:18:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was the inaugural Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta. Finally! A local fiber event. I'm just tickled. I went on Saturday and the weather was fantastic. Warm and sunny, but not too warm. There were 26 vendors, a spinners "corral" and some cute little Alpacas. Plus, the event was held on the grounds of the Vista Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum, and one of the buildings contained all sorts of old looms. I had a great time shopping and visiting and really hope this becomes an annual event. There's enough room for more vendors, and maybe even some more fiber bearing animals.

Lambtown 2011

2011-10-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I used visiting my Boys up in Davis as an excuse to drop in on Lambtown in Dixon, Ca. Or maybe I used Lambtown as an excuse to drop in on the Boys. Whatever, it worked. You can read more about Lambtown by following the link. My interest was in the craft and fiber booths, and the wool show. Alpacas were there too.

One of the first things I saw at the fairgrounds was the sheep to shawl competition. It looked like 5 or 6 looms were set up, maybe more. I thought this pedal powered drum carder ingenious. I don't know if any of the competitors used it, they were far past the carding stage by the time I showed up.

There was a building full of fiber-y type vendors, everything from raw fleece to dyed roving and yarn. Alpaca, Angora, Romney, Wensleydale, Cormo, Merino to name a few of the fiber types.

A wool show in the corner, besides wool they were also judging mohair, and alpaca and maybe cashmere.

Outside were more booths, and food vendors, sheep and alpaca barns, sheepdog trials and a kiddie play area. It looked like many families showed up just for fun. The weather was perfect.

I found a few things to bring home. Some of the best butter toffee almonds I've ever tasted. I ate most of them driving home on Sunday. A little bit of BFL roving;

Some pretty abalone shell buttons for the sweater I'm working on;

And, surprise! A fleece in shades of grey.

And I learned that the Handweavers Guild of America Convergence will be in Long Beach, CA next year. Hmmm, that's not so far from home at all. Less than 2 hours.

Random Musings

2011-09-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Do lions and other big cats get hairballs?
How do Humpback and Blue whales find krill? We've have Blue whale sightings within a mile of shore off and on all summer. A bit unusual.
How do fish know they're schooling with other fish that look like them?

Anybody else want to share?

Quick Calculations

2011-09-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Worlds Easiest Lace Scarf is now about 4" long x 12" wide, unblocked. If I knit the entire 4 oz. of yarn, how long will it be? Hmmm. I weighed the ball to determine how much yarn I've already used. Wow, only about 1/8 of an ounce. Okay, 4 oz time 8 equals 32/8 ths. Times 4 (inches) equals 128 inches. Divide by 12 makes a scarf over 10' long. That's really long.

If I use grams instead, and conservatively estimate 1 inch/gram, that's still 113 inches, over 9 feet long. I think I'll start over and maybe double my cast on. More of a stole than a scarf. And I'll rename it, the Seaglass Wrap. For the color of the yarn.

Okay, I got caught up in the math and I'm on a roll. My 12"x4" sample had 2130 stitches. That figured to 710 stitches per gram. My ball of yarn is approximately 113 grams. That equals 80230 stitches. My new cast on for the wrap is 164 stitches. Based on my now ripped out scarf, I get 6 stitches per inch and 7.5 rows per inch in pattern. So based on the math, I should have, unblocked, a wrap that measures roughly 27" wide x 65" long. That will do.

Working It Too Hard?

2011-09-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, as I was sitting at Blondie the Pocket Wheel, something didn't feel quite right about how the ~~jarn~~ yarn (that was weird, how the J popped in there) was feeding onto the bobbin. Sometimes a bit of fiber wll catch on one of the hooks or guides, but that wasn't it. Taking a closer look at the hook, I saw this.

A notch. Worn into the metal. From wool? Honestly, I don't think I keep such a tight tension on my bobbin when I spin. I usually keep just enough tension to get the yarn feeding on, and no more. But, a few months back I was spinning for sock yarn, and I ~~jused~~ (odd, there is "j" popping up where it doesn't belong again!) used some mohair, and I definitely, but not on purpose, over spun the single. So, yes, I'm blaming the mohair. And maybe the hook is made from copper, a rather soft metal.

I thought about going to the hardware store to get some replacements, but sort of kept putting it off. The other day it finally dawned on me; I have an unused flyer, full of hooks, just sitting in a drawer. The flyer came off my Ashford Traveler, which now sports a jumbo flyer with sliding hooks, which aren't really hooks at all but more like loops. Here is the donor flyer, minus donated hook.

The replacement hook threaded right into the existing hole. Its a bit bigger, but seems to work just fine. Meanwhile, the jumbo flyer on the Traveler needs some tuning up. The place where the yarn exits the orifice and heads for the bobbin seems to have a burr, and keeps catching at the yarn as I'm plying. I need to get everything moving along, as I've given myself a deadline for finishing my Iced cardigan; November 3. Right now, the cardigan is knit down to 2 inches below the sleeves, I've got a fresh skein of yarn washed and drying outside and its time to put my nose back to the spinning wheel.

No New WIP Pics

2011-09-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Just lizards.

He's a fence lizard, and I love the turquoise spots on his back. I might just plan on some stranded knitting, with this guy as inspiration.

And the blue splotches and yellow bits on his legs.

Its Popping Up Everywhere

2011-09-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Yarn and knitting, that is. Ok, it really has always been everywhere, but now I am attuned. When I see magazines or catalogs, I look for the knit bits; sweaters and scarves, hats and mittens and so on. Do I like them? How do they look on the model ('cause really, if it doesn't look good on the model, I figure it'll look worse on me)? Most importantly, Is It Something I'd Like to Knit?

Earlier this week, an new catalog arrived in the mail. A jewelry catalog. The jewelry is lovely, but what really caught my eye was the skein of yarn on the front. Yup, yarn. Yarn that bears more than a passing resemblance to Noro. Thumbing through the pages I saw that yarn and knitted swatches were used all through the jewelry layouts, and to lovely effect. I thought I'd share by including a link to the website. Alas, the same photos aren't used on the website. So I scanned a few images to share.

Shoot Me if You've seen it Before

2011-09-21T09:57:00.000-07:00

This video came out a few months ago, so sorry if you've seen it before; Knitting with Julia, a cute prank pulled on the Larry Crowne set. Plus, my exercise in embedded YouTube video.

It made me laugh. And I don't really have any project updates. Just combing more fleece, spinning more wool and knitting along.

Ahoy Mateys!

2011-09-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Today be International Talk Like a Pirate Day! An' a wee bit o' nonsense be just tha remedy I be wantin' t' soften life's hard realities. Aye, me fine young lads both be away from home, attending institutions o' higher learnin', in hopes o' becomin' learned men. Me heart be fit to burst wi' pride o're the two o' them, but still, 'tis a mite bit lonely quiet-like here. I'll stiffen me backbone, I will, and show 'em all that I be made of sterner stuff.

I got me hobbies keepin' me occupied as well, Why, just ta other day, as we was making way for the village o' higher learnin', it came to me that the yarn for all three o' my traveling knitting endeavors were indeed crafted by my own hand. 'Twas a fine thought, an' buoyed me mood considerably. In high spirits, I completed those fine socks o' red an' black for me younger son, Evan. He be showin' them off here;

After makin' such satisfactory headway on tha socks, 'twernt naught to do but cast-on for a sweater t' warm me bones during tha chilly weather yet to come. Here be a progress image.

An', as tha sweater might become a bit bulky for transporting along, I cast-on for a bit o' a scarf as well.

Seein' how I were makin' such headway on me undertakin's, on me return to home port I finished yet another item, completin' the set below.

May ye all encounter favorable winds during your journeys.

Cast-on Giddiness

2011-09-15T12:08:00.000-07:00

Oh oh oh! The socks are almost done, the throw pillow is all most done. I've made enough yarn to start working on Iced, and I can easily justify casting on one more, smaller project. Maybe a scarf made with this;

a 50/50 blend of silk and cashmere, hand spun and hand dyed by me.

throw pillow update

2011-09-12T15:37:00.000-07:00

Pillow side one is done. It measures about 14 inches a side. Side two is nearly done. I think I'll full the sides a bit before I make the insert.

Hey! Who Turned Out The Lights?

2011-09-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon the power went out at our house, and a lot of other places too! Apparently, some poor power company worker in Yuma, Arizona made a boo-boo and shorted out the grid. Power outages from Ensenada, Baja California to Arizona to south Orange County. 1.4 million customers, according to SDG&E. It was a good time to evaluate our emergency preparedness.

We have solar panels on the roof, but by design we don't get power from them while the SDG&E grid is out. Something about protecting the grid from damage. We could get batteries for the system, but they are big, expensive, and generally not recommended unless one is living off the grid. A diesel or gas generator might be a better option. But really only necessary if there is a long term outage. And I think it might need some special connection to send power to the house.

