Snarled Yarns

525,600 minutes

2008-11-01T20:34:00.001-07:00

How do you measure, measure a year? How about Love? How about Love? How about Love? (Rent- the movie)

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my moving out of J's house. I am divorced, jobless and in possession of my two girls.

I am also the happiest most content I have ever been in my entire life. I smile and laugh more, Not just in frequency but I smile and laugh with my whole mouth. My heart and soul are light, my spirit is free and I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Why?
Because God loves me. I have submitted and committed myself to him with all of my heart. I asked him to help me, I asked him to heal me. I asked him to guide me and teach me. He asked me to do some hard things. Divorce, quit my job, and then the hardest..Trust him.

But it has been an amazing year and God has responded to my cries. I fought him, I fought myself and I fight society every day. But He knows me and plans ahead. He kept every promise he has made me. The ones He showed me that are in store for the future are so wonderful I know He will keep them too. I love him with all of my heart.

If you haven't found him, or haven't found him with everything good and bad that is in you, stop waiting, stop searching, stop hiding. Go to Him. I promise on my heart and soul, it will be worth it.

Good night, and God bless.

Tonya

It fits!

2008-10-30T14:25:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since I posted and I'm sure no one reads this anymore.
But Today I tried on a halter top I've been knitting and it fits. Wow I mean it should right? But no pattern. Just me, a measuring tape, a vague idea of what it should look like, and how to make one...and it fits. (Thank you Lord and we look good together.) There is only one thing. It was intended to fit over another shirt but it fits so well that's not gonna happen. I will have to block it after I seam it and put on some finishing touches. It would look better over Quisha's clothes but it's very suggestive with a V neckband a fly away waist.
The yarn is merino silk blend and it only took 2 balls (not even) of sport weight on size 5 or 7 needles. Wow I gotta go look at the interweave submission site.
Toodles!

Ain't that peculiar!

2008-09-20T13:32:00.000-07:00

Peculiar as can be.

I have learned to knit without looking. So now I knit and watch TV or knit and read at the same time.
It's eerie.
I have not been spinning much. Fall weather went away last weekend and the desire to spin went with it. I have started knitting a double domed cap. White brim and dome 1. Still haven't figured out what the second one will be. Some random ideas in that direction: using the dishcloth patterns to put designs on your caps. 2 caps, two designs.

I want to knit a dragonfly baby blanket. But I have no baby to give it to.(Of course I still want one of my own, a boy to give it to.)

Speaking of more children, I had a dream (several) of being pregnant one more time. I'm still hoping, but a man in the making needs a man to make him. I'm surrounded by boys, guys and overgrown children. I have been dreaming of past males lately but those are more upsetting than informative.

Anyway I have figured out the gansey pattern I want to make. It has the intertwining trees pattern from lion brand on the tummy framed on top and bottom by bands of garter stitch. There are cables on either side of the chest and a set of stacked garter stitch diamonds in the center. The sleeves have diamond shaped cables running down the top to the elbow.
There are false seams, gussets, and welts, and the channel island cast on. It will be a nice creamy white and a beautiful sweater.(Now if I could just find a man to fit it.)

It's gonna be a long singlehood. I'm filing the papers next Thursday so technically my single hood hasn't even started. J however has started dating which is good for him. I am not taking that route again. This time I will let God choose.

Oh my dreams

2008-08-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

Are never quite as it seems, never quite as it seems. They'll come true, impossible not to do, Impossible not to do. Cranberries-Dreams

How do dreams come alive? Only with the help of God. If you have ever watched the movie Evan All mighty, you will know what I'm saying. From a hobby cam another hobby. From two hobbies came an obsession. From there a dream resurfaced that I had since I was a child. From that and learning to walk with God, the dream is coming as a reality.

Since the change in my life started I have been asking people," What did you dream about doing when you were young? Then I asked them, "Why didn't you do that?" The dreams we had when we were young is the calling of our hearts. People become afraid as they grow up to follow that dream and trade their passions for safety and acceptance, money, security and control. But what does it matter if you gain the world and lose your soul?

It's hard to take that path. You will loose things and people that you thought mattered. People might laugh at you, give you every reason not to. It might not work, and all those who told you so will seem to be right. But walk with God and look at it as an adventure. Trying and failing is truly better than not trying at all. Of course God can not fail, so how can you?

Lifting me Higher

2008-08-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have a Job, I have my kids, I am free and forgiven. Gods love has lifted me higher!
Independence Mall
Something I want to be able to draw, but a nice view don't cha think?

The Mamba

Worlds of fun Gospel choir
Worlds of Fun Antique cars

I have been spinning and knitting. I'm working on a vest for the youngest. Heather is is now in HONORS Orchestra and has become a bonafide crossing guard!

Quisha has blown the school out of the water taking HONORS chemistry, algebra one choir, Swim team and drama.

The lord is good to my family.

Here is today's muppet news flash

2008-08-03T06:03:00.001-07:00

We have a job. We are moving along with life. Most of our friends are good. Except one whose grandbaby died last Sunday, by falling out of a car. Please pray for her and the child's mother.

School starts soon, Quisha Heather and I are getting ready. Quisha will be in 10th , Heather will be in fifth, and I will be....frantic but proud.

The church and I went to KC last weekend. It was a blast! We went to the Peachtree restaurant for good soulfood, then to Independence mall for some shopping, and ended our trip at Worlds of Fun! There was a gospel concert that night and a sleepy ride home to follow.
I even got to watch several movies I had never seen before: Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns, The Great Debaters, and First Sunday. All pretty cool.

Quisha and I made snicker doodles (sorta) Thursday while watching 10000 BC. I finally got in the pool and went swimming. I haven't done this in years. But since my situation has changed and many other things as well, I have re learned how to enjoy it.

On the knitting and spinning front, I started knitting a bag of white wool. Just a small 6 by 6. I need to get back to knitting shawls. They are so useful at work over a tank top. I have one in grey and autumn red, as well as a velvet one in a deep blue purple. But I need black white, blue, and brown. I also need some inspired patterns to go in them. I like plain stockinette but it gets old when your skills are way beyond that. Simple lace patterns are two simple and complex ones you can't take everywhere. Quisha is still working on her caplet. Coming along well with enough yarn to finish. My baby tulip cardigan is a disaster, it came out way too big and short in the body. I may just have to see if it fits someone I know. I have got to get a grip on my dimensions. I'm 5'6" 125 lbs and just not as wide and way longer than I think. I've only managed to make 1 sweater so far that actually fit me and I don't like it cause the yarn sheds. Good grief!

Spinning continues (but now only on one wheel since I gave my Schacht away) on my corriedale alpaca blend at 50/50. I now have 2 oz spun up at a worsted weight. Shawl? Maybe, I was thinking more of a jacket, but the yarn is too soft. Maybe a blanket for the winter. Maybe a present for a friend.
I may give my 8 harness loom away too. If any one wants it just holler.

Anyway life continues apace, my spiritual life has been growing in unexpected directions. I can tell my self esteem is changing as many habits I had, have been given up. I'm not sure when that happened but it's been growing for a while now. Purging anger at people I had long since forgotten about. It is so unexpected that I am shocked at the reactions after all this time, But I ask God to come and heal me at this memory and he washes away the anger and the hurt. I've also been learning that you really can ask God for your hearts desire, and that religion can be a hindrance to the journey. Sometimes the church gives people the wrong message, stay busy, become morally and spiritually pure, be humble and don't ask God for anything you want because wants get you in trouble. Jesus asked many people What is it you want? Most were sick, someone they loved was sick, or were infirm or nuts. Jesus healed them all and forgave their sins. But still we miss the point of the question, or maybe it's overshadowed by the condition these people are in. But if you want nothing from God, how can he be involved in your life? If we want nothing from life, why are we living?
Can you tell I have been reading again? John Eldridge is a great writer. But I back up what he writes by reading my bible at night. Jesus tells the disciples on his last night "You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it." John 14:14
I know next I need to trust God with my more negative feelings doubts and questions. I'm certainly not fooling anyone pretending they don't exist.

Any way I gotta go, have a good one.

Too much time on my hands

2008-07-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Yes that is a song title. I need to buy stock in Google for the sake of You Tube. OIY!

So now after the banana bread we have moved onto blondies. (since I cannot have chocolate) They are pretty good if a bit sweet. No subbing this time, I just followed the recipe. I must say that my oven bakes faster than the recipe calls for. Usually by 5-10 min. The Pear butter is coming but it will have to wait till tomorrow or something. Thusly as my friends say if you're baking you have too much time on your hands! Speaking of friends, another has been telling me (and proving) It's tuff having friends. So it is Jim. Donna and Jim two of my friends who are quickly becoming favorites gave me these..

On Tuesday and there are about 1/2 of them left now. Who knew eggs came in so many colors! Blue, green, and red brown .

Oh and look what else Donna does...

Isn't she amazing? That's a quilt that started in Africa, then came to America with pieces from Pennsylvania and Plattsmouth

I am almost done with the adult dream in color tulip cardigan. Lots of changes here but since I never bought the pattern I can only guess where they are. The first I think is that I have 8 colors so no repeats, the second is I going to hem the "button band" and the collar. That will take care of the stockinette curl. Photo's when I'm done, I promise. It is a knock out.

This is a yarn tomato. If you don't see it that's fine, I just had to catch it. The thing in the foreground is some of the cardigan.

Inspired by my daughters first project, a need for a dress purse for church, and an upcoming trip to Worlds of Fun, my next project will be a 4X4 white wool bag.Speaking of the oldest, her birthday was thursday. Now she is officially 15. Where did I hide those car keys....

Speaking of church, I have been made secretary for the new Salem Commitment Academy. I am also in charge of organising and planning the final graduation ceremony.(March 2009). I'm not bragging, I'm more going What did I get myself into? But if I can pull off a fiber show, I can do this, God willing.

Today is a beautiful day and I hope you all got to enjoy it. I know I did!

The wilderness

2008-07-10T06:45:00.000-07:00

I was watching a PBS special on David, King of the Israelites and they talked about how the bible has a lot of metaphors in it. I have always tried to look at the bible as a literal work but now here is a deeper meaning. One of the metaphors that struck a chord with me was Moses and the Exodus.
The exodus is a story of life on the path of God. First you are in bondage, slave to all your wants, needs, mistakes, habits, and sins. Yes you may get things out of this stage in life but it is ultimately unsatisfying. You cry out to God to save you. Then you are saved. God brings you out of slavery, darkness, and sin. Usually there is much rejoicing. Next he brings you to the wilderness. Here you will wander for a while. This is the place were LOTs of stuff happens. I often wondered "Now that I'm free, what do I do with the freedom?
1) Learn: about yourself, about God, about the truth.
2) Develop your relationship with God: pray, read the word, go to church, and apply the faith in your life.
3) Heal; the old wounds, the new wounds, purge the lies, trash, and bad habits from your life.
Pretty much what you do is cast off the old you, mentally, physically, spiritually, financially, and socially. Then God replaces them with the you he destined you to be in the first place. Once that happens, God will bring you into your "promised land".

Don't worry more knitting stuff next post with photos!

That's a pretty hairy yarn!

2008-07-07T17:18:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of days while waiting to become employed, I have been processing the chocolate corriedale fleece I bought from Country Dream acres.
I've learned a lot about washing fine fleeces; like you may have to get them to near boiling temp to keep that grease off, and (boiling does not always felt fleece!) Still plenty of soap. Usually what hasn't come out in the wash came out when I washed the yarn. So now what do I do with it?

This first yarn is a 50/50 blend of fawn alpaca and dark chocolate wool. It is carded: 2'ce each as an alpaca batt and a wool batt then carded 2'ce as an alpaca/wool batt, then split in 1/2 and carded once more. It drafts like a dream since the alpaca and wool are the same staple length. It's Just Hairy! Not scratchy hairy, maybe I should say more fuzzy like mohair. The color is a tweedy medium brow spun at a sport or DK weight when plied. I wonder what it will knit up like? I think just about all of my yarns are destined to be shawls, shrugs, or caps, mittens, scarves, sweaters, throws and occasionally socks. Ah well.

This weekend my oldest and I made banana bread with substitutes. We sub'ed some flour with maple and brown sugar oatmeal, sub'ed some sugar with syrup, sub'ed the butter with oil and left out the baking soda and rice milk. IT WAS STILL GOOD! We used baking powder only but the recipe calls for both. The last batch I made gave me ...gas. I thought it was the butter but....? We also used 2 banana's instead of one and added the Cinnamon and all spice. Wow.

She is also working on a lace capelet she picked off the Internet. That girl knits like a fiend! I'm so proud. (sniff) Hold on, I gotta go hide my stash...
Next weekend I think I will try my hand at pear butter. Yes I said pear, not apple.(I'm allergic) I've checked out the recipe and it looks simple enough. Cook, mash strain. Cook, add spices and sugar, store and spread when cooled.

5 year Tattoo! Have you heard about this? They are in the FDA approval stages now. A needle and ink tattoo that fades out completely in 5 years. I may get one.

Well we'll see how that goes! Stay tuned.

HAPPY 4th!

2008-07-04T04:59:00.001-07:00

My new Store!

2008-07-01T08:58:00.000-07:00

Go check out my Etsy shop! http://SnarledYarns.etsy.com

More photos

2008-07-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

This is it finished and blocked. I gave it to the new Mom to be Sunday and she was thrilled.

Photo's at last

2008-06-29T15:30:00.000-07:00

Quisha's first knitted item, a bag with I cord handles
The finished praying hands blanket, not blocked.

The title was going to be "free at last" in reference to my life after being saved by Jesus, divorce and Job-less -ness. Now I get to spend my time figuring out with all this freedom and options in front of me..what now? I think the reason freedom is scary to people is because there are so many options. But there really aren't. When you are a kid, your heart tugs you to what you were created to do. The problem is finding that again and having the courage to pursue it.
Wish me luck!

Good morning!

2008-06-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

I am now on Ravelry. So there may not be anymore blogposts here.
I was looking through the older posts and noticed the one from Cali and remembered the pink yarn I bought and thought it would be perfect to go with the brown CVM handspun I have. I may wind up knitting a throw after all.

I've been doing a lot of spinning, some Border Leisester lamb in black good for weaving. Some Angora needed plying. The latest is I have been processing the chocolate Corriedale. I tried handcarding it but the rolags weren't great. I may have to drum card it and try again.

I dyed the grey and white Angora a light blue for a smoke ring. I still have a lot of blue dye left so maybe a good sized batch of wool will go in the pot today.

I'm knitting the tulip cardigan and doing the stitching for the baby blanket.

Here is somethings I have learned about working dog problems:
Old English sheep dogs are OCD
Great Pyrs drool and bark at night..A LOT!
Welsh Corgis bark to herd livestock
Australian shepherds are always looking to be the boss.
Border collies are hyperactive (bred for 16 hour workdays)

I think I'll use a different method to herd my sheep. At least till I have too many to move myself.

Consistent heat

2008-06-23T06:05:00.000-07:00

Over the course of my fiber life I have washed many a fleece. Different breeds and categories, longwools medium wools and fine wools. I always shied away from fine wools because I could never get the grease out. Longwools are easier mediums are not so much but still not impossible.
You see I was using the method that goes like this: hot water soap and sit. So many warnings about felting the fleece and not letting the water cool and the grease re deposit. The washer machine made plenty of hot water and could keep it hot for quite a while. Still I had a bit of trouble with my finer medium wools, I would have to wash them several times, rinse and dry them, only to have to wash them again later on. Worse I sometimes just spun the yarn in the grease.YUCK! I tried using more soap, less wool, less sitting times and hotter water to no avail.
So I tried washing some on the stove, (thank you Stephanie) with a fine wool. It turned out ok. By ok I mean it had as much grease left over after 2 washes as one of the medium wools after 1 wash. Ok, so why did that turn out better than the washer machine? I think it's because of the constant heat.

With constant heat the grease never has a chance to resettle. The water temp never cools down, if anything it will increase a bit over time. There is a chance for it to cool off when you drain it and refill the pot but this can be eliminated by a double pot system. (Two pots of water on the stove, one is washing while the other heats water to the same temp, ready for the next stage. When the second pot is in use, the first pot gets dumped, refilled, and heated.)
Some points to remember are that you still need to use enough soap, you may have to open the lock tips in that first wash while the water is still cool, and you can only do so much wool at a time even in a large stock pot. If you plan on dying the wool this a great method because you can go right from washing/rinsing to dying and only have to dry the wool once!

Just a tip.

MY 2007 VW Jetta

2008-06-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, now I know most of you have seen my blue 2006 V Dub and it was a cool car. Plenty of room, cruise, horses, and safety. There were some soft interior features I didn't like and the stereo was not too hot but it accommodated the whole family comfortably. The seats adjusted, the trunk was deep and long and the seats came down if I needed more room. In fact I moved my stuff and furniture out of my house into my 2 bed apt using just the car.

Not 3 months ago I got a red 2007 with leather interior, sun roof, 6 CD changer, I- pod adapter, satellite radio, as well as all the previous cool stuff from the other car.( Did I mention plenty of horses?) SOMEone asked why I would get this car again when the published gas mileage was so bad. I get 30 MPG on my girl even though what they published was more like mid to high 20's. There is a road stability feature on the car that is kind of like cruise control, in that it keeps the car in the middle of the road in windy times but it sucks more gas! When you turn it off, it greatly improves the gas mileage.(Of course they don't tell you this but...ya know)

Now there are are some downsides to the car. My 2007 would make odd noises when it hit 60 mph for the first time, and if it was cold it was sluggish. My 2008 however doesn't do any of these things. The brakes do get a little grabby and noisy when they are wet. The maintenance can be a little pricey, almost 60.00 per oil change but it only needs 1-2 a year so that's really not an issue.

The biggest reason I got this car and keep getting them is the safety. Go to VW.com and look at the accidents people have walked away from with only a bruise. I have 2 (long legged) children who ride with me and every safety feature ever created is in that car. So there you go!

I'm still here!

2008-06-15T12:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long delay but SO much has been going on. I'm still here, knitting spinning and ...several other things that don't need mentioning.
Safe to say I'm good!

