Plums & Olives

Merino and Viscus N plied.

Fiber by Fiber Fancy. 314 yards fingering weight. I started spinning this last year before I knew how to n-ply and decided I'd wait until I could master that skill. I hadn't realized it took me a year to get back to it again. This was all spun during the election coverage in November and is being knit into Colosseo scarf for my mother for Christmas. I'm really loving the pattern. I'll have to wait until the sun comes out for photos of the scarf though.

Above photos by my daughter Caraline.

Still spinning

Fiber Fancy's 80's club - Blondie One Way or Another. Variegated BFL.
244 yards of Fingering weight. N-plied.

Fingering weight and N-plied are definitely my defaults.

Still knitting

Anyone who knows me knows I'd much rather spin than knit.
That being said, I WILL get this shawl knit before mid December.

Trying to catch up

I've been in a frantic spinning mode lately.

Spunky Eclectic July 2011 club- Headache in Wensleydale. 234 yards 2 ply lace weight.
This was back from March of this year. The rest are just from the last month.

Falkland 416 yds light fingering.

Fiber Fancy 80's club- Madonna. 374 yrds Polwarth light fingering. I REALLY loved her Beatles club, and generally I love her regular colorways, but I'm not so fond of this club. Everything is PINK. That's the one color I can't stomach. You can find a link to her shop in past posts along with her fiber that I did love.

Into The Whirled club - Ravenswood 630 yrds Merino/silk light fingering. I was very sad when I couldn't renew this club for financial reasons. This and Woolgatherings will be the first clubs I rejoin when I can.

Springtree Road - States of Waking and Dreaming. Merino/tencel lace weight. Yeardage unknown. I started crocheting a bag with this as soon as it was dry. I've included Springtree Roads own sale picture (first one) to show just how gorgeous this fiber is.

The last two are from Woolgatherings club. Both Polwarth/silk. 306 and 388 yrds respectfully.

I'm going to try to knit Woolgatherings two skeins along with another I've spun (it's still drying) into a warm cozy shawl.

I just realized that I've not kept up with the knitting/crochet/spinning counters in the side bar. Those are way off. I'll reset them with the new year.

I get Autumn fever like most people get Spring fever. I have to get the house cleaned, organized, and I get interested in fun things again. I just hope some day I'll feel well enough to be able to keep up with myself.

Here's a little more pretty to look at. Our last walk through the park.

Super Secret Project

Sshh don't tell anyone.

To Do list

I think I may have been knit into a corner.

I knit this little pouch to keep the daughters ocarina in. Now she wants me to knit more (only larger) as goodie bags/dice bags for her Halloween party.

Number needed- unknown

Mom's birthday in 7 days.
She wanted me to knit her more cloths and dish towels but didn't like the heavy ones (can't blame her). I finally found one I think we will both like. I knit this one up in a day.

Needed: 3 more cloths and 1 dish towel (more or less)

Christmas: Most of my family members know what our money situation has been like this year so hopefully they won't mind if I make them dish cloths and towels as well.
For my niece, son and his wife, Rainbow colored dish towels bordered in black with matching colored cloths. My dad and his wife will get the same only in subtle colors. I'm not sure what mom will get since her birthday will be what everyone else is getting for Christmas.

Hopefully I haven't over extended myself this time. I'm pretty sure this year will be more manageable than what I tried to do in years past.

And of course there's the shawl that I still need to get worked out for the Hobbit opening night.

And I just remembered my sister has a birthday in December as well. There goes my thoughts of manageable knitting.

Renfest of AWESOMENESS

Just about every year we go to the Ohio Renfest. It's expensive so we save up and look forward to it months in advance. We've never dressed up and we buy very little because we just don't spend money like that. This year though, I planned it as a little surprise for my daughter's 16 birthday. She's always wanted to go dressed up so I let her know ahead of time so she would have the chance to pick out her costume and choose the day she wanted to go. She picked Irish Fest Weekend. She worked all summer doing yard work and odd jobs for her grandma. She earned enough to get her dress and when she realized I couldn't buy one, she picked out and bought mine too.