I moved food from the fridge side to the freezer side, figuring its pretty well insulated and would work like a big ice chest. Fortunately, I'd been putting grocery shopping off until today anyway, so in this one case, procrastination payed off. There wasn't that much food anyway, and there was room in the freezer. The power was out for just over 13 hours, but the ice in the ice maker had barely melted, so the ice chest ploy worked.

The natural gas lines weren't affected, so we could cook on the stove top or the gas grill, and we had hot water. We cooked bacon on the gas grill and had bacon and tomato sandwiches for dinner. We also have a 2 burner camp stove, and plenty of propane. So we'd be okay for a while if the gas was off. We have plenty of non-perishable food in the pantry. Two weeks ago, on a bit of a lark, I bought a container of dehydrated food, supposed to contain 200 meals. Of course, to take advantage of dehydrated food , one needs plenty of potable water. I'm not sure we'd get a passing grade there. There's maybe only 4 gallons of drinking water in the house, plus whatever is in the water heater (ok, that's like 75 gal, so maybe we wouldn't be so bad off) and then there's always the water in the pool. That water could be boiled (wow, I just added chlorine yesterday) and used, plus we have a backpacking water filter. So, maybe we would get a passing grade there.

We have a propane lantern, and flashlights, candles, matches and batteries galore. But the only radios we had were the ones in the cars. We had cellular service, but only for calls and texts. A hand crank radio is a good idea. Ditto one of those little solar chargers that can be used to power cell phones, or batteries. We don't have a real family emergency plan, but since we had mobile service and our land line worked, I was able to let Evan up in Davis and my brother in Wyoming know what was happening. All of our supplies are in the house or garage. Being in an earthquake and wildfire area, I should move supplies into metal trash cans and put them in the shed, in case its not safe to go into the house. But maybe put the propane somewhere else, since if it blows up next to my supplies, I'm left with not much.

Last night, I sat at my spinning wheel with a headlamp on. It worked pretty good. Here is a link to some cool pictures taken while the power was out.

More Reptiles

2011-09-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

Early, early this morning I walked out of the garage and found this little guy;

when I took him back outside I found another and another and another! I guess there was a hatching. I think they are baby fence lizards.

What the Cat wanted to drag in. (ophiophobiacs beware)

2011-09-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Scipio, the cat, is very good at catching small lizards. He thought maybe he could catch this reptile. Thank goodness rattlesnakes can make noise, or I might be down one cat by now. This is Crotalus helleri, the Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, after being coaxed into a trashcan. I haven't seen one of these around the house for many years, yet earlier the same day we chanced on a larger one that had just caught a woodrat. At least, I'm guessing it was a woodrat based on where it was living. I didn't actually see it. I couldn't get a picture of that snake, it was well into a rock pile. Finding two venomous snakes in the yard in one day has me a bit twitchy. Oh, I let this little guy go, away from the backyard.

Scipio isn't happy that I interrupted his hunting.

And, I decided to start over on the throw pillow after I found leftover yarn. I like it better already.

Figureing Out What's Just Right

2011-09-04T08:39:00.000-07:00

Goldilocks had it easy. Three different times she had 3 different options to chose from, and one was always just right. Never mind that she was trespassing, eating, breaking and using other people's possessions without permission. That's another rabbit-hole entirely. Right now, I'm just talking about choices and choosing.

Goldilocks didn't have to narrow her selections down to three and then pick, there were just three to start with. Only one type of porridge, and she didn't even have to cook it. One was still just right. Seriously, if you're hungry enough, any of them would be fine. Same with the chairs and the beds. It's a shame she broke the little chair though. I guess she didn't get off scott free, the Bears found her and she ran for her life, made it back home and promised to be a good girl. At least in one version of the story.

Have you already guessed why I'm talking about Goldilocks? Yeah, I'm envious. Of Goldilocks. Whether it was porridge, chairs, or beds, each time Goldilocks found something just right. Without much effort on her part. Try a little porridge, sit on a few chairs, lie down on a few beds, its all good. She was even being naughty at the same time. I want to find the Just Right cardigan pattern. And there are so many more than 3 to choose from. Which isn't a bad thing, I like having choices. But I don't want to invest a tremendous amount of time in a project and then decide I did a bad job deciding. Yeah.

Maybe writing some criteria down here, (thinking out loud, as it were) will help me focus.
Yarn - My hand spun Shetland
Construction Details - Shawl collar, long sleeves, prefer raglan top down construction (I like trying on as I go), loose enough to wear over a long sleeved shirt.
Style - unfussy, but smarter than a hooded sweatshirt
Other concerns - I live in Southern California, so while I want it warm, I don't want it too warm. I'm thinking good luck with that one.

All the while I'm typing, I keep looking at Iced, I've already printed the pattern. I've even spun some yarn and swatched it. I got gauge. It looks like this;

It will probably be too warm, most of the time. I can't help myself. Hopefully, there is enough fleece after this to make a lighter weight sweater. By the way, that's a 3 ply bulky weight yarn up in that picture, lofty and bouncy and wonderful to behold. At least in my opinion.

Things I've Learned Recently

2011-08-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

One life's great pleasures, at least in my opinion, is finding a delightful nugget of knowledge when I wasn't looking for it. Just this morning, I learned about a Ravelry feature for pattern searches called Remember and Compare. Don't know how long its been around, but what a great idea. I wish I'd known about it when I started the Great Cardigan Pattern Search. By the way, the results of the search are percolating. I have some ideas, I think I'm heading towards a certain destination, but there is always the possibility of pin balling off in an entirely different direction. While I was searching, I ran across a new-to-me way of constructing a top-down sleeve, called the Contiguous Method by Susie Myers. I don't know if you need a Ravelry account to view these sites, I apologize to any who might not be able to view them. If you knit, crochet or spin it is a wonderful place and I recommend joining.

I've also learned things that I've specifically set out to learn. Such as; what type of rodent is it that the dog and cat keep catching? Turns out they are voles. The dog and cat co-hunt now. Scipio, the cat, has learned that Shae often flushes small critters out of the bushes, and doesn't notice. So the cat uses this to his advantage. The dog still benefits, as after a while the cat tires of the cat and mouse game and the dog recovers the critter.

Here is another recent animal I.D.;

the Western Grape Skeletonizer, aka Harrisina metallica. The stuff I've read says they overwinter in a silken cocoon... Maybe I should keep some in a terrarium so I can learn more about this silken cocoon. At least I know I have the food they need growing right outside. Thanks to Wormspit for the inspiration to I.D. these guys.

And finally, I've learned that even when a project seems like it will never get finished, and the mattress stitching is endless, it is possible to finally reach the end and say Done!

I especially like the stockinette band at the bottom, I love the greens and purples together. The colors aren't quite right on my monitor, but you get the general idea.

Sometimes, It hurts

2011-08-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

I've been looking at sooooo many cardigan patterns. Its making my head hurt. Time to do something else, anything else. I think I'll go watch football. That's pretty sad.

FO Feels Good

2011-08-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hurrah, the short socks are done! It seems like so long since I've had a finished object (FO), even just a small one. As a bonus, there was less than a yard of yarn left over after bind off. Vital statistics; Yarn - Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet DK, Total Yarn Used - 88g (about 231yd), Size - Ladies 9-10. Ok, they're just a smidge big for me, still. But, not so much that it matters.

WIP Update

2011-08-23T15:48:00.000-07:00

First the socks; the heels are finally turned! For some reason, I had a problem starting the heel short rows in the proper place on both pairs of socks. Too long, then too short and finally just so. It was frustrating, and time consuming. And puzzling. Those darn socks would be done by now, if not for my bumbling. *WIP update: the knitting of the short socks is complete. Just needs a dunking and a few ends sewn in.

Evan's Very Red socks

My short sock

The part knitted, part felted ottoman cover is almost finished, and I'll be glad to see it done. It just needs a short border at the bottom. I let it rest while I pondered the options; knitted, felted? Finally decided on knitted, meaning I can use some more yarn from stash. It feels like its taking forever, mostly because I think its boring knitting, but its almost done. The knitting part I mean. It will still need steaming and seaming before it is truly finished.

Once the cover is done, I'll make a throw pillow to bring some of the ottoman colors to the chair. Part of the pillow will use the funky Shetland yarn I spun a few weeks ago.

My next WIP? A cardigan made from one of the Shetland fleeces I have here. I'm still trying to pick a pattern, please share if you have a favorite. Here are some of the ones I like; Iced, Quercus, but this is just a quick listing of things I've been looking at for a while. I haven't even started looking through my books and magazines yet. I'm thinking worsted or aran weight and casual. Something of a workhorse, but a bit more dressed up than my wool hoody. Here is some of the combed top. Waiting for me to decide.

Like Cats & Dogs

2011-08-23T10:14:00.000-07:00

The furry ones are definitely bonded now.

Scipio flops down next to Shae for some attention. And then decides to make the dog his chew toy.

Oh my, how big he's grown!