Praying hands wash cloth/baby blanket- baby shower is on the 29th , baby is due in Aug and I'm at 2 ft.Guess which deadline I'm shooting for?

Spinning-spinning corridale wool on the Joy, along with occasional forays into Bunny fur.

Kids-fine, a bit bored with summer, but knitting up a storm, Quisha is making a felted bag and Heather is just knitting. Her stitches are coming along though.

Personal life- still interesting, moved into a 3 bed apt, lost my job, still going to church, knit night and singing in the choir. I have a wedding to go to this weekend and Habitat for humanity starts next weekend. Cool huh?

Movies- I got to see Golden compass, Bee movie, Enchanted, and will soon be seeing The water horse, 300, and my kids are seeing Kung fu panda and spending fathers day with their children. Me? I get A Day!

Well Happy Fathers Day everyone! Enjoy.

It's been a long time...

2008-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

"I shouldn't of left you, without a doped beat to step to.." Eric B and Rakim, Micraphone fiend.

Yes here is a quick blog post for you all.
I like many others have been making cabled yarn. I like it so much I have finally settled down to making enough yarn for J's sweater.

The push for the farm has begun in earnest. I have decided on Shetland sheep, picked out a Cub Garden tractor and settled on 5 acres but more wouldn't be a problem. Now if I could pick a state and find a plot...

Knitting has taken a turn for the spring. I'm still working on the baby blanket for our family friends. At 8 stitches to the inch I will be knitting all the way to August. Quisha's sweater is at a standstill and the kids sweaters will be vests from now on.

Work is progressing, I'm still having some feast or famine issues but such is life.

Gardening has taken the place of major knitting. I need to move my one rhoddie bush, replace it with a rose and replace the white rose that died. I also need 4 new hostas for the tree in the back and 3 -5 new annuals for the south garden. Everything else is coming up just fine, I laid down some daisy and wildflower seed last week we will see if any of those come up.

One of my "interest Farms " looks like its gone out of business. Tongue River Farm's owner is ill to the point they have dispersed her flock. It was a one woman operation and so it no longer is.
They have my sympathies.

TV: Dr Who, Torchwood, Moonlight and TD Jakes. Soon it will be Eureka, Saving Grace, and who knows what else.
Movies: We are going to see the Spiderwik Chronicles tonight on Imax.

The prodigal blogger

2008-03-22T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ok it’s been a long long while.
Spinning
I’ve finished the spinning of the colonial top in green, washed and plied it. It takes a size 10 needle but can take a 7 if I need a tighter stitch. I’ve been knitting gauge swatches in stockinette garter seed moss and twill.
I’ve also learned how to knit pleats.
Now I am spinning Angora I'm done with the grey and on to the white.
Knitting
The praying hands baby blanket is almost done with stage one. I am 20 rows from completing the center piece. Then I will pick up all around it and knit out a square blanket with increases in the corners.

Quisha’s sweater is down to its sleeve and collar. I have to pick out buttons and knit the color/button band and finish ¼ of the sleeve.

I am knitting a skirt for summer out of Katrina A bouncy yarn with great drape. I am doing the hem on thirteen’s then the leg on 10.5’s and finally the hip and upper thigh on 7’s or 8’s

The lace shawl is continuing slowly. It has no deadline.

The socks are at a halt and probably will be frogged. I don’t like the stiffness of the sock. Then I get to re knit it on size 3’s. (Like the original pair of bed socks.) Thinner sock yarns like cottons will be put on 2’s.

Drawing
I have decided I don’t like the drawing class and I have picked out my drawing Goal. I am at the stage were I can draw roughs, working or flat drawings but need more skill to get to the drawing I would use to show to someone in the fashion industry.
Fashion
I have been keeping up with the fashion/color trends in knitting and weaving up to summer 2009. The hand knit scene is scheduled to phase out by then. Fashion is defiantly heading for a more feminine fitted look aiming for elegance and luxury. Think 40’s and 50’s. Bulky knits and yarns are going away. The colors continue to be optimistic getting brighter and lighter. Brown looks as if it will be the new black for the next 2 years.
Blends for fiber combining lightweight and luxury like cashmere and superfine wool are becoming more prevalent and the slant is blending with the new ecological fibers such as milk, bamboo, soy, and tencel.
Weaving is growing, though slowly. I saw many of the Handwoven looks out there in the new optimistic colors still finely tailored but maintaining the handwoven look.

Spin in
The second Saturday in April, the 12th, I will be hosting a spin in at my apt. I haven’t seen many of you for quite a while so here is a chance to get you all together. Minnie tell the girls! I will also be having the Omaha spinners there and my friends from the Fremont guild are invited too.

Well gotta go,
Toodles!

Inch by inch, row by row

2008-02-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

How do I make this knitting grow? Figured gauge by stitch and row and now I find I'm off!

Oh yeah, I have a great idea to take the praying hands washcloth and use it as the center of a baby blanket. Problem is I'm using baby weight yarn instead of the worsted weight cotton and there is no gauge on the pattern and it calls for a 4.5 needle. (US or Metric?) So here I did a swatch and figured it at 6 rows per inch and 6 st per inch for a 8x8 square.

My gauge is right stitch wise but wrong row wise, so I've made 11 rows to 1 inch. at this rate the "square" will be 7.5 inch wide and 6 inches tall

So I can up my needle size to a size 7.

I can adjust the pattern so that the motif is in the middle of an 8 inch square.

I can just continue on in knitting denial.

I will start over on size 7's.

Oh and MY BAPTISM IS TOMORROW!

Toodles!

I'm Back!

2008-01-27T11:24:00.000-08:00

Back from Cali. It was ok. I have some photos. It rained alot while we were there and mostly we just worked. The population in order was: Caucation, Hispanic, Asian.

I joined my church as a member this morning(Jan 26). I get baptised this month(Feb 24).

J and I picked up some art supplies and some books and have been drawing over the last few days. I've been doing some fashion drawings but I haven't picked up a theme yet. It seems to be mainly business casual and evening wear. The focus is elegance. My best two drawing have been inspired by flowers. (Maybe my theme has been picked out?)

Yesterday we went to the Joslyn and found that they offer lots of art classes for cheap! We will be taking one probably this summer.

Well enough yacking, how about some photos?

These are all photos of the mountaniuns surounding us. We were in the Anahiem/ Santa Anna area, and some of these were as we were heading up to Chino . The Yarnstore was in a place called Anaheim Hills.

And I suppose you are wondering what I got here! Well I'll tell you but photos for another day.

4 skeins of white fingering weight superwash wool, (baby blanket) 11 oz of copper brown wool roving, (??) 4 skeins of lilac worsted weight wool yarn (garter stich vest) and a mug (Hot chocolate!).

Last but not least I have still been getting calls about the show. We may wind up doing one next year.

Toodles!

Goin' back to Cali

2008-01-20T11:20:00.000-08:00

Alright, I've never been there but I'm going to Anaheim Cal for a week sponsored by the ever useful company I work for. So I won't be about for a while. I was reading the Knitting Curmudgeon and her topic about Knitting audio books. I think they might be a good idea for some books, but not others that you buy for the patterns/projects. I just bought The golden Compass on audio from I tunes(cheaper). I'll discuss it later.

Speaking of Projects we are having an on the needles count and I am at 4:

One set of wool nylon socks on size 2 dpn's with the afterthought heel as the learning spot. I need to finish the toes and make the heels.

One baby blue sweater with the white stranded snowflakes as the learning spot. I'm working on the sleeves, I've got the collar and the button closure to go.

One lace shawl in knit picks bare lace weight merino. I've got that one packed for the trip and 3/4 of the shawl to knit.

The gift baby blanket. EZ's square shawl from February baby things in the knitters almanac. Knit in grey...now normally I would say I need to go buy some yarn cause grey for a baby is not good, so it may be mine and I've got 7 mos to go before the baby is born. Frankly I don't want grey either, maybe red.... something. This one doesn't count yet since it's not on yet.

Love to everyone and I'll have lots of photos.
Toodles

Fiber Festival

2008-01-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a couple of e mails and phone calls asking if I'm running a fiber festival for 2008. No Unfortunatly I'm not. Personal issues and lack of funding have made it not feasable.
I'm sorry I was realy looking forward to putting another one on.

I had the Sarpy county fairgrounds picked out, the buildings were both heated and cooled and there was space for live stock. They wanted 1800 per day for 3 days and 2 buildings and the stalls. Advertising needs to be in to Interweave Press by Oct or Nov to run in Dec/Jan issues, this is $50.00 per run per magazine for the classifieds. I had a food vendor set up but no one to donate the lamb. There still was the issue of vendors, fees, teachers, classes, and such that did not get dealt with. I had a lead on $8ooo.00 but I'm not a member of this certain group and they had a change of leadership just when I was about to join and ask. (That and how tacky is it to join a group and ask them for money all in one breath?)

We may try for next year when things aren't so weird. But we need to get started in June. So those of you who would like to be involved, please let me know.

Happy New Year

2007-12-30T11:38:00.000-08:00

Those of us who remember Frosty the Snowman the TV special will get this reference.
Have a happy to you all and I hope your End of December religious festival went well.

Knitting and spinning continue though more spinning than knitting. I can thank the Yarn harlot for saving my tube socks. I tried them on and I don't like them. I will be putting in afterthought heels in them.

I continue to attend church(does anyone else weep at the sound of a perfect chord?) and grow in faith. Wish me luck I'm trying to accomplish something.

The farm hunting also is still going. I saw one in MO that was so beautifully I just stared at it. Not at all what I thought I wanted, but still so beautiful.

I also have a cold, and so does everyone else. My husband and I are cooking new dishes. We made spicy Moroccan lamb last night and it was a HIT! J does not like to eat lamb but has found that cooking it different makes it worth the eating. (Phase 2 of the Farm plan complete MWahahah!) The biscottie was good but I won't make it again for a while, it takes too long to eat.

Last but not least...all Hail You Tube! I could spend hours on that site like most knitters spend on Ravelry. Last night I got to hear music from my first instrumental techno band Art Of Noise. I miss their music, and thought no one else had ever heard of them. This thing is better then the radio cause you can hear all your favorite songs (up to a certain point in time) no commercials and no waiting.speaking of which...
Toodles!

Merry Chistmas

2007-12-25T08:24:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to one and all and may God shelter us in his mercy. May he lead us on a path of his choosing to the destiny he has laid out for us. May it come to fruitition.

I hope that this finds you all better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today.
Blessed be, Amen.

Photo Shoot

2007-12-12T16:13:00.001-08:00

Hello, I finally got some photos up so I'll let them do the talking for me.

The sweater that is actually past this point. I put the ribbing on and now am NOT working on the sleeves.
What you get when you cross a witch and a pirate.

My car had a bald spot to cover, so it used the ice to do a comb over.
For those of you light on the budget, we had a X mas shrub and a crafty inclination.

Before the snow made the sky painful to look at, I caught this Nebraska version of Big Sky Country.

So that's all for now. Have a merry and be safe!

The learning curve

2007-11-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

Like everything in life that we learn, there are some things that you get right off the bat, and some things that take a while to get. Take spinning and knitting. I know people who have just taken off from the first lesson and some who have struggled with everything from holding the needles to wrapping the yarn in the right direction. But if the goal is worth the work then we do it. I learned to spin on a drop spindle, then on a wheel. It took me 2 years or so to spin thin yarns worthy of competition and my own judgment. Now I strive to learn to spin thick and soft yarns. It will probably take a while to train my hands and mind to stop drafting so much.
My life has also taken a wild curve. I am forced to look at my habits, strengths and weaknesses and reassess them. I have been learning to look at the black pit of dissatisfaction and instead of drawing the curtain, to face it, identify its causes and work on them. The root question right now is “What does it mean to be a woman?”
I get the feeling this question will be answered sooner than I expected. I’ve been reading the book Captivated, and it reminded me of many of the female tendencies I had as a child that were squashed by the Feminist message in the household. I noticed that encouraging that feeling in my daughter has really brought her to life.
Back on the fiber front, I finished spinning up the sock weight yarn out of the Brown Sheep hand paint. It has some black fibers and kemp in it. The hand is rough like some Columbia I bought. The sequences of colors were a little harder to follow but I think that might have come from how I split it. In the end my Sock weight became close to a worsted weight after washing and hanging to dry. The second skein wasn’t as tightly plied as the first but the difference is so slight, it’s only something I would notice. (I was tired by then!)
To give myself a break I have begun spinning the dark brown CVM. Greasy stuff. I love how it washes up, but I have to wash my hands after a bought of spinning it. This one will be a heavy worsted if not a bulky weight yarn. This yarn is defiantly teaching me about spinning thicker, and treadling slower. The shortness of the fibers and the lumpiness of the roving defies all attempts to spin a thin smooth yarn. By the time I get done I will have 7 oz of good experience, not to mention good cap and scarf yarn.
I will probably be washing fleece this winter, (something I never do) because now I control the heat and I can actually get it dry in about 24 hours or less.

Well, I’ll see if I can get some photo’s up. The new camera is still so cool! But we have limitations on computer access.
So until next time…
Toodles!

There is wool in the world

2007-11-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Target and noticed these Mossimo Supply Co. Fair Isle Tunics in the Miss' section. I had to go touch it and noticed it felt rough. It was pretty but there was something different about it than everything else in the store. After coming back and fondling it a second time, I looked for the content tag: 80% lambswool 20% nylon.(the website says it's cotton, but the tag said nylon)

Ladies and gentleman..congratulations, there is wool in the world.

One months work

2007-10-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

What you see here is 7 oz total of brown Corridale 2 ply yarn. It took me a month to spin it at the rate of about 2 oz per week. Now according to established guidelines, this yarn is costing me: 6.00 purchase price 3 hours of spinning each at 1.00 per hour and 5.00 per oz in overhead. I will soon be adding 10 cents each for labels. That adds up to 14.81 roughly.
I WOULD NEVER PAY THAT FOR A SKEIN OF WOOL YARN! (maybe cashmere or silk but not wool alone)
Now here's where I go wrong. It takes me too long to spin too little. That means I have to apply a large amount of overhead to a small amount of product. OK, so instead of 8 oz a month lets try 8 oz a day. (We would spin singles for 5 days and spend 2 days plying)

Now we can have the same time it takes to spin 3 hours per skein, the fiber still cost me 6.00 but I have 10 lbs to spread that overhead over, so it drops to something like 1.26 per oz. That makes the skeins cost 6.07 instead. But that would earn me 3 dollars an hour. Here's where a lot of people go a little nuts. I can't see charging much more than that. I might bring it up to 7.00 tops but not more, meaning I'm still making squat.

There are things you can do to alter the numbers, buy cheaper fiber, spin faster, don't ply, reduce your overhead costs, OR charge 15.00 a skein because you are a human and not a machine. In the end it's up to you. If the people will pay it by all means charge it. It's nothing less than you deserve, and worth every penny for one months work.

Sampling

2007-10-21T07:47:00.000-07:00

When I went to the Plum Nelly I bought a n 8 oz bump of hand dyed wool from Brown Sheep that they wanted tested for market. So today that's our topic. This wool is a roughly med length wool, hand dyed in blue, pink, and a shade of pale green that is kinda close to blue.

My first sample is spun on a drop spindle and is a high twist, fine 2 ply. I just split it lengthwise, predrafed and spun following the color sequence. The drafting wasn't bad, it was actually quite fun. I didn't have to worry about the spindle dropping, the crimp was more than enough to hold it together. The dye sections were short but when I spun it they lengthened out quite a bit.

I then plyed on the spindle (something I usually don't do), skeined, and washed it in warm water. I pressed it in a towel and hung it to dry under the vent for 1 hour. It was dry and I noticed the fiber was harsh and over spun. I thought the plying and washing would even out the twist and it did but the yarn didn't relax much in the water. I had left it to soak for 10 min. It will be good for sturdy sock bottoms or maybe weaving. If I were to knit it I would make a bag or belt or something.

So now I wanted something softer. This time I carded the wool on my drum carder twice making a nice feminine purple. Then I spun a heavy DK/light worsted single on the wheel spinning slower for consistency. The drafting was a little more difficult now, mostly because I really had to pay attention to the fiber length. I found that a long draw worked better with some redrafting of the thicker spots. I didn't predraft the batt at all so I wouldn't make the single too thin. The wool felt softer in the batt, and in the yarn. Finally I plyed it at about half the rate, skeined it, washed it, pressed it out in a towel, and hung it to dry. I could already tell this yarn would be more suitable to a hat. The yarn was squishy before I washed it. Now that it has dried It is very bouncy. It still has a rough hand but the look of the yarn is decidedly softer.
Click for a close up photo of the yarn.

Finally some book reviews: Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair...funny as all get out! Read it in 2-3 days and laughed myself silly. This lady has a blog called Crazy Aunt Pearl. I haven't checked it out yet but I will.

Paula Simmons book Handspinners Guide to Selling is another book I've picked up and it is a great resource for info on production spinning, and the business of selling your product. The tips of consistent weight and yardage in your yarns. Picking only a few weights to produce, equipment that will help, spinning tips that will help, Using samples to sell to LYS's, pricing ideas and pretty much a way to make a living at it. The only downside is that the book was produced in the 60-70's, and I don't trust that people are still making a living solely off of production spinning. She does state that demo's, teaching, writing books, and selling finished goods are a good way to round out your income. (I demo'd at the Children's Museum Sat and I wonder about charging for it. It sounds like a good idea.) It's more like they're necessary as far as I can see. The cycle of "craft resurgence" is a long one. There was one in the 60-70's and now one in the 2000-2010's That's a 40 year stretch. As much as I may want to, I think I'll keep my day job.

The Plum Nelly

2007-10-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Too tired to post really, I just came back from a weekend trip to Hastings and The Plum Nelly.
Please take time and visit this store. If we don't purchase from our fiber shops they go out of business. It's only 2.5 hours away(unless your me and then it's 3) and well worth the trip. The prices are cheap and the selection is good. They carry fibers from local artists as well as Brown Sheep. Iris is wonderful to talk to, and they have classes, and equipment, and...and...
Just go. You'll love it.
I gotta go lie down now.
Oh yeah, don't forget Threads in Lincoln as well.