She knew we were going, but what she didn't know was that I had also saved up some spending money for her. She's always so generous when she's able to be so I wanted her to be able to spend something on herself for once.

Besides some new shops this year was the band Seven Nations. They are EXCELLENT live. I hope the crowd was grateful enough for them to want to come back next year.

I didn't get many pictures but here's one of some of my kids.

That's the youngest son in the cloak, daughter in green with the long hair (taking video of Seven Nations), and the short one is my daughter-in-law, who's husband (my oldest son) is standing on the other side of his 6'5" brother.

We are all so stiff, sunburned, and sore today but it's well worth it. Right now she's practicing the ocarina she bought there. She's wanted one for years and she finally got one.

A light at the end of the tunnel

I love Autumn. It's my very favorite time of year, and with it comes the renewed urge to dust off the spinning wheel and mix up the dyes. I have neither wanted, nor have been able to do much of any of that these past few months. I dyed up yarn to knit a shawl (which I don't seem to be able to knit correctly) for Renfest, but all the wool washing/dying that I thought I'd get done this summer just didn't happen. Even though my winters are very busy, I've been taking another look at what I have and the interest has sparked again. Maybe I will be able to find the time and desire to dig into it again soon.

My fingers are also starting to itch thinking about the crocheting projects I have still sitting around. Summer is far to hot to think about doing that, but, Fall is coming soon and that means dark evenings curled under a blanket in front of the TV. I always need something to keep my hands occupied and that means either spinning or crocheting/knitting. And that's another light at the end of the tunnel.

One day at a time with something to look forward to.

One day at a time.

There's a party in our future.

For my daughters' sweet 16 this year (16?! already?!), I've planned an all out family party at the Renfest. We try to go every year when we can afford it and it's something she really looks forward too. This year however, we are dressing up in costume and going all out.

With the money situation as it's been, I wasn't going to buy new clothes. I had planned on wearing a hippy type skirt and top but C would not hear of it. After working this summer to earn money, she bought her dress (which we both love) and today she bought me one. I have the sweetest of kids. Really.

This is the one we decided on.
Forest Green Belladonna Peasant Bustier Empire Waist Gypsy Boho Corset Dress

I could live in that shop if I had a cute figure and all the money in the world.

So, now that I have a dress, I need to find some kind of shoes. I don't think the pair of gym shoes or flip flops I own will cut it this time.

I'm also frantically trying to put together a shawl. Today I'll wash some sock yarn I've had for ages and die it. Then I only have a few weeks to fight it into the shape I need. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not that great at knitting, but I really want a shawl to go with this dress. Otherwise the only thing I have to wear on a crisp fall day is a black hoody and that's really not the look I'm going for.

I'm hoping this shawl is easy enough for me to get it done in time.
Simple Triangular Shawl

A little bit of relief

It was hard for me to admit that I couldn't face tdf this year, but a few days into it I actually feel relieved about the decision.

I'm still writing lesson plans, have yet to turn in the year end reports, and I didn't even come close enough to getting all the meals ready that I would have had to make ahead of time in order for me to get time out of the kitchen.

So, while there is still major stress levels over other things around here, I can breath just a tiny bit easier knowing that I'm not also being pushed to do one more thing.

Sadly this also means that I have yet to get time with my wheel, but in this heat with no air conditioning, that is probably a good thing.

And that is that as they say.

I'm bowing out of TDF2012. I just can't deal with it right now on top of everything else. Still I hope everyone has as much fun as I did last year.

Because I've not talked about him before...

..but I'm just as proud of him as my other kids, my oldest (26), wrote another song. He's posted it so go have a listen and let him know what you think of it. Even if you're not a fan of the show I think it's a beautiful song.

Memories(Applejack)

(His wife did the artwork)

A reason to celebrate

Andy, the middle one and 17, got a summer internship with the library today. He's been volunteering there for several months now and was recommended for the job by his boss. This is some very good news in the midst of the panic we are feeling at being unemployed for four straight months now. We seriously have been cutting back just to stay afloat. $120 a month for food and paper goods for a family of four with pets is not a simple thing to deal with, so tonight we dine on a couple $5 pizza's from Little Caesar's (at least I hope they are no more than that with walk in), a soda and ice cream for dessert. Tonight we eat like KINGS! Well, maybe not kings, but when you've been eating like we have these past few months, it feels like a royal meal.