The Boys Are Back

2011-08-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

Yes, they will always be my boys, but I keep reminding myself they are young men now. Men in college. Yeah, I feel like Rip Van Winkle. At what point did that growing up thing happen? Last week the two of them drove to Davis to hang out with friends. Drove themselves up and back without anybody saying, "Don't make me stop this car!" Or maybe someone did say it, but at least it wasn't me.

Last week was my preview of what that empty nest thing is. Less food in the house, far fewer trips to the grocery store, the top rack of the dishwasher not seemingly magically filled with dirty glasses. I take the trash cans to the top of the hill, instead of ~~yelling~~ reminding someone else to do it, and I'd better learn how to start the lawnmower. Or I could just turn the sprinklers off.

The emotional aspect of empty nest wasn't there, because, hey, I knew they'd be back in a week. And I know I'll manage, as I learned when Evan went off to college last year. Keeping busy is important and so is having something to look forward to, so I've decided I'll try my hand at weaving. A friend has offered to loan me a loom, and I think I'll set it up in Ryan's room. I haven't told him yet.

In the meantime, they're back. That means back to tackling all the outdoor projects I know I'll never get to on my own. And that means back to walking upstairs and waking up my boys.

Spinning Samples

2011-08-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

For a change of pace, I tried spinning small samples for fibers, just to see how they'd turn out. I spun some white Suri alpaca, a little bit of brown bison, 2 samples of a Shetland/Alpaca blend I tried blending on the combs, and a small bit of Great Pyrenees hair I carded on the hand cards.

The above is, all of the above mentioned fibers, after plying and washing. Everything was plied from center pull balls. Below is a knit up sample of the dog hair, knit on US #2 size needles.

It feels soft and has a great halo. Feels slightly scratchy on my neck, but then most things do. There's no elasticity to the yarn, so I think it would work best for making something with drape, like a pattern that would work well with alpaca. I may try blending the dog hair with a little bit of wool, for shape retention.

And Then There Were 2

2011-08-09T18:28:00.000-07:00

My two. The spare college kids went home, or to other family room sofas, or where ever. It was fun while they were here, and its nice now that they've gone. I can actually take my coffee and sit on the sofa in the morning. I can turn the water heater up to "VERY HOT!" to wash fleece, and not worry about anyone getting accidentally scalded during the mid-day wake up. They didn't eat nearly as much food as I expected.

shucks, the picture doesn't do the texture justice.

Since then, I've been combing more Shetland, and carding the leftovers. I tried some novelty type spinning with the drum carded batts, and ended up with 2 little funky skeins of yarn, one from each spinning wheel. Both wheels worked pretty well for spinning the singles, but the Ashford with the jumbo flyer is a thumbs up for plying lumpy novelty yarn. The sliding hooks on the Pocket Wheel seemed a bit small, and sometimes the lumpy yarn caught on the sliding hooks.

The best part is I loved playing around with making this yarn, and I love how it turned out. I already have a little project in mind for these 2 little skeins.

Speaking of washing fleece, I just finished up a few pounds of crimpy, soft, silky merino, and another few pounds of soft, crisp, resilient cormo. The cormo wants to be a sweater of some sort, maybe with cables. I think this fiber will make great cables. The merino wants to be a sweater too, but something lightweight and cozy.

rich dark cormo

squishy soft merino

Dog!

Oh yeah, dog hair. This last bit comes from Jombee (I really don't know how its spelled), a Great Pyrenees belonging to my brother's roommate. There seem to be 3 types of hair in there; short soft and fluffy undercoat or down, outer coat that might be like not quite fine alpaca and then the guard-hairs longest and strongest could be used for sock heel and toe reinforcement. I hand carded a few bits and removed most of the guard hair and spun a bit into a two ply. Its not bad. I'll post a picture later.

Combing, Carding, Computers and College Kids

2011-08-04T12:15:00.000-07:00

That pretty much sums up this past week. Evan is home from Davis for a visit, and a few of his friends came too. Its okay, he did check with us first. So for the last few nights, we've had anywhere from 1 to 7 additional bodies about the house. I'd envisioned tents in the back yard. Silly me. After all, its a big back yard, and we have tents, sleeping bags and so on. Silly me. What really happened? Bodies draped across various bits of furniture in the family room. It was like having a bunch of 2-legged, house-trained puppies sleeping over, they just sort of curled up some place and slept for the night. The kids are helpful and appreciative and pleasant, and I'm very happy they came to visit, giving me the chance to meet more of Evan's friends.

During the quiet mornings, while the college students were still sleeping, I've been out on the back patio working with fleece. Combing some Shetland into top, and then drum carding the leftover bits into batts. I love working with this fleece this way. The combing really takes advantage of the long staple length, and helps me sort out the cut ends, which I inadvertently felted a bit during the washing stages. Most of the stuff left over from combing flows smoothly onto the drum carder, making lovely batts. So I now have top for fine worsted style spinning and batts for bulkier woolen style spinning. I might also use some of each for novelty type spinning, as I try to decide whether or not to keep my Ashford Traveler.

That's right. I've scarcely used the Traveler since Blondie the Pocket Wheel showed up, and I feel a little bit bad about that. Hoping to find a niche use for the Traveler, I set her up with a jumbo flyer and bobbin, thinking that she'd do well at bulky and novelty yarn spinning. But I haven't really tested my theory. So a few days ago I spun a batt on each wheel, experimenting with fat woolen style and thick and thin novelty. Now I need to ply up some samples. And then probably repeat a few times, and make a decision.

In the meantime, I have a computer to fix. Ryan's desktop quit working earlier this week. Tech support usually falls to me, not because I'm good at it, but because I have more time for tinkering than DH. DH actually graduated college as a double E, those many years ago, and one would think better suited for trouble shooting computer problems, yes? But many times fixing a computer is a hunch and removing and replacing parts until the non-functioning hardware is identified. My hunch said "its the motherboard" but DH said "power supply" so I trotted off to the big techie store and brought home a new power supply, and a new hard drive, just in case.

Well, it wasn't either of those things, and if I'd followed my hunch and removed the motherboard and looked it, I could've saved myself an extra trip to the techie store to return the un-needed power supply and hard drive. The overheated spot on the motherboard was easy to see, once I'd pulled it out of the case. Will I ever learn to heed my hunches? Today, the parts ordered from my favorite online techie store arrive, and if all goes well, we'll here the happy humming of Ryan's computer by evening.

Spinning My (Creative) Wheels

2011-07-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

Grumbledy, grumbledy grumbledy. Summer feels like its flying by, and from a fiber-y standpoint, I feel I've nothing to show for it. I want to spin, but I don't know what I want to spin. I'm trying to focus on intentional spinning, and I keep running myself into little road blocks.
"How about a Shetland lace weight yarn?"
"Okay, that sounds good. But, I hardly ever knit lace.:
"Well, you could give the yarn to someone else."
"I supose. But what if they don't like it?"
"Alright then, how about trying to make some funky yarn? You've been wanting to practice that."
"Yeah, but what would I do with it then?"
"Well, how about washing some fleece, you like doing that. And you really should finish that up."
"I don't really feel like it today."
"Fine. Go clean up your mess in the garage."
"I think I'll wash fleece today."

I'll spare us all the similar nonsense regarding knitting, felting, woodworking and just general "really ought to get to that" conversations. I guess I should be glad that I'm not complaining about being bored.

So, Where did I go?

2011-07-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Roatan, the largest of the Honduran Bay Islands, located in the Western Caribbean. Not necessarily a knitterly type of place, but a fantastic scuba diving place. As in, warm tropical seas and beautiful reefs. So I did lots of diving, but very little knitting. You can find some top side pictures here, but I don't have any underwater pictures to share, sorry.

Sock knitting on the plane, a little bit of spindling in my room, and I frogged a project that I'll redo later. Here's my Jenkins Swan Turkish spindle with some lovely white Shetland wool.

Please Stand By...

2011-07-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

New post coming to this blog soon! I was on vacation!

Road Trippin' part 3

2011-07-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, this is embarrassing. There was a reason why I split the road-trip into 3 parts, and I can't remember why. I mean, I can't remember much of anything significant for the 3rd part. I feel like I've left the house and forgotten to don an article of clothing.

The drive south from the Ranch to Davis was just as enchanting as the drive north. BTW, my dog is a champion road-tripper. Never whines, doesn't get car sick, and never, ever asks if we are there yet. Mount Shasta is just as impressive from the north as from the south. Shasta lake was still completely full. You know, I drove almost the entire trip, both directions without listening to the radio (or any other music player) at all. About 75% I think. Weird.

I stayed in the Davis area for the night. The room next door had a barking dog. But he didn't start in until about, oh, 11:45 pm. And then he only barked when someone left his room, or walked by the door. As long as nobody thought is was my dog.

