Today In My Life.. 02/28/2013

Today is:  February 28, 2013

I got up this morning:  around 6 or so to take the dogs outside.  What a joy they are!  I don't think I have mentioned Sam and Katie.  They love to get us up in the morning.  ;)

This is Katie.. She weighs 4 pounds and is all lady.  This is Sam.  He weighs 10 pounds of all boy!

I am hearing:  a small cacophony of sounds as Sam barks at someone walking by,  the heater is softly blowing warm air, the tinkle of glass as my sweet DH is getting his cup of coffee.....

I am thinking:  or not..lol  This is one of those mornings where my brain goes ADHD...lol  but I must get another cup of coffee.. brb...

As I look out the window:  the sun is shining at last.  The forsythia down the street is in full bloom and is absolutely lovely.  Forsythia has a wonderful meaning for me.  When I was 18 and living in Okmulgee, OK  my kitchen sink had a window over it.  Each morning doing the breakfast dishes I would look out that window.  We had a 13 month old son and a brand new baby in December.  It seemed that winter would never end and one morning in February  I looked out that window and there it was... a huge, huge spray of the most brilliant yellow blossoms looking back at me through that window.  I remember I could hear Jim playing in the living room and Phil cooing in his bed... I hear those wonderful sounds and see that window every time I see a forsythia.. 

I am thankful for:  my sweet DH who tolerates all of my hobbies... Today the dining room table is quite covered with watercolor stuff... and stuff... I think he wouldn't say a word until he found himself walking thru nothing but a tiny walkway in the house..lol  I must say that I appreciate him more and more.  I love him very much.

The current book is:  one that I got for my Kindle.  It's a freebie from Amazon and I'm finding it quite good..    Sacred Treason by James Forrester.  This is the first book of a trilogy, and I'm reasonably sure the other 2 won't be free..lol 

The family:  is growing..

And may I introduce (drum roll please!)  my first great granddaughter Elaina.... She is such a little beauty.  I only wish that we lived closer so we could cuddle her more often.. ;)

We are looking forward to welcoming another great grandchild  in May.  This one will be a grandson and I cannot wait.. :)  I had best get started on his christening gift.. ;)

Creatively:  there hasn't been much happening this week.  I have started  naalbinding  a simple scarf using the Oslo stitch.

I wanted a soft flowing scarf this time so I used a wool/silk yarn that I bought from a friend of mine.  It is hand spun and I love it.  Using the small needle instead of my naalbinding needle seems to let me hold my stitches smaller.. I don't know why that is since my thumb doesn't change sized regardless the size of the needle...lol 

Plans for the rest of the week:  had best hurry since this is Thursday..lol  I will continue naalbinding on the scarf in the evenings and I will try to get the other view of the old rusted delivery truck done.  Every time I decide I will paint something always comes up.. what's up with that? 

Free pattern for the week:  Over at Fabric Follies Two there is the cutest baby hat pattern.  Very easy and warm for the little one.  I'm sure I will be making several of these.. ;)

Hopefully the weather here in North Texas will warm up a bit during the day.  The nights for the next few days will be very cold, but eventually Spring will be here.. ;) 

Have a wonderful day.. :) 

This Day In My Life.... September 8, 2011

Today is: Thursday...  September 8, 2011

I got up this morning:  wondering why in the world I spent half the night dreaming about spinning cotton...!!  Could it be the Akha and Tahkli lessons (wonderful, by the way) that  Pat and I took at Apple Leef Farm?  If you ever have a chance you should absolutely stop by and visit with Leef and Les.  Look around the shop.. you'll be glad you did.

This is the Akha and Indian punis that I just love.  This has become my go-to project for taking with me almost everywhere I go.

As I look out my windows:  I am loving this respite from 2 months of upper 90s but mostly 100-111° days.  It's 63° out there right now and we are loving life..;o)  Grass fires all over the state have taken their toll, including several smaller ones around here. (One burned 1,000 acres .. another burned 3,000 acres).  I suppose this is not much when you consider that the fire around Bastrop, TX  killed 2 people, burned nearly 800 homes and blackened 45 square miles (33,000 acres).  NOAA says that in some areas of Texas it would take 20 inches of rain in one day to stop the drought.  ;o(  Surely this Long Hot Summer will end soon.

