Feistywoman Designs

Christmas knitting--all done! (Warning--some adult content)

2012-01-20T15:00:00.001-05:00

As the saying goes, better late than never. When we went to the Dutchess County Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck) this fall, our son drove over from Connecticutt and spent the afternoon with us. Being surrounded by yarn and sheep and stuff, he finally began to understand what the frenzy is all about. He got caught up in the festival, bought a skein of sock yarn for me to knit socks for him (which will be finished in the future), and asked if I could make a vest for him because he's frequently chilly at work. Who can turn down a request like that? I'd taken his measurements earlier in the year, we corresponded for a few weeks about color and fit, I ordered the yarn and away I went. The first one didn't work out well (more on that in a future blog) and so, at the beginning of December I ordered more yarn and knitted frantically to make my Christmas deadline. It was finished up to the armholes on Christmas Day, he tried it on and approved of the color/fit. It took me another 2 weeks to finish the top half and knit the armhole and neck trim and ship it off to him--but it's DONE! Here he is on Jan. 11 wearing his new vest at work.


(Yes, son, you're on my blog!)

In the meantime, I seem to have established a pattern with DS#2 who is an avid snowboarder. He once asked me if I could duplicate a bearded toque he'd seen on the slopes. Thanks to a kind designer on Ravelry, I could oblige him. It's now turned into a tradition--I find a funky hat pattern and knit it up, he wears the hat for the snowboarding season. This year I decided to out-do myself and use the Fornicating Deer graph, plugged into the Danish Ear Flap Hat in Hats On! The hat was also my way of working through the news that my brother's cancer had reappeared--with each stitch I sent a little message to the cancer. And here's the hat, fuzzy because none of us could stop laughing!

(And so are YOU, Little Bear!)

All the yarns used in these garments had to be machine-washable. Because my boys "don't DO hand washing". Ah well, at least they appreciate my skills.

So, that's the story of MY holiday knitting. How did the rest of you do? Did you finish in time? Did the recipient(s) love your work?

New studio for 2012

2012-01-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

Facing south, July 2007

Above is the attic as I knew it while growing up here. Yep, that's coal dust all over every rafter and floorboard! Getting the Christmas decorations from the attic back then meant bundling up in warm clothes and washing the coal dust off when you left. We thought it was really cool when we got natural gas heat piped all the way back here to this old farmhouse.


During renovation, May 2008, with the original insulation.

October 2008, almost finished.

July 2009: All finished (you can see the collar ties near the ceiling) and in the middle of unpacking.

Well, it's not actually a new studio but a newly remodeled studio. The workman who originally finished the attic in 2008 left out a very important step, and the ceiling developed a black mold in the peak of the roof. Not the unhealthy dangerous kind, but a potentially damaging mold if we left it alone. So we had the ceiling ripped out, new foam insulation blown in, new dry wall put up, and then we painted it. The ceiling has been lowered to the collar ties, which will allow for air movement above the ties and serve as extra insurance against any mold ever forming again.

Nov. 2011: Everything clean & bright. Wheels, fiber & the rest of the weaving equipment now live there happily!

But the studio is now brighter with the lowered ceiling which allows the lighting to bounce downwards into my workspace instead of being absorbed by the high ceiling. I added a few more track lights to areas that needed it. When we moved here in 2009, all the boxes for the studio were dumped up there willy-nilly. It took me weeks to put things back together, decide how I wanted the room configured and unpack the boxes. Once I'd worked there for 2 years I began to realize that the layout could be improved so I could work more efficiently. In the process of moving back into the studio after the mold removal and remodeling, I had the opportunity to rearrange the work space, re-think my storage options, consolidate most of the stash, and give away those things I will never use again (my guild members were appreciative!). It's so much more efficient and livable now, I love it up there!

Farewell to 2011

2011-12-31T08:32:00.000-05:00

On this last day of 2011, I want to say:

I’m glad FIL went peacefully to see his wife in August. We were there with him, and glad that he and MIL are together again.
I’m happy that DB#3 has made it this far and has developed a good attitude about his many illnesses.
Yeah, we’re a nuclear family that argues. But I’m so glad that we can discuss our differences without the large amounts of drama and ”I’m never speaking to you again” stances that some of the satellite family seems to bask in.
I’m thankful for Husbeast, who is a gem and continues to grow as a fine person and husband.
I’m fortunate to have friends, who stick by me when things are going down the toilet, who call on me for help when their life is full of nasty, who share holidays and laughter with me, who come back into my life after a 2-year hiatus, and the many who are also related to me in some way. (waving to Jean)
And praise the Interwebz, which has provided me with customers who have become friends and with plain-old friends in other states and other countries who are related to me by fiber and yarn.

May we all continue to bask in each others glow in 2012.

Streaker Sheep, courtesy of Budweiser

2011-12-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

I remember this beer advertisement airing during one of the Super Bowl competitions. Good to see it again, even if it's a bit pixilated!

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Parade of squirrels AND Black Friday Sale in my yarn shop

2011-11-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

When I get home from the gym each day, I fill the birdfeeders and put out peanuts for the squirrels, nuthatches and tufted titmice. I have to put them in separate piles so there are no arguments between our three types of squirrels (five squirrels chasing each other around the pine trees is a VERY noisy business!). Within minutes of putting down the peanuts, this is what I saw from the upstairs window:

All three squirrels with their tails up, protecting them from the drizzle, and all three facing the woods like a lineup of guilty critters. I consider the cardinal on the feeder, getting his share of the peanuts, as a holiday bonus!

I'll be hosting a sale in my Etsy yarn shop for the Thanksgiving weekend. Starting at the stroke of midnight on Friday, Nov. 25 through midnight, Sunday, Nov. 28, all yarns will be 20% off--use the code Wolf 11 when you check out and the price will automatically be reduced by 20%. Pick up a skein or two to make holiday gifts for loved ones, or wrap up a few skeins as a gift for your favorite craftsperson. Patterns and gift certificates are not included in this sale.

A few recent additions to tempt you.....

New yarns in my shop!

2011-10-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

Sorry, not much doing here on the home front this week. Other than washing the windows, doing laundry, making home made spaghetti sauce--but that's not what y'all want to hear, I'm sure.

I've just listed 3 new handspun yarns in my shop. Cherry Divinity and Peppermint Twist are bulky yarns, and Stormy Waters works up at a worsted gauge. I think Cherry Divinity would make a wonderful holiday hat. And I have more of the spinning batts here so may be forced to spin up some for myself and knit up a quick hat!

Peppermint Twist, 3.2 oz, 160 yds, Bulky

Cherry Divinity, 1.7 oz, 100 yds of Bulky yarn

Stormy Waters, 1.9 oz, 110 yds of worsted weight yarn

We're heading for a drive in the country tomorrow to pick up our meat for the freezer. Should be a spectacular drive on a fine autumn day. Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Oh yeah, GO STEELERS!

Ergonomic Earwarmer Two finally test-knitted and available!

2011-10-20T10:03:00.001-04:00

For such a simple knitted piece, this was a difficult pattern to finish. Interruptions kept happening, but that's life. Anyway, the pattern includes two different versions of the earwarmer--one in Garter Stitch and another in Mock Rib. Available in my Etsy shop and my Ravelry store (Feistywoman Designs). Knit up a bunch using leftovers and scraps for great holiday gifts.

The original Ergonomic Earwarmer needed company! And so we have two more earwarmers included in this pattern that are variations on the original but allow a lot more room for individual creativity. And the garter stitch earwarmer is uber-easy!

I hate, hate, hate earwarmers that are one solid band of fabric--it either rides up the back of my head or rides down over my eyes. To solve the problem I've created an earwarmer that will cover your ears, ride a little high at the back so your jacket collar doesn't push it upwards, and a little low at the front so your hair doesn't stick up in spikes. I also incorporated a little hanging loop at the back so it can be aired out afterwards.

Requires about 60 yds or DK weight yarn and is very easy to knit once the pattern is established.

Natural dyeing and sauerkraut

2011-10-14T10:15:00.000-04:00

No, I did not dye anything with sauerkraut although I understand someone somewhere managed to dye wool with RED cabbage. Once.

This was supposed to be a post about dyeing wool with black walnuts and goldenrod but someone-who-shall-remain-nameless has not sent me the photos she took, and so we shall do the best we can sans photos. This will very shortly become a post about making sauerkraut.....

Back in early September my usual group of spinning plotters and troublemakers met at my house. I have 6 walnut trees that gave us and our squirrels a bumper crop this year, enough so that prior to the meeting I could drop a bunch in a bucket of water to soak for several weeks. I also noticed that the goldenrod was in bloom, so I cut a shopping bag full, took it home and simmered it for an hour to extract the color (cooking goldenrod needs to be done on a day when you can open the windows--it gives off a rather "earthy" smell). I also cooked the walnuts for an hour and strained both. Once the day arrived, we soaked our skeins and clean fiber meant for the goldenrod bath in an alum and cream of tartar mordant bath for an hour, while we chatted about the stuff that ladies left on their own with coffee and time on their hands will chat about. I distinctly remember that we mentioned interesting male and female body parts occasionally.