Oct 9

2007-10-10T04:16:00.000-07:00

Ok since the last post was so heavy and non fiber related, let’s get back to the business at hand.
I have continued to spin the brown Corridale roving and now I have almost 2 full bobbins of it. I will soon be ready to ply for length, at length. I fixed my antique wheel this Sunday and went to Lowes and bought some Danish oil and gave it a bath. It loved it. I loved it. Then I set up the distaff with some white Romney wool and spun. It’s a lot like my Schacht on that the take up is uneven but I like it any way. The bobbins are so tiny! Yesterday I oiled my other two wheel and they looked better but still kinda like they needed more.
I have been listening to my podcasts and found one of the songs from Cast-on played on a tv commercial. I think it’s called simply the way I am by the licivious biddies? I’ll have to look. I noticed there was no podcast from Knit Picks, I need to re listen to the last one and see if she said why.
On that note, the Mangelsons group has its’ last meeting for 6 weeks tonight. The Halloween section is taking over the craft room. I’m not sure where I will be going for that. We have been invited to the Panera bread place on 72 and Giles. I just may go to Cranes Coffee.
Knitting update:
Lace- up to chart 3 and still loving it.
Top Down Raglan- needs metal size 13’s for the yarn is catching on the wooden needles.
Skirt- going to be ripped and balled.
EZ raglan sweater- still needs to be sewn up, still not sure on the wearing part.
Reading- I still read all my blogs, but I have torn though 2 really cool books in the last 2 weeks.. One is The Red Tent. It’s a great book. It should remind women that we have always had a measure of power over our own destinies.
Second is called Drunk Divorced and Covered in Cat Hair. Hilarious! And rewarding. Not the smooth and flowing river of The Red Tent, this is the wild short rush of the rapids (or water slide for the tamer of us).
Trips: I’m taking a trip to the Plum Nelly in Hastings this weekend. I will be leaving Sat and coming back Sun. Just me, no kids, no J, no obligations. The 2.5 hour drive 1 way will be new to me, but I know I can handle it. Me and Map Quest that is.
Family: my 15 year old got her promotion and rope this past week from ROTC. My 14 year old learned how to study and her Spanish lessons are coming along. The 9 year old has a field trip today..I think that’s #4. J is scoping out his next Bike and bought a leather vest.

Well that's all for now.
Toodles!

The Bakers

2007-10-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

My family taught me some things that as I head into the second half of my life I learn are not true. I'm learning to recognise them and am trying to shed them.
1)Men have a better life
If you can't get anywhere in life it's not because your an alcoholic, defensive, thin skinned, anti social, or unreliable and bitter, it's because your a woman.This got translated into being female is to be weak. But I realize now that it's not. I actually like being a girl and have decided to start acknowledging my feminine side. Wearing clothes that actually make me look like a woman, Flirting because it's OK to be friendly. I don't drink or smoke, I try not to be defensive and try to be reliable. I like people Most of the time and try to let go of the past as much as I know how.
2) Emotionless -ness is a strength
Nope Just makes you get drunk a lot and express them, or smoke, do drugs or ignore those who love you. It makes you seem cold and heartless. It leaves your children not knowing how to express love, or worse how to recognize and accept it. Even now it's hard for me to accept the affection of my husband because of this and the following rules. It's also hard to give it to him or ask for it when I need it.
3) Sex=love
Yeah, need I say how many times this has bitten me?
4) They're only nice to you cause they want something from you
Yeah so now we're suspicious of anyone who's nice and trusting of any one who treats us like shit.
5) Men are worthless, only useful for making babies. Women Don't Need Men and should value Independence over everything else.
Men are not worthless though there are a lot that are to me. That's OK, there is someone for them or an event coming to them that will set them right. No one is perfect and gas is perfectly natural. Women don't need men, but we want them and that's why we have them in our lives.

Both my mother and grandmother were single mothers. Men came in and out of our lives and very few managed to stay. My grandmother had one great love and it wasn't her husband. She found him around 25-30 years old. My mother had 3 children by 3 fathers but found her great love at her late 20's early 30's as well.

I don't want to follow their path. I want a man who will stay, and I don't want to be such a shrew that I drive him away.(Neither will I give up my self, but there is room in my life for anothers' ways, ideas, and opinions. I don't have to agree with them, but that does not make them less valid.) I want to be able to give and receive love freely with out always wondering what do they want and will they think I am weak. I want to be happy being a pretty woman and wearing skirts, and flattering clothing without wondering if I'm inviting someone to take advantage of me or just not take me seriously.(I find I really like mid calf length swingy skirts. You know the kind that flare out if you twirl?) I don't want to constantly fight anymore between what I feel and need and what my family has taught me.

Is your head above water still? Good. Cause I'm learning to swim as I go.

Spin a little bit, spin a little bit of that yarn for me

2007-09-30T14:06:00.000-07:00

Now If I haven't told you yet, I have quite my gig as a knitter for hire. I decided that it was time for lace. I also purchased 5 skeins of cashmere silk blend from Personal Threads. Lastly I have started knitting a lace shawl I will talk about in another post.(when I stop wanting to cry every other row!)

I have decided to "spin a little bit" every day and reduce the stash. I have learned something already. a) split roving into thin strips. b) pre draft strips c) if you want thicker yarn, spin slowly and don't draft so much. D) warm soaks after plying make for better yarn. I can now make pretty much any size yarn I need as long as I have an example 1/2 the finished size.

You'd think I'd know this already. And I did. I forgot and just now remembered. I had one yarn a California Variegated Mutant dark chocolate that when I spun it, it just sucked. Fiber was short, there was oil/grease in the wool and it lumped and bumped no matter what I did. Frustrated, I plied it, skeined it and washed and rinsed it in warm water. Then I let it dry unweighted. I fell in love with it! Thick spongy perfect for an afghan or cozy sweater. Too bulky for a cap or scarf. It took size 13 needles to knit it and holds cables just great!

I'm spinning some plain brown Corridale now. I have about 6 oz left to spin and 2-3 oz on the bobbin. I think I may fill all the bobbins and then spend a good while plying. (2 wheels= 7 bobbins-1 to ply and 1 that's busy=5 bobbins to fill.) Hmmm maybe I should rethink that.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna be in the guild show this year. I will be demonstrating knitting at the Children's art Museum on Saturdays. Anyone who wishes to join me feel free. They have no knitters for demo- ing and have several knights open, so if you want to demo, please contact me and I'll send you the info.

Lastly I went clothes shopping this weekend and have fallen in love with long skirts.
So if you see something that looks like me but in a skirt...It's probably me.
Tooddles!

Now it's been two

2007-09-23T07:17:00.000-07:00

Two. Two years tomorrow since I started this blog. I can't belive it. I thought I was coming on maybe 1. Wow... I still read many of the blogs I used to read, Yarn Harlot, Panopticon, and a few new ones.. Brooklyn Tweed, Two sheep Getting Stitched, and Modeknit. My friends still keep their blogs Muses of a Dragon Mad Knitter, Does Anybody Give a Damn. I listen to podcasts (which started in the last year) Cast on, Sticks and String, Knitwit, and the KnitPicks Podscast.
I've been enthralled By EZ, Lace, and Fine wool. I've knit a sweater from the fleece up, and 2 pairs of socks. J got a new motorcycle and a job he can hold onto. I've finaly adjusted to Christine and Heather has become the most accomplished violinist in her school. Quisha has turned into a young woman and I have a job I like and offers me some opportunities for growth. My east coast relatives continue life unchanging. At least we haven't lost anymore of them.
My garden has grown and the flowers bloom beautifully, both figuratively and literaly.
Life is good, let's hope for another couple of decades like this.

50 ways to leave your lover...

2007-09-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

Trekking blank sock yarn..Maybe a 1/2 circle shawl?

Unfinished EZ raglan with garter stitch for ribbing.

Yarn for Dream in color Tulip Adult size.

"Just slip out the back jack, make a new plan stan, don't need to be coy roy..Just listen to me

Hop on the bus gus, don't need to discuss much, just drop off the key lee, and set your self free..."

I love that song but lets get down to business. I finished the pi shawl, I finished the green cashmere yoke sweater. I spun 200 yds of 2 ply cobweb lace weight 100% angora yarn as well as plied up some silk and wool in reds.

On the music front I went to Magna tunes and bought 4 instrumental CD's 2 on guitar and 2 on piano.

I also bought a Kirby vacuum. I planted another rose, mulched 2 new gardens with the cocoa hull mulch and scraped my front windows of old paint so I could paint...new paint. We are also having a driveway put in the back yard as we speak/type. This caused me to have to dig up the new garden I just made this year. se la vie (or however you spell that)

Thank you for all your birthday wishes! I gorged myself with Olive garden at J's expense and spent the rest of the day hanging out together.

Well gotta go now that my camera is working, there should be more photo's.

Toodles!

Happy birthday to you!

2007-09-02T14:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to ME! I'm.....not telling how old I am.
Have a good weekend!

I'm still standin'

2007-08-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah yeah yeah!
I heard that song on the radio the other day and that can so be my theme song at times. The kids are all back and back in school. Roller skating has become a weekly outing and J took a ride up to north central Iowa for the weekend to visit his folks. Progress on the green cashmere job has started again, though progress on the green sweater for me is at a standstill. The yarn shedding thing is really putting me off. The EZ pi shawl is now up to 3 balls of yarn and 786 stitches round. (sportweight alpaca and 10.5 needles. Who knew?) It will be going to my mom this weekend if I could just settle down on a border. I bought enough superwash merino wool in 8 different colors to make the Dream in color cardigan for my self but not till mid winter. The girls selected their yarns for their sweaters which will be started about late Sept.

Spinning I mixed some Romney with some strawberry colored silk and you would never know how rough the original wool was. Only maybe 25% silk too. Wow! Thanks Tara! I bought5 skeins of blank trekking sock yarn from PTB. I dyed some white handspun like raspberry lemonade. Beautiful.

I've been listening to my podcasts and may be dropping IAPM. I can only take so much rambling. I've been surfing some other podcasts and video casts as well as checking out You Tube. (love that U tube.)
Gotta go find me some Elton John..Oh have you seen Hairspray yet? If not go check it out!
Toodles!

Cute title? Nah!

2007-08-15T18:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a while cause I've been on vacation with the girls. It's been great. We went to the mall, the bookstore the pet store the shoe store, roller skating and eating out. We also have been cleaning and playing around the house, sleeping in staying up late, learning to cook, watching Weird Al videos and listening to music, (We got another I pod so the whole family is equipped) and anything else we want. Today we went to the outdoor mall in Papillion. Yesterday was downtown getting class stuff for the 15 y/o. Tomorrow we will be in Council bluffs for Haircuts and coffee. We won't be doing that till late though, the girls are showing signs of wear. LOL

Knitting: the blue Job tank will be done tonight or tomorrow. The green cashmere sweater is next to be finished, and then the same customer has a t shirt to be finished. I've got enough work.
On my own front, I have finished the neck of the seamless raglan and used a knit on Garter stitch border. On the sleeves, I have knit down another two inches and need to see how that fits before I sew them up and add the Garter stitch back to the cuffs.
I have started the EZ pi shawl plain version. I'm up to the increases for 288 stitches. It's made with Indecita alpaca sport weight in fawn. I'm using number 10.5 needles. It seems to be going well...
Gotta go the hands are hurting.
Toodles!

I just want your ....Photograph!

2007-08-04T06:11:00.000-07:00

The first blocking to make sure it would be the right size.
The second blocking out to the right size.
The camera is working, for now. I threatened to replace it and it decided to behave. This is the last knitting Job I finished, the Not Knit Round shawl.

My knitting has had to stop for a while since it's Close at work and I've been working and coming home and going to sleep. The kids come back tonight and hopefully I will adjust to their presence well. The summer is over and the fall is just around the corner.
I have the second part of a knitting Job come back to me and an old knitting Job from April come back as well.
I will have to wait to finish my sweater, which is progressing so well! I also need some new baby booties patterns cause the Saartje pattern came out fine but I'm not one to knit the same style more than once if I can help it. (no photo)

Sticks and String my favorite podcast should be out this weekend. I will be at wild oats this afternoon, I think.
I spent 2 hours catching up on my blogs, podcasts and knitting shows so now I''m off to wake up the kiddo and get ready to go to Borders.
Toodles!

These boots were made for walking

2007-07-30T05:14:00.000-07:00

I’m making the Booties from Brooklyn Tweeds post..Saartje;s booties. So far I have gotten to row 19 of 30. Past the half way mark. This bootie will be experimental as I have never made booties like this before. I already know it will be too big but re sizing the pattern is not a problem. I just figured out what all the increases were for in the middle. They round out the toe! You can see a little pouch forming for the toes. I’m knitting it up in some purple and blue ribbon yarn I bought at SOP out of their sale bin. Once I’m done knitting the whole thing I will rip it out and re make it for real. Lucky they are such small things.

The JOB is done. I took a picture of it with that who shall not be named (the camera that isn’t working!) So the photo may never show up, but then again it might work.

I have also finished the Harry Potter Book. I shall not write about it, except that to say it was good.

Did I mention I have a plethora of expecting mothers in my office? Yeah, I will be knitting for a while. Thankfully baby things are pretty small. I have excuses to make the February sweater, the Debbie Bliss baby cardigan and the Baby Surplice Jacket, along with 2 pairs of these booties and maybe a blanket or two. Did I say Plethora?! I need to get it done between now and September. October starts the making of the kids sweaters.

My own sweater is working well. I managed to make 1 inch worth of waist decreases I think I will spread another inch out among the trunk before beginning the increases for the bust. (stop that laughing! I do too have a bust!) Ahem.

The children will be back starting next month, Quisha on the first, Heather on the 5th and Christine on the 12th. At least I get to get used to them gradually not thrown on me all at once. I can tell that my empty nest syndrome will only last 3 months, then I will be used to them being gone.

Back to spinning and knitting(cause I have no life) I Navajo plied some alpaca wool singles I had spun up but they were still too skinny to be called a worsted. Back tot the drawing board. I spun some silk to go with some red wool I spun up. Not quite sure how much I’ll need but I’m thinking ¼ to ½ the weight of the wool.( so about .5-1 oz)
Any way, this post is a few days old(July 24th) so I’ll update you kiddies in another few days
Toodles!

Need I Say Anything?

2007-07-29T06:50:00.001-07:00

Post post

2007-07-15T14:30:00.000-07:00

Ok so now it’s been a month in my new job and it’s still cool. Lot to learn lots of frustration but still very cool.
I’m gonna have to blog about what really separates the happy from the eternally miserable.
On to the fiber stuff. I have to get the photos up, I have them in the camera and need to upload them to the blog. One is a photo of the Job being blocked to check finished measurements verses knitted measurements. I don’t have any photo’s on the sweater but it is coming along nicely. I started a sleeve, and decided it will be a EZ Raglan. I may need to rip back since I haven’t looked at the instructions yet.

I’ve been blending my alpaca and the wool I bought last year, and spinning it. I’m supposed to be spinning yarn for my mom but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

On the fiber festival front, I need to get moving. I need to send letters to prospective sponsors and start advertising for vendors.

On the stash front, I am changing the nature of my stash. I no longer want two balls of this yarn or that, Now I want enough to make a project! I bought several balls of yarn (acrylic) from Michael's for 1.99 each to make the girls their sweaters this year. Blue cream and tan. The tan one will be supplemented with what ever is leftover from the first two. I have to remember to make them bigger this year. The yarn came in 167 yd lots and in a chuncky size 10 -13 needle weight. I found some cones of ?? in the basement that I had forgotten about. Good yardage for large lace projects. I also have several balls of left overs I will be looking at making something with.( I say that every year) As for spun yarn… It’s on a touch and go basis.

On the gardening from I transplanted at least 20 iris this week and finally got to use that coco hull mulch. YUM! It smells even better when it’s wet!

Continued 2 days later...

Ok so this weekend we went to My inlaws to visit the kids. I got to ride bikes with Heather, and go roller skating with both the kids. That was fun! I hadn't done that in Years and I only fell once. We're going to look into Skateland to see if we can keep doing it. We also took the Scooter this time and he seemed to travel quite well. The kids will be home mid August and I can't wait!
I also got so much knitting done, that I ran out of yarn on the sweater project while having finished the sleeve and started the next, and started into my 3rd ball of yarn and the second set of lace patterns on the JOB. I am over the 1/2 way point but still under the 3/4 mark.

I had photo's but my camera is acting stupid again!
Well I have to go...

Book Book

2007-07-02T04:45:00.000-07:00

All right, I have had enough of the book drivel! No I’m not talking about the issue going on with the bloggers who are becoming authors. I’m talking about the authors who write knitting side focus books. You know the ones like The Shop on Blossom Street, and my latest disappointment, The Killer Stitch. This one was a mystery with a strong knitting side bar.

I’ve never been one for mysteries in the first place. They all strike me as way to close to the romance novels but are off by a step. Yes there was knitting in there but they made it sound so hokey, and the way the characters were sucking down coffee and sweets, they must be more the size of cows. Lastly everyone was an alpaca rancher. There was one or two mention of cows and sheep, but that was all.(mind you this was Colorado.) Now this writer has written several books in the same vein and I won’t read any of them. I paid over 20.00 for the book in hardback and when I got though with it, I gave it away to anyone who wanted it. The mystery was not the subtle “lead you along dropping a few clues” kind. This was a” lead you in the wrong direction and then drop a character in out of nowhere and blame it on her” kind.
The next book I want to try is called 3 Bags Full. It is also a mystery, but it’s done from the point of view of the sheep.

One last book that I read that wasn’t worth it was Empress Orchid. It’s a large soft back and I was hoping it would be as interesting as Memoirs of a Geisha but I was sadly disappointed. Westerners Idea of what an Empress is, is different from an Easterners.
I was hoping for a Mulan but no such luck.

Now that I have a Nano at my disposal, I may sign up with Audible.com and branch out.
We’ll see. There’s always Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, the Harry Potter books, the Dune books, the Eragon series….