The next day, I met up with Evan in the morning so we could take care of some business, and then I headed for home around noon. Like I mentioned in a earlier post, this part of the drive is becoming routine. I did notice something that had escaped my attention before. At the north end of the Grapevine on highway 5 is a rest area, near Lebec. Caltrans is refurbishing the rest area, so it is closed right now. The sign below the "closed" sign states "next rest area 202 miles" or something near that. (There's one of those truck stop travel plazas at the next exit, stop there.) As I was passing that sign, it occurred to me that the refered to rest area could only be the one located along the stretch of the 5 running through Camp Pendelton, only 35 or 40 minutes from my house. Trust me, you don't want to wait that long if you need a rest stop.

Dog and I made it home safely, the cat was sure happy to see us.

I still feel like there was something in particular to blog about the return trip, but can't dredge anything useful up from the dregs of my mind. Oh well. Instead here are a couple of pictures; progress on the ottoman cover,

Some lovely, fluffy lumps of combed (by me! Sqweeee!) Shetland,

and a picture of Scipio, in his favorite cat wallow. That's right, cat wallow. Anytime I let him outside, the first thing he does is sprint over to this spot and roll, no roll doesn't begin to cover it, rub and swim through the dirt in this spot.

I'm headed out of town for about 10 days, and don't expect to have computer access, everybody be safe! By the way, my friend at the Ranch had shoulder surgery today, everybody please keep good thoughts for Dusty.

Road Trippin'; the interim

2011-07-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

While in Oregon, I stayed with my friends at Morgan River Ranch. I showed up a few days before BSG in order to spend some time just hanging out with friends. We took morning walks with all the dogs; my one and their four. We had great, rambling discussions of just about anything and everything, but a lot about dogs. I admired the countryside, the friendly people and the quiet. In the afternoons we fed the cows their 'special' feed, goodness knows they've plenty of very good grazing pasture. I pet the barn cats and pestered the hens, just because they are so brazen I feel they ought to fear somebody. I watched some of the dogs taking herding training. I drank great coffee in the morning, and slept like a log at night. I mean, better than I've slept in most of my adult life. This happened the first time I went to visit too. I'm not sure why I sleep so well when I'm there, but I'm trying to think of ways to make myself indispensable at the ranch, just so I can sleep in that bed more often.

On my last full day at the ranch, we let my dog Shae practice moving the ducks around the training pen, and then late in the afternoon we let her practice with the sheep. You can see pictures and read more about Shae meeting the sheep at the Morgan River Ranch blog. I think it was pretty cool, and Shae looked like she was having the time of her life.

When Thursday rolled around, I went to the fairgrounds and set up my tent, but never ended up sleeping there. I just couldn't tear myself away from that bed. Late Friday morning I left my dog at the ranch, and headed back over to BSG. It was time to do some shopping. I stopped by the camp area to check in with my friends, they'd already done very well, picking up some nice fleeces in the for sale area of the wool show. They were ready for lunch, and well, I was ready to shop so we went separate ways.

This could've ended in disaster. I'd not assigned myself a budget for shopping, and there was no one along to drag me away if the wool fumes over rode whatever judgement I was pretending to have. I headed straight to the wool show, to check out the for sale fleeces. I looked them all over, touched a few, considered a few, and then walked out with... nothing. There was no particular type of wool I was looking for, and I didn't see anything that I liked any better than what I already have here at home. Maybe because I'm trying to spin "intentionally", it just didn't make sense to buy a fleece without knowing what I wanted to do with it. I decided that maybe I'd buy a fleece once the "show" fleeces were offered for sale.

Have no fear! I did make some purchases. The first was a Jenkins Turkish spindle, made of marblewood. I've been wanting a Turkish spindle ever since I saw one on Boulderneigh's blog. I love the design and the wood.

After that, the order gets fuzzy, but I got a little bit of yak fluff;

a very fine cria (baby alpaca) fleece (a moment of madness, no doubt. I have plenty of alpaca);

2 ounces of flax roving, because I haven't tried that yet;

and 2 ounces of hemp roving, I want to try spinning this too!

And that is it. No wool fleece, no braids of beautiful hand-dyed roving. No brilliantly colored silk caps. I already have plenty of that stuff here at home. Waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. This intentional spinning stuff is, at least somewhat, curtailing my spending. Weird.

But I also knew that once I returned home, I had new fiber processing tools waiting for me. Another way to prepare fleece for spinning. It looks like this;

A set of wool combs by Benjamin Green.

I very much like them. And what they do to the fleece. And I like using them, but boy howdy! Watch out for the pointy bits, they are sharp.

I especially like what happens to a fine, long staple Shetland fleece I got from Boulderneigh. I combed a few handfuls and pulled off the top (oh my gosh, I'm making top!) and spun it up, oh, it drafted out sooooo nice. And I forgot to take pictures. Oh well, I'll just have to make some more. Even though I didn't buy anymore wool, I still have plenty here to keep me busy.

Road Trippin', part 1

2011-06-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Maybe I was born with it, or maybe it was instilled in me, but I like a good road trip now and then. First a 500 mile run up to Davis to drop Evan and Chris, a family friend, off at UCDavis for summer session. This part of the trip is feeling routine now. The first few times it seemed like forever, but now I can actually pick out landmarks as I go. The southern part of the valley is grapes and cotton, then there's hay, grazing land and fallow land, and then there's the trees; almonds, pistachios, apricots, cherries, and pomegranates. Eventually, I see the feedlots, acres and acres and acres of beef cattle. Sometimes I smell them before I see them, and long after I've seen them.

Finally river country comes up, Stockton and Sacramento. Lots of water and trees. And then, the lovely town of Davis. Resting place for the night, it is just about half way between my house and my friend's house. She lives just northwest of Eugene, Oregon. Where the Black Sheep Gathering happens.

North of Davis the road is less known to me, I've crossed over maybe a handful of times in my life. For a quite a while, the scenery looks much like the day before, lots of grazing land, some trees, some houses, some towns. Then the trees change, and become conifers. A sleeping giant looms ahead, glimpsed through breaks in the trees. Mount Shasta, looking every bit the sleeping volcano it is.

Note the collection of bug guts on the front windshield.

The highway takes me over Lake Shasta, and the lake, and it is full! I don't think I've ever seen it full before.

Okay, I cheated a bit, this shot is from the journey home. Please excuse the blurry picture. I think the auto focus focused on the door instead of the lake.

Going from the California into Oregon, the highway twists and turns while climbing and descending. In Southern California, the roads go up the mountains and then you're up, and the reverse for going down. Along highway 5, the up then down sequence was repeated over and over. I'm glad I was driving on a fine sunny day. I don't think I'd like that stretch of road much after dark.

All the highway rest stops I saw in Oregon were beautiful. and Roseburg Oregon has what must be some of the prettiest freeway landscaping ever. I didn't get any pictures, which is a shame. Next time I'll have my camera ready. My second day of travel went very well, and I arrived at my friend's house in time for supper. It's a talent.

Buddies at Last

2011-06-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Shae (the dog) and Scipio (not the dog) wait for breakfast. I get a giggle out of this every mealtime; Scipio stands up to head-butt Shae and it always pops Shae's jaw shut. Clearly, Shae is puzzled by this cat-peculiar behavior, but she doesn't seem to mind. Head butting the dog at mealtime started awhile ago, and now the cat greets the dog this way multiple times during the day.

Early Summer Plans

2011-06-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was Go Pick Up Evan Day. His finals finished on Monday, and the school has a policy that students vacate their dorm rooms within 24 hours of their final final. Never mind that the official end of quarter was actually Thursday. I guess it makes sense from the school's point of view, as I can imagine several ways that stressed students might decide to blow off steam once they don't need to study anymore. And I bet the students are more creative than I am. After we left Davis Wednesday morning, Evan heard from one of his friends still at school that a cow was found inside one of the residence halls. Well, the dairy cow facility is right across the street.

Here are a 2 pictures from the road trip part of the trip; this first one is the gloom I met heading north into Gorman.

It wasn't so bad, but a bit farther north the gloom turned to heavy, heavy fog. Visibility seemed like 150-200 yards. It was scary, heading down a steep grade, knowing there were tractor-trailer rigs nearby yet invisible in the mist. It was a great relief to drop into the valley and below the cloud cover.

On the return south we stopped to stretch our legs at the Pyramid Lake Visitor Center. Well, stretch and waste some time, as our exit at the south end of The Grapevine was going to coincide with the L.A. evening rush hour. My plan failed, the visitor center really didn't hold our attention that long (I'd never stopped there before). But I did take a picture of the lake, because I can't remember the last time I've seen it full. It seems like 7 years out of 10 Southern California suffers from "drought conditions", which strikes me as an odd label, seeing how the area is already classified as semi-arid.

It feels very good to have Evan home for a bit, and I'm enjoying it while I can. I love him, admit to feeling frustrated at times over his actions, and I think it's just plain twisted that about the time he started turning into a reasonable being (out-growing those teen years), we sent him off to college.