Once the fiber was mordanted, we dropped them in the 2 baths--walnuts do not need mordants because of the high tannen content. All the fibers came out lovely and we were quite happy with the results (which I can't show because someone-who-shall-remain-nameless hasn't forwarded photos yet). I carded up the superwash wool/nylon blend that I dyed into sock fiber, adding camel down, bamboo and sparkly angelina just because I think socks that you spin and knit should be decadent and shiny.

Sauerkraut--
Although I attempted to grow my own cabbage this year, it just wasn't happening because the birds ate the first 2 sowings of seed. So we purchased 5 heads from our local farm. We used to shred the cabbage by hand but Husbeast wasn't in favor of repeating that performance. He used our food processor to shred and I have to say it was just as nice and A LOT faster. We managed to shred and pack 20 lb of cabbage in 90 minutes!

For every 5 lb of shredded cabbage, you sprinkle it with 3 tblsp of canning salt (table salt won't work as the iodine will retard the fermentation process), mix well and allow to wilt for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, you cut and shred more cabbage--I had 3 very large bowls going simultaneously; 1 being filled, 1 wilting, and 1 being packed.

Using a large straight-sided crock, pack the wilted cabbage snugly in the crock in layers. Once everything is packed, top it with cheesecloth and over turn a dinner plate on top of that. Fill a clean milk jug with water and place it on top of the plate, pushing down slightly to bring the brine to the top so it can protect the fermenting cabbage from rotting. Cover the crock/plate/jug with a cloth and let sit for 5-6 weeks, checking weekly to skim off any scum and check the progress of the sauerkraut. Once it's softened and tastes right, you can pack it in jars and process in a water bath. I mix my sauerkraut with apples, onions, caraway seeds and butter and use that to stuff chicken or turkey--the gravy is to-dye-for good!

(And please don't blame me for the boring sauerkraut-making post, it's all the fault of someone-who-shall-remain-nameless.)

Shameless plug

2011-10-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

Apologies for being away so long. I had a colonial festival that lasted through 2 weekends at which I was vending as part of a group--it was great fun, I made new friends and ran into some old friends. The best kind of 'work', if you ask me! Then I came home, unpacked my yarn, moved the last few items out of the studio, and welcomed the first of 3 contractors trooping through the house to begin work on my studio. I made them a pot of coffee--12 cups--and the two guys drank ALL of it in an hour! No wonder their work went so quickly.

At any rate, during the past few weeks I've managed to re-work my Ergonomic Earwarmer pattern. The newer version, Ergonomic Earwarmer Two, will include two different stitch patterns and a couple of ideas on how to use color in knitting them.

Do I have anyone interested in test knitting an earwarmer for me? Pattern uses US #6 needles and about 60-70 yards of yarn.

AND.....I have moved all my handspun yarn into my new Etsy shop, Feistywoman Handspun. So if you're looking for fiber, head to Feistywoman Designs. If you want patterns and handspun yarn to work those patterns, click into Feistywoman Handspun.

AND.....Last but not least, I find myself in two Etsy treasuries today.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NjQ2MDM3NHw4MDQ4NDEzMTM/woodland
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/OTMzMjgwMnw4MDcxNzYxNjI/dragonfly-tea-party

That's quite enough for today, I think.

I'm back -- with a suggestion for indie dyers

2011-09-09T18:51:00.000-04:00

It's been several weeks since the last post. We lost my father-in-law on August 26 and have been busy winding up all those things that must be done when a loved one passes. Somehow I managed to get all my orders in the mail and hope I haven't forgotten anyone?

BUT.....I'm back in the studio, carding more Sparkling Rhubarb and Eboni's Blue batts. And spinning yarn from the dyed rovings and combed tops I have on hand. I'll be with the Butler Spinners and Weavers Guild booth at Penn's Colony for two weekends and I've been spinning up a storm, trying to get ready.

Which means I've also been washing all those skeins of yarn I've spun up, and there's something I've noticed that disturbs me as a long-time spinner. I use warm water and shampoo to wash my skeins as I want to remove the spinning oil and any dirt that accumulated because clean wool yarn fluffs a bit and looks wonderful. Except....it seems that in the past year I've been running into more and more dyed rovings that are not washfast, meaning the dye bleeds in the wash. A little bit of color bleeding is expected, but it's evident from the amount of bleeding that some of these rovings have not been rinsed. I mentioned this to a friend of mine who is a dyer and she related several stories about dyers she's encountered at festivals who do not want to rinse their product because it won't look as good to the buyer(s).

And I have to ask---Just what do you hope to accomplish when you sell a beautifully colored roving (or yarn) to someone, who then washes it and the yarn fades because the excess dye has washed away? Or worse yet, when the bleeding dye attachs itself to another, differently-colored, skein and that skein is ruined? How does it help your business if you make the sale but never make another sale to that particular customer because your dyes ran in the wash water?

Please please rinse your dyed rovings and yarns thoroughly. It's just the right thing to do if you're putting your product in the hands of others.

And now I'll climb down off my soapbox and go make dinner.......

We love ya, Dad!

2011-08-27T17:00:00.001-04:00

RIP Ernest E. McFadden, Jr.
May 23, 1921--August 26, 2011

You'll be with your beloved MaryLou forever now!

It's harvest season!

2011-08-21T18:24:00.000-04:00

Harvesting the Good Things
I've been busy these past 3 days with the box of peaches I bought on Friday. I'll be making my jelly later this year when it's cooler, but I hadn't made peach butter in several years and it's a family favorite. You have no idea how much work I can get out of my 3 fellas by offering them a small jar of peach butter! ;)

It's a long process, starting with dropping the peaches in boiling water for 30 seconds so the skins slip off easily. Then they're chopped, one of my secret ingredients is added and they're cooked until soft. Next is putting them through the food mill to make a fine puree and remove any bits of seed that may have crept in there. Then we add the sugar and cook them down while stirring. This is the tough part--standing beside the pot for 1.5-2 hours, stirring and testing to see if it's condensed enough to jar and seal. As it cooks down, it splatters everywhere and you have to watch your hands and feet to make sure you don't get burned with flying hot peach butter! I usually bring a book and hope the peach butter doesn't splatter it. But it's all worth it, since I made 16 cups and that should last us for 2 years.

The remains of 26 peaches!


Peaches in the pot, and more for dessert!

Pureed and measured so I can add sugar

Done!!

Knitting
I’m still plugging away on the lace curtain. I have 4 more repeats of the lace pattern then I can start the hem, which is all stockinette stitch and should go much faster. I have also begun a swatch for an autumn-themed vest for myself. Below is the swatch, knitted in the round so I get the correct gauge. The yarn is all my handspun from my blended batts and it’s lucious–the ground color (beige) is a blend of BFL, Merino and tussah silk and it’s just so slickery-soft. The vest will be knitted in the round and steeked. Then I’ll add a leaf border around the fronts and just a bit of the red around the armholes. Or maybe I’ll use the brown/green yarn? Both the red and brown/green yarns contain angelina because I love glitter and glitz. You can see just a bit of the gleam in the closeup photo.

So, what's everyone else doing with their garden produce or their farmer's market purchases this year? Any good recipes out there?

Latest knitting projects

2011-08-08T08:05:00.000-04:00

Oh my. I swore I'd post every week, and here I notice that I haven't been around for TWO weeks? Ah well.....

One of the Black and Gold Knitters on Ravelry runs a charity scarf collection. The scarves are given to women in crisis when they first go into a shelter environment, and are meant to let them know that others (especially other women who are craftspersons) care about them. So I spent most of July knitting up some of my wool handspun and acrylic leftovers into scarves. These are most of the results (three others were still drying and not available for photography).

And then I went back to the pile of WIPs. Finished the Trekking Handpaint socks, the yarn for which was purchased at Will's Wools in Hoorn, Netherlands. I'd never seen that color of Handpaint locally and just HAD to have it! I love the socks. Then I moved on to the handspun socks, where I had stopped the second sock at the ankle because I was distracted by starting yet another project. I find this happening a lot, starting more projects, because I love the planning and problem-solving stages. Which brought me to the third pair of socks that I started this weekend. It's more of my handspun, but this time it's from a blend I sold several years ago. I may have to resurrect this blend, maybe add some camel or cashmere to the blend--what do you think? Would you like navy/turquoise sock spinning batts with camel or cashmere?

Handspun socks

Trekking Handpaint socks


Handspun Navy/Turquoise socks

Last but not least, I've also restarted on the lace curtain that I began in Europe in May. It's a bit tedious knitting--36" wide and 39" long with Size 10 Crochet Cotton--but I think it's turning out well. It's the Frost Flowers lace pattern from Barbara Walker's First Treasury and I've always loved that lace. To break the monotony of the lace and to make it a pretty door curtain, I've inserted a mesh in the middle which widens as the curtain grows. The mesh is at it's widest at this point, so it's the same rows repeated for another 12-15" until I can make the hem.

I must be testing my stamina this month, because I'm planning a major renovation of my attic studio due to mistakes made by the original contractor (whom we fired), two out-of-town trips and a rather large festival in the coming 6-weeks. Yikes!