Fly me to the moon

2007-06-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

J is learning to play the piano/keyboard and he played me this song. Since I have never heard it before, it was the sweetest song I have ever heard from him, an I hope o never hear the original so it will remain that way.
The knitting Job goes well, finaly. You know how it is with a new yarn and a new pattern,. It takes a bit for you all to get to know one another. The yarn is stiff and the rayon thread frequently doesn’t catch with the rest of the yarn. It also tends to become unruly if not held tight. I first found myself gripping everything so tightly, and making so many mistakes at one point I was ready to rip the whole thing back out and start again. But I took breaks and got the pattern memorized and now I can finish a row of 194 stitches in 4 mins. I already completed at least 2 inches in 4 hours.(yeah, nothing to brag about. The needles are size 7 and the yarn is a serious black. I can’t work it in the dark or even in bad light.)
On the spinning front, I have once again taken to spinning the last of the apology roving. I think that is really odd considering the size of the argument I had with the in-laws this weekend. God! Anyway. The pup is doing ok, his potty training is weird. Just when you think he’s got it, he winds up making on the floor. He also still whines in his kennel in the morning but I caught our older dog doing it too. I went out and bought a bag of lime this weekend to kill the smell in out back yard and boy does that work wonders! I put it over all the piles I could find and in an hour… no smell! Course J is very scared ‘cause I’ve been talking about killing him for years, and now I bought lime…..
I got a call from my daughter Quisha and she had some news for me I’m really proud of. I got to talk to Heather and Christine, it’s amazing how much I miss them all until they are here. This weekend besides the knitting and spinning I did some weeding in my front and side beds. The mound I got was HUGE! I so need to weed more often. I’ve started a compost bin oput of 2 35 gallon trash cans. This weekend I just about filled the one. I put some lime in there to go with the (coconut) Plant matter and dirt. Now I have to buy worms and dump the rabbit waste in there. We’ll see if it works out. The one part that gets me is that I have to water the contraption. I give it about 12 cups once or twice a week but…. I also need to turn it over some. Maybe tonight after the Harley dealership visit, and before the obligatory hour of knitting on the Job.
The Yarn issue with the classic elite montadale that shed itself all over me? The LYS wouldn’t take the yarn back. It’s up for sale 50.00 for the bag and 2 skeins. No tax.
Lets see anything else? Garden, kids, dogs, knitting, spinning…Nope that’s it! Oh, J got a new I pod Nano from Ameritrade for being there thru some monster event. So now I have a Nano and one lucky child will be getting a shuffle.

One is the lonelyest number

2007-06-21T17:26:00.000-07:00

Singles are the pits, whether you are without a mate, without a group or without ply.
I bought that alpaca wool singles yarn for J's sweater and it shed all over me tonight. I tried really hard to work it but it wasn't happening. It will be going back to the yarn store tomorrow for swapping.
Work is good but lonely. The girls are quiet and work is slow.
My Thursday night knitting group was no were to be found so I went to SOP. I will continue to do so.

I knit a hat in 4 days. I 'm so proud of me! Course I am stuck in my house because of the CWS so I had nothing but time.
This weekend is the Arts festival and the Nebraska Sheep and Goat annual meeting. As well as the last games of the CWS.
I planted more roses last weekend, fixed the retaining wall, and decided the house would have to wait till fall to be painted.

I start my next knitting Job this weekend on the trip to Grand Island.

Ok I'm still pissed. I'm gonna go toss my stash till I feel better.

This is your life ..

2007-06-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

Are you who you want to be?

Wow I have been working on that question for a while now. I narrowed down my options to processor, sheep farmer business owner- yarn fiber equipment, business owner- custom work.
Now I've done almost everything except sheep farmer and None of it completely satisfies. The animal produce more fiber than I can sell, the fiber equipment and yarn selling is as variable as a menopausal women's moods, and the custom work is petty and not very rewarding.

So what's a girl to do? Doing it all to cover the gaps is just so much work it leaves me with little time to do anything else, and honestly it doesn't bring in as much as a "normal " job.

So I am getting rid of the bunnies and alpaca and the new puppy. I am still trying to figure out whether to get out of the custom business. I've been thinking of it for a while now.

Everything I do outside of work is an excuse to avoid something. That's why I only like to craft when I have something else I'm supposed to be doing. I'm tired of avoiding whatever it is. So for a while I will have to strip away all the distractions until I figure out what I'm avoiding.

When I did my paperwork for the guard, they looked at my entrance scores and remarked that I could do anything I wanted to do. I remembered that was the feeling I got when I finished the fiber festival. I can't seem to find that feeling now but I know it's still there. The question now is..
What do I want to do?

It's so hard to say goodbye

2007-06-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

This week I have had to say good bye to quite a few things in my life. My kids went away the weekend of may 25th but my bunnies went away weekend before last and now I have to say good bye to my job and all the people whom I've come to know. This weekend I dropped the guard out of my life as well. That's a lot of good byes. I will be saying adios to the base and all military connections...again. But there are several upsides, I get to work in my garden and paint my house, my new job pays more money and is a positive environment, there will be no break in the paychecks and I will be able to take the house payment and pay the taxes. Now anyone who knows me or has been reading the blog for a while know that every year I wind up getting a new dog And then getting rid of it. TC was too loud, and too young, Prince was a pissing machine but I persist. This year we bought a 6 month old male Yorkie. Small quiet, already 1/2 way potty trained. Silky hair and content to be in his kennel or be in my lap or on the floor next to me. We named him Tucker. Now if Mommy would just get a clue, her training would go a lot smoother.

Knitting: I'm working a finish Job for one of my most faithful customers. The spring fling was finished last week, and a black shawl will be started the end of this month. I've had to alter my quotes. I had a nasty surprise on the spring fling piece. So now my base for a knitted garment will be 100.00.
Spinning: I lent out my drop spindles to a wood working friend so they can make some and now I have a class to teach next Tuesday at Jo-Ann's in Bellevue. I'm still working on the green merino from my father- in-law, only 1 oz left. My drop spindle has been eating up the grey wool/pink blue mohair /Angelina blend I bought from Iowa sheep and wool last year. I'd go this year but I'm broke. I still have some bunny and bunny- wool blend to spin/blend/spin. I can also send my fleeces off to the mills now for the great mill search project. 3 mills, 2 fleeces each.Their mission? Process the wool, process the alpaca, blend said alpaca with a fine short wool, merino, Rambouillet, Corridale ect.

2008 Fiber show: Hooking up with the Nebraska sheep and goat as well as the Nebraska extension office.

Well that's all for now, I still have photo's to take so I can publish a previously written post.
Don't forget to listen to your podcasts and support your local artists.
Toodles!

Lean on me..

2007-05-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Please go to Annie Modisitt's blog and read today's post. If you ever thought your life was messed up, remember there is always worse or at least someone else in the same boat.
God bless their family.

The Show Me post

2007-05-21T03:59:00.001-07:00

The digital photo's of the show. The rest need to be developed.

The baby jacket The Spring Fling Job

The new additions to my garden this weekend. The lawn was just mowed last night.

I'll get a closer photo of the back bed later.

Knitting things I have done

2007-05-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you seen this... Here's mine

Bold for stuff you’ve done, italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan

I-cord

Garter stitch

Knitting with metal wire

Shawl

Stockinette stitch

Socks: top-down

Socks: toe-up

Knitting with camel yarn

Mittens: Cuff-upMittens: Tip-down

Hat

Knitting with silk

Moebius band knitting

Participating in a KAL

Sweater

Drop stitch patterns

Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn

Slip stitch patterns

Knitting with bananafiber yarn

Domino knitting (=modular knitting)

Twisted stitch patterns

Knitting with bamboo yarn

Two end knitting

Charity knitting

Knitting with soy yarn

CardiganToy/doll clothing

Knitting with circular needles

Baby items

Knitting with your own handspun yarn

Slippers

Graffitti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)

Continental knitting

Designing knitted garments

Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)

Lace patterns

Publishing a knitting book

Scarf

Teaching a child to knit

American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)

Knitting to make money

Button holes

Knitting with alpaca

Fair Isle knitting

Norwegian knitting

Dying with plant colours

Knitting items for a wedding

Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cosies…)

Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars

Olympic knitting

Knitting with someone elses handspun yarn

Knitting with dpns

Holiday related knitting

Teaching a male how to knit

Bobbles

Knitting for a living

Knitting with cotton

Knitting smocking

Dying yarn

Steeks

Knitting art (Isn’t it all art? :))

Knitting two socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars simultaneously

Fulling/felting

Knitting with wool

Textured knitting

Kitchener BO

Purses/bags

Knitting with beads

Swatching

Long Tail CO

Entrelac

Knitting and purling backwards

Machine knitting

Knitting with selfpatterning/selfstriping/variegating yarn

Stuffed toys

Knitting with cashmere

Darning

Jewelry

Knitting with synthetic yarn

Writing a pattern

Gloves

Intarsia

Knitting with linen

Knitting for preemies

Tubular CO

Freeform knitting

Short rows

Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers

Pillows

Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine

Rug

Knitting on a loom

Thrummed knitting

Knitting a gift

Knitting for pets

Shrug/bolero/poncho

Knitting with dog/cat hair

Hair accessories

Knitting in public

I hope this list gets longer, or I'm gonna have to give up knitting for something more challenging!
Just kidding!

Plant one on me

2007-05-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend started off with a sad but inevitable note. I sent Scotch to the Humane society this morning. I cannot afford to keep an animal that does nothing for me. The cages were then re distributed, and the whole basement cleaned. Next I took the girls to the Omaha Botanical Garden plant show and sale. We bought a membership and 3 plants I can't remember the name of, for the side garden. From there we came home and checked the flyer on the Military Appreciation Day at the Q-West Center. It started at 12 so we went through the old market farmers market before moseying down to the Q-West.
The kids saw a live bald eagle and got to go on a couple of those inflatable rides but when it came to the rock wall, there were too many complications and we just left. Un-discouraged, we went to Planet X on 84th and Center. We had a marvelous cheese pizza(A large and there were4 of us and we devoured it!) got to climb the rock wall as well as played a bunch of other games and earned some candy!

By then I was worn out and we came home. At 4, I took a trip to Springfield to look at the Sarpy County Fairgrounds for next years show. I'm sold. The buildings are heated and AC'ed, have bathrooms in them, one even has a kitchen, and there are barns for the animals. The price is higher than the VFW hall but not much so and we're getting a lot for it. I need to make a few contacts to get help paying for this but it should be do-able!

When I got back, I picked out spots for my new plants and planted them. I also did some weeding an noticed that the yellow rose I planted might not be dead after all. I fertilized it so we will see. On the plants for the front of the yard I may have to do something different. The shrubs I bought at Lowe's did not do so well in the downpour we had a couple of weeks ago. I thought if I gave them a chance to dry out they would survive, but no. I looked at a couple more rhoddies and many other plants today but to no avail. Does anyone know how to propagate rhoddies?

Anyway I need a shower and some dinner, so
Tune in next time when we have 3 new podcasts from our favorite people, more knitting spinning and planting to report, and a full belly!
Toodles!

A Beautiful Day

2007-05-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

Mary J Blige wrote:

- I woke up this morning opened up my eyes and prayed,
lord cuz it's a beautiful day, no matter what nobody say
even though it's cloudy I can see the sun rays oh,
cuz it's a beautiful day no matter what nobody say
cuz it's a beautiful day, a beautiful day

That song got me through a few tough times, as well as happy ones. I had my second interview today.
Another one called
Testimony was useful around 415 when I got a call saying I hadn't been selected. I also got the official letter of RIF from work today.

That and I am just so worn out. My daughters Museum night was tonight. The little stinker had her pieces in the showcase and in the art auction. Another teacher had her scheduled for a violin piece during the showcase. I had to kabosh that, I'm way too tired. But I'm really proud of her and took her out to dinner at Village Inn for a treat.

The trip to the funeral and back saw the front left of the shrug done. I'm almost done with the right front but have had to rip it back several times for various mistakes. So I need a rest for real. I'll start working on it again Saturday. Also Saturday evening I will be looking at the Springfield fairgrounds. This place will be more expensive but it's more space. We are also going to make the classes pre register. I will probably have to join several new clubs to pull in some resources. But first things first.

Right?

Enough with the show already!

2007-05-14T16:00:00.000-07:00

No not really, it was a blast though. Thank you everyone who came!
5 out of 7 vendors showed up and 3 out of 5 at least broke even. One of the ones that did came from south west MO and one of the ones that didn't was me. We had over 50 people show up. Some from Lincoln some from other states, like Iowa. People saw the signs or the magazine ad, or were told by friends(Ahem!) to come by.

Yes we are doing it again next year but on the third weekend of May and somewhere else. There will be a website, and later there will be photos.

Of course I bought stuff from everyone. I had my girls take classes, and we all had a great time.

Unfortunately we had a distant family member die on Mothers day. We will be going to her memorial Wed.

Work was almost non existent today, every event is another nail in the coffin. This week HR is in, telling us what options we have for the Great Closing. Tomorrow they will talk to us second class employees for an hour. The rest of the time is spent covering the . Permanent employees.
Moving On!

There has been much progress on the spring green shrug. I'm up to 9 inches and divide for the armholes section. The green Cashmere sweater is on hold till I come back from guard in June.

That's about all for now. I will show you what I bought and some pictures I took and what I sold and something I learned about selling yarn.
Listen to your podcasts folks and knit the night away.
Tooddles!

Bellevue Fiber Festival

2007-05-03T04:21:00.000-07:00

1st Annual Bellevue Fiber Festival,
Bellevue Nebraska
May 11-13 2007
VFW Hall 2108 Franklin Street, Bellevue

Join us as Nebraska celebrates the Joys of Fiber. We will be featuring wool, llama, alpaca, silk, and angora. There will be classes on knitting spinning crocheting and felting, picking a fleece. Whether you are just getting started or have been doing it for years, come celebrate with us!

Schedule of events

Friday May 11th 3pm

Welcome
Class registration
Fiber In- spinning knitting crocheting what ever you do. Come spend some time getting to know each other and practice what you love.

Friday 3pm-6pm
Vendor set up
Market open
Class registration

Sat 900 am show opens

930am-12pm
Beginning crochet 20.00
Advance spinning 50.00
Picking a fleece for spinning 20.00

100pm-300pm
Beginning spinning 35.00
Beginning knitting 20.00
Lace knitting 50.00
Soy silk felting
Triangle Weaving

3pm-6 pm
Fiber in

Sunday 900am open

930 -1200
Beginning spinning 35.00
Beaded crochet bracelet 20.00
Advanced spinning 50.00
Picking a fleece for spinning 20.00

100pm to 300pm
Knit ruffled Jabot 20.00
Lace knitting 50.00
Kids classes 5.00
Triangle weaving

300pm-600pm
Fiber in-knit spin crochet

Classes

Beginning Wheel Spinning 35.00
A class for those who don’t know how, but want to learn how to spin their own yarns on a wheel or drop spindle. Students can bring their own wheel/drop spindle, or purchase one at the fair to learn on. Also a great refresher class. Class is 2 hours long.

Beginning Knitting 20.00
A great class to get started knitting. A fabulous use for the yarns you spin, or a way to express your love of fiber. Class is 2 hours long. Materials can be brought to the class or purchased at the fair. You will need size 13 needles and 1 skein of worsted yarn.

Beginning Crochet 20.00
Learn to crochet, as an aid to your knitting skills, a way to use your handspun or Just a handy skill all by itself. Class is 2 hours long, and materials can either be brought to class or purchased at the fair. Participants will need a size N crochet hook and a skein of heavy worsted weight yarn.

Felted Soy silk 15.00
A two hour class on felting soy silk, this method is also called silk fusion,
Materials are provided.

Beaded Crochet 20.00
Crochet a bracelet with wire, yarn, and beads, with a magnetic clasp to close. Students will need 20 or 30 gauge wire, fancy yarn of your choice, Magnetic clasps, size 4 and H crochet hooks and E sized Beads! Materials need to be brought. Class is 2 hours.

Triangle Weaving 50.00
We will be making a triangle scarf on a small loom. All materials will be provided along with written instructions. The instructions are the same for either a small loom or a seven foot one. Each class participant will receive a wooden loom and yarn to complete the project as part of the class fee.
Class is 4 hours.

Picking a fleece for spinning 20.00
Learn how to pick a fleece for hand spinning, matching the fleece to the project that you want to do, or just knowing what to look for in choosing a great fleece.
We will talk about the breeds of sheep, which wool is best suited for a project, and what to look for in picking a hand spinning fleece. Washing a fleece, and preparing it for spinning will also be covered. Fleece will be available and samples will be provided for each student to take home and spin. Class is 2 hours.

Knitting with Fabric 20.00
Knit a high style dressy Jabot combining Yarn and lightweight fabric
Materials: Size 8 double pointed needles, 18, 2.5X10 inch strips of fabric, and a sport weight yarn of your choice. Materials will need to be brought to class.

Spinning Beyond Wool 20.00
Wheel or drop spindle class on spinning cotton and silk.
Class is 2 hours long and materials are provided.
Student can bring their drop spindles or wheel, or purchase one at the fair.

LaceKnitting-50.00
Reading, writing and knitting lace patterns.
All materials provided, class is 2 hours long.

Kids classes 5.00
Bracelets, felt wool bags and wool angels
Classes are ½ our each

Vendors and what they sell

Country Dream Acres
www.countrydreamacres.com
Fleece
Roving
Rabbits
Yarn
Finished goods
Equipment

A Twist in Time
www.atwistintime.com
Roving
Fleece
Yarn
Equipment
Supplies

Some Bunny’s Wool
http://somebunnyswool.com
Rabbits
Fiber
Yarn

Strings
http://stringsfiber.blogspot.com
Fleece
Roving
Yarns
Fished goods
Equipment
Processing services

Desoto Bend Alpacas
www.desotobendalpacas.com
Yarn
Roving
Fleece
Finished goods

Arington Jacob Sheep and Alpaca Wool
(402)289-4994
darington@msn.com
Fleece
Roving
Yarn

Hotels

Days Inn
1181 hillcrest rd
Bellevue Ne
402 292 3800

Best Western White House
305 ft crook rd
Bellevue NE
402 293 1600

Super 8
303 ft Crook rd
Bellevue NE
402 291 1518

American Family Inn
110 fort crook rd
Bellevue NE
402 291 0804

Photo Shoot!