This weekend we head back to Davis, Evan is taking a chemistry class over summer session. After dropping him off, the dog and I are continuing north. We will visit with friends, and I'll console myself whilst attending the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, Oregon. Fiber, fiber, and more fiber. Plus I can stop in and visit Evan on the way south again.

Currently, the Pocket Wheel and I are sampling some of the Shetland roving that arrived last week, and so far it looks like this;

and doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. That tends to be a problem around here.

A gift of rain

2011-06-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I woke up and found the rain I thought I was hearing during the night really happened. I didn't dream it after all. What a rare treat here in arid southern California, to have a little shower in June. What a delight, that clean rain smell this morning. An unexpected gift.

Today Evan finishes the last of his spring quarter finals, and soon I'll be fetching him home. Or at least I consider "here" his home. But I'm not so sure he feels the same way. Intellectually, I know, know, know that growing up and moving away are what children do. Its what I did. But, as I'm feeling a bit blue today, I don't like to think too long about "here" no longer being Evan's home. Maybe I should just have a good cry and get it out of my system, leaving me free to enjoy the time Evan is "here".

How the ottoman cover is shaping up. A knit panel in the middle, flanked by sections of felted sweaters. I'll knit more panels for the sides, figuring on some negative ease for a stretchy-snug fit.

Pretty peony.

New roving. Natural colored Shetland roving from the Shetland Isles. I found out about this roving reading Boulderneigh's blog, and I can't wait to spin some samples.

The Latest

2011-06-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

I started work on the great ottoman Re-covery project. I'm throwing together bits of a pair of stranded color-work sweaters that I felted on purpose, (no, not hand knit) and some Berroco Foliage from stash. I'm thinking it will look ok, maybe even better than ok. But, it could also look like puke.

Here is the damaged ottoman, the fabric just started rotting away.

Scipio thinks felted sweater bits will make a dandy cover, and wants to know, what's taking to long?

Here's the Berroco.

Next project; sprucing up the Pocket Wheel. Why? Because I'm going to the Black Sheep Gathering this year! yippeee! I love the sanded in oil finish I put on the little pocket wheel but, it turns out an oil finish on the treadles isn't durable enough to withstand my feet. The treadles were getting footprints. Since I was going to work on the treadles, I decided to work on the drive side of the drive wheel too, to make it easier to clean off the marks left by the o-ring.

Some people will say that you can't put another finish over an oil finish, but you can, if you know what to do. I started by cleaning the surface with a Murphys Oil Soap solution. This is safe on pretty much any finished wood. Then, I wiped the surfaces with low odor mineral spirits to remove any wax. Then I lightly sanded the surfaces with 220 grit sandpaper and wiped again with mineral spirits to remove any dust or remaining wax. Its important to get the wax off.

Once the parts were dry, I applied Zinsser SealCoat, which is basically a 1 lb. cut of wax free shellac. The shellac is the secret, it seals the oil away from the next finish. Once the shellac was cured, I sanded, removed dust, and applied a wipe-on polyurethane finish. I use a wipe-on finish because I'm lame at applying brush on finishes. About 6 coats, with sanding in-between. The final step is a coat of wax. I've also applied a rust inhibitor to the metal parts. I don't live really close to the ocean, but I've found the metal rods will start to rust. The Pocket Wheel is all spruced up and ready to play.

I made it to Wednesday

2011-05-27T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know today is Friday. But Wednesday, last Wednesday, was the drop dead day. The day I swore I'd have my totally, voluntarily, all ready submitted my project and received my grade, superfluous Advanced Finishing Techniques sampler project completed, so I could have it entered into the Student Showcase at the San Diego County Fair. Why? I don't know. I really liked the class. The first class in the woodworking program where mistakes were easy to correct. The promise of transformation, making things look different than they started. The class is different than most of the woodworking program, and I wanted people to see that. Its really more of a faux finishing class than anything. I loved it. I didn't take any pictures of the sample projects done during class, other than the faux marble from the last post, but I have a few of my sampler, the one in the fair.

I chose an old toy box that the boys no longer need. Here are the before pictures;

The box, minus the bottom


the lid, minus the padding and cover that made it look like a treasure chest.

I think it all came from Ikea, a long time ago. I put primer over the paint, and faux-ed away. I made faux wood grain on top, then a faux marquetry over that. Sort of a double faux. Now the top looks like this;

And I did stenciling and embossed stenciling and antiquing and gilding and faux wood burl and faux malachite. But I didn't take any pictures. Once the fair is all done, the box will come back home and hold spinning stash. I don't know what took me so long to figure that part out.

Now that project is done, I've time for others. Planting some pots with decorative things. Working on the lawn, which I put off last year because I wasn't sure we'd be allowed to keep watering it. Washing the last hand spun project, 113 grams and 202 meters,

refinishing the Pocket Wheel treadles and drive wheel. The sanded oil finish just didn't hold up to all the use, so I've cleaned (with Murphys oil soap) and shellacked the surfaces to seal the oil in, and am in the middle of applying several coats of a wipe-on polyurethane finish. It should hold up much better. Next up is, besides more yard work, recovering an ottoman. The original fabric is disintegrating before my eyes. There's always something else to work on, here.

Life's Little Victories!

2011-05-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Turning this;

Into this!

And better yet, unclogging the kitchen sink without having to take the trap apart! Woot! Now I can wash that skein of yarn I just finished.

Wow, back to back post days!

This n That

2011-05-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

Okay, I can be geeky about some things, so please bear with me. I was reading WormSpit's blog, and he has posted a link to this very cool video of Fiorenzo Omenetto, a materials researcher, talking about some of the incredible potential uses for silk proteins. I don't want give any inaccurate information, so please do spend about 10 minutes to watch the video. I was amazed, fascinated, and intrigued.

Sadly, I won't have anymore Hummingbird nestling updates, a few days or nights after I took the last picture, something raided the nest. pooh.

I don't have any updated sock pictures, but I have one for spinning. The brilliantly dyed BFL that I was spinning back in this post is now plied with 2 strands of black alpaca and looks like this:

the black really makes those bright colors pop!

getting bigger

2011-05-10T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hummingbird baby update picture. They're starting to really fill up the nest!

Babies...

2011-05-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

Not much of a baby anymore, here is Scipio, enjoying my spinning time in his own way. He can be quite well behaved, once I've convinced him to leave the yarn alone. I do have to be careful, I was plying some singles and one of his eyebrow whiskers got twisted up in the plying. I had to break the whisker off. He just went back to sleep.

Red-tail Hawk babies

Anna's Hummingbird babies to be

and momma

She is just a few feet outside the family room window.

(a few days later...) Here are the hatchlings! I'm pretty sure the one with the open mouth just hatched this morning.

Other Distractions

2011-04-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Can't blame it all on the snake, even though I do believe the snake bit my dog. Really. The day after I moved the snake, I noticed Shae licking her left front paw, the way she does when she's been bit, stung or otherwise reproached by some creature she's insulted during her 'hunting' activities in the yard. So I asked Shae for her paw, and spotted a pretty good sized puncture down into the top of one of her toes. A puncture through the top is... unusual. Pretty easy for me to imagine Shae pouncing down on what she thought was a lizard or mouse in the brush, only to be paid back by a quick strike to the foot. Do not worry! If it was indeed a snake bite, apparently no venom was released. Shae is fine and her toe is pretty much healed up. I can only hope the snake found the entire experience of being pounced on and then later captured and relocated distasteful, and plans on avoiding the backyard for a while. In the meantime, I need to figure out a (better) way to keep the rabbits out of the yard. I think they are what the snake is after.

I'll probably make a trip to the hardware store today, anyway, on account of one of the other distractions. Last academic year, I took some woodworking classes that are offered through the most excellent Cabinet and Furniture Technology program at Palomar College, a local community college. I just went looking for old posts to reference, and found that I had several drafts, but not many actual posts about what I did. Oh well.
Quick retrospective. First semester I made a clock. Here is a picture.

Second semester was making a side table. It still isn't complete. And I took a furniture finishing class. What ever type of person I am, I definitely enjoy the prospect and process of transforming something into something else. But I don't think I'll be taking any more woodworking classes. Because you can't really rip back to fix a mistake. And because I found that sometimes, no matter how much care I took in laying out and cutting pieces, no matter that they fit together perfectly on the pre-glue up fitting, sometimes things were still wrong once put together. Its like making gauge and then knitting up all the pieces of a sweater and having the pieces block out perfectly, and then the pieces won't line up for seaming. Except the already cut wood can't be un un-cut for starting over. In short, I'm not that good at it. And I'm not entirely comfortable with working around sharp cutting things rotating at high speed.

This semester I enrolled in the Advanced Finishing class. But it's really more of a faux finishing and decorative painting class. Don't have to use any rapidly rotating sharp blades for this class. In fact, it is sort of an odd class in the program, but I really like it. I like it so much I'm wandering around the house looking for things to put faux finishes on. But the end of the class fast approaches and I have to complete my sample boards (5 different techniques) and my final project. I don't have many pictures of what I've been working on, but I can show you how my final project it coming along.