Spinning Swedish fleece--Varmland

2011-07-27T20:31:00.000-04:00

Last month my friend in Sweden sent me a sampling of Swedish fleece to play with. What fun! Messing with fleece that I’d never touched before, processing them and spinning them, all the while thinking what I could do with the yarn. Not all of the samples are finished, but I had wool from three different Varmland sheep. Varmland is one of the old Swedish landrace breeds, a short-tailed, double-coated sheep. Both males and females are horned, either single or double horns. I would venture to say that the wool is medium-to-coarse grade and would make great hard-wearing outerware, rugs and upholstery material. If the outer coat is removed, the yarn is much softer. I carded all three samples with my handcards because I wanted to spin woolen. I felt that I didn’t have enough wool to do both woolen and worsted techniqes, and combing the fleece would have removed a good deal of the wool leaving me with not enough fiber to spin with a worsted technique.


All three wools, unwashed

We’ll start with the chocolate brown. This was about a 6” staple, stretched, with a lot of undercoat in relation to the longer outer coat. It was a bit difficult to draft, in part because there’s a bit of scruf (dandruff-like particles) near the cut end that seems to cause the wool to hold on and not slip past the adjoining fibers. I also suspect that this is a ram fleece, because it still has ‘that smell’ after washing and drying outdoors. But it’s a soft yarn for it’s grade. I had about 1/10 ounce and managed 8 yards of 2-ply yarn at 8 wpi.

Chocolate, unwashed

Chocolate, washed


Closeup of chocolate skein

The grey fleece had a 7” staple length, stretched, and similar properties to the chocolate brown—lots of undercoat in relation to the outer coat. However, this outer coat was a bit harsher and therefore spun a harsher yarn. Although I have to confess I LOVE the color, as there are very few naturally grey fleeces that I can wear due to the yellowing of the color from the sun. This was an easier spin, had very little VM, and I got 11 yards at 9 wpi from 2/10 ounce. I can see this yarn as a nearly-impervious woven jacket or a rug that’s destined to be an heirloom.

Closeup of grey skein

Grey, unwashed

Grey, washed

The third sample had been carded for me, and I suspect that the longer outer coat had been removed prior to carding. The rolags were wonderfully soft, tight and long—just perfect for woolen spinning. I got a very nice fingering weight yarn out of these rolags and think the yarn would be great for mittens or a seriously warm shawl or light jacket/sweater. I got 20 yards out of 1/10 ounce at 14 wpi.

Fingering, unwashed

Fingering, washed

Closeup of fingering skein

All three of these wools love to stick to themselves with no encouragement whatsoever, and so would work wonderfully for a felting project. Felted rugs with big-needle embroidery? Felted bags with the lock tips left unfelted for fun texture? These would be fun for a felter to play with.

European Vacation, Part 7--Haarlem and home again, home again

2011-07-14T10:22:00.001-04:00

Friday, May 13–Up early, we drive to Haarlem from the south which we’d never done before. What a mess! Lost, and looping around the same streets 3 times! Never again! Once we found Marktplatz and our hotel, which is inaccessible by car because it’s in the market square, we drove into the underground parking facility–only to find it locked up tight due to construction. Apparently, the locals removed the barriers and sat outside the local cafes drinking beer and laughing at the cars trying to park in the lot. The registrar at the hotel helped me drag our suitcases to the Hotel Frans Hal while Skip parked the car 2 blocks away. We had a very nice dinner in the Café Frans Hals (see a pattern here? Frans Hals was a Master Painter from Haarlem), and went to bed. Unfortunately, Haarlem does NOT go to bed on Friday nights and they partied in the streets and alleyways until 4am. I’ll probably not be going back to Haarlem any time soon.....

Saturday, May 14–After 2 hours sleep, we awake to a broken hairdryer, a breakfast room that won’t open until after we leave (not even for coffee!), so we jump in the car and head for Schiphol Airport stopping for breakfast along the way, turn in the car, go through extensive security–twice, and board our plane. Change planes in Philadelphia, arrive at Greater Pittsburgh Airport, pick up car and drive home. The most marvelous thing about Pittsburgh is the approach from the airport–the road goes through the mountain via the Ft. Pitt Tunnel and when you explode back into daylight the city is Right. There. In. Front. Of. You.

Due to the extremely rainy spring we’ve had, the grass had grown in our absence. We decided to rename our house The Hayfield.

So good to have seen old friends, made new friends, walked in marvelous cities, tasted wondrous food, and found one of my ancestral homes. But Pittsburgh? I was born a Yinzer and this is where my heart will always be at home.

Next: Some Swedish wool breeds and how they spin up

European Vacation, Part 6--My homeland

2011-07-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

Post-war housing, with flowers!

Roundabout at the entrance to town

Wednesday, May 11–We leave early in the morning to seek out the village in Alsace-Lorraine that Nicholas Farmerie left in 1824 to come to Pittsburgh–he’s my great-great-great grandfather. As borders changed, Behrens-les-Forbach and the surrounding was sometimes French (present day) and sometimes German (in 1824) and is now a suburb of Forbach. We did not stop at the Mayoral office to look for records because it became evident to us that the area had been heavily bombed (leveled to the ground) during WWII. Both France and Germany wanted this coal-rich area to support their industrial return. We found only a few graves in the cemetary that predated the war, and the vast majority of names were neither French nor German, but seemed to belong to the influx of Slavic and Italian workers who came to work the mines after the war. Nevertheless, it was interesting to me to see how the village was still surrounded by fields. I wonder where Nicholas lived, and what he’d say if he could see the town now?

St. Blaise church, 1945 awards ceremony

St. Blaise church, rebuilt in 1959

Thursday, May 12–We decided that our last day of vacation should be a relaxing one, so we drove into town and sat on a bench on the river. I knitted on a lace curtain I’d started during the trip–it was so comforting to see all the lace curtains in the Belgian windows, I felt a connection to the Old World. Skip read a book, we watched ducks (one young lady duck had at least 10 suitors swimming around behind her–I guess it was her smile that attracted them), we lunched at a tiny place owned by a friend of our hostess. I have to admit that my last lunch in Belgium was a huge bowl of local ice cream with Belgian chocolate sauce, and a cup of milk coffee.

Bouillon, as seen from the castle

Godfrey's castle, from the town bridge


The view upriver

The view downriver


The beginning of my lace curtain

Jacque, these are for you, my good friend

2011-07-08T10:54:00.000-04:00

Dear Lady,
Those of us who knew you wish you Godspeed and hope there's sheep where you are.

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled travelog.....

2011-06-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

....for this important harvest message.
I'm having a squeefest here! This is the third year I've planted a garden and the first year I've had any kind of yield--because the groundhog and the birds wiped me out every year. The groundhog found at least five different ways to dig into/climb over the fencing despite our changing the fencing twice and he/she leveled all the plants, including the raspberries; the birds attacked the blueberries and left us with 8 berries to ourselves last year, and pulled up and ate a lot of the seedlings. We now have a 10' fence around the garden that extends 4' underground, and 100 yds of bird netting over the berries and sprouts. I HAVE BERRIES AND LETTUCE AND PEAS! THE KOHLRABI AND CABBAGE AND CARROTS ARE GROWING MADLY!


Blueberries, black raspberries and snap peas picked this morning

Black raspberries from Monday


Rutabega sprouts


Catnip startings--I must be crazy to think the neighborhood cats will leave these alone

Having started my seeds indoors in late February every year, it's disheartening (to say the least) to have the wildlife consume my work in a matter of hours in June every year. I have tried different fencing systems, I've run outside uncountable times to shoo them, I've used a paintball gun to shoot over their heads and eventually to shoot at them (paintball guns are notoriously difficult to aim, so hitting anything smaller than a human was impossible--but so very satisfying to see purple paintballs splat on the ground where the animal had been). I've finally beaten them! Yee-haw!

I also washed the newest yarn I've made. Not sure if these will go out for sale or stay with me. I really like the three white/blue/green skeins as they will make a marled knit fabric and there may be enough for a vest for me, the yellow/green and red/blue/lime/white skeins will be enough for scarves for abused women who have gone to a shelter for assistance--it's a charity close to my heart.

Belated apology

2011-06-22T15:36:00.000-04:00

I also wanted to apologize for my 3-week absence. We've had a family member in the hospital and we've been running around like crazy people. Hopefully, I can go back to weekly posts in a week or so when things are more settled.

European vacation, Part 5--Beer and chocolate!

2011-06-22T15:34:00.000-04:00

Monday, May 9–Before setting out for the day, we stopped at the Belgian postoffice in town to mail the flax back home. No one there spoke English, we do not speak French. The best we could do was husband’s smattering of high school Spanish, which is at least similar to French. What an interesting 30 minutes THAT was!
We set off for Trier, Germany by way of Luxembourg. I knew that the Romans had expanded their empire through Europe but was unaware of just how much major construction they did. The Black Gate and ampitheater in Trier were humbling, especially to the engineer. We tend to think construction techniques were invented recently, but the Romans, Egyptians and Greeks were the experts!