2007-05-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

Job for June Poncho in Cotton Twist black from Sally Melville Purl. Pattern: Not Knit Round Scarf. Size 8 needle.
Job for May(but not in this yarn. That's Rowan Kid silk Haze and You can't pay me enough to work with this!) I ordered some Brown sheep cotton fleece same color, needle size 6.

Baby Jacket out of my head Cottentot yarn double thick and on size 10's. There will be closures and the baby's initials on the back.
Green Noro cashmere seamless yoke sweater. On size 5-7

I finally figured out the deal with the camera. It had a memory card the computer was jealous of. So I took it away and they play nice now.

FIBER SHOW MAY 11-13Th, VFW hall, Franklin st, Old Towne Bellevue

Leave a comment if you would like a pamphlet.

Toodles!

How many stitches is that?

2007-04-26T03:53:00.000-07:00

If I ever become a pattern designer my company will be called Lazy Gauge Patterns.
I hate gauge. I have been working on the Baby surplice jacket and have just found after 7 inches of garter stitch that my gauge is way off! 4 st/ridges per inch instead of 5.5
Now I sat back and did some math: directions -cast on 140 stitches (25 inches), knit 2 rows, yarn over design for buttons, knit 4 ridges, next row begin shaping decreasing 2 per row every other row Down To 100 Stitches.
In my language it should say cast on 25 inches in your gauge (109 stitches) blah blah blah
Decrease 32 stitches (2 every other row. This takes 16 rows). your piece should measure roughly 5 inches. ( 6 if you include the increases for back shaping and then decrease them out as well.)
You now have 3-4 inches left to do arms. See was that so hard? Tell me how big the piece is at the different stages. I'll worry about My gauge you worry about yours.
OIY!
So now I can rip or continue knitting and wash it for shrinkage. It is unmercerised cotton.

This Saturday I am looking at picking up another knitting Job. This one is a rush to be done before June 1. The Yarn came in for my other job and a friend at my Tuesday night knit club at Mangelsons has the Purl book I need and will let me borrow it.

Lastly the job thing- I went on the interview yesterday, it went fine. I have one Friday with another company where I'm interviewing for 2 positions.
Gotta go...

Large and in charge..of Chaos

2007-04-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Well as usual here we are, it's raining and I haven't posted for a bit so lets get the usual update out of the way.
Green cashmere sweater-need to call customer up and get a fit done.

Baby surplice Jacket-gauge is 5 stitches /4 ridges in garter stitch so I think this is gonna be bigger than I planned. Still not up to the sleeves yet but happily knitting away.

Baby jacket out of my head- needs 3 more inches of fabric across the chest. Will have to pick up the edges and knit out some more.

Spinning- yeah, haven't been on that yet.

Fiber show-driving me up a wall. I wonder if people realize I have spent 800.00 of my own money on this and will be spending another 300.00 when they want to do things like cancel on me and can't understand why I'm a little upset!

Job search- for that one who wants to know, Interview tomorrow at 4, headhunter agency has referred my resume to 5 different firms with 1 response. No call from Mutual but my inside friend told me not to worry, the government doesn't have the patent on SLOW! Applied for 2 Gov't Auditing positions this week.

All right now I had pictures but the camera and the computer are having a fight..Stop that! Put that USB cord down Right NOW! Sorry where was I? Oh yeah,
So today I am home taking care of some loose ends, bunnies, cleaning, guard stuff (did I tell you they put me in charge? What were they thinking?).

My 14 year old turned 15 this Friday, the whole family came over to celebrate..That girl earned the same in one day, that I do working. Yes that's a lot. Then she spent the next day with her mom and blew 1/2 of it clothes shopping at the mall. Go figure. Happy birthday kiddo! I got her flowers.

Quisha had her eye exam, looks like she will take after her father. She doesn't need glasses and probably won't. (One of the good things about that pairing)

The Munchkin is in and out of trouble at school. Typical end of the year stuff. Can't really blame her. Her birthday will be just after I come back from KS. I will get her something...

Oh I have another Knit Job. This one is out of Sally Melville's The Knitting Experience 2: Purl
Its called the Not Knit Round Scarf. If anyone has this book could I borrow it?
The yarn is cotton twist ordered from the Yarn Market. Looks like a simple job.

Well That's all. I gotta go finish the rest of those loose ends and lunch too.
Hey have you ever vacuumed UNDER your couch? Whoa!

Toodles!

Been a long time

2007-04-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

Been a long time been a long time been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely lonely time.
Been a long time since I rock and rolled! Thank you Zeppelin...
Well here's where we are..(I swear I do there so I know where I am more than anything else.)

The cashmere seamless sweater has both sleeves done and joined to the body with 4 rounds done. Two more rounds and I can start the twists.

The out of my head baby sweater is all done except for buttons and weaving in one end, stitching the initials into the back, as well as possibly blocking. I was gonna put ribbon through the eyelets but decided not to.

I've cast on and knit some on the Baby Surplice Jacket. Otherwise a baby surprise kimono. 150 stitches.I'm using the growing option and am almost done with that row of yo's and decreases.

I have yet to call my other client to have her pick up her sweater. Next week after drill.

Drill this week, wish me luck. Pray for bad weather.

Easter was cool, no fights and we went out to eat.

Searching harder for a job, trying to figure out what I want on the Festival advertisements.
I have to remember to e mail podcasters. One has gone on break already. One is on again off again.
I've updated my google alerts to handspinning and got nothing for a few days so I added the word spindle and drop spindle so we'll see what we get.
One topic of interest would be the Friday Night Knitting club movie/book. Julia Roberts is the motivation machine behind the movie. I find it interesting...Steel Magnolias or Fried Green Tomatoes with knitting. Now I haven't actually read the book. I was jaded early by reading the Shop on Blossom Street books. I got them on I tunes and wasn't that impressed with the storyline. The knitting was cute but it was just a romance novel. Shout out in the comments if you have read the book.
I've cancelled my Amazon order, and decided when I get the money I will order them from school house press. it's faster even though it's more expensive because of shipping, other wise the costs of the books are the same. Maybe some wool too. Yeah, can we say Hole in the head?
Gotta run,
Toodles!

Google alerts

2007-04-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

Have you tried this thing? it's pretty cool. I heard about it on Sticks and String Sunday. (Hi David!) Go to Google dot com and into the same place you found blogger. Alerts is there too. Just type in what you want it to look for and then where you want them to send it and Voila! So I set up two; one on knitting and one on spinning. The spinning one was a bust so I've had to change it to Handspinning. The knit one was cool. Articles about knitting for AIDS babies in Africa. (I just don't get the idea of sweaters for babies in Africa. I know it gets cold there and babies are so temp sensitive but it's just the initial impression.)
One article on men getting into knitting. Lots of other stuff. Give it a shot.

Another thing is I've joined Zimmermania, and ordered two EZ books from Amazon. This I will never do again. If you tell me you have the books in late March and then tell me you won't ship till mid April and I might get them in mid May, I'm not gonna be real pleased with that. So to make my wait a little shorter I picked up the spring issue of Vogue Knitting. There is an alterknit version of the BSJ in there from Meg. It makes a kimono instead of a jacket. I think that's way cool.

On the kid front spring break has begun. My little hellions are up with the grandparents. My house is quiet and I'm getting lots done. Laundry, dishes, general cleaning, spinning, knitting, the works.

I'm gonna be a little somber here but only for a short line. I'll explore the idea more later. How many of us are running a current relationship like a previous one ran us? You know, like treating your loved one like someone treated you in the past. You wonder why you do, and how to stop doing it? Me too. Nuf said.

I went out and picked some flowers for the raised bed in the back. Hostas, some red and white Astilbe . Now I need a crowning glory like tulips iris and daffodils for the center. See the reason I did all this was so I could have more than one tulip and daffodill in my yard with out having to fight the rabbits for them. So I figure if I surround them with other plants, they will have a chance to grow.
I'm still thinking heathers for the top row of my front tier, I can't find any full sun fast growing rhoddis (I may have to wait till Wal-mart brings them back) to replace the dead ones on the bottom tier. I lost my yellow rose from last year but will replace it with the red one I saved from drowning in lilly's

It's a mad mad mad mad...

2007-03-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well you get the picture.

First off lets just say that I got dissed by my friends today. Went to wild oats and no one was there. That's ok though 'cause I went to Famous Dave's and had some lunch.

Now I had the pleasure to put my hands on a great fleece from Dianne, at Country dream acres. She has a Corridale/Columbia cross that was to die for! Long staple length fine crimp and clean! She coats her sheep as she is a hand spinner as well. I've been running my hands through it just for the Joy. There were 2 other fleeces left, I think they were pure Corridales.(all White) and they run at 5.00 per lb.

On the EZ front, I was looking to buy the knitters almanac or the workshop book but have decided against it. I knit a baby sweater for a coworker using a simple lace pattern of

k1, yo k1, sl k2tog psso, yo k1, across the row, purl back across.

next 4 rows knit in stockinette stitch(I did 8)

repeat row 1.

When you're done it kind of gives you the impression of cables. (it's the decrease) Looks kinda cool.

I used Bernats Cottentot doubled on size 10 needles. I cast on only 16 inches worth of stitches and knit it to 12 inches for a collar. I used the EZ modular pattern for the tomtem jacket.

I have photos....

The Gift yarn in colors The sweater..after.

This past Friday I watched 'Quisha kick her way to a High Green Belt! Way to go kiddo!
Heather is the teachers assistant in violin and finally got her act together in regular class. PTC is Thursday.

I have torn up both the raised beds around tree one and what used to be tree two. The wet weather has helped enormously. I pulled many weed roots, saved an Iris that looks to be doing well, and tomorrow I will buying the logs from Home Depot (on sale 1.99 per) and making new square raised beds. The rose I saved last year seems to have given up the ghost and the yellow one I planted last year doesn't look like it will be putting in an appearance either. The other two however are doing fine showing signs of life as are all my lillies, Iris, and Tulips. The one rhododendron I bought on a whim(fast growing full sunlight) is still here and still green. So I only have to replace 5 of them and buy 6 more for the top row. That and painting the house and we will be good to go this year. Well my new blisters are calling. Gotta go.
Toodles!

Golden afternoon

2007-03-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I blogged and there is lots to tell.
The baby bunnies are getting bigger, I think I have one girl (thing one) and one boy( thing two). The adults are in molt so I'm in fiber heaven and they're in he**.
The spinning is going nicely I have all of the color pieces spun up from my gift wool. All that's left is the greens.

I got over the shrinking of the sweater and went ahead and pitched it. There will be others.

I have been perusing many other blogs and noticed the cross over funk seems to be giving way. (The cross over funk is when you want to do spring stuff but it's just not spring enough yet.)

Guard was fun in retrospect, I am in Officer school now and it's tougher than I thought. We lost one person the first weekend. I also have 2 papers due and a ton of other misc. homework.

The Bellevue Fiber Festival was advertised in Spin Off magazine, so was spinning for pay and the sale of a Patrick Green carder and picker for 25,000.00 There is also a home based wheel manufacturing business for sale...hmmm.

I have been reviewing my options and trying to figure out exactly what I want farm,Processing business, retail store. I decided I want it all! Any one want to go into business with me?

My daughter Heather got into some major trouble at school last week: stealing, lying, and general disruptiveness. We had to tan the butt, remove the sweets and the game system. She calmed down by Friday.

A friend of mine told me my picture is in the OPS newsletter. WOW! Any one who's got a copy...
I'm thinking of having a fiber meeting Saturday afternoon at Wild Oats.(or is it Whole Foods now?)
The cashmere sweater Job is still on the sleeve. The cotton gansey Job is down to the side seams.
Blue denim sweater designed with garter and stockinette columns with diamonds in seed stitch. Pretty neat except for the dye lot problems the lady had.

I cleaned up 2 of my gardens and around my tree in the back yard. I have decided that I need to make a raised bed around the tree because the roots are too big for the old setup. I also nipped my roses and Lilly's back as they are already going green. I'll have to do the front gardens and the trees next. Painting this late spring or early summer.

Our old modem died and a new one was purchased. (We likes it!) That's kinda why you haven't heard from me.(It was tricksy, going down at odd times.)

Recently the 30 anniversary of Star Wars came and their will be stamps. (Has anyone else noticed the change in the ending of Jedi? The spirit of Anniken is now the kid from the new ones.)
Anyway I hope you enjoyed the warming weather we've been having. If not, Get off the computer and get outside!
Toodles.

Just a few things

2007-03-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Euny Jang is the new editor of Interweave Knits.
Personal Threads is moving to 8088 Cass street (or something like that. It was in the paper.)
Yarn Harlot has been bitten by the spring bug.

I have 2 free tickets to the Donald Trump jr seminar on how to make it rich...Any body want them?
I am working on a new pattern.

17 months to go until officer.

Good night!

Can you Feel It?

2007-03-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, The weather warmed up even under all that snow. The spinning has gone into over time and the alpaca fleeces are begging to be shipped off for processing.

Spring is coming.

The birds in my neighborhood are singing, the dog is shedding all over the carpet, the bunnies are molting and…in NC flowers are blooming. I saw it on a blog. ( I was envious but reassured.)
Some other signs you may have noticed:
The sun is up at 630 am.
Wal-mart is putting up their greenhouse tents.
Sheep are beginning to look attractive.
You find yourself drawn to sites that offer fleece, or talk about sheep.
Your bank account begins to look like “there’s enough there for…”
You start looking at your house and daydreaming.
You start reading home and garden magazines.
You have made enough trips to Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot to have the layouts memorized.
The dyepot has started calling you.
The raw fleece already in your house is telling you it’s lonely.
Your spinning wheel has been getting a work out.
Knitting with wool is beginning to seem…unsatisfying.

Yes I’m guilty of all of that. I made great progress on the cashmere sweater, I ripped back the whole sleeve and re knitted it past it’s previous length all in one day. I also spun several lengths of white Romney, the gift merino the angora wool blend and…yeah I know I said that yesterday.
I have been forcing myself not to start washing the 2 raw fleeces I got last year. I need to pick the Lincoln but I can just wash the Corridale. I e mailed my friend about picking up some more or having a farm day soon since she will be shearing…soon.

Stop me, I must buy more fleece...

updates

2007-03-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

The sweater I gave my daughter was shrunk, the projects are still where I left them, and the spinning continues apace. Mom got back from the Bahama's just in time for our 14 inch snow. Farg!
I've been going through my old Spin Off magazines(from 2000 on) and was re inspired to spin and knit. I even sent off my handspun pals gifts two days ago.
I tried blending some alpaca roving with some Corridale roving, then I remembered some things about the roving that didn't work. So I tried some of the black alpaca carding it up I wasn't happy there either. I made some wool angora blend and spun it up. I was kinda ok with that. I spun some Romney that went best of all.
This snow is killing me.

Random musings and small projects

2007-02-24T08:12:00.000-08:00

So now the cashmere sweater is at 11.5 inches, I need to knit 2 inches of rib on the bottom and I was about to cast on for the sleeve when I decided it was time for me to learn something new. The provisional cast on. Now I tend to knit the body and the sleeves and then go back and pick up for the ribbing 'cause I hate ribbing.( Garter stitch done sideways does a better job, but that's a try for a later time.)

So the provisional cast on is basically crocheting around a knitting needle and then knitting off the resulting stitches created. when you're ready to do the stitches for the ribbing you just unzip the crochet chain and pick up the resulting stitches.

I searched the Internet, read several different and confusing directions and finally downloaded a video on how it went. Then I gave it several tries. The first thing I figured was I can't crochet to save my life! The second thing I figured was doing it around a knitting needle was awkward at first but I got the hang of it. I then knitted a row with the real yarn and unzipped the cast on. It worked just fine. I would probably put a life line in those stitches though to make sure they didn't unravel. (Though I've been told that unraveling only happens in the direction you knit. So Maybe I don't have to worry?)

Of course I could just knit the ribbing first. I also explored some top down ideas..again.

This morning I took out my entire commercial yarn stash laid it out on my bed and looked at it. Frankly it was uninspiring. Some fuzzy yarns, some chunky yarns, some variegated ones, some furry ones, and then the standard smooth yarns for showing off stitches.
But a lot of small amounts like 2-3 balls of any color. So I went to the Knit pics site and looked through All of their patterns for ideas.
Hats
Mittens
Scarves
Legwarmers
Headbands
Belts
Socks
Baby items
Toys
Purses
Wash clothes
I pod cases
Dickies/Cowls
Ties
Coffee cozies
Mug rugs
Arm bands
Pillows
Holiday ornaments
Or you could just make an Afghan.

So now I'm off again to look at my stash again with new ideas in mind. Oh and on the sweater...I'm going with garter stitch.

What a few days off will get you

2007-02-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

one finished sweater....for my daughter

Valentines appropriately celebrated..

One old project picked up again, lots of yarn spun
2 finished Jobs out the door and paid for, Oatmeal sugar cookies baked, Ghost Rider the movie seen, two escaped baby rabbits, (two newly caged baby rabbits) 5 songs purchased from I-Tunes and one family trip to the mall.
So I have been off work since Friday 330 pm and I have been working my wrists to death. I finished my sweater only to find out it fit my daughter much better than me so she has it now. It's the first one from me. Now I only have to manage one for John and me and I'll be done!
On that note I have picked up Johns grey one to finish. It needs sleeves and a collar and it's done.

A good friend of mine has finally joined the blog world. Gina a spinning student of mine has a blog called Slippin Stitches. Go check it out.. Cool huh? Yeah Gina's good people.

Guess that's all for today...Toodles!

A scene of music

2007-02-13T08:42:00.000-08:00

This post is in the L.U.&E category because of this first paragraph.

I was listening to Sticks and String podcast"who Will Buy?" and towards the end is an instrumental piece that really got me. The first part reminded me of a beginning knitter, working step by step. First they learn knit then they learn purl, then rib then stockinette and then they are off making sweaters and things that are more and more complicated but still consisting of knit and purl. Then there is a break in the music, and it starts over again, this knitter is teaching someone else to knit and the newbie follows pretty much the same path, with the work getting more complicated as the skill grows. The music pauses again. This time the scene is of the two in a knit shop and pans back to many in a knit shop and pans back farther and farther showing growing numbers of people knitting in the town, state, country, continent, until it shows just how many knitters there are in the world, old, young, new, and experienced. The end of the music comes back to it's beginning theme, the knit and purl. This shows a child, under his mothers eye, making his first stitches. The end.