I am thinking:  that I have an almost free week coming up next week.  A very good time to get some arranging done around the house.  I'm thinking that would be a good thing.. ;o)

One thing I've learned over the past week:  is that if you keep a pad and pencil at hand beside you're chair when you're trying an original knitting pattern.... it's really easy to write it down row by row as you are doing it... instead of trying to go back and figure out what you did when you decide the pattern is one you want to keep... duh  ;o)

This is the pattern that taught me ..lol  These are wristlets that go with the Old Shale scarf I knitted.  The free pattern for these wristlets will be on Fabric Follies Two in a day or two.

Creatively:  this last month has been one of overwhelming thought processes...lol  A Tahkli, Akha, and Charkha class, a Card Weaving class, and an Intermediate Spinning Class all in one month..  wow... a lot to absorb.. ;o)   But fun.. thanks to Leef Bloomenstiel at Apple Leef Farm.   No more classes for a while.  Must spend some time practicing the 1/2 of what was taught that I actually remember.. lol  Thank goodness Leef gives lots of good handouts!   And nothing makes these more fun than going with a friend.. Thanks, Pat.

Things I am thankful for:  my sweet DH who supports all of my interests and never says a word.. ;o)  Except to really enjoy it with me... I love you, honey.

Plans for the rest of the week:  do NOT include more classes.. ;o)  Must get some things done around the house.  Sooo looking forward to visits from special friends this fall. ;o)

I'm hungry.. ;o)  Time to get around and fix some breakfast.  And... speakin' of... I'll put up my try at making granola in a couple of days.. turns out really good..;o)

Have a wonderful day... and don't forget that hugs will make you live longer...!!  ;o)

Fair Isle Hat...Finished

It's done. It's not been blocked yet. I'm amazed. And speechless.

Pansy Purse

One of the first projects done when my Harp loom arrived was to weave some of the green handspun that was in the stash basket. I didn't weave very much of it...about 18" x 24". It's been waiting in my workroom for me to get around to making this purse out of it... Well, today was the day.

A pattern wasn't used, but here is a site that will give you basic instructions for the way I did it..

Placemat Purse Instructions.

It's been very warm today...sunshiny through the office windows. Had to close them to keep the heat out of the house. I don't know if it really is so, but it sure seems to be warmer today than it has been for the last couple of days.

Mammograms & Lace Knitting

I grabbed my knitting as I raced out the door to my follow up mammogram appt. only to realize after I got there that the pattern was still sitting on the arm of my chair...sigh Oh well.. I had some nalbinding in a plastic bag, so I didn't have to sit there and twiddle my thumbs.

This is the follow up for the MRI I had about 6 months ago. It seems that one lump is quite persistent and this time when the sonogram was done following the mammogram it was not just the left side, but also the right that was checked. So will be a little antsy until I finally hear something. Hopefully, that will be today. [Hello, Pat... ;o) ]

This is a hand spun yarn from a bamboo, mohair and wool batt that I got in McKinney. It took me a while to realize that I really needed to card this stuff and I like the soft gold color that comes when I finish. After I knitted the "Linh's Ivy" scarf, I thought how pretty it would look in this thread, so I am trying it. I think I really need a much thinner thread to show off the stitch of this lovely pattern. I'm not sure that I like this and may pull it back out and do a broomstick lace with this yarn. We'll see....

Jim... send me pics of how you're coming with the quilt! Would love to see!

Sniffles and Broomstick Lace

If you've been following my other blog, you'll already know that I have been preparing to go to Drumright (the town where 3 of my children were born) to the Oil Patch Jamboree. DD has a booth and we were going to set up and "sell our wares"... ;o) And then the sneezing, sniffling, runny nose, watery eyes, I can't sleep 'cause I can't breathe hit... early cold or sinus infection.. don't know which. Down for the count all day yesterday. Slept so much poor DH had no one to talk to most of the day. Anyway... now I have a bag full of beginner's spinning kits, hand spun yarns, hand spun and hand knit scarves, nalbinding things, and broomstick lace "Broomstiks"... and speaking of...

This is what I have been working on in the evenings. It is the most amazing stuff I have done in a long time. There is so much elasticity in it that I just love it. Whatever this thing is that I am working on is growing longer.. so looks like it will turn into a lacy scarf... I tried this with larger yarn and a larger Broomstik and it would make a really good afghan...

Video tutorial by Jennifer Hansen of Stitch Diva Studios showing how to do this is found here.

Finally Finished Hand Spun..Tiny Booties

I finally finished spinning the first hand dyed roving I ever tried. I gave up on the hand spindle since I only use the spindle when I am out and about .. perhaps at the doctor's office or such.. so i finished it on my wheel. Ended with 120 yards of triple ply that measures out at 10-12 wpi. It has not been wet finished yet and I think it may be plyed a little to tight...we'll see. I'm thinking this will be joining the pink merino that I did last winter and be woven into a check pattern scarf...