WAY TO GO Andy!

I'm trying really hard to get my heart set on tdf this year. It's hard though with all the stuff that's happened and is still happening around here.

Teams joined: SHERlocked, Into the Whirled, Tardis, Stashbusters, and Peloton. I might join Hopelessly Overcommitted but it seems to me that by the time you get to the point you should join that one you are all ready doing to much in everything else.

Spinning: ITW's Doctor Who series. Snow Angles with an Ood x2, Mercy Hartigane, Bigger on the Inside, and Children of Time. Also, Pickin and Spinnin's Doctorin' Up the Tardis. Some undyed baby alpaca for "John's Sweater."

Goals: To spin and post every day.

Training: I have GOT to get the kids year end portfolios completed and sent out before the 30th of this month.
Organize my stash and figure out what I want to spin.
Decide on what teams I'll be spinning for.
Pre draft fiber before it gets too bloody hot to do it.

Mix and freeze: 28 batches of bread, 4 batches of rolls, 6 batches pie crust, 3 batches granola bars, 2 batches cookies, and 4 batches of pizza dough to freeze. Baggie up: 4 batches muffin mixes, 4 batches 'hamburger helper' mixes, and 2 cake mixes. Plan 93 meals and pre-make anything I can that I haven't all ready thought of so I'll have as little food prep going on in July as I can.

Get the house in a state of cleanliness that would let me ignore it, for the most part, for the month. Yikes!

Plan viewing list:
Sherlock series 1 and 2 (re-watch)
Sherlock Holmes movies 1 and 2 (re-watch)
My Little Pony (gods help me)
River Monsters (re-watch)
What ever Agatha Chrisie movies are on netflix (re-watch)
Stargate SG-1 (re-watch)
Stargate Atlantis (re-watch)
Doctor Who- last season (re-watch)
Doctor horrible (re-watch)
Living planet series
Serenity/firefly (re-watch)
Beatles
Star Wars trilogy (originals) (re-watch)
Star Trek (original) (re-watch)
Bones

tbc


Find some interest in doing any of the above.

I detest pink and color combinations that look like Walt Disney threw up on them.

And now you know.

Not much to say.

So, moving forward:

TDF time again, or almost. Time to take stock in my stash and try to narrow down the list of teams I want to join.

UPDATE:I have over 130 pounds of fiber (again)in various states of spinning readiness. I'll be joining the STASHBUSTERs group for sure.
For Ravelympics I'm thinking of getting my Summer granny square afghan finished, or putting a major dent in Andy's afghan. Maybe I'll work on both to keep from getting bored.

Update on the Summer Garden afghan

I tore apart 12 squares to remove the dark purple (C did one for me to make 13). I originally used that color to use up the yarn, like the other colors, but the one square I finished that didn't have purple in it was so pretty that I decided to make all of them like that.

Now I only have 4 completed squares but, overall, they look much nicer.

Spinning is a great stress reliever

FatCatKnits Sept 2011 fiber club- Country Roads
BFL 222 yards sport weight

Pretty crappy spinning job on this one but I just wanted to de-stress and not care.

Fiber Fancy All You Need Is Love Beatles club Jan 2012 coordinating braid.
Again, not the best spinning, but....

Superfine BFL 220 yards sport weight

Woolgathering's Club, BFL March 2012

BFL, 272 yards, fingering weight.
This has got to be one of the most beautiful colorways I have ever played with. I need to take it outside and get some decent shots.

On the wheel now is

Spunky Eclectic July 2011 club- Headache in Wensleydale. Again, I need to get this outside for a decent shot. Picture These colors on the bobbin. (hint- the purple is on the left)

It's quite ridiculous how fond I've become of these little squares.

And, because I can't work on just one (or 4) things at a time, there's this.