Here is what I started with. A horribly, ugly, battleship grey access door in the midst of all the lovely brown marble.

I lightly sanded the grey, then taped off the edges and painted on a coat of primer, in this case Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 water-base primer. So this;

Then I taped off where the grout lines would be, if there were any. I had a left over piece of tile I took to the hardware store to have 2 quarts of custom color mixed up; one to match the darkest brown on the marble, and one to match the lightest shade. Using a paint brush, I placed heavy, random dabs of each color paint onto the primer surface, leaving areas with no paint. I didn't take any pictures at this point. I was a little nervous so I forged ahead. I took a woolie pad (a bit of sheep skin with short wool, attached to a flat pad with a handle.) and dabbed the paint around, being careful to keep some areas of distinct color, and ended
up with this.

I'm so happy, I could almost stop here. But then my final project wouldn't be final. The hardest part of this, to me anyway, is adding in some of those lines. It is very hard to get them nice and random looking. I have 4 practice boards I used to figure out how to get this far, and 3 of them are now covered in ugly lines looking nothing like the tile. But I think I have it almost figured out. By the way, practice boards are the best tool ever for figuring out stuff like this. Some of you might be saying "Of course, you silly goose!", but I truly didn't know about this before taking the class. I also didn't know that a practice board is merely poster-board, covered with paint of choice. Nice. The instructor also recommends using a practice board for deciding whether or not to use a particular paint color in a room, rather than actually painting a portion of the wall, saying that if there is any texture on the wall, adding a layer of paint changes the texture in that spot, and it will always look different from the rest of the wall. Makes sense to me.

I will take pictures of some of my sample pieces to share with you later, promise.

And, as if this post weren't already long enough, I'm not done yet. Before the Pocket wheel arrived, there was the Ashford Traveler. Since then, the Ashford has just been sitting in the corner, waiting. I feel kind of bad about this. Its a wheel that should get used! After some thought, I decided that perhaps it would make a good plying wheel. (I used to find plying on the Pocket Wheel fiddly, but I don't anymore.) I ordered a jumbo flyer and bobbin set up from my local fiber pusher and Ashford dealer. I got the parts a month or so ago, and I have to say, the conversion kit is pretty clever, and complete as well. The orifice on the flyer is very large, for making novelty yarn and such, but the kit also includes adapters that fit into the orifice to make it smaller yarn friendly. But, other than a test spin, I haven't really used it yet. Because I ordered the parts unfinished, and I wanted to finish them first. (Mini-rant here; many of my favorite wood finishes are no longer available in California, for environmental reasons. sigh. I get it, but still...) I have TADA finally put the finish on. Once I have the singles for the next round of sock yarn complete, I shall use the Ashford for plying. And maybe I'll even try some novelty spinning.

And finally, I have some spinning to show (off). Here is the sock yarn for Evan's socks, all washed and ready to wind. I think I over plied the mohair, at least compared to the merino. So the ply isn't as even as I'd like.

And here is my latest, more, yes more sock yarn beginnings. I may move on to spinning something else for awhile. Natural black alpaca from a fleece in my stash. This was carded and spun, unwashed. I could see the vm, but not the dirt. This stuff made my finger tips black!. The rest has had a good soaking now, and hopefully will be nicer to spin.

And this is more of the BFL roving I'd used in some earlier sock yarn. After the dirty alpaca and the reluctant mohair (it was a little felted), this stuff is spinning like a dream.

Once this lot of singles are done, the Pocket Wheel gets a freshened up finish. Must look nice for going to Black Sheep Gathering! Wheeeeeeee........

Distracted

2011-04-15T16:59:00.000-07:00

By this guy...

The weather today is just amazing, warm and clear with a light breeze coming off the ocean. A great day for taking the spinning wheel outside to finish plying hand-spun sock yarn #4. I'd moved the spinning wheel and supplies outside and was just getting ready to move the lawn sprinkler before I sat down to ply some sock yarn. And then, out of the corner of my eye I noticed this snake in the planter next to the lawn, headed for the patio. This is crotalus ruber, a red diamond rattlesnake, and this is a big one. While I don't see them all the time, this is the species of rattlesnake I see most often in our yard, driveway, etc. I like that they're doing their part to keep the rodent population in check, but I don't especially care for rattlesnakes hanging out near the house. Its like an accident waiting to happen.

This particular snake was well behaved, and started to head away from the house once he'd caught wind of me. But I didn't want to take any chances, so I asked Ryan to bring me a push broom and a 30 gallon trashcan while I kept an eye on the snake. For once, Ryan didn't say, "just a sec." to one of my requests for his time. Once I had my "tools" I had Ryan go back into the house for the camera. By now the snake was near the back edge of the lawn area.

The snake is, I think, between 3 1/2 - 4 feet long.

I put the trashcan on its side on the ground ahead of where the snake moving. Snakes like hiding in dark places, and so he went right in. Or, maybe I've caught this snake before and he remembers the drill. Either way, it works.

Normally, at this point I just tip the trashcan upright, but this snake seemed kind of big, so I used an telescoping pole to tip the can up. And normally, I just pick up the trashcan and head for the property line so I can dump the snake into the sage brush on the other side of the fence, but as I really, seriously respected this snake's size, I slipped a big black trash bag over the top of the trash can. We couldn't find a lid.

He is a very handsome snake. I hope he stays out of the yard for the rest of the year.

Oh, here is the spinning that I never quite got to;

It's looking like this when its plied;

And here are the socks I working on when I have knitting time. The yarn Plymouth Happyfeet DK, and is left over from a little girl sweater I knit last summer. I think there is just enough yarn to make some ankle socks, or maybe footies, something that will be nice to wear during spinning.

Yesterday was...

2011-04-08T15:57:00.000-07:00

National Beer Day. And I missed it. I guess I'll have to make up for it later, maybe today. And mark my calendar for next year.

Today I replaced the switch I broke on the trash compactor. Something still isn't exactly right, because the motor driving the ram doesn't automatically reverse like its supposed to. I can reverse it manually by turning the switch to "off" and then turning the switch to "on" and then the motor reverses and puts the ram back up. I did find a tech sheet hidden behind the front panel, with schematics and ohm ranges for the various switches. I think I'll ask DH to investigate this part for me. Mostly because I've lost interest. In fixing the compactor.

So instead I took some pictures of the merino/cashmere/possum yarn I dyed purple last week. It is a very, very, dark purple, nearly black.

See what I mean?

WonderWoman fumbles

2011-04-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

Today, Mike the UPS driver brought the parts I needed for repairing the trash compactor. Hurrah! (BTW, I thought I was being all clever by ordering the parts from a company located in AZ, thinking that would shorten the shipping time. But the parts. shipped. from. IL. Thats why they only showed up today, and not Wednesday.)

I put the parts back together and plugged the compactor in and TA-DA! it worked. I am genius! Well, it worked mostly. Something was wrong with the limit switch and the darn thing wasn't reversing when it should have. Annnnd, while I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the limit switch, I broke some little plastic bits that hold a little metal bit. Now the switch needs replacing. I ordered a new switch from a place in IL (maybe it will ship from AZ?), but since I placed the order on Friday afternoon, I probably won't get the new switch for a week. I feel more like DunderWoman. :-)

Springtime means change

2011-04-01T18:56:00.000-07:00

Just like life means change. Moving, growing, dying, continuing, changing. The past few days here have brought much change to my life. The weather's been changing too, more like summer than spring, but the birds and the flowers know better. Some of them have been posing for spring portraits. Below is a female Anna's Hummingbird that popped into my flower picture. Click the pic for a bigger view.

And in case I still wasn't sure it was spring, this fellow showed and posed;

A glowing, golden male Hooded Oriole. I hope the pair nests nearby!

And speaking of glowing, I looked out the kitchen window one morning to see these luminous new leaves on the Western Redbud. Looks like they're all lit up from inside.

One foggy morning I looked out the bedroom window and thought the spinning faeries had left silk hankies all over the back lawn,

but closer inspection proved them to be funnel spider webs. I guess it's still silk, but not the type I'll try spinning. And speaking of spinning, here is an FO picture of the hand-dyed/spun/knit socks #3.

I'm really enjoying intentional spinning.

Handspun Sock Yarn #

2011-03-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

I call it, "RED!" Reminds me of shopping mall Santa suits. Scipio kitty is fascinated by watching yarn creation. "So. That's how string is born."

this is more like it

2011-03-26T16:30:00.000-07:00

These colors look better in person than on my monitor, at least to me. From upper left to lower right we have superwash merino roving, light gray alpaca roving and cream alpaca mini batts. There are differences in how this lot was processed compared to the earlier purple and scarlet baths.