On a longer note, I am still looking to finish the armpits of the handspun seamless yoke sweater. I finished the back and collar, decided not to put ribbing on the sleeve cuffs, and decided the puckering was a design. I want to get that finished this week since Quisha and I will be sharing it. I think blocking will be a good idea.

I have spun up lot 2 of the gifted merino. Another 2 oz or so plied tighter than my normal handspun so I won't untwist it so much when I knit it. Into what I'm not sure.

I have been working on the Noro cashmere sweater and found that 1 skein makes 4 inches of body, so I will probably use 6 skeins on it, 3 skeins on the sleeves and the fourth may get eaten up just in case my measurements are off.

The babies opened their eyes last week between day 12-14, and now the larger one is trying to eat hay. they are working on their third week of life and are looking great! I let them run around the floor last night and they thought everything was interesting...even me! They are both so big they don't fit in my palm anymore. I have to hold them around their fat little middles to move them around. They still enjoy cuddling up in the bottom of my sweater though.

I picked up a new book at Page Turners last week, called the knitting path? Lots of famous people are in it, but I don't recall them being that famous when the book was published. The french knitting lady in C.A. who had a D.I.Y mini series, The lady from Knitty Gritty and some others I can't remember. Many who were just starting out on the knit scene, or were big in their own circle, but not anywhere else.(Or maybe it's just me, but this book was written in 99-2000)

I got to see my friends this Saturday as well as pick up another knit job. It was a great stress relief to see them all again.

Toodles!

Thing one and Thing two

2007-02-03T18:11:00.000-08:00

Class! Class settle down, now. We have a lot to cover today so if we settle down...Thank you.

First on today's list: Photos

Thing one on the left and thing two on the right are the two surviving members of Riley's second litter. There were 6 originally.

Second on our agenda today is the MeMe we were tagged with by our own DEAWN.

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says you are tagged in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1-I am attracted to white guys. This is weird cause I'm not white, and I don't like black men.

2-I like to drink hot water.

3-I actually like Nebraska. (I'm originally from NY, so...)

4-I've been a christian, an atheist, and a pagan

5-I've been rich, and still unhappy.

6-I'm Loud, and aggressive and really shy

Now I need 6 people to tag: Yeah, drawing a blank there.

Now class I'm sure this isn't weird enough for you and we'll have to work on that, so there is your homework for this evening.

Third and last we will cover the swatch. This swatch is made of 100% cashmere, knit on #7 needles doing a twist with out a cable needle.

Step 1 cast on 10 stitches

Step 2 knit 1 row purl 1 row

Step 3 knit 2 stitches

Step 4 knit stitch 4, don't slip it off

Step 5 knit stitch 3 through the back of the loop, slip both off

Step 6 repeat steps 3-5 until the last two stitches

step 7 knit 2

step 8 purl all odd rows

Give it a shot and show off your swatches.

That's the bell and remember there will be a test on this material next week.

Toodles!

Humble Fiber Pie

2007-02-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

Ok I have to show you what my secret pal sent me in the mail...

Yeah, I know, and all I was expecting was yarn. (sniff)
I am humbled. When I think of what I sent MY fiber pal, I feel ashamed.
I will do better next time, I promise.

Now for a description: This yarn is merino, red angelina, and Icicle. The two lower batts show the progression in carding. The second one was blended once and the third one was blended twice and the yarn was the result!
The first bat is Blue Faced Leciester and Blue Firestar. She just threw that one in..I'm not worthy!
Am I lucky or what?!

A friend of mine tagged me, so my next post I will have to answer that.
Until then...My bunny had babies! Pics of those later...Saturday makes them 1 week old.
Toodles!

100 posts!

2007-01-27T20:01:00.000-08:00

The last post made 100 and to celebrate I have some photo's around here somewhere...

The purse. Thank you 'Quisha

(I just unloaded my camera so there may be duplicates from other posts.)

From left to right brown CVM, white Romney wool, handpainted Merino, white Angora, red Ashland bay, white Angora wool blend. A tribute to my A.D.D.

The Merino before I sent it off. There is more being spun up as we speak as I said.

The sweater in pieces before it was put together. It's a lot darker than the photo came out. This looks like a steel grey when it's actually black.

I just got done weaving in the ends and sewing up one of the arms. I tried it on again and it seems that the back is shorter than the front so I will have to do the shaping, and it doesn't pooch so much in front now that it's longer.

Today I picked up 2 new jobs both from the same person. I am finishing a knitting job and making a sweater from scratch out of...get this ...Green cashmere from Noro! Yeah, how could I say no to that?

I am such a Ho sometimes.

Well got to go it's 1100 pm and I am bushed...Baby(yes that is a racial joke, yes you can laugh)

Toodles!

Huzzah!

2007-01-26T17:26:00.001-08:00

I sent off my secret pals fiber and gift. wich she got and posted about here. So now I can officially talk about it.
It was a blast to spin and it came out so fine on my drop spindle. I was suprised that it was only like 1/2 oz. I will send more next time.

I took the roving and split it into lengths and then ran then together once on the drum card. I like the results better.
None of my knitting has grown except the Job. I have finished knitting it and only need to add fringe. In case you're wondering this is a 7.5 inch wide scarf made in prism and katrina. It is 76 inches long and knit in stockinette. The Job before that was a seed stitch jacket in brown and black classic elite alpaca.
My own sweater is up to the back of the neck shaping and I no longer trust the directions. I did try it on though and was impressed and dissapointed. It warmed me immediatly and was softer than I thought. Unfortunatly, my decrease rounds were too tight and they make the yoke pucker. Also I think it wasn't long enough in the torso 'cause it rides up and pooches in the front. This may be fixed with the back of the neck shaping and more knitting. I then noticed the opening was 2 inches from the edge of my shoulders. It is however sturdy and way lighter than anything I have made in commercial yarns. Go T'! Over all I'm kinda impressed.

I bought my rabbit a new cage and set the younger one on the bottom and now she's gone spastic. It must be something about the position, cause now Riley is on top and she is calmer. I may move them around so they are in the back an the boys are in the front. I've said that before but boys spray and I haven't figured out how to fix that other than spend more money on urine guards.

IDEAS

2007-01-20T05:39:00.000-08:00

I was listening to some old Cast on Like I said, and came across Franklin’s talk about knitting the seamless raglan sweater from E.Z’s knitting without tears. It was a cute comment and I went to the book looking to see if the “house on fire" comment was there…It was SO cute! That got me to thinking though about my next sweater.
I spun just short of 2 lbs for this sweater so I will probably spin another 2 lbs or so for the next one. But what will it be?
I was looking at making a raglan sweater for my husband but it went badly. I was thinking of re- doing it with this method considering that most of it is already done except the sleeves. This does mean I will have to rip back the top to the beginning of the chest shaping but I don’t think it will be so much of a problem.

On the idea of the next hand spun sweater…. I’ve got enough Romney wool to make another sweater. This one will be a raglan 3 ply yarn on size 10 needles knit in plain stockinette stitch. Now why would I want to do that? Sounds boring doesn't it? Not to me, I like plain clothes. It makes coordinating a lot easier. I seem to have a guys taste in clothes. I was thinking about opening a hand knit sweater store for men. Course then I looked on Etsy and noticed I'm not the first with this idea.

Honestly though, stockinette is fast and easy, as well as it lets me concentrate on learning how to make the sweater instead of having to blend a pattern into the lesson. I read the technique directions for the raglan seamless and It makes a logical kind of sense. Everything is the same until you've joined the sleeves to the body. Then you make k2tog k 1 ssk decrease sets at the 4 points where the sleeves and body meet. I’m not sure what happened to Franklin, but I will give it a shot. Course I haven’t finished the yoke sweater yet. It may wind up too short in the body and sleeves, which would throw the whole thing off.
Any way…
The new Job continues, and all goes well. I have found that I knit stockinette at a rate of 9 inches per hour. The scarf is only 7.5 inches wide and is knitted flat. I think that’s fine cause it means my estimation of how long it will take was only off by an hour.

Back to sweater ideas, I can see a black and white pattern on a yoke sweater or a Gansey in blue using 2 cables on the front and 2 on the back, with seed stitch in between for a few inches, followed by a stockinette stitch space, then a garter stitch star up bu the neck. It would be like looking through a gateway to the sea at night.
*

11 ---------- 11
11 -------------- 11
11 - - - - - - - - - - 11
11- - - - - - - -- - - - - 11
11 - - - - - - - - - - - - -11

Something like that. All that in textured stitches. Wow, maybe I will skip the raglan. Here’s an idea, I could knit a bunch of bodies and sleeves and then pick up and knit the rest of the sweaters however I wanted to. That way I would not have to make each one from scratch and could customize them with out much work. A great thing would be to use my husbands sock machine to make the bodies and then knit the sleeves myself, then finish up with what ever. Great way to make bear clothes.
Any way, gotta go, I have a knit meeting this morning.
Toodles!

The Journey of 1000 miles....

2007-01-16T18:02:00.000-08:00

Today was a lesson. In what I'm not quite sure but I feel moved. This morning I was inconvenienced by the OPS bus problem. Angry I was looking for someone to blame, but I have come to the conclusion that it was no ones fault, it was just life. I went on with the rest of the day and didn't let it get to me.
As I searched for a place to hold the fiber fest I took J's suggestion and tried the VFW. I talked to a man who wanted to tell me all about his health problems. I was patient, having worked at the VA med center. When I went to tour the hall this evening, he told me he had just been diagnosed with aggressive bone marrow cancer in September. He is 73 and spent 38 years in the service. I met his wife and listened while he told me about how the 8 kids they raised, none of them ones they had together, turned out just fine. All of them have major careers on the east coast. One of them works for NASA. One of the things I learned was that they enforced the idea of respect for each other in their family. Something I have not been doing. I don't wonder at some of the bouts of disrespect my husband gets from the kids, and I know that some of it comes from my actions.

Bored and desperate for a podcast, I went back and listened to the first or second podcast from Cast On. One of the songs she played was to become a theme song for another podcast, and another is one I just heard on David Reidy's Sticks and String. Instead of thinking about how people can't be original enough to pick their own music, I was struck by how much of a community has been created and how we are all connected. It warmed my heart and made me remember that we are never alone.

As I listened to the podcast and thought about knitting, I "cast a loving gaze" over to my handspun sweater. I can't wait to finish it. I have some ideas on embellishments but i am proud that it has not been changed from it's original intent. It's hard to knit an object and not have ideas about how to improve it or make it something else. It's really hard to make what I started out making. To realize the idea was fine just the way it was. Sorta like vegetables raw, fruit without dip, or just me in plain clothes.

Spin span spun

2007-01-10T05:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first post of 2007.
Today we are spinning the merino Tango colorway from Paradise Fibers on a homemade drop spindle made from a dowel and 2 wooden wheels. It looks like we have done up ¼-1/2 oz and it is just a dream to work with.

What to do with it? I have 8 oz total and I was considering my options…
Give it to my secret pal
Make something out of it
Sell it as yarn in the festival.
I decided to go all of the routes. I will give some to my secret pal, I will make something for myself (maybe a set of those fingerless gloves!) and I will sell a bit of it.(If there is any left)
One of the yarns I make I will pass the fiber through the carder first. This blends the colors so that you can't even tell it's from the same roving. It also helps with the plying problem. I'm not fond of Navajo plying, and I don't like the "two verigated yarns plyed together" look.

Oh the Weather is going to be fright full, but the for-cast could be lie-full, And since I haven’t seen them yet, Call the girls for a fiber met!

Ok so I’m keeping my day job! To all you who read this I’m proposing a get together this Saturday at Wild Oats if the weather is ok. I’m thinking hot drinks, chocolate and fiber!
Amazingly enough I still have the Job. I’m down to a few buttons but I think the lady knit the cuffs wrong. Putting 2 splits on each one.

Anyway work has been a total change up. New boss, new coworkers, same old B.S.
Last night I went to the meeting at Mangelsons. Only to discover I didn't have the right equipment for the JOB.
Oh well, that's all for now.
Tune in next time for more fiber adventures on...Snarled Yarns!

Interview with a fiber artist

2007-01-05T17:24:00.000-08:00

I recieved my copy of sheep and goat world, the newsletter of the Nebraska Sheep and Goat Association.
This makes my second interview ever and I'm becoming a celebrity.(My first was the OWSG Guild newsletter)
If you get this newsletter let me know. You know how we celebs like to be recognised!

I am finally going to do a bit of review of 2006 and some looking forward on 2007.

I came, I played, I will play some more.

Nuf said?

I have started to watch the Potters Touch/House a show run Sunday through Friday on TBN by a man named T.D. Jakes. He is inspiring. I am learning to get where I want to be in my life. One step at a time but always a step forward.

I have decided to stop knitting for other people. My intention was to focus on spinning. Knitting was only away to evaluate them. Somehow it expanded and started taking over. Don't panic, I will still knit, and I will still buy yarns but I let myself get sidetracked.

This week, My boss got demoted, I got new job duties, and I got the opportunity to take a job that pays more and works with more positive people. I also got a work out partner and a routine starting next Monday.
Wish me luck, I'm gonna need to invest in the Motrin company=-)

Happy New Year

2006-12-31T16:46:00.000-08:00

If you live in Nebraska, then you know it’s snowing. There you go Gina, Your kids got their wish.

I have found that procrastination does no good in the face of good friends. Saturday events conspired against me and instead of bringing the handspun sweater all I had was the Job. Well, it was a good thing, because while talking with my older ladies group, I remembered how to pick up seed stitch and found that I really did know how to finish this. (I had picked up the bottom edge on my handspun sweater and because of the cast on I used, I had big holes. I was beginning to doubt my skillz) so now all the Job needs is the collar picked up and knit, and the buttons sewn on. Piece of cake.

Because of the snow I may not be able to get this or the next Job out to the owners. We will see. Time is certainly not an excuse.

Lets see what every one else did. The Yarn Harlot surpassed her Knitters With Out Boarders goal in like 3 days, Deawn came back to Nebraska from Canada, (blame her for the snow) The Panopticon gave his sister’s baby to be a democratic sweater. I think Brooklyn Tweed and Knitter Guy went west for the holidays; Annie Modiset is celebrating Chanukah and Christmas while selling her house. (We’re selling ours too.) Most of our podcasting friends are spinning, knitting, and being generally yarn obsessed. (Minnie, I figured out how to listen to the girls, I have to do it at home.) David of Sticks and String just had his sister pass so you might want to send some love.

The fiber show has picked up again; Yesterday I got the printed copy of my interview with the Nebraska Sheep and Goat. I’m having a hard time getting the IK advertisements off. I also have been playing around with software to get the pamphlets up and the classes finalized with materials, times, and costs. Please contact me if you would like to be a vendor, and pass the word around; May 11-13 2007 Bellevue.

On the needles, the handspun sweater almost had its second sleeve but the yarn was thicker than I used on the first sleeve. I frogged it, got out all the yarn I have for this project in search of thinner fare. I think I have found a ball that will continue the lacy effect. The thicker stuff is for the upper chest. This sweater is based on the Eliz Zimmerman seamless sweater pattern. It has gone very quickly and Happily.
Another project is the baby jacket. I bought pink Lionbrand homespun for the project. When I tried it out on # 10’s it was too tight. So I broke out the # 13’s but have not cast on yet.
J’s sweater is next, hopefully by February. Since I already have his measurements, I can just start it. I refuse to tell him when because I don’t want to deal with the pressure.

The wheel has been slowly coming back to life. After getting all that angora, I didn’t know what to do with it. Spinning it by itself was just tedious. I have a lot of Icelandic down in oatmeal and the bunny is a brownish grey. The down is short like maybe 2-3 inches long. I broke out my cotton cards and blended them 50/50 and spun it up in a sports weight yarn. It’s so soft, I can’t think of what to do with it. I could sell it since the exotic fibers are “In”. I have also been spinning some red multicolor Louet roving, and some plain white Romney.

I also have been listening to some audio books from I tunes. The first was The Shop on Blossom Street and now we move on to A Good Yarn.
Well like many I’m sick, so I’m going to get something hot and medicated.
Toodles, and Happy New Year!

Have you been good this year?

2006-12-22T14:37:00.000-08:00

I would say sure! Wouldn't you? Merry Christmas /Happy Channaka, Kwanzza / Blessed Yule

You know me I'm not much on sentiment.

Have you seen these?

http://www.stick-and-stone.com/Spindles/spindles.html

and this?

http://www.spindlicity.com/winter2006/index.shtml

or this?

http://www.etsy.com/

Yeah, that's kept me busy for the last two days. Now it's your turn..
Toodles!

Life goes on..

2006-12-16T19:45:00.000-08:00

This post is a mix of good and bad.
The good is like Heathers concert, she was one of the last violinists left playing as the concert went on. That means she was one of the two most talented in her grade and below.
Bad like I forgot to take photos, I'm sorry.
Good like I think we found a house we will actually buy, in our price range, elligible for the grant assistance and with enough room for us all.(2 bathrooms) The bad is it's still in S Omaha, but that also means the kids get to continue going to their Magnet schools.
Good like everyone is healthy and happy, bad like at 730-830 this morning Riley gave birth to two giant stilborn fetus'. I spent the morning in a funk crying on and off. She spent the day confused as to where they were and only stopped pulling wool around 5 pm. I had to hold her and pet her for a while this evening for both our comforts.

Good in that while waiting for my cars oil change I got a lot of knitting done, bad in that it wasn't on my customers project.
Good in that I contacted my secret pal today, and I also tried spinning today. Bad in that Icouldn't get into it. I tried Border Lester, Alpaca and Angora. It might just need to be a plain wool day. I'll try the silk tomorrow and if that doesn't work then I've got plenty of wool.

That's all for now,
Toodles!

Santa came early

2006-12-15T05:27:00.000-08:00

Look what Santa left me...Yeah, isn't that cool? He got it from the Wool Peddler. It's merino handyed in the colorway Tango. So cool, I will be spinning it as soon as I can. Projects? What other projects?