Several years ago I started an afghan but didn't get very far because I wasn't happy with the way it was turning out, so I'm unraveling it and turning it into nalbinded dice bags. I figure it's good practice until I'm ready to make mittens or a full sized bag.

Shazbot

Murphy has returned.

Spinning and crocheting.

If you're a new spinner and you've wandered in here, take some advice. Spin with what YOU think would be comfortable. When I first started spinning, I had a spinning teacher tell me to not even try a wheel until I'd been spindle spinning for a long while. She said the wheel was too difficult and too fast. I've heard many spinners repeat this phrase, but I wish I hadn't listened to that part of the lesson. I believed her, knowing that she knew more about it than I. Now, after having my wheel working, I am spinning much better yarn than I ever spun with a spindle. Everyone learns differently. If you think you would enjoy a wheel better than a spindle, then by all means learn on a wheel. I still love to spindle spin but I've learned more about how to make yummy yarns on a wheel than I did with my spindles.

That being said, the above pictures shows how addicting N-plying has become.

I was given a bunch of baby/fingering yarn in pastel colors. I'm not a pastel kind of person but I didn't want this yarn to go to waste so I bought some matching yarn and started in on Attic 24's Summer Garden Granny Square afghan.

Here's a crappy picture of the first few 3" squares.

These things a freakishly addicting. I have no idea how big/small this afghan will end up. I'll just keep crocheting until I run out of yarn.

Well I'm nothing if not persistant

Or as my family likes to call it, stubborn.

After my last post, I figured out what I was doing wrong with my N-plying so, I decided to give it another try.

I plied two small skeins of New Scarecrow.

And one full 4oz skein from Spinfusion called Viola.

I also finished my Monarch Paws scarf

It's a little wonky but I still like it.

I've been a little busy

My spinning wheel FINALLY works.

This is Fiber Fancy's "New Scarecrow" in Merino and Tussah silk. I took it off the wheel to try N-plying because that's what I'd like to do with this yarn. Needless to say, I won't be ruining this pretty yarn with my N-playing (s)kills. For some reason, I spin even thinner on the wheel than I do with a spindle. My automatic spin weight seems to be fine lace for singles, which is annoying the heck out of me. I'd love to get some nice squishy worsted yarns.

I've set aside this scarf in order to try one a little less attention intense.

This is my Monarch yarn knit in the Cat's Paw Lace Scarf. I hadn't realized how much the tension had changed until I'd laid it all out like this. I probably should knit an entire project in one day so my knitting isn't drastically different in the middle. Hopefully with blocking it won't be so drastic.

And lastly, we lost a member of our family two weeks ago. It's taken me this long to be able to go through the pictures of him.

His younger years.

R.I.P. Echo aka old puppy.

14 years

She'll be mad at me for this, but...

When I told my daughter that she had to wait until she was 17 to play Left For Dead, she wrapped it up and asked if she could play this new game instead.

It reads: Lovey Dovey Bunny Hugs. The child friendly video game. Now with no sharp edges. Definitely NOT Left For Dead.

Kids. You gotta love 'em. Really, it's the law or something.

The start of 2012

I knit my first hat.

I used Into the Whirled's Cerulean Dreams club in Romney. I knit it using this pattern but ran out of yarn about 10 rows from finishing so I had to top it off with some Black Welsh.
I'm rather happy with it as first knit hats go. I'm going to wash up and spin a bunch of white and brown llama fleece that I have laying around and use that to make a bunch more hats.

My daughter asked me if I made any New Years resolutions. I usually don't because I inevitably break them and then I feel disappointed in myself. On that note, the following pictures aren't proof of a resolution so much as a reminder to myself of why I don't need to renew my fiber clubs.

All of these are looking into a 22 gallon tub.

22 gallons of randomly purchased braids and bumps.

22 gallons of fiber clubs.

And looking into the same sized container, we see my handspun yarns.

I need more fiber like I need another hole in my head, but once the clubs start renewing I'll get all excited and want to rejoin. What I really should do is not buy anymore until I've gotten a lot of this spun.

Wish me luck getting THAT accomplished.