Trier center and part of Black Gate

We followed the Our River north from Trier because Skip wanted to see Vianden, Luxembourg. What an incredible little town, perched on the sides of a steep valley with the castle looming overhead! We had dinner and local beer in the hotel situated on a hairpin turn near the top of the valley, where we could see down the valley and upwards to the town wall and tower defenses. I found it interesting that the towers were only half-round, protruding outwards from the wall and being flat on the inside of the wall.


Vianden Castle


The half-tower on the city wall

Tuesday, May 10–This time, we decided to stay closer to home and visit Our Lady of Avioth Basilica. Built in the 13th century, the basilica is a little marvel of Gothic architecture with unique gargoyles and lacy stonework.

From there, we drove over to Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval to tour the ruins from the fire of 1252 and taste the famous Trappist beer, which they’ve brewed since at least 1628. As the beer is not sold at the monastery, we decided on a late lunch of salad, cheese and beer in Florenville. Interestingly, we were turned out of the first restaurant because food was no longer being served–the lunch period was considered to be finished at 1:30! So we wandered across the street, where the owner was quite happy to converse with us in English and serve us plates of salad and cheese. One last stop down the street at Les Chocolats d'Edouard, considered to be one of the top ten chocolateries in the world. I had no trouble buying chocolate even though no one spoke English!
Last but not least, a few views of the countryside:

Next: I find one of my ancestral homes

European vacation, Part 4--Chateaus, castles and puppies

2011-06-04T09:11:00.001-04:00

Saturday, May 7–I love the Saturday markets in Europe. They’re usually held in the town center square and have everything you could want–the fresh fruits, vegetables, bread, cheese, fish–just wonderful to see and smell! On the advice of our hostess, we drove to Sedan, FR for the market. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. Apparently you needed to arrive before dawn to find a parking spot, and the stalls we saw from a distance were not selling anything we were interested in or could easily transport back home in our luggage. However, we DID find the local chateau high on the hill behind town. So we found a parking space and took a walk around the chateau as it was not open for viewing.

Then we drove back to Bouillon for lunch (Skip found the steamed mussels to be delightful, while I had a veggie pizza). We walked back across the bridge (most town centers are closed to cars on Saturdays so people can enjoy shopping and lunch without having to dodge cars) and drove up the hill to the ‘castle’. This isn’t really a castle but more of a military outpost to defend the town, but it belonged to Godfrey, Lord of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, and leader of the First Crusade. He sold his castle and all his lands to finance himself and others in the quest for the Holy Grail/Holy Land. Once the Crusaders took control of Jerusalem, Godfrey became the first ruler, eschewing the title ‘king’. It’s an amazing military outpost, and I don’t believe there was any way to approach the castle or surrounding lands without being spotted by the watchers high on the hill. (photos coming soon, they're still on husbeast's computer)

Sunday, May 8–After all the driving, visiting, and walking around the past week, we decided to spend the day in the garden, listening to birds (cuckoos!), reading (Skip), knitting (me) and playing with the dogs. Honcho (2 years old) loves to chase things and play; Einstein (7 years old) just sits back, lets the silly youngster chase things, and insists on being petted/rubbed/scratched as soon as Honcho leaves to chase the ball. Honcho, on the other hand, reinvents the game of chase every time–if you try to retrieve the ball from him, he moves it back in his mouth so you can’t get it; it you teach him to drop the ball, he’ll chase and retrieve it but only return halfway across the garden. He wants YOU to go after HIM for the ball! We ended up playing with them for a bit every night after dinner, and they looked for our car to return to the parking lot every day. I miss those two rascals.


Honcho taking a rest


Einstein--don't ya just love that face?


On the drive to Sedan, France

Farm field on the drive to Sedan, France

Next: Two more countries, chocolate and beer!

European vacation, Part 3--In which I buy yarn and acquire fiber!!!

2011-05-25T20:14:00.004-04:00

Thursday, May 5–We drove to Hauwert to see Annie and Jan. Annie was sure I’d get lost as it’s difficult to remember exactly which left turn to make after passing “Whoville” (a housing development that looks exactly like something Dr. Suess would think up. Where WERE the architects brains that day?). We were only 2 minutes late! Annie treated us to fresh coffee and cake, a walk through Medemblijk with a stop for lunch (brie on crusty bread, sparkling iced tea). When I mentioned that I couldn’t find stroopwafels in the supermarket where we used to shop in 2007, they stopped at the local Deen supermarket where I cleaned out the shelves. I am the Stroopwafel Blackmarket Maven! Then we drove over to Hoorn to see our friend Wilbert who owns Shouten Handwerken–you’ll have to check Annie’s blog for pix. Somehow, 2 skeins of sock yarn jumped into my hands and went home with me? The purple/pink Trekking Handart sock was started in Belgium--I looove it.

Friday, May 6–While we were getting ready to leave Akersloot, the front desk called to say my friend was waiting out front for me. She had about 3 kilo of Belgian flax for me stuffed in her bicycle saddlebags! Since it's considered an agricultural product, we could not take it in our suitcase (and it's just too much to fit in there without leaving clothes behind). On Monday morning, we stopped at the Belgian post office and mailed the flax home after much hand-waving and sad attempts at saying "Customs declaration" with a French accent. It cost 25 Euro (about $36) to mail home and it arrived quickly, although the side of the box was completely destroyed by US Customs and then taped back up with 2 (ONLY TWO!) strips of tape.

flax fibers against a black Prismatic pencil to show fine-ness

We hopped in the car about 9:30am and drove south through the Netherlands, heading for Belgium via Maastricht. Arriving around 4 at the Hostellerie du Cerf, we unpacked, washed up and had a lovely gourmet dinner accompanied by a local white wine. This dinner was just the beginning of a week of yummy delights cooked up by our host/chef.


The garden, 'our' chairs

The back of the establishment

Next: piles of rocks, we are adopted by dogs

European vacation, Part 2--Bloemendags and tulip fields

2011-05-20T16:05:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, May 3–On recommendation from both our Dutch friends, we drove over to Limmen to see the displays for Bloemendag ("flower day"). The residents use just the blooms from hyacinth and other spring flowers, pin them to backgrounds to make pictures, and leave them up for the week. Everyone rides/walks around to see the displays, which are sometimes political, sometimes sports related, sometimes whimsical.

Afterwards we drove over to Volendam for lunch at the St. Catherein where I love to sip beer and watch the ships, bought some tulip bulbs which we are assured don’t need a certificate because there’s less than 50 bulbs and they are clean, bought a couple of scarves because I just can’t resist them, and Skip bought a piece of painted porcelain HE couldn’t resist. Then we returned to the hotel to nap in the late afternoon because we were still suffering the effects of jumping ahead 6 hours, had dinner at the hotel, and spent the evening on the patio, knitting and watching the sunset.

Wednesday, May 4–Skip and I chose these dates for our vacation because we wanted to see the tulip fields.

Two different pink tulips here

SO RED it hurts our eyes!

We also drove over to Anna Palowna for their Bloemendag displays and stopped at a little restaurant/deli on the corner for lunch.

In celebration of Mothers Day on May 8

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Gre’s again to have dinner with them. We thought, Fons wouldn’t be able to join us for a take-out Chinese dinner because the church choir was singing at the war memorial in Akersloot–May 4 is the Netherlands’ Remembrance of the Dead, the day they honor armed forces members and civilians who died in wars or in peace-keeping missions since the outbreak of WWII.Between this and the Queens Birthday on April 30, the entire country was swimming in orange! However, the ceremony finished early and Fons was able to enjoy yummy hot Chinese food and good conversation with us again.

European vacation, Part 1--Wijk an Zee and Akersloot

2011-05-18T16:58:00.005-04:00

Sunday, May 1–We landed at Schiphol Airport, picked up our rental car (an Opal Corsa) and drove to Wijk an Zee for a walk on the beach. While we were living in Heemskerk we used to drive over to the shore on nice days to enjoy the breezes and watch the inhabitants out flying kites and playing with their dogs.

I'd always wanted to stop in a little hotel just near the beach but they were closed for the season when we were living there. This time they were open and we had a lovely brunch. I just love the European habit of serving a biscuit (cookie) with coffee!

We drove the short distance to the Akersloot Valk hotel where they allowed us to check in early (I made sad eyes at the reception desk and told them we were sooo tired from the flight). We took a nap and decided to just sit in the evening sun and drink beer for a while before dinner and bed. There’s something about the Dutch love of the outdoors and sunshine! I called our friends to let them know we’d arrived safely and to set up get-togethers.

Monday, May 2–We drove over to Akersloot (just a few minutes drive but we’re lazy Americans who would rather drive than bike–actually, bike rental was too expensive for just the short trip) to visit with Gre and Fons. I consider Gre to be my "Dutch sister" because we have so much in common and just chatter like two magpies when we're together. I wish we could see each other more often--maybe I'll win the lottery and be able to buy a small house in North Holland?

We spent the day walking in the bird preserve which borders the Alkmaardermeer and were almost run down by the local artist artist on his bicycle, who then proceeded to talk our ears off. What an interesting man.