I've switched to the new blogger. It doesn't seem all that different from the old one except it asks me for labels for my posts. I think this one will be mostly spinning. Let me know if you notice anything different.

Last night I gave away some 5 lbs of Suffulk wool roving I didn't like. This morning I cleaned out my stash and threw out some alpaca seconds, some chaffy Jacobs wool and some donated fiber that looked like merino or something blended (badly) with some (felted) angora. It was tacky and weird.
Then I re orginised the fiber shelf, brought the antique spinning wheel down stairs and debated about when to go through the lincoln fleece I bought. I still have many fleeces to move or spin.
Here's the list..alpaca, romney, icelandic, columbia,lincoln, silk, mohair, morino,border liecester, shetland lincoln cross,angora, and cotton(I know it's not a fleece).

FOR SALE: Louet David 8 harness 36 inch width loom. String heddles, 10 treadles, removable breast beam(front bar) foldable back beam. $700.00
I don't weave anymore.
Email me for details.

To whom It may Concern

2006-12-14T17:40:00.000-08:00

Dear errant knitting personality,
This letter is to remind you of the many projects you have going. We of the unfinished basket have had enough of your new projects and the dust that continues to cover us as we wait for you to get back in touch. The recent stirring you gave us only has increased our frustration with your wandering ways.

The open front vest wants to know how come it will now be split into 2 separate tank tops instead of being finished as intended. It only needs the top quarter of the front panels knit and then sewn together. We have noticed you doing this for others while we languish in the basket.

We were not intimidated by the ruthless frogging you gave the 2 color turtle sweater. With now more yarn for the vest, your excuses are baseless. I, the finished sweater vest wonder if I’m so finished why I am in here. If you don’t like the way I turned out, you could give me to someone who needs me more and won’t mind my little quirks. The socks J gave you to finish are packing as we write this.

The Camalid scarf is desperately waving its ends in the air, yet night after night you walk right by and ignore it’s shameful display. The binding off you gave it last week could not compare to the alpaca scarf that you laid on top of it…Completely finished. Did you need to add insult to injury?

Now we are hearing, not whispered rumors but shouted plans to knit another sweater or vest, and don’t think we haven’t noticed the yarn, needles, and pattern have all been gathered up in a bag together! What of the grey wool acrylic sweater you were making just this September? Is it too destined to become a UFO? And the mittens only need their duplicate stitching finished. Is that so hard?

What is wrong with this picture? Don’t we mean anything? Can’t you commit? We will have to take drastic actions if this behavior continues. You might never see your favorite dpn’s again, or worse yet, how would you like a wool strike? Don’t think we won’t!
Come finish us, and you can start those new projects with a clear conscience.

Fuzzily,
The gang in the UFO bin

Car-ma

2006-12-09T17:19:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon ladies and gents..if there are any. Lets give a moment of thanks for Karma. Now lately I have been stocking up the cool points hoping a good job would come my way. You know letting people go first ,helping those in need, donating to charities, tipping wait staff. Well I went to my Fremont teens karate graduation and on the way home that night was not paying attention, ran a red light and managed to hit the breaks in time(going 60 in a 35) and miss the car turning in front of me. With the choice of this or the job, I vote saved from a nasty my- fault car wreck every time! Did I mention that my 8 year old was in the passenger seat? Yeah. Go Karma! I have tipped both my waitresses today in thanks and for future stock.

"In the news today" Quisha broke her board in karate and graduated to green belt..Yeah! I had fun watching the kids work out, spar and show off. It was a blast. I have photos....

Christine had her play last Friday..I have photos...
Yup, she's the one on your left, first in line to kill the lion.
Next week Heather has a Christmas violin concert. I will have photos.

I learned that my driving at night problem has been solved by my new car. The lights illuminate both sides of the road and at least one car length up front. Night driving is scary no more!

The house buying thing is back on, cross your fingers. Johns yarn came in and I'm going to break down and knit him a vest that zippers down the front.
I picked up yet another knit job, but one I won't start till January.(Procrastination? No I'm actually on holiday.)

I want to go back to that post where I said no more ramblings and talk about yarns I've knit with.

To all the yarns I've loved before...
Thursday I picked up some Paton's SWS. This is a single ply variegated yarn 70/30 wool soy blend. I'm knitting a sock purse on #6 DPN's. The yarn is shiny and fuzzy. I have to watch that it doesn't twist too much when I knit, and it looks positively awesome in seed stitch. The balls come in almost 3 oz and 110 yards. I purchased two different colorways, natural earth and natural navy. It seems to be doing ok.

If anyone reads the Yarn Harlot and can remember the entry "Stop Me" where she was making small shoes from 50 baby Booties to Knit, I have a co worker who is having a baby soon(like 2 weeks ) and I want to knit booties instead of a blanket. I need this book! I will otherwise be knitting squares with leggings!
(Sigh)
Small shoes.

Just pictures today

2006-12-05T05:45:00.000-08:00

The new un named Doe...any help here with a name?
Kiki, or kiwi I don't know
1 mitten almost done
scarf blocked out and drying.

That's all today boys and girls!

A costly rant

2006-11-29T05:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know there is going to be someone out there that is going to say I told you so but here it goes. I Knit Slow. So when a customer asks me to finish a project that’s fine and it goes quick. But as soon as they include some bit of knitting there goes the price. Now you have to realize that I charge people 6.00 per hour. I don’t know too many people who work for that little. It’s above minimum wage but not by much. So if you make something and ask me to finish it (sewing) then it won’t take too long maybe 3 hours if I’m not weaving in a bunch of ends. But then you want me to knit a 7 inch turtleneck, 4 inches in K1,P1 rib and 3 more in a height eating pattern on no 3 needles in sock yarn with 106 stitches in the round it’s gonna take some time! Add to that fact that I knit slow (it’s actually that I purl slow, I knit quite at a normal speed.) Your talking hours and $$$. So when I call and tell you the cost of my labor and you give me shocked silence or worse yet Flack….I’m gonna be a little upset. If it’s too much money then I guess it would be cheaper to do your own work! I’ll even teach you how for free.
End of rant.

So, this last weekend was filled with job knitting. This weekend will be filled with ..Job knitting washing fleece, mailing checks running to Lincoln and Fremont, going to my oldest teens play putting uup with in laws and playing with my latest addition… a new doe.(at least we hope it’s a doe. I have too many bucks as it is.) I went out and bought 2 new cages and as the new doe is only 8 weeks old the travel cage is plenty big for her. She is a Vienna mark? Black with one white spot on her head. Very cute and fluffy. Scotch turned out to be a Dutch. No fiber from him. I may have to do something very unkind to him soon.
I got some gift certificates in the mail from String of Purls, I may send J out there on the Men’s Monday. I may even violate my moral code and go there on next Wed. We will see.
One white Lincoln fleece left 6 lbs 4 oz. I’m not averse to taking it myself but It can go if someone else wants it. I can even wash it for $5.50. This is not my normal fee, I’m helping a good farmer move some good product.
On to the voluntary knitting I’m looking at that Spartan sweater in Interweave Knits. I found the authors website, called stitching on the farm. She seems really cool. I spent my breaks at work converting the pattern for some yarn I was thinking of using. I also looked at some yarn on the knit pick web site that would work. Two of them actually swish superwash and wool of the Andes. The gage is a little off but not by enough to be a headache. Her gage is 3.5 st and 5 rows per inch. The knit picks yarns run at 4 st and I don’t know how many rows. The yarn I have in the house runs 4.5 st and 5 rows. So I had to re-write the pattern.

I think I should be able to post it here without copyright infringment. All I changed is some stitch numbers based on the gauge for the new yarn.

Anyway I gotta run...
Toodles!

After the show has ended

2006-11-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Yes the guild show is over. In all we made some pretty good money and my check came faster than ever. It just wasn't that big. That's ok though cause eBay will make up for it.

Thanksgiving is also over. It was cool. We had chili, cornbread, egg nog, chips and dip, and Boston cream pie with ice cream for dessert. (oh and the ever present coffee!)

There are two Lincoln fleeces left. The washed one went to it's new home this morning.

My daughters mittens are all sewn up, they just need their snowflake design on the back. (And some snow to wear them in.) The zig zag scarf is at normal scarf length but I still have yarn left so it will be getting longer.

My clients turtleneck is almost done, we should be done by Sunday night, and my new repair job is at a standstill until I figure out that decorative edging. That should be done Sunday night as well.

I have discovered the Country Store in Council Bluffs across from The Tractor Supply Company sells bales of hay! I was so tired of running out of hay for the rabbits and paying 4 dollars for a tiny bale that mostly fell through the floor of their cages. I bought a huge square bale of hay that should last them for a year at least for 6 dollars! Wow. Much better deal for me and the bunnies.
There is a bunny show in Fort dodge Iowa today that my girlfriends have gone to. They promised to bring me back 2 cages for Scotch and Kiki. Ms. Riley did not give birth much as I expected. I had her rebred on the 15th so we are back to waiting another month.

On the podcast front I have been listening to Sticks and String, a knitting podcast by an Australian bloke named David. I am impressed with his show and must say that accent makes me knit faster! (Ahem!) Lets give him our warmest welcomes and hope he can go the distance. It's also nice to hear more guys.

I've been looking through a lot of knitting magazines lately and have found a nice sweater pattern for a guy in one of the Interweave knitting issues (fall 2006). After listening to David about what men want in a sweater and looking in J's closet. It seems to suit him. It has a fair isle pattern along the hem, and is a v neck but otherwise has no designs and is only in one color. Even the fair isle is the main color and a lighter version of the same color. I may have to change the v neck to a crew but it's simple and plain. The grey sweater I'm knitting him needs only 1.5 sleeves and some sewing. Then the collar and I'm done. I don't think it's going to work well, it may be too wide and not long enough. We will see.

Well that's all for now, happy holidays and remember to knit, spin, weave, crochet..Whatever!
Toodles!

Lincoln fleece for sale

2006-11-18T13:24:00.000-08:00

The Lincoln fleeces are just great! Good staple length, less than 6 inches, no matting, good curl. Little to no VM and ready for sale.

5.00 per lb raw, a fee of 5.50 if you want your batch washed. There is only 2 white fleeces and one silver/black fleece left. These were just sheared in Oct so they are fresh.

I am free this Sunday through Tuesday of next week, then Saturday and Sunday this next weekend.
Please leave a comment if you would like to see them and or get some. The comments go to my e mail basket. Or you can visit our Strings web page in the Contact US section and give me a call.

Free at last!

2006-11-17T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nov 17 2006

Today I paid off the smaller of my two long term debts. I even have a receipt that looks like it should be framed. As you may know, J and I are looking for a new house. In order to do that well, we are reducing our debts. Even though this payoff was planned before the house, it still puts us one step closer to the goal!

Tomorrow is the guild sale 9-4pm at the Banquet center in Ralston. Take 72 st to the Ralston sign (Welcome to Ralston) it’s on the west side of the street. Turn in it and drive till you’re almost to the top of the hill and look on your left. There it is in the little strip mall. Go. Spend money. Support your local artists.

The Lincoln fleeces from Iowa came today and I was Very pleased. 4 fleeces mostly lamb and one mature animal. 2 white, one dark silver, and one multicolor. (Brown silver and white) Heavy, curly locks and the shearing job looked good. I will say that I think the fleeces absorbed some moisture. They’re not wet, just cold and really heavy. The shipping tag says 35lbs for all of them. I can believe it. I’d take them all if I hadn’t told my girls they could look them over first. Even at 5.00 a lb that’s 175.00. WOW! Any way

Ms. Riley doesn’t seem to be pregnant. She was chewing her cage again so I let her in with Scotch and she went right to it. No fuss like with her first breeding. So we get to wait another thirty days and see what’s what. Scotch just thinks he’s senior buck now. I had to double lock his cage he’s gotten so fired up. My little white one is just pissy now.

The spinning probably won’t resume till next month. I still have a sweater to put together for a client. This fantastic woman made a sweater out of sock yarn. And yes I get to sew it together and make the collar. Woopee! So far I have 3 hours into it just sewing the sleeves shut, never mind sewing them onto the body. I was hoping to get that done this weekend.

Classes for the fiber show: if I hadn’t written before knitting, felting, spinning, crochet, and dying. There is only one felting class but there should be 2 of the others. Vendors need to send in money by Jan 31. I will need to know if your booth-ing by yourself or with someone else. Fee is 100.00 with 50.00 refundable. Vendors are provided with chairs tables and electricity.

Don’t forget to listen to your podcasts, and visit your favorite blogs. Please leave a comment. I love to think some one actually reads my ramblings. (Other than you Minnie.)

Vote Vote Vote!

2006-11-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

Today is Election Day. There I said it and that’s all I’m gonna write about that.

On to fiber, the festival planning is going well. One possible mill and about 8 vendors (including myself)

The bunny is still pregnant and has gone up 8 oz since mating on the 21st. I had to go away this weekend and when I came back, she had lost 2 oz. (I worry but not too much, it might have been stress or low food.) I do know I had 3 cages that wanted cleaning though. I clean my cages every day and scrub them once a week so being gone for Fri. –sun was a bit much. They were actually glad to see me. Did I tell you guys about Kiwi? A Red Eyed White bunny male that can’t make babies. He and Scotch fuss if they are too close to each other so I had to separate them.

I have missed a lot of knit nights lately and find I’m in desperate need of a girl’s night. I seem to have verbal gushing going on and the people at work are…upset.

Drill was cool but I hurt my ankle in field training.

I have finished the Mohair monster and am sending it home on Friday. ( I have off Friday!) I have a new piece to work on and it then the guild sale work I need to do. It’s next Saturday so please come buy and …buy! Course this means I will have to clear all the photos I put up as well as start on new inventory.
We have been looking at buying a new house and found a City of Omaha program that finances loans on new and existing homes at a 2% interest rate. It’s pretty cool. Go to Omaha100inc, they have some links to the program and will send you information.

I know I haven’t posted in a while but I’ve been doing work training business work family issues…you know how it goes. But I missed writing very much and it seems that is part of the tension. Just making this post has got me feeling better. Once again I have no photo’s. I will have to get back into that soon.

I have been reading a lot of blogs about Rhinebeck, Soar and a bunch of other fiber events and that keeps me motivated. My friend Deawn moved back to Canada and that makes me sad but there are always more knitters and if we can’t find ‘em, we’ll make ‘em.
(evil chuckle)
Toodles!

Fiber festival 2007!

2006-10-31T17:03:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know, There will be a fiber festival in Bellevue Nebraska, May 11-13th at the top floor of Southroads mall. Parking and entry are free. If you would like to teach a class, take a class, or be a vendor please leave a comment and I will answer you directly.

This show will have fibers...Alpaca, Llama, Angora rabbit, Sheep wool and possibly Mohair as well.

The classes will be on felting, spinning, knitting, dyeing and possibly weaving as well. Classes are held at beginning level and intermediate level as well.

Please tell as many people as you know. If you know a good fleece judge please let me know.
Thank you and hope to see you there!

You could have heard a pin drop

2006-10-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

I love Nebraska sometimes. Today I went to Beatrice and spoke to the Nebraska sheep and goat organization. I told them we need your fiber, we have two major fiber shows coming up and we need vendors. You should be able to sell a good fleece for 5-10 $ a lb. We have attendance of the Hastings guild, the fremont guild, the Omaha guild and the loosely joined bellevue fiber people. Money opportunity and attendance.
It was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.And they were in a carpeted room. I had all of their attention and afterwards they came up and fondled my example fleeces, offered me cards and contact info handshakes and enthusiasm.

You have to consider that I had just listened to them complain about the low $ they are getting for their wool. I then provided an answer to their problems.
Now I know that from a spinners point of view it's like" yeah but they bring us Junk and ask for top dollar. Then they wonder why they don't get it!" I brought them example fleeces. These are two fleeces purchased from Handspinners flocks, had no dirt, VM, second cuts, weak tips or anything. A couple of the producers tried to act shady, and I was forced to tell them the truth, you bring crap and it won't sell. I also don't guarantee that you will sell everything or anything at the show. I'm just giving you the opportunity to try.

Yeah, now I have to get people to come and buy, as well as find 1000 to rent the place. So wish me luck!

2006-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Well, howdy! Welcome back to Snarled yarns your local storytelling fiberblog. I'm your host and today we'll be talking about... anything and everything! So just sit back a spell and enjoy the blog.

I'm sitting here watching the sun come up over the Missouri river. My computer sits in the bay of our south facing bay window. Monday I switched places with J and now I get up later and help the munchkin go off to school. The great thing is I go to work in the light and still manage to get home before dark. Watching the sun rise is one of the simple pleasures along with spending the morning with my 8 y/o Heather. Sometimes she even lets me do her hair.

Morning has always been my favorite time. So quiet and peaceful so full of promise for the day. Tomorrow I have to work overtime and I won't get to have a morning. The afternoon is already planned with a fiber meeting in Ponca hills. Today is already filled with work, gym, shopping and hopefully some more knitting and spinning.

The mohair project is still here. I knit on it but seem to make little progress. I need to knit 10 inches 3 times and can't seem to get the first time done! I spun up some Romney just for fun and finally bought a new ball winder. I need to spin up some silk to ply with Ms. Riley's wool now that she has stopped molting. I knit a little on my zig zag scarf but not much and the progress is slow. I still have not done the actual tagging even though they are all filled out. I have to update my quickbook software and fill out the prices.

Tomorrow Ms Riley will be having a day out. I will be bringing her to work and then to the meeting so she can be bred by Diannes Mocha Frappaccino. What wonderful news for her and exciting prospects for me. I have had her on a bit of a diet and been teasing her with Scotch to make sure she's ready. This week is a new moon so I expect lots of does. (Or just mostly) We'll see what happens.

To all the knit girls- sorry I missed you last night, I had to work out and get some things done. I hope to catch you next Thursday.

Toodles!

2006-10-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

I owe you pictures and a change of information. The guild show is the 3rd weekend of November. Sorry for the confusion.

Knit night was last Thursday but I couldn't relax enough, because I had to take my munchkin with me. This weekend was filled with activity. Knitting spinning and tagging my guild stuff.
Speaking of which, I noticed that my yarn site was not working properly, so apologies all around. I have gotten that fixed.