The first bath, scarlet, and first purple/black bath I weighed out the fiber and aimed for 3-4% of the fiber weight when measuring out the dye powder. By the way, I don't think my digital scale is to be trusted. The dye was then added to the warm water in the pot. The fiber was added. The vinegar was added to the pot. In the case of the scarlet, I didn't pre-wet the merino, but I did pre-wet the merino/possum blend that went into the purple. Also, I just reused the scarlet dye bath water for the purple lot.

The second purple batch I tried to use less dye powder, more like 2-3%. I wanted some color variation in the roving, so I added the vinegar to the pot before I added the pre-wet merino superwash. After waiting for 5 or 10 minutes, I decided there was still enough dye in the pot to add some more fiber, so I added the alpaca, sort of random amounts. It actually took up more dye than I expected. I added a little more vinegar.

All the batches "cooked" for at least 20 minutes, and were then soaked in a "Soak" bath of warm water and rinsed in tepid water. I sure hope Evan pays attention when I tell him to wash his red socks separately.

There is one more dye experiment just finishing up, a cashmere/silk blend 2 ply that I spun up some time ago. The natural color was lovely, but something I'd never wear, so I mixed up some green dye bath using sky blue and yellow. I tossed in the pre-wet silk cashmere blend, poured in the vinegar and after a few minutes threw in a little dry skein of silk single I spun from hankies, and some more vinegar.

And here is the result.

Either the cashmere took up all the yellow/green, or the silk really likes the blue dye. There was still some green in the dye pot when these finished up. I love both the colors.

During all this playing with color and fiber I noticed that wool seems to dry faster than the cashmere or the alpaca. But I also feel like I can spin (I put the fiber into a mesh bag and swing it around over my head) more water out of the wool. The other two fibers seem to clump together more and trap more water.

Happy, happy. Now I can start spinning the red wool for Evan's socks.

now for Purple!

2011-03-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

More like purple black. Should've gone easier and put a bit less dye in the bath, I guess. I hope the color lightens some as it dries. In the meantime, I've started another purple dye-bath, more superwash, some cream colored alpaca and some light gray alpaca. And there is white wine in my glass.

Red-y or not

2011-03-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. It hurts my eyes. But it did turn out red!

Next up, purple.

playing with dye

2011-03-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

Today, I'm watching the pot to make sure it doesn't boil. There's about 3 oz. of superwash merino and some scarlet red acid dye in the pot. For the red socks Evan requested. *Note to self: sitting at the keyboard is not the same as watching the pot, and now the dye bath is at a definite simmer. Maybe even a low boil. Thank goodness I'm using superwash.

In my defense, I did check the water temperature with a cooking thermometer. It was only reading about 150 F so I turned the heat up, just a little bit. At an active simmer, the temp read not quite 180 F. For the record, cooking thermometers and I have a poor history. When ever I use a meat thermometer to get the meat done just right, the meat turns out overdone. Even when I account for continued cooking after removing the meat from the heat source. I bought myself one of those cool digital readout grilling thermometer probe things, and it quit on me. Recently I bought one of those glass candy thermometers, just to use for dyepots. Somehow, the end got crushed before I ever had a chance to try it.

I guess I'll just wing it. The heat is off now so I can post some fiber pictures while I wait for things to cool:

Superwash Merino, very soft. Some of this is in the dye pot right now.

Silky, shiny bamboo fiber

Sumptuous merino, alpaca and silk blend

dyed mohair roving, I'm going to add some of this to Evan's socks

more mohair, dark purple and green, just because


more mohair, see above!

Scarlet superwash merino roving picture to follow soon! I hope.

Just call me....

2011-03-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

Wonder Woman! Without the costume. Today I took apart the trash compactor and figured out why it isn't working. One little part is broken, it looks like a big washer to me, but according to the parts list its a thrust bearing. (snort! giggle!) I'm guessing some guy made up that name. Anyway, I owe my superpowers to the internet and search engines. I still woulda found the broken part, but not the part number or the proper name.
The inspiration for my actions comes from the replacement cost for a new trash compactor, $500-$1000? You got to be kidding me. I had nothing to lose by taking the non-functional unit apart, and saved hundreds of dollars (if the fix works) saved by finding and replacing the $8 part. Feeling the warm glow of satisfaction now, possible gloating ahead.

Later I have fresh fiber stash pictures to add.

Scipio gets house priviliges

2011-03-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Little Scipio is now neutered and cleared from quarantine and is learning about the rest of the house. He especially likes the stairs. When no one else is home and I'm sitting at the computer, I can hear his little feet running up and down the steps. He's still skittish about sudden noises, or unfamiliar people but he seems to bounce back well. He weighs almost 5 pounds now, and eats as if determined to top out at 20. He's not so afraid of Shae (the dog) anymore, but not quite ready to play with her either. But we're getting there. Here's a picture from this morning.

Scipio discovered that my closet holds string, lots and lots of it. I call it yarn, but to him, its string. He's also discovered that knitting involves string. Its a fascinating world for a kitten.

Pretty sure his halo just slipped off there.

More Socks

2011-03-15T17:28:00.000-07:00

Third in the unplanned hand spun sock yarn category. Two plies hand dyed super wash merino wool and one ply natural brown alpaca. Basic toe up pattern, short row heel. These are easy to work on while I visit my dad. The other brown socks are nearly done, but only about ankle high. Ran out of yarn. They wait on the needles while I either spin more yarn, or use up whatever is left over from the above pair. Sigh. I haven't had anytime for spinning lately.

quick updates, some good, some sad

2011-03-01T20:46:00.000-08:00

Sad first, just to get it out of the way. In the middle of the night last Wednesday I woke up and found Cado the Whippet in a bad way. Fortunately, there is an emergency animal hospital in town so I was able to end Cado's distress and suffering without waiting for morning.

Cado on her bed in the kitchen.

My dad is still living with glioblastoma, but is declining. I'm glad we've had time to get to know each other better, and sad that the cancer is taking that away now.

I've started another pair of hand spun socks, I was knitting them for myself, but now I think I'll give these to Ryan. He had his 20th birthday yesterday. I can't really, really believe I've been a mom for 20 years. Part of me feels like I've always been a mom, never a time when I wasn't; and part of me can't believe that much time has passed so quickly. I love my son in so many different ways; with ferocity and tenderness, understanding and frustration, patience and toughness, heartache and pride and awe. I would not change any of it. He is my firstborn, the beginning of my motherhood journey. A journey where I've seen and learned more about myself than I ever dreamed possible. Anybody who started all that deserves a pair of hand spun, hand knit socks.

I finished another skein of hand spun sock yarn, this one specifically for socks for DH. The above isn't a very good picture, sorry. Spinning yarn for, and knitting simple socks, has been a comfort. Speaking of simple socks, I did try shrinking down the last ones, the Society of Sisterly socks. First I tried shrinking them by hand in hot soapy water, without much luck. So then I added alternating hot and cold shocks. Still not much change. Well, fine. I threw them in the washing machine with a load of laundry on a gentle cycle (its a front loader). Now this is risky living! And after all that, I still ended up tossing those socks into the dryer on low to get the shrinkage I wanted. But now they're just right. I seriously want to wear them everyday.

Oh, and little Scipio kitty has gained half a pound.

Oh #2; there is a really cool quilt exhibit at the Oceanside Museum of Art, runs until March 13.

Hey Look! Its a Finished Object

2011-02-19T17:35:00.000-08:00

Or a pair of FO. The Society of Sisterly Socks are complete, but just a tad over-sized. Better than undersized, I guess. The hank of BFL roving that contributed to this project was not marked "superwash", so perhaps I can shrink them down. Just a little. I know, I know. There is risk involved here, but seriously, this might be the most daring thing I try all month. I'm sure that even if all goes wrong, I will survive. I might even try re-sizing the socks tomorrow. Right now I'm wearing them, and loving it. I don't know if its the alpaca content or what, but these babies warmed my toes as soon as I put them on. Alpaca might just become required content in all my hand spun, hand knit socks. I love warm toes, especially when they're mine.

Today I finally took a camera into the quarantine ward to get a proper portrait of Scipio. He is looking so much better. Here's the handsome shot;

And here is something completely different;

Who would've guessed such a small cat could have such a big tongue?

Kitty gets a name

2011-02-17T17:29:00.000-08:00

and his name is Scipio, after Scipio Africanus of Rome. Offspring #1 gets all the credit, it was his suggestion. I guess Ryan (Offspring #1) was impressed with what he learned about Scipio during European History last semester. I don't remember learning about Scipio, so I "Googled" him. Thank goodness for the wonder of the internet. I figured this kitty could use the name of a fighter and a statesman, so Scipio he is. Here he is, looking wise.

Young Scipio is still in quarantine, being treated for scabies and coccidia. Yesterday we did another sulfur dip, and I do believe I'm getting better at it. At least Scipio was calmer, no yelling and calling me names. He actually seems to enjoy the bit where I rinse the shampoo off with the handheld spray head. The sulfur dip turns his coat yellow and smells like rotten eggs. Most of the yellow fades out pretty soon, and now Scipio smells faintly of match head.