It was lovely to spend some some with our friends' grandson who we hadn't seen in 3 years and to meet their third daughter when she joined us for dinner (we'd met their other daughters on our previous visits) We had wonderful macaroni and cheese with sausage and homemade banana ice cream for dessert.

Next up--Bloemendags and tulip fields

Trip down south, new toy

2011-04-16T16:26:00.006-04:00

I had a lovely time last weekend in Charlotte, NC. On Friday I drove a bit south to Pineville to visit the yarn/fiber shop. What a lovely well-stocked place. And their spinning teacher, Linda, is a delight. Having an appreciable stash at home, there's not usually much that I find I need to buy. However, they carry Mountain Colors dyed top and I just love the colors. So 2 bundles of Crazy Woman colorway followed me to my car. I plan to ply this with purple and knit myself a jacket--perhaps a sideways jacket to take advantage of the color changes. And on the way to the car, 2 skeins of sock yarn jumped off the shelf and asked to be adopted because their colors were so enticing. (Yes, yarn and fiber talk to me. Ask any fiberholic, it's a common occurance.)

On Saturday we headed for the mountains to see Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain. Knowing that the weather would change later in the day, we spent too much time wandering around near Blowing Rock, having a delicious lunch and hiking to Linville Falls. By the time we got to Grandfather Mountain the rain and lightening had arrived with us. The top of the mountain was closed as it's not smart to stand on a mountaintop when lightening is striking. So we headed down to dinner. Found Countryside BBQ in Marion, NC--OMG, what good bbq it was! Highly recommended!

View from Blowing Rock:

Linville Falls:

Before I leave, I'd like to introduce you to my newish toy.
I actually bought it a year ago, fooled around with it, stumbled on a class taught by the vendor (Eileen Hallman of New World Textiles) in January and I'm now having a blast spinning on my charka. It's got a 65:1 ratio so spinning cotton and other short staple fibers goes lightening-fast. And it makes this nice buzzing sound that I find quite relaxing.

L-to-R: Class skein playing with different tpi, class skein just getting accustomed to the wheel, 2-ply tricolor cotton top/recycled jeans. I'm still playing with different ways to handle the singles cotton before plying, and ways to ply efficiently (if you've spun high-twist fibers, you know how snarled they can become in the blink of an eye). And once I conquer cotton, there's always yak and cashmere to spin. Yep, the charka will require a LOT of spinning time!

I'm off adventuring again!

2011-04-07T08:35:00.002-04:00

No posts this week other than to let folks know that I'm heading out on another adventure. And I'm hoping to visit a yarn/fiber shop during my travels so will take photos of interesting things to show you. Off to pack the last bits and try to fit all my less-than-three-ounce toiletries in a quart plastic bag, which is really the most difficult part of packing for a trip--knitting project was packed yesterday, of course.

Hat Contest Winner!!

2011-04-01T14:21:00.004-04:00

Remember this hat and my mental block naming it? We have a hat name--Sea Anemones Hat! I think it's very appropriate. The little depressions are surrounded with bumps formed by purl stitches and they look exactly like a colony of sea anemones on a coral reef. Jennifer Green of Desert Garden Farms came up with the name and I'll be crediting her on the pattern. The pattern is out for test-knitting at the moment but should be up on Ravelry and my Etsy shop in the next month or so. Jennifer will also receive 20% off her purchase in my shop. This was such great fun, I should think about letting my peeps name ALL my patterns for me!

It's snowing sideways here but not sticking on the ground. Last storm of the season, I hope. But it's nice for drinking coffee, watching chick flicks and working on another hat pattern. I seem to be obsessed with hats this past year and have about 6 designs in the works. Hopefully, I'll be able to get them finished in time for cold weather/holiday knitting. I love spinning some yarn, playing with color and stitches and ending up with a garment--it seems like magic every time!

Storms, new spinning fiber and teaching venue

2011-03-25T13:14:00.001-04:00

What a lovely spring surprise we had this week! Wednesday evening we had some severe storms pass through and a tornado touched down about 50 miles away, destroying/damaging about 90 homes and the local high school. Twice, the storms brought hail to my house and rain puddles in the lawn where they shouldn't be because the rain came so fast and hard that the ground couldn't absorb it all. Photos of the front yard and outside my kitchen porch:

Just before the storms hit, the mailman delivered my Phatfiber contributors box. (If you're not familiar with Phatfiber sample boxes, click here.) The theme this month was Sweet Shop and it looks like all the contributors are definitely sweets lovers! These are my contributions (clockwise starting in the upper left)--Cherry Divinity, Peppermint Twist, Licorice Cherry Swirl and Lollipop Lollipop

And last, but by far not the least important news, I'm teaching at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival this year! Spinning a Consistent Singles is scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning we'll be working on Plying a Balanced Yarn. I love this show and have allowed myself time on Saturday morning to shop. Great vendors, lovely town, nice festival location, and really good lamb sandwiches! See you there?

Is it spring yet? And a hat-naming contest!

2011-03-18T10:38:00.005-04:00

We've had warmer weather this week, with lots of rain in midweek. But the temperatures seem to be steadily inching up and the spring bulbs are pushing their first bits through the soil, so I'm wondering if we can really really declare that it's spring?

Yesterday was a truly lovely day, even if it was a bit breezy. I'd been trying to set up a date to photograph some small pieces I've been working on with the intention of writing up patterns if I liked them. Our younger son's girlfriend, who is a fantastic lady BTW, volunteered to stand outside in the shadow of our trees and model for me. It was challenging, especially with the neckwarmers, because the breeze would come along just as the shutter clicked. Meaning that either the edge of the neckwarmer would lift up in an unnatural way or her hair would stand on end--some otherwise nice photos ended up in the trash because of this! Here's a few that I've managed to edit and touch up this morning.

Hat-Naming Contest:
As far as names for the patterns, sometimes they come easy and sometimes I need a dictionary/thesaurus to find something I like. This hat pattern has completely eluded me though, and I could use some help with an appropriate name. Keep in mind that other knitters and spinners will come up with differently colored yarn for this pattern so it can't be based solely on my color selection. I'll take suggestions via blog comments until the end of March (midnight EDT March 31). All names will be given consideration and I'll choose the one I feel best fits the pattern. The winner will receive a credit line on the finished pattern AND 20% off their purchase in my Etsy shop (not including items already in the Sale category). Here's the hat in question:

Thanks in advance for your help with this problem hat. Let the contest begin!

Snow! In mid-March!

2011-03-11T09:38:00.004-05:00

Along with the warmer weather we've had some rather weird weather too. Yesterday it started to rain, really heavy rain, and when the temperature dropped it turned to snow. There's a light coating of heavy wet snow on everything this morning and it's still coming down. I DO prefer new snow to the dirty older stuff but at least it's not enough for me to shovel myself out of the looong driveway, nor is it windy or very cold. So it's just pretty.......

The view from my bedroom at the front of the house. Typically you can see pretty far into the distance but it's all foggy with snow right now.

Taken from the window on the second floor landing. This is where the deer roam and cross into our yard to raid the corn on the squirrel feeders. It was an open field when I was little, and our mom sent us out there with a pot to gather berries for jelly and jam. We weren't allowed to return home until our pot was full!

This is part of the back yard, with the new deer and groundhog-proof fencing. The woods behind the old chicken coop (where we now store the lawn tractor and garden equipment) is where we kids built tree houses, played in the creek at the bottom of the hill and rode sleds in the winter. More than once I went so fast down the hill that I ended up in the creek!

Weaving in the near future?

2011-03-08T16:25:00.006-05:00

I suppose you could call me a ‘lapsed’ weaver. Once upon a time I did a lot of weaving. In fact, I did it for a living, hiring myself out to local and not-so-local designers to weave yardage for their creations, and weaving items for sale and a few creations of my own to enter in shows. Along came a hefty dose of Real Life, and I had to get a job with medical and educational benefits for the boys. I sold the loom and all the accessories and left the weaving world for 20+ years.

One of my spinning students bought a loom years ago and asked me to teach her to set it up and weave. And I was bitten by the weaving bug again, found an old loom, bought it and brought it home back in 2005. This loom was built under Osma Todd Gallinger’s brand and somehow ended up stored in a hen house! It was rescued sometime later, used to weave rugs and passed on to a studio in eastern Pennsylvania. They sold it to help finance their troubled youth program and it came to live with me, all in pieces, with lots of notes, diagrams and photos to help in it’s re-assembly.

I finally found the time last week to clean it up (yep, found hen house straw in the oddest places!) with Murphy’s oil soap, give it a good coating of orange oil, and put it together. After Sunday’s marathon re-assembly, it really is surprising that hubby is still speaking to me!

So, here she is–42" weaving width, 8 harnesses, 14 treadles.

I still need to give the castle, warp drum and harnesses a good cleaning/oiling, figure out how the brake chain goes on, and buy Texsolv heddles and reeds. But I’m hoping to be weaving with my handspun yarn by some time this summer. I'm looking forward to re-acquainting myself with those complex twills! Yay!