My roses decided to bloom and were still blooming when it got really cold so I took pity on them and tied them up in plastic bags. It didn't work. They do better changing with the weather. Does anyone know where to find good burlap? Next spring I get to dig up the top beds in the front of the house, and maybe the lower one too if the rhoddies and azaleas don't come back. I must remember to get full sun plants next time. I want to plant more iris in the back and on the sides of the house too. Maybe some more Daffodils.

I'm still not quite sure what to do about the rabbit breeding thing. I keep thinking yeah but she was one of 7 in the litter, what would I do with 9 rabbits? And then I would only breed her that once....It would be better off to buy more. I really want a red/orange.( So this weekend I'm gonna breed her to one of the little boys from Diannes.)

On to the fiber fest news, the Nebraska Sheep and Goat Assoc will be having their annual meeting the 27th in Beatrice and hopefully I will be going to invite their members and their organization to be involved. We don't want them to be too involved, because there will be other animals involved like bunnies, llamas, and alpacas.

Ok here's a fact of life for bunny people:

BUNNY ECONOMICS 101
I bought the cutest little bunny at the county fair. It only cost $10! I needed a cage and food and supplies for the bunny that I bought at the fair. ($50) He seemed so lonely, so I got another bunny. ($30) It needed a cage and food and supplies. ($50) I bred my bunnies. The doe needed a C-section, but now I have four more beautiful bunnies! ($300) They need cages and food and supplies. ($200) I've decided to show my bunnies! I need to buy carrying cages, cage cups, a show table and one of those nifty little carts to haul them into the showroom with. ($200)
At the show I found the most awesome rabbit for sale, it's already a champion! I gotta have it! ($150) I need another cage and food and supplies. ($50) Ive bred all my bunnies to that awesome champion. Now I've got LOTS of show bunnies! I need more cages and food and supplies, and some more carrying cages, and a bigger nifty cart to haul them in with. ($500)
My car is too small to fit all these carrying cages into. I need to buyremovableh a removeable back seat. Yeah, that'll do it! ($32,000)
I need a bumper sticker that says "Hey Hunny, Love a Bunny! ($1.50) I'm getting pretty good at this showing stuff. I need a fancier show table. ($150) All the really big breeders use those nifty blower things hmmmm. ($200) My rabbits don't fit in my garage (basement, family room, back porch, side porch, front porch) anymore. I need to build a special barn just for my bunnies. ($5,000)
I have all this extra space now! I can keep more bunnies in here! I need more cages and food and supplies. ($600) My rabbits don't fit in my van anymore. I need to get one of those little trailers and pull it behind my van. ($2000) I went to an open show at a county fair last week. I pulled in with my trailer and my van and all my grand champion bunnies, and I won Best Of Breed! There was a girl there that just fell in love with one of my juniors. I'm such a softie, I let her have it.... for $10.

Wow, isn't that true? Speaking of which, I gotta go clean those cages!
Toodles!

Where has my motivation gone?

2006-10-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Far away along with my energy, time, and soon to be sense of humor. This weekend at drill the second to last carrot was pulled from in front of this horse’s nose. No money. I was looking at a 30,000 bonus now I’m maybe looking at 6,000 or nothing. Yeah, how motivated am I? Not very Boys and girls, not very. Moving on …

My dog was attacked by two pit bulls this weekend. 700$ later he’s alright. Lucky for him he’s got a lot of loose skin or he would have been dead. The owner paid the bill which is nice…Now get rid of those F***ing dogs! We were all very luck that my 8 y/o didn’t get attacked as well. It’s time for Omaha to follow Council Bluffs and put a ban on those things. Next soap box issue..

I have two rabbits, one male one female kept in my basement. In separate cages of course. This morning I find my male floundering around on the floor in my fiber. He had jumped out of his cage and onto my fiber shelf then fell off with a bag of fiber. Now his cage is latched. I need to buy him a real one so that’s where money us going next time. The female has stopped shaking her cage loose and started giving me fiber. I have to comb her 2ce a day now and spin it on the wheel to keep up. I’m loving it. Plans on breeding her are still in the wind until I have a better plan for the babies.

Last Thursday at Touche’ at 59th and Maple was a treat with the girls, thank you ladies. For those who want to join, it starts at 530 or so. Hopefully this weekend I can spend some time with all of my other fiber ladies, and get moving on my business work. (you know the mohair vest?) Sounds like Saturday morning at Southroads mall, and maybe a trip to wild oats? I need to talk to Elisa of Somebunnieswool about using one of her bucks on my doe. I was gonna use Dianne of Countrydream acres but the distance thing is weirding me out.

On to spinning, I have been spinning the overdyed grey dorset wool. It looks so odd cause you can see the grey under the raspberry. Spun up it looks kinda purple instead of red. I’ve also been spinning bunny. Grey and white. Also some California variegated mutant on my Schacht, because I gotta do something with it. My Guild pile has slowed down to a crawl since I’m so busy with everything else.

The Guild Show! Is in the 2nd week of November in Ralston right off 72 st and Main street. 9am to 5 pm. The guild meeting should be this wed night sometime around 630 or 7 pm until 9 or 10 pm out on 132 and Blondo? I will not be there, But I will be in the sale so if you see yarn you like on the stash page, it will be there for sale. I keep my prices low so don’t worry about bringing a lot of $. Not only that but I can usually make some more if you need it.
Well with that, I’m gonna " git".
Toodles!

No more rambles

2006-10-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

Since we are now 1 year old I feel that I should start talking about things. Like product reviews or posting some patterns or something. Well sure I mean why not?
Let’s start with some reviews.

Schacht Matchless double treadle
One heck of a work horse! If your used to a portable wheel or a Babe (or not used to a wheel at all the treadleing may feel heavy but there is some great momentum going on. Comes with everything you need, and no matter what type of wheel you want (scotch or German tension or double drive) It is it!
Can be affected by weather and flooring. (mine likes med and higher pile carpeting.) It is also sort of a tall wheel
Have had it for 4 years. Still a great wheel.

Babe Fiber starter double treadle
This is a great wheel for beginners, people on a budget, children, non conformists, or those in variable climates. Bit of a short wheel. Bobbin lead German tension
Out grew the wheel in 1 year. I actually needed something that spun faster with out feeling like I was racing.

Louet s # single treadle
Nice wheel for med to chunky yarns. Not very stable on a single treadle. Great momentum, very Heavy pull. Good wheel for anybody. Huge bobbins that hold at least 6 oz of yarn. Great wheel for plying! Bobbin lead, German tension. Sold it to a spinner as soon as I could.

Ashford Joy double treadle
Nice travel wheel. Light weight. Bit short, I spin while sitting on my ottoman. Since it is weighted in one part of the wheel, it tends to roll when you stop treadling. Good for fine yarns more for med weight yarns.

That’s it on the wheels. I have an antique still in the shop but there isn’t a sense in doing a review on that.
So now onto a knitting pattern…..

Chevron Lace scarf
This scarf takes advantage of the bias introduced by placing k2tog before and after a yarnover.
The scarf will zig on one color and then zag on the other color.

This one is very simple, you will need:
U.S. size 5- 7 size needle
Indeceita Alpaca: 1 ball light grey, 1 ball black

Cast on 22 stitches with light grey
Knit one row
Knit 2, yo knit 1, knit 2 tog until the last two stitches, knit 2
Purl across the back
Repeat so that there are 4 rows of yarn over’s
End after a purl row

Knit next 4 pattern rows with the black, carrying the grey up the side
Knit 2, k2tog, yo knit 1, until the last two stitches, knit 2
Purl across the back.
Repeat until you have 4 rows of yarn over’s.

Repeat these two patterns carrying the non used yarn up the side until the scarf is as long as you want it to be. Bind off and you’re done.

PLEASE BE AWARE:
This pattern is a rough draft
There may be more or less than 22 stitches, the needles may be smaller than a US 5 (they are 4.5 metric I think.) Use whatever cast-on or bind off or YO you’d like.

That's all for now. Happy knitting!

Happy Blog iversary

2006-09-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

It has been one year today I have been blogging. In that year I have found that there are many blogs of many types and what I set out for this one to be has evolved into something else. It’s not as fancy or as funny as some blogs, not as educational or as personal as others. But it is at one time or another all of that.

I signed up for a hit counter and know that there are only a few people who read my blog, and I find that I’m actually ok with this. I have one consistent commenter (thanks Minnie) and a few friends and relatives now and then. I accept that I live in a small world. It does give me more time for crafts so I don’t complain.

I read a lot of other blogs. Local and not so local. Foreign and domestic. I’ve laughed and I’ve cried, and
I’ve learned from them all. I hope my readers have had at least one good laugh and learned something.
I can’t say my writing has gotten better, but I have become more conscience of it. I guess this means I’ve gotten something from it too. What a good idea it was.

And now the beat goes on. Drums Please!

This last two weeks have been a little busy; you all know I’m an accountant for the government so we’re “closing our books “for the year this month. So let me catch you up.

Thursday 14th at my LYS we had an incident. I won’t go into detail but the LYS acted in bad form. Most of my friends are holding another meeting somewhere else because of it. I am upset but undecided about moving with them. This past Thursday went with out incident..

I went Friday to buy a real cage for Miss Riley, and wound up coming home with dog food, a cage, and a male Jersey wooly. (Don’t ask, I’m really not sure. Some thing about free, and then came a box, and before I knew it there were two.) J looked at me and said “I told you when you got that first one that there would be more. Now Miss Riley will be 6 months old next month and she is already chomping at the bit to get to that buck. Unfortunately he’s not good breeding material so he won’t be doing anything with her. Well here is a photo of our newest member…Scotch (butter, hop, or fifth -of I haven’t decided yet)

On the spinning wheel my latest skein of yarn is a 3 ply yarn. 2 of Border Leicester and one of grey Angora. I have not yet replaced my ball winder and thoroughly suck at winding skeins. The B/L was spun on my drop spindle so it is fine and a little tight on the spin. The Angora was spun on my Schacht wheel and is actually blended with wool as well, but only maybe 25%. Together the yarn is still firm, but when knitted up the halo will bloom and give it a softer feel.

I’m now working on some raspberry tussah silk from TARA and a better version of my rocky road ice cream yarn. I also have some of the red (?) Ashland bay top going. I may ply it with the silk to see what I get.

Lastly I have an itty bitty drop spindle I use just for Miss Riley’s combings and now that she’s ready to be plucked, I’m gonna be spinning great quantities of that. I have some un-dyed tussah to ply with that when there is enough.

Now on the knitting front- I finished the shawl by not adding the green border, and knit up a pair of blue wool mittens for my 8 yr old. They need thumbs and a promise not to grow out of them before she gets them. My dad’s grey alpaca scarf is next, IF I don’t start the buckskin shawl first. (yes that’s for me too. I am getting greedy!) Business has been booming, I have another knit job, and this one is a little more complex. I’ve had jobs on seaming, weaving in ends, and blocking. This one will be a re-knit…..on mohair.

Wish me luck, I think I’ve got a job for the deep freeze.

Blogiversary

2006-09-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

Today is my one year blog anniversary, and I wrote a post for you at work and sent it home but it didn't get here in time so I'll put it in tomorrow.
Tune in next week for the exciting continuing adventures of Snarled Yarns!
Holy twisted fiber Blogman

All in a days knit

2006-09-12T13:40:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the main body of the shawl. I wove in all the ends and now need to do some sewing on one spot and figure out what kind of border I want to add. I even fixed the mistake at the beginning. Before I bound off this monster I counted the stitches, there were 330 stitches and to think I started off with 12. I did a little research on bindoffs because my standard one is always too tight. I know about the bind off with a larger needle thing but I didn't want to do that. This shawl needed something different. So I performed what's called a Russian bind off.
Please ignore the junk in the background.
In this method, you knit(or purl) 2 together. Then you take the resulting stitch, put it back on your other needle, and perform another knit two together with it and the next stitch. It goes fast, and uses a lot of yarn so if you do your math you won't run out. I have to say I was mightily pleased with the results. You can't feel the bound off edge and you can't see it either. It stretches just as much as the rest of the fabric. I'll probably never use the standard bind off again.

Now I have a few things left to do and some questions to answer... Block it first or last? Knit the border separate and sew on? Pick up stitches and knit it on? What kind of border? Any suggestions here will be great, I'm just so darn happy I'm done with this stage.

Have you noticed the new link on the right hand side? Yep, it goes to the yarn store of mine. Still haven't got all the stuff set up but aren't the photo's wonderful? I better hurry up cause those are going in the guild show and I will be tagging them as soon as they arrive in the mail. I may be investing in a label maker this year. J is already like "duh!" Then I can make proper ball bands. I also need to run into town and get a new winder.
Well gotta run and do some net surfing. I may wind up selling this shawl after all.
Toodles!

W.T. F.! Its all for sale

2006-09-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Now I don't usually curse on the blog, but truly WTF? I am having such a problem finding a good mill. One that is more predictable than the 3 I've dealt with so far. The latest mill, charged me 2.50 per lb for washing , then charged me another 6.00 per lb for picking/carding. Then I got hit with an 8.00 shipping fee for priority shipping. Standard shipping would have been fine, cost me less, and took a little longer, but I had no choice.
So for 4.5 lbs of wool I had a bill of 45.85.
Now for a Merchant all that cost goes into the selling price plus the purchase price of the fleece.(which I can't find right now but lets say it was 2.00 per lb) so now I have 10.00 in purchase price and 45.85 in processing(yes you HAVE to include shipping)making 55.85 for 4.5 lbs of wool. That averages out to ~ 12.41 per lb which is .77 cents an oz. Selling it at 1.00 per oz would net me .23 per oz profit and 3.68 per lb. W.T.H.?
Now If I spin it and charge 5.00 for an 1.5 oz ball of yarn(like many yarn stores do) when it only takes me an hour to spin 1.5 oz How much money would I be making?
NONE! And I'll tell you why..
You can't put a price on your time, and no one would pay 5.00 for 1.5 oz of plain handspun wool, when they could buy it cheaper somewhere else.
But for all you who would disagree with me I'll tell you what I do: I add 1.00 per oz/hour spin time for wool and 1.50 for harder fibers that have no wool in them. I add 75 cents if I dyed it. That plus the cost of the raw materials is the cost of my yarns.
Really my aim is to move it, not make a fortune off of it.
So if you see anything on the blog you want to buy, e mail me.
I'm gonna go give that new fiber a whirl,
Toodles

The bunny is running my life

2006-09-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

First a little song...
This is the shawl that never ends, it just goes on and on my friend, This lady started knitting it not knowing what it was and she'll continue knitting it forever just because..(continue ad nauseum)
Thank you Lambchop!

Ok on to the bunny. Riley, my 7 month old Jersey woolly doe, has decided that she runs my life. Have you ever got the attitude look from a rabbit? Well I tell you what, it looks much the same as on a human. She stands up on her hind paws and cocks her head at me in a way that says, " I know you didn't just walk away from me without feeding me!" Then when I did feed her she snatched it out of my hand! Another time when I was late with her supper she decided that it wasn't enough. I had to pick her up and give her cuddles before she would eat. Her very first temper tantrum was at 1 am when she kicked her (empty) water bottle off the cage and across the floor. There's a wake up I tell you. So I go to J and tell him the bunny is running my life. He says "that's what happens when you let a female in!" I laughed then, now it's got me thinking....

So there is a little blurb for you. That and I found that ball of merino cashmere at mangelsons for 4.99...Yeah still doing the happy happy joy joy dance on that one. I also managed to spin up that ball I was short for my August inventory. A 1 oz ball of corridale and pygora. Now what will I do for Sept? I tryed out some black longwool/pink mohair mix That I bought at the Iowa sheep and wool and was disapointed. Not enough pink mohair. I've got some grey angora I bought a while ago on the Schacht bobbin and some of the Ashland Bay top as well. I have the last of the white Border Liecester on my drop spindle but no yarn winder to ball it off for plying. ( I did learn how to use a Nostepinn this morning.) I have 2 empty drop spindles and my suffolk cross fleece on the way back from the mill. Incidently that is where the Corridale/Pygora came from. I still have the alpaca wool I could spin up(fat and chunky!)

Yesterday was my birthday by the way, my kids got me a card and J and his sister got me 2 Terry Pratchett books. They treated me out to lunch and I was glad all day. 32 is not the end of the world. (just keep saying that) I have a resolution for my new year..I am going to stop talking about the men in my life. I'm just tired of it. Really!
Now that I'm in the Guard I'm gonna have a lot more on my mind.
Toodles!

More fun than a barrel seat foot massage

2006-09-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hu-rah! I joined the Army national Guard this week, and am feeling VERY motivated. Just wait, first training is next weekend and I'm gonna be crying!
Tomorrow is my birthday I will be....NONE of anyone's business! just a year older and closer to perfection.
Thursday night was a great knit meet at the LYS. I am still not done with the shawl, cause that ball of yarn just won't quit! What's up with that? I have so many stitches now they're falling off the needles.
Deawn is so my new muse. Minnie is so cool, and the LYS pulled out sock yarn from Trekking (I think that's spelled right)
Today I was off from work and went to Mangelsons. I found a ball of White merino cashmere blend yarn. 87 yds 50 grams (recommended size 8 needle) for 4.99. I had to have it. I have so little cashmere in my stash. All I need now is buffalo and some of the new "man made" fibers like soy silk, seacil, Tensel...You get the jist.
After I failed at napping this afternoon, I took my 13 yr old to the state fair. We had a blast for 2 people who didn't do much. rode 1 ride, played 1 game, went to the petting zoo, rode a camel, fed the animals, ate ice cream and hot dogs. Once again it was a blast. I will ask, is it NORMAL to stick stuff on a stick and sell it? I'm talking alligator, shrimp beef ,pork, chicken, peaches, twinkies, and snickers! Where does it end?

And to top the week all off, Our Vice president, Dick Cheney came to my building this week to promote his man Fortenberry. We were so so thrilled we stayed at our desk and continued to work. He He.
Can you tell where My allegiance lies?

Oh and My teen/dogs broke my brand new ball winder so now I have to buy a new one. On top of registering the car and paying some back boarding fees.
Overtime here I come.
Toodles