Knitting and spinning are taking a back seat to kitty minding, but the socks are very nearly done, I might actually bind off tonight.

More Kitty Stuff

2011-02-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I gave the un-named kitty a sulfurated lime dip. For the mangy mites. First time I've ever needed to do that to a cat or a dog, and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart. I'm pretty sure that little 3 pound cat swore to tear my arm off and bury in the litter box, after processing it. The preceding shampoo was bad enough, but the sulfur must sting like the dickens when it hits open wounds, judging by the way that cat swore at me. The stuff smells bad too. I kept telling the kitty things like, "it's for your own good" and "this will make you feel better." But I still felt really terrible about doing that to him. Based on the instructions from the veterinarian, I've got 3 more times to go, at least. Whee. I feel worse than when I took my boys to the pediatrician for vaccines.

In spite of my brutish behavior, at least from the cat's point of view, he still cuddled up to me when it was all over and done. I am so ridiculously smitten with this kitten. He is, even with the sulfur dip, a welcome distraction during this crazy time.

No, make that a boy.

2011-02-08T15:26:00.000-08:00

New kitty finally got to see the Veterinarian today and, well she is a he. I guess it's a good thing we hadn't settled on a name yet. He is at least six months old and weighs in at a whopping 3 lbs., and that's after eating over 1/2 a can of cat food for breakfast. He's been wormed, and is being treated for mites, the kind that cause mange, and so must stay quarantined for at least 3 weeks. Once he is mite free and healthy, he goes back for neutering. The great news is he's tested negative for FIV and Feline leukemia.

Sunday Updates - its a girl

2011-02-06T21:32:00.000-08:00

We've added a new family member, but she doesn't have a name yet. Born an alley cat in a bad neighborhood, right now she is scruffy and beat up. But as sweet as can be. Probably between 4 and 6 months old, tiny for her age. Here is her mug shot while in quarantine, until she can be de-pestified inside and out.

She always looks at me squinty-eyed when I put her back in the crate. Shae is a bit put out because a) Shae doesn't get to properly meet new kitty until quarantine is over and b) new kitty is housed in Shae's crate. Shae really likes her crate.

This is Shae, in case anyone forgot.

Its all about the sock. Yup, more sock yarn in the making on the spinning wheel. Alpaca that was on the drum carder in this post, now looks like this. But not so shiny without the flash.

Superwash merino roving was tossed into a pot with brown acid dye and vinegar and came out looking like this;

and is now starting to look like this;

much cooler than I thought is would be.

And remember this?

It is this close to frogging. Too stripy, I'll have to figure out a different way to put it together.

One Woman's Bliss

2011-01-28T10:44:00.000-08:00

Sunny day, alpaca on the drum carder, adult beverage close by. (last weekend)

Hand spun sock yarn #2, washed and ready. Wool and alpaca.

Lets just call it....

2011-01-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

A splog. Short for sporadic blog. Or, more accurately, a sporadic web log. It happens, at least to me. Splog happens. I got splogged. (I like it so much I've added it to my user dictionary)

A brief debriefing; my brother came to visit for a few days. His last visit was roughly 4 years ago. We visited our dad (during one visit Brother installed grab bars in Dad's shower), we visited our maternal grandparents (something was wrong with the forced air heating unit, Brother got it working, at least temporarily), I took Brother whale watching (hey! its what I do) and while he was staying at my house Brother replaced the working parts inside most of the toilets in the house. Now they don't leak anymore. Brother used to be a plumber. During all of this, I didn't get any pictures of Brother.

Before Brother showed up, I dyed up some superwash merino, intended for a pair of socks.

I wanted some variegation, but I think maybe this is too much. Maybe I will add another shade of brown. Why brown? Because these socks are intended for Hubby, and while he really likes handmade socks, he likes 'em kinda plain.

M is for...

2011-01-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

Merry Monday! Today, my brother is flying in for a visit and I'm very happy.

Silly ginko tree, hasn't lost its leave yet.

S is for

2011-01-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

Spinning, of course! For the last few days I played with the mystery wool. Its prettier than I expected. I'll ply it with itself, I think.

The latest sock yarn is plied, I'm happy to say my plying is getting faster.

F is for fleece

2011-01-16T15:34:00.000-08:00

Fabulous fleecy Friday. I washed more of the Merino and Cormo that showed up last week. I'm trying to be more patient and preserve more of the lock structure. Did I say that already? I'm arranging the locks in the mesh bags, sweater or lingerie size. Then I clip the bags to a broiler grate (why not? the house came with an extra one, its never been used for anything) for washing and rinsing. The grate is heavy enough to keep the fleece submerged, but allows water to flow through. The tension from the clips help keep the locks separated during the process.


Crimp!!!

T is for thoughtful

2011-01-16T15:20:00.001-08:00

Thursday I visited my Dad. Things seem to be changing.

W is for...

2011-01-16T15:19:00.000-08:00

Wonderful Wednesday, when I go whale watching. Every Wednesday, 'til the end of March. I go as a volunteer with the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Last Wednesday we saw; (click on any to biggify)

New Horizon, Scripps Research Vessel, maybe taking sediment samples in the bay.

Helicopter wash, Naval Air Station North Island

Lighthouse at Pt. Loma

Navy plane. Maybe C-130? Later we saw paratroopers (Navy Seals?) jumping out. I have video to post later.

4 Gray whales headed to Baja. (yes, we do see whales too!) Its been a good season so far!

Common dolphins, playing in the wake. We're seeing lots of these.

In the distance, Hotel Del Coranado.

One of the things I love about going out whale watching, I never know what we might see.

Just a little washy washy...

2011-01-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after the new fleece arrived, I told myself I wasn't going to go all gung-ho and wash it all up. Today I thought, maybe I should wash just a little bit of it up, just to check it out of course.

Pretty little fleece bits

The Merino fleece has thin little locks, and the Cormo has big chunky ones. I was trying to maintain the lock structure, my technique is better than what it used to be, but still needs work. Especially on the Merino.

In between hot water dunks and soaks, I pulled out the fleece stash and resorted and cataloged and made up little fleece info cards to keep in a drawer near all my prep and spinning supplies. In hopes that reviewing what I already have on hand will inhibit impulse buying. And these last 2 fleeces were, ok, not impulse buys, but poor me buys. As in, "poor me, the last two days were really rough." Well, fondling fleece does make me feel better, especially wool with grease. Its cheaper than therapy and works for way longer.

Washed mystery wool

2011-01-11T10:37:00.000-08:00

Washed the mystery wool yesterday, it lost some of the pink coloring in the process, That's okay though. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it.

And then something new pops up...

2011-01-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

But in a good way! Today the postal carrier brought a box full of this!

almost 3lbs Merino

And this,

2.5lbs Cormo

Yum!

Can always become tomorrow's to-do list

2011-01-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

I did spend much time looking at heel types and turns. And, made no decision whatsoever, other than I have an idea of what I'm going to try. There. Hows that. Then, because I don't think I've done any spinning since I cast on the sisterly socks, I decided I need a spinning project. On account of I got this new jumbo sliding hook flyer and bobbin for the neglected Ashford Traveler. I'm thinking she might make a good plying machine, and wanted to have bigger bobbins to ply onto.

The Ashford kit for converting from regular flyer to jumbo is very clever, I think. Attached to the maiden (the upright in the foreground of the picture) is a plastic piece called the flyer bearing. The orifice of the flyer fits into the bearing, supporting the front of the flyer and bobbin assembly. The jumbo flyer has, TA-DA!, a jumbo orifice. So the kit includes a jumbo flyer bearing, plus orifice reducers (that just sounds funny to me) that snug fit into the jumbo orifice so one can spin smaller yarns without them flopping all over the orifice. Plus, the original bobbins will fit this flyer, so I need never change it out to use the smaller bobbins. I do need to finish the wood bits though. My friend Jeri, who is now an Ashford dealer, helped me set it up.


From left to right, alpaca batt, brown Shetland single, alpaca roving

Above are the fibers for the new sock yarn project (oh! how I wish Ravelry had a project page for spinning!). Some time ago, between when I got the Pocket Wheel and now, I spun the Shetland just to see if I could make a skinny single. Guess so. I don't know how much is there for sure, close to 50g so I think enough to be 1 ply of a 3 ply sock yarn. The creamy white alpaca is something from a random encounter during the Vista Farmers Market a few months ago and the brown alpaca I purchased more than a while ago.

Actually, while the jumbo flyer is really cool, it has nothing to do with starting a new spinning project. I just really wanted to spin. Immediately. But I didn't want to just randomly grab something, I wanted a project. The brown Shetland has been sitting around, winking at me. I'm slow sometimes, but I finally figured there was enough there for more sock yarn. When I first started spinning that wool, I thought it might be lace yarn. Seriously, if you were to check, you'll see I don't knit much lace. Nor do I really wear shawls. I try once in a while, but even in the most beautiful shawl, I look like someone's babushka.