Navaho, or large support, spindle spinning

2010-12-08T13:10:00.002-05:00

Working away on my COE-Spinning skeins these days. I haven't done much spindling, and NO Navaho spindling for 25+ years. So I took out the Navaho spindle I'd purchased from a woodworker in Memphis, tried working with it and realized that I'd bought just that--a woodworkers spindle. NOT a spinners spindle! It was just too heavy and wouldn't hold a spin at all. Live and learn! I did a little research and decided on an Al Snipes Navaho spindle, available from Hillcreek Fiber Studio.

I started working with it in earnest yesterday and by last night had settled on the best technique and the best wool to use for this skein. This morning I finished most of the skein (had to break for lunch and a cup of coffee). I have to say, this spindle is just "the bees knees"! Lightweight, removeable whorl, easy to get spinning and holds a spin just as long as I need it to! I'm just lovin' this tool, and may have to make it one of my airline travel spindles (if the shaft will fit in my carry-on). It would be wonderful for spinning up some chunky (chunky for me is worsted weight--LOL) yarn or for plying yarn spun on another spindle.

Back to the studio before my coffee gets cold!

Thanksgiving dinner, a revisited adventure

2010-11-18T13:49:00.003-05:00

Years ago, I was the one who hosted Thanksgiving dinner. In 1988 I had 38 people at my place, I used the neighbors oven to bake things and her refrigerator to store things that were overflowing in my house. Had the whole clan over (there's a BUNCH more of them now and we'd have to rent a hall to have dinner together now).

Then I married The Engineer 15 years ago, and his moms favorite holiday was Thanksgiving. She loved the colors, she loved the turkey, she loved having everyone around the table, she loved the laughter, she loved the shouting at the after-dinner football games--it was just her most favorite day! Last year she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was due for surgery right after Thanksgiving, so we shared the duties and I hosted. We made 2 small turkeys--one at my house and one at hers--because she still wanted to get her hands in that bird, she loved the day THAT much. (What a hoot, running over to her place the night before to pick up my share of the stuffing!)

This year, we're celebrating without her. And it's all up to me to try to remember how to time everything to be ready at the same time as the turkey. Y'see, I still haven't figured out the eccentricities of the new oven after a year, I've forgotten if the turkey is usually done a few minutes before or a few minutes after the suggested time. Then there's the letting-it-sit-for-15-minutes, and the time it takes The Engineer to carve (he has to share nibbles of turkey with the cat, and that lengthens carving time), all while I'm making gravy and trying to keep the mashed potatoes and extra stuffing warm and moist. Hmmmmm, maybe I need to start an Excel spreadsheet? But, I didn't used to do it that way, I used to know how to this as easily as I know how to spin yarn. Either I'm getting old and foggy in the brain or I've become accustomed to leaning too much on technology and expecting that cooking large dinners can be cataloged and/or kept to a firm schedule.

Either way, no one will turn down the turkey when it comes 'round on its serving platter, and no one will comment if the mashed potatoes are a little cool or the cat is sitting under the table staring at us with his laser eyes because he wants more nibbles. So, it's all good!

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone! And remember why we call it "thanks giving".

Forgive me, but I had to post this

2010-11-14T13:41:00.001-05:00

And now we know why I don't do festivals/fairs anymore. Too old to hold my tongue!

Return of the prodigal

2010-11-01T05:52:00.002-04:00

I've recently been reminded by a few folks that I've not posted anything for several months. Sorry about that but I needed to crawl into a cocoon for a bit. Having lost my mother-in-law/close friend, my favorite cat, my favorite brother, and my oldest brother within 9 months was overwhelming for me. I'm the sort of person who needs to draw inward when in trauma and that's where I've been--working around the yard, knitting, spinning and just being quiet so the internal upset would have a chance to settle.

I've also been moving forward on my COE-Spinning and now have several skeins and quite a bit of the written work finished. I try to work on it 20 hours a week but it's difficult to spin to regulation or work with equipment I don't enjoy when there's all those pretty colors of wool calling my name. I keep reminding myself that nothing worth having is easy to obtain. Heck, it took me 30 years to earn my Bachelors Degree!

I washed some skeins of handspun last night that had been hanging around my desk for a month. The red yarn which always bleeds slightly managed to bleed A LOT this time, and the nice sage/mint/beige/turquoise handspun now has permanent pink spots. There was no reason for this dye to adhere to the fiber, other than the heat of the water. Despite having done everything that I know to remove the dye, there's still pink on the wool. Any suggestions?

A little help over here, please? Monday morning rant....

2010-08-23T11:51:00.003-04:00

Anyone else having this experience? You call a company, you get shifted to one of those automated menu messages where not ONE of the options is what you need? Or worse yet, the phone rings many times and either goes to voicemail or is ignored? You sign up online (sometimes repeatedly) for more information and never hear from the company again? What the heck happened to customer service?

All summer, I've been chasing several businesses that I dealt with in the past and have little success getting a response the first, second or third time. My pork supplier that I've worked with for 3 years now, has only bothered to respond once to my numerous emails and phone calls, and that was to say she'd "check her messages". And I was ready to throw lots of money at them! Two other farmers I buy from either do not confirm my order and payment or are slow to do so. Bought tickets for the local beer festival online, because that's the only way they wanted to do sell them, and it took 6 WEEKS to get a confirmation that they had my money. Tickets didn't show up till 2 weeks after that! The auto body shop that I've dealt with a couple of times hasn't bothered to reply to emails/calls AT ALL! I'm having the work done by another, closer but slightly more expensive, body shop. I just spent 2 days chasing down the Ziebart dealership to ask a question and make an appointment--finally got him an hour ago after strong-arming his assistant. I'm ready to go for a test drive in a car and possibly purchase in the next day or so, but can't get the Online Sales Manager to actually call when he says he will.

I could understand the slow/non-responses if I were simply a casual customer but these are businesses that I've done business with before! I realize that the economy is recovering slowly but I would think businesses would go the extra mile to retain old customers and attract new ones. I just don't get it.....

You may now return to your regularly scheduled day.

Dedicated to my family, neighbors and friends

2010-08-18T12:16:00.002-04:00

Feeling sad today for losses I've endured, heard about, and witnessed. Found this:

Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material.
~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Some folks will do and say things within their family that they would find abominable in people outside the family circle. Yet they plow into each other in ways that are so destructive to all parties. Do they think that family are impervious to their hurtfulness? Do they think that they do no harm to themselves?

Play nice today......

Fawns a'plenty!

2010-08-05T09:00:00.003-04:00

We woke up this morning and looked out the window to check for any storm damage from last nights rain. Curled up in the front yard was the sweetest little fawn, just growing out of his baby spots. Mom was nowhere to be found in our yard so we assume she was out in the woods having a little "Mom Time". I apologize for the blurry photo, it was shot through the window this morning.

Last week, doing the breakfast dishes, I saw this same fawn with his/her mother, grazing in our yard along the edge of the woods. An hour later, another doe with twin fawns crossed the yard going in the other direction, wandered around the property finding good things to nibble, and disappeared behind the neighbors house.

Here I am in the heart of a populated suburb, with all sorts of wild animals crossing through our large yard. I suppose it's the only 'meadow' in the area and they realize they can shelter in the surrounding woods and safely come out for food (although sometimes their idea of "food" does not mesh well with my flower and vegetable plantings) It's fascinating to watch them and we love the fact that living here is almost like camping, except we have all the comforts.

Do finches have heart attacks?

2010-07-30T17:06:00.002-04:00

I swear the pair on our back porch are headed for cardiac problems. They've been in that nest for 2 years now, and are currently raising their 3rd brood. I understand that when our cat is outside, they would be upset and raise a rucus. Whichever bird is closest to the porch flies from bush to bush, squawking and chattering in anxiety. But...they do the same thing when I pass near the window, or when nothing at all is happening out there. Any day now, I expect to go outside and find one of them lying on their back dead and the other bird parent fussing around, while the babies in the nest chatter for more bug dinners.

Anyway.....

I finally put the Siberian Husky-blend yarns up in the store. The fur creates a nice halo, I like it a lot. I haven't knitted anything yet to see how it behaves while being worn, but that's in the works. And, by the way, 10% of the proceeds from selling this yarn will go to Tails of the Tundra Siberian Husky Rescue.

In which I report on another teaching venue, my garden, and my knitting pattern revisions

2010-07-17T17:55:00.004-04:00

New Teaching Venue
I've been going to Fingerlakes Fiber Festival for several years now. Last year, I bumped into the lady who organizes the classes and chatted with her for a bit. Sent in my applications this spring. And received word last month that all three classes were accepted! Their website is updated with the 2010 classes and there's lots of other stuff to do up there. This is a wonderful hidden gem of a festival, folks, about 6 hours from DaBurg. There's lots of wineries around, and I can tell you where the BEST Indian restaurant can be found. This is the area that inspired my Upstate Meadows batts (which are currently sold out of my shop, but more will be made soon). Come on up and spend some time in the country!

Garden
Speaking of the country, I started harvesting my garden a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually, much earlier than that because lettuce and spinach come up FAST. After the lettuce, rhubarb and peas, the garlic was the first crop to come out of the ground. And I made a garlic braid today! I'm so proud of myself! It's hanging in the kitchen right now, with some bits of dirt still clinging to the roots. Couldn't shake/brush all the dirt without losing the dried garlic leaves, which is what one uses to make the braid. Making some caponato tomorrow with fresh eggplant and tomatoes from a nearby farm, and have some whole wheat Italian bread in the breakmaker right now. Lunch is gonna be GOOD tomorrow.