I've had the knitting needles out again in the evening and when I had some yellow alpaca blend left over from the fabric I did on the Harp .. I decided to try this little pair of booties... How cute are they?!! The pattern is here at Bev's Country Cottage. I think I found the pattern via Mariella at Knitting Nonni ... I'm not sure..lol I know one thing... I need to ask her to do a tutorial on how to sew them together... ;O) I never seem to be able to do that so the seam is invisible...

Knitting at night...

As I sit watching television in the evening with my sweet DH, I usually have to have something to do with my hands. Lately I have been knitting. I am totally in love with Yarn Harlot's pattern for this scarf...I use it for everything...

This alpaca blend feels wonderfully soft when done in this pattern with really big needles.

This spindle spun lace weight yarn is also done in the same pattern. Quick, easy and one that I don't mess up too badly...lol

The next thing I am going to do is make a baby blanket with this pattern. I think it will be totally soft and lovely....

Cool Rain

It's been a lovely couple of days. Cool, slow rain...temps in the 70s and 80s. Lovely.

Off to the cardiologist tomorrow.. CT Angiogram.. just checking. Should know the results by the beginning of next week.

This doctor is one that when you go for an appointment, make sure you have enough of something to keep you busy for at least 4 hours. They have grown accustomed to my spinning...grin And speaking of which, I don't think I will ever get the Corriedale that I dyed spun into that sock yarn I really wanted. Of course, if I have very many more of these appointments, it may be done before I know it...lol

DH has finished his clock. It turned out really lovely and looked so good on the wall! But there is something wrong with the speaker for the chimes, so that part of it had to come out and is now on it's way back to the factory. Hopefully the new part will be here within a few days.

I found this Stephen King book on sale for $3.99. Naturally I grabbed it right up. It bears an uncanny resemblance to "The Stand" in the plot line and the characters. After learning not long ago that many authors have "ghost writers" that write the

story after the "author" gives them the outline and plot, this one makes me wonder if it really was Stephen that wrote it... This is not to say that I didn't enjoy it... it just didn't seem to be of the same quality as his others...

It's Too Hot to Work!

Summer is finally here and has made it into my work room. The garage, hall and my room run around 92 degrees these days... so to keep the costs of the air conditioner down, I have been gathering stuff up and trashing the kitchen and living room...sigh

At some point in the near future I will turn on the air conditioner out there, but haven't had the nerve to spend that money... saving for gasoline! Can you believe the cost of that stuff?! I agree with Newt Gingrich... the govt. should dump half of our reserve on the market and flood it...causing speculators to think twice about betting against America...

Anyway...won't go there..lol It's too hot to get all worked up... lol

I've not figured out what my next project will be. I've been trying to learn the nalbinding knit/tarim stitch and seem to be finally "getting" it.. I finished the homespun green wool tarim/knit stitch bag that was practicing on... still need to use the lucet and make the cord to use for closure. This work done by Alix at Alix's Nalbinding Page is what I am shooting for... Isn't that amazing work!

My small weaving loom that my wonderful DH made for me has been seeing some action. Using wool yarns that were spun a while back, I put together these two small pieces. They will be made into small bags. I find that I love, love,love the purple that I thought I would have to re-dye.

And one more thing... Hi, Patty. We're doing good. Missing the son that is moving to Phoenix because of a job change. Things will definitely be a little different around here. Not much news... The only doctor's visits these days are for the infinite number of check ups and returns that they all seem to be able to come up with...lol Hugs to Pat and puppies..grin

Ply on the Fly and Weaving.. Baby Steps

It's been windy for the last couple of days. It's a vivid reminder that I reeaallly do need to return to the barber shop and get my hair cut... hopefully today.

I think I may have finally gotten the Ply on the Fly technique right. I haven't yet decided whether it will turn into a favorite technique or not. Plying on the Fly produces a triple ply yarn that is smaller than I can presently do on my Kromski wheel, but I really feel the difference in time that the plying takes up. The jury is still out on this one.

The orange and green weaving that the spindle is lying on is my latest attempt at weaving. I love the different colored warps giving the stripes. I used the Corriedale handspun that I dyed with Kool Aid for the warps and the dark grey/brown Icelandic handspun for the weft. It surprised me that the weft does not show at all on either side except in a couple of spots where the Icelandic has a small bump.