Garlic braid

Garlic fresh from the garden last week

Fresh rhubarb, peas and lettuce, washed and ready to go!

My knitting patterns
Reading the always-active copyright posts on Ravelry, it occurred to me that I hadn't looked at my copyright blurb in some time. It used to read "Garments knitted from this pattern are intended for the buyer's personal use and may not be sold for profit without prior written financial arrangements with the author". And I realized that it did not reflect what I actually wanted to say. I have always been happy to see knitters make something for themselves or their family/friends from my designs. *I* know I'm not going to make a boatload of money licensing my designs, but I did want some type of control over the items made from my pattern(s) and offered for sale. After all, if my name is going to be attached to a handknit item, I want it to be high-quality and the sales handled in a professional manner--and so I want to talk with the knitter to get a feel for who they are. And I LIKE knowing other knitters, especially the ones who like my patterns LOL. So I have taken out the word "financial" in order to be clear that I'm quite happy to have folks use my patterns to make and sell items--just please ask first.

Change in dates for summer workshops!!

2010-07-09T13:47:00.003-04:00

Due to my brothers death, I've had to reschedule the 3 summer workshops/classes I'd previously scheduled. Folks who had already registered were kind enough to help me choose new dates, and I'm hoping the new dates will allow some of you to attend now.
Register early by email (carol [underscore] mcfadden [at] verizon [dot] net) or phone to reserve your space. Payment can be made via Paypal (I’ll send you an invoice once you’re registered) or personal check. At this time I’m not able to accept credit cards. Payment in full is expected three days prior to the workshop.

Spinning Woolen vs. Worsted Yarn

Did you know that the preparation of your wool affects the type of yarn you will produce? That there are different methods of drafting your wool to achieve either woolen or worsted yarn, and variations of these techniques? We’ll be preparing our own fiber from washed fleece, and talking about the traditional uses for both types of yarn. Students should be comfortable spinning on either a wheel or spindle.

Supplies to bring with you:
--Spindle or wheel (don’t forget oil, hook & extra drive band)
--Handcards/minicombs, if you have them (one pair of each will be available to share)

July 31, 2010—12:30 to 2:30
$35 includes materials and handout

Spinning Textured Yarns

Ever wonder how tweed yarns are made? Don't know what to do with that ounce of angelina or dyed silk waste you bought at the last fiber festival? In this 4-hour workshop, we’ll address these questions and more. If you have a fiber you've been wanting to try, bring it along too! We’ll experiment with it if there’s time. Students should be comfortable spinning on either a wheel or spindle to make well-constructed consistent yarn.

Supplies to bring with you:
--Spindle or wheel
--Handcards if you have them (one pair will be available to share)
--Niddy noddy and hang tags to wind off and label sample skeins (optional)
--At least 3 bobbins for your wheel; spindlers bring a storage method so you can wind off yarns as you make them
--Spare drive band, oil, any other “tools” you usually carry when spinning
--Please bring your own lunch; coffee/tea/water will be available

August 14—10:00 to 12:30 with 30 minutes for lunch
$60 includes materials and handout

Spinning Colored Yarns

In this 4-hour workshop, you will learn how to put multiple colors in your spinning without buying handpainted roving. We'll explore different carding and spinning methods to achieve mixed-color yarns and space-dyed effects and discuss the results and their uses. Students should be comfortable enough with a wheel or spindle to make well-constructed consistent yarn.

Supplies to bring with you:
--Spindle or wheel
--Handcards if you have them (one pair will be available to share)
--At least 3 bobbins for your wheel; spindlers bring a storage method so you can wind off yarns as you make them
--Spare drive band, oil, any other “tools” you usually carry when spinning
--Please bring your own lunch; coffee/tea/water will be available

August 28, 2010—10:00 to 2:30 with 30 minutes for lunch
$60 includes materials and handout

Hope to see yinz guys soon. Notice of August Saturday spinning day will be coming in your email soon......

In Memoriam

2010-06-27T00:14:00.003-04:00

Hoist an Iron City to the memory of my big brother, Ralph L. Geist (1936-2010). A good and loving husband, father, brother and neighbor who is now at rest and peace.

The second of my summer spinning workshops

2010-06-09T18:02:00.002-04:00

Spinning Colored Yarns

In this 4-hour workshop, you will learn how to put multiple colors in your spinning without buying handpainted roving. We'll explore different carding and spinning methods to achieve mixed-color yarns and space-dyed effects and discuss the results and their uses. Students should be comfortable enough with a wheel or spindle to make well-constructed consistent yarn.

Supplies to bring with you:
--Spindle or wheel
--Handcards if you have them (one pair will be available to share)
--At least 3 bobbins for your wheel; spindlers bring a storage method so you can wind off yarns as you make them
--Spare drive band, oil, any other “tools” you usually carry when spinning
--Please bring your own lunch; coffee/tea/water will be available

July 10, 2010—10:00 to 2:30 with 30 minutes for lunch
$60 includes materials and handout

Payment Information
Register early by contacting me through this blog or on Ravelry (I'm feistywoman) to reserve your space. Payment can be made via Paypal (I’ll send you an invoice once you’re registered) or personal check. At this time I’m not able to accept credit cards. Payment in full is expected three days prior to the workshop.

Summer Workshops 2010

2010-06-06T08:33:00.002-04:00

At the request of my friends and fellow spinners, I've designed a few spinning workshops for this coming summer. Having released the info to my gang of spinners (well, they ARE the ones who encourage me--the wind beneath my wings, so to speak), I'm opening things up to the public. I'll be posting them in 3 parts because I'm not sure my host will allow the entire document in one post, and I'd rather be spinning than editing Word documents!

Workshop/Class Offerings, Summer 2010

Spinning Woolen vs. Worsted Yarn

Did you know that the preparation of your wool affects the type of yarn you will produce? That there are different methods of drafting your wool to achieve either woolen or worsted yarn, and variations of these techniques? We’ll be preparing our own fiber from washed fleece, and talking about the traditional uses for both types of yarn. Students should be comfortable spinning on either a wheel or spindle.

Supplies to bring with you:
Spindle or wheel (don’t forget oil, hook & extra drive band)
Handcards/minicombs, if you have them (one pair of each will be available to share)

June 26, 2010—12:30 to 2:30
$35 includes materials and handout

Payment Information
Register early by contacting me through this blog to reserve your space. Payment can be made via Paypal (I’ll send you an invoice once you’re registered) or personal check. At this time I’m not able to accept credit cards. Payment in full is expected three days prior to the workshop.

So there you have it. Please feel free to get in touch with any questions, comments, etc. And be careful out there--tornado warnings abound in Western Pennsylvania this morning.

I may actually be over-fibered.....

2010-05-24T23:58:00.003-04:00

Last weekend I was one of the spinners on a sheep-to-shawl team at the Waynesburg Sheep and Fiber Festival in Waynesburg, PA (for photos of the 3 shawls, see Wild Rose Farm's blog, here--that's me in the sunglasses!). And then I carded lots of batts this week, photographed them and should get them in the shop this coming week. And spun some yarn. And knitted some hats. And knitted on my brown tweed sweater, ripped it out, knitted it again, and must rip out again because I'm math-challenged and figured the raglan decreases incorrectly. And today I headed to Stramba Alpaca Farm because.....I'd never been to an alpaca shearing and wanted to see what's up with that (she says innocently). Been a while since I assisted at sheep shearing and wanted to see the difference. Folks, it's more work than sheep! Sheep seem to be more accepting of having their hair removed. They have their hooves trimmed and usually get a protective shot of meds. Assistants grab the sheep for the shearer, whisk away the fleece (which sticks together as that's just the nature of sheep fleece), take it to a skirting table and pull away the undesirable bits. Alpacas don't like the whole idea of laying still and having shears run over them and some of them yell about it--loudly and unendingly. The assistants grab the fiber in 3 (and sometimes more depending on the farm) different batches--the blanket, the neck fiber and the trash. Their fiber drifts everywhere, and must be swept away before the next animal comes in. Sometimes there are other things that need to be swept away. It's tiring work and requires lots of helpers. By the time we were down to the last 4-5 alpacas, when I was asked to hold the animals head I had to refuse because I was just too tired to do the job well and didn't want to accidentally hurt the animal. I think I clogged the shower drain with the junk adhering to me. My feet hurt and I've had ice on them for several hours tonight. I don't want to card, spin or knit tonight cause I've seen (and picked off the barn floor) enough fiber for today. My hat is off to shearers and their assistants, because they will get up tomorrow and do it all over again. You guys rock!