The use of both weft and warp in wool caused some "sticking" together of the threads as the shed was changed. The only way I could open the shed was to use my fingers to open the threads as they would bind together and would not budge when the shed stick was used. As I realized that my fingers did a much better and quicker job of opening the shed things moved along quite nicely. All in all, I am pleased with this tiny step forward...grin

Rain, Rain....

It began to rain yesterday and is continuing today... I love the soft sounds of the rain on the roof. It was pretty to watch this morning on the roof of the shop while listening to songs of the birds. Have I said I love spring???... I tried to get a pic of the splashes that were so vivid on the shop roof...it came out so-so... if you click on the pic you can see a couple of splashes and the bubbles...

This has been a week of some very good ups and some very terrible downs... "Life is what happens when you are making other plans"...ughhh I've always found that John Lennon line somewhat comforting... It always seemed to remind me that there is a randomness of events in a person's life... along with a randomness of whether it is good or bad... Well..today I don't like it...

Remember my first hand weaving that was done with my hand spun Icelandic wool...Well here it is after being made into a small change purse. It was hand sewn with needle & thread. I had to make the pattern myself since I bought the clasp at least a year ago and it didn't have a pattern with it.

I have some cotton thread ... larger than #10, but came from a thrift store, so no info attached with it.. It is a bit more difficult to weave, but is coming along great. Who knew that green thread is self striping???

Spinning Chiengora

I suppose there's a fancy name for everything..grin I had our son keep the "fur" after our grand poodle Brigit was groomed and bring it to me. I've had a smaller amount in my room for quite a while, but didn't have a spindle that was light weight enough for the tiny strands of poodle fur.

I finally got around to making one and so.. here we go. I started with a bit of wool to give the poodle fur something to grasp and I have to admit, it was rough going to learn. I finally figured out that if I would use some spinning oil on it as I was carding it everything would spin much easier and there would be a lot less fly away going on. I pulled on the thread quite hard at intervals while spinning it and so far it seems to be quite strong. Perhaps will get it finished tomorrow and then I think I will ply it with wool...that will make it go much further and I already have some Corriedale wool going on my Bossie spindle. I can hardly wait to see how much it finally ends up being...

Made My First Fabric Yesterday

Saturday was a busy day in the shop. DH put together a lap sized tapestry loom for me. We made it of oak and he used dowels to hold the corners...

It ended with me sanding it down and using the dremel to shape the shuttle and shed stick...will think of the real name for this as soon as I publish..lol Then spent some time using a finer sandpaper to finish it... dampened it with a wet cloth to raise the wood again and re-sanded. Then used boiled linseed oil to seal and finish it.

This tabby weave is my first masterpiece... I am so amazed at making my own fabric from my own handspun Icelandic yarn. Gives me a whole new respect for all those generations that "came before"....

I finished this weave last night and took it off the loom. It feels like "grandpa's old suit"...grin I think I will use this small piece to make a coin purse... we'll see...

Naalbinding a Red Cap

This is another of those pieces that I have been working on over the last few weeks. It seems to have gotten set aside while I worked on trying to learn to knit socks...sigh I will finish it..lol

This one is made with the handspun Corriedale from the second dye batch and also uses the first needle I made..the oak one. This needle continues to be my favorite even though I have made several other ones. The stitch used in this one is the Korgen stitch (classified as UOO/UUOO) This is a very easy stitch to do and makes the cap quite warm.

It has been lovely for last couple of days. Actually got into the hot tub yesterday afternoon and it looks like we will be able to again this afternoon. The sun is shining brightly today and as far as I'm concerned we can't have enough of days like this ...

Have a wonderful day...

All's Well..

It's been another while since posting... In the interim my DH has had TULP (which is laser prostate) surgery on the 19th. All went well and he is recuperating very nicely. Up and about and off to daily afternoon coffee with friends yesterday..grin

The pic is my first try at coffee dying. I just used the left over coffee in the pot and added enough water to cover the yarn and about 1/4 cup vinegar...heated it just below the boiling point for about 30 minutes or so and then let stand overnight to cool. I'm really tickled with the light tan color and now am looking forward to trying a medium and darker color.

First Batch Dyed...

It took me a while to work up the nerve... but here it is....

The picture is "antique" looking because my camera is acting up a bit... These skeins are....from left to right.... orange, lemon-lime, pina pineapple kool-aid dyed. The picture just does not do it justice.. the yellow is so perfect, the green is variegated a bit, and the orange is soft enough to be lovely. I can hardly believe it actually worked..grin ...