Our Idaho adventure and Posy Toes spinning

2010-05-03T09:46:00.003-04:00

We returned home last weekend and had a ton of stuff waiting for us--unpacking, washing laundry, mowing the overgrown lawn, making more arrangements for FIL to move in, etc, etc. I took a good number of photos for artistic inspiration and hope to have a new line of fiber batts based on the hot springs, geyser pools, and lichens that abound in Idaho. For a relatively dry state, I'm amazed at the amount of color that nature manages to squeeze out of the environment. Here's a teaser:

Work progresses on the Posy Toes Caladium batts. I've got almost a full bobbin.

I usually spin half the fiber on one bobbin, half on another bobbin, and ply them against themselves. I'm still trying to decide if I want a 2-ply like the others or if I want to Navaho-ply these to preserve the color gradations because I like them so much. Making a 3-ply would mean changing the sock knitting pattern as the yarn will be considerably thicker. We'll see.......

Going missing this week

2010-04-15T13:00:00.003-04:00

Sorry, no blog post this week. We're packing up and heading to Idaho Falls to visit our youngest son. There will be much eating, hiking, and laughing, hopefully a trip to Yellowstone again (we've never seen the park in the off-season), and general lollygagging about the countryside. I've been busy getting everything ready for our absence--teaching the catsitter how to use the security system, doing laundry, finishing dyeing some superwash wool, yak, and tussah silk, packing the sock knitting, etc. Of course, the last thing I do is pack the clothes; travel knitting is ALWAYS packed first!

Sock yarn has not been started yet, but it's on the To Do List for later today. I'm off to buy catfood so HRH Mercury has a decent selection for the coming week. Enjoy the week, and keep on spinning!

How to spin my Posy Toes batts--Caladium

2010-04-09T08:56:00.004-04:00

First, let me apologize for the photo quality--it was a rainy dreary day and I had to shoot inside with incandescent light--ugh!

For the third and final technique, I chose the Caladium colorway (none in my shop presently--I think they're still packed from the move!). It's a deep green/teal/ruby batt that I love and that will go with many things in my wardrobe. The technique for spinning these is a semi-woolen technique. Start by rolling the batt into a sausage shape--widthways if you want striping, longways if you want more of a blend. I want a bit of striping so have gone widthways.

You then begin to attenuate the roll, stretching it out in stages until it's a fat roving. I usually start at one end and gently pull the roll with one hand while holding the roll with the other. Keep enough distance between your hands that the wool will slide easily--it shouldn't be a tug-of-war!

Once you've gone from one end of the roll to the other, start again and work back to the beginning. This way, you achieve a more even thinning of the fiber roll as we all have a dominant hand. If you continuously start from the same end, that hand will overtake the non-dominant hand and eventually pull the roll apart completely (yep, did that once or twice!).

You will continue thinning the roll till it's the thickness you like. I like mine to be about 1-1/2" wide because I will spin with a long draw to trap air in the yarn and that's my preferred prep for the technique. If you haven't done the long draw, you probably want to practice before spinning sock fiber until you're comfortable with the preparation and the spinning technique.

Finally, I'll roll the lengthened batt into a ball of roving. Actually, since my batts come three-to-a-bag, I split one of them in half so that each ball of roving is actually 1-1/2 batts-worth of fiber.

Next, doing the actual spinning......

Tweed yarn, at last!

2010-04-03T11:21:00.003-04:00

I have finally managed to card wool and spin a tweed yarn that's to my liking. It's all about what kind of bits you add to the wool, and what kind of wool you use for the base--took me 3 months to figure that out! I'm finishing up the last of 2 skeins, then need to wash them, knit a sample and photograph both the skein and sample. Pix coming soon.....

I'm also working on the third and final installment of spinning my Posy Toes sock batts. Prepared the fiber while taking photos of the process this morning, and will have a new post up next week. Just not enough time today, with preparing for Easter dinner tomorrow (roast leg of lamb with mustard/soy glaze, spring peas, scalloped potatoes and coconut cake for dessert--yum!)

And I managed to get my Phatfiber samples in the mail in time for the April box. April's theme is "All Creatures Great And Small", and I was inspired by the Easter holiday and all those pastels in the stores to do something with lavendars and purples. I made 2 sets of samples--Little Blue Heron is the marbled spinning fiber, and Lavendar Waxbill is the new cashmere sock fiber.

Must run to check on the cake in the oven. See yinz next week!

Teaching and new fiber

2010-03-25T17:58:00.006-04:00

This was my week (month?) to write and submit teaching proposals. I'm submitting to a couple of fall fiber festivals, and perhaps to some nearby spinning and weaving guilds. I've decided to 'take the show on the road' once or twice a year and do some 4-hour workshops. Teaching keeps me sharp--I have to be current on my information so I can answer questions that arise, and it also inspires me because students come up with some very interesting ideas for yarn. Once the "What if?" ideas start going around the room, it's just like swimming in the middle of a Think Tank, and I LOVE it! I always go home completely exhausted and yet my mind is churning with yarny possibilities.

I've also listed a new sock fiber. It's a blend of superwash wool, nylon, angelina and CASHMERE. It is sooo yummy to the touch. I would have liked to put more than 15% cashmere in the blend but discovered that anything more than that started to fly around the room while carding and was difficult to spin properly. I was also concerned that the washability would be lost if the cashmere percentage was any higher. There are several other colors in the works--I just have to decide which one will stay home with me (I always keep at least one of my colorways cause I just can't seem to let go of my 'child').

This is Fire.....

and this is Water

And just for the fun of it, a peak at my latest marbled yarn/roving (both are available), Glow.

I just love what I do.......

It's been a while....

2010-03-17T14:04:00.003-04:00

I've been very busy lately trying to catch up with everything that was left hanging when Mom passed in late December. I've gotten the shop back in shape, dealt with contractors/insurance company to repair the storm damage (the gutters all sagged badly from the ice and one of them actually came down, bringing a piece of fascia with it). We're still working things out for my father-in-law--he spent over 50 years living in the house with Mom and he's having a difficult time keeping up with the house and the additional duties of cooking, cleaning and shopping. They did everything together, supporting each others' weaknesses these last few years, and he's like a lone tent pole now, teetering in the wind. We might be moving him in with us so he can have my garden to futz around with but not have the worries about shopping and cooking for himself.

I've been busy working on new marbled rovings and new sock blends with either cashmere or camel. Marbled roving/yarn (L to R: Apples and Oranges, Lake, and Players)

I'm also working on blending tweed yarns but so far my experiments are not to my liking. In the meantime, all my 'failed' tweed skeins will probably be listed in my Sale category. A good buy if you just need a small skein of tweed for a little project. Most of them are running 80-100 yards, so look for them to be up soon (once the camera battery is recharged!).

In the meantime, enjoy the spring snow melt and warmer weather. Daffodils and hibiscus will be up before you know it, and newly shorn sheep fleeces will be available for purchase from shepherds! Back to the studio to play with fiber......

R.I.P. Mom

2010-01-11T08:48:00.006-05:00

Mary Louise McFadden, April 14, 1927 – December 26, 2009

Goodbye Wife

Goodbye Mother

Goodbye Sister

Goodbye Grandmother

Goodbye Friend

Goodbye Cousin

Goodbye Aunt

Goodbye Nurse

Goodbye Choir Girl

Goodbye Square Dancer

Goodbye Chef

Goodbye Gardener

Goodbye BabySitter

Goodbye Den Mother

Goodbye Chauffeur

Goodbye Painter

Goodbye Baker

Goodbye Teacher

Goodbye Neighbor

Goodbye Parishoner

Goodbye Boo-Boo Kisser

Goodbye Cookie Giver

Goodbye World Traveler

Goodbye Camel Rider

Goodbye Lover of all Creatures

Goodbye Hugs and Kisses

Goodbye Soft Blue Eyes

Goodbye Warm Gentle Heart

Goodbye Mary Lou...

Surgery updates

2009-12-16T07:47:00.003-05:00

My MILs surgery on Dec. 3 did not go well. Surgeon cut the procedure short because he found that the cancer had spread beyond what he could deal with. So we're on to Plan B-Chemotherapy, as soon as she recovers her strength. Since she was such an active woman, I suspect it's driving her crazy to be bedridden and/or have limited mobility. I try to visit at least 4 times a week, give her shampoos and rub her feet/arms with moisturizer to make her comfortable in what I consider an overheated environment (if you've spent any time in nursing/rehab centers, you know that they crank up the heat a bit because the clients are usually elderly or wearing little clothing). In the meantime, I'm making sure that FIL gets enough rest and eats well so he and I can be supportive for her.

Second surgery, a risky cardiac procedure for my brother, is scheduled for Dec. 28. Once he returns from the hospital, I will be providing transportation and support to his family. This brother has a love of split pea soup and his doctors usually approve of my leaving a potful in the nursing unit's fridge so he can have a healthy evening snack. Looks like I'm making soup over the Christmas weekend!

I'll be back as soon as possible. I still have the third set of socks to spin and knit and many fiber adventures to report. As they say, the world keeps on spinning (pun intended)........

Sorry to have gone missing

2009-12-02T08:03:00.002-05:00

This is just a quick post to let folks know I'm still around. I've had a series of medical issues with elderly family members which is taking up all my spare time. Actually, it's taking the main part of my time and the spare time is used for laundry, making dinner, etc. LOL! Hopefully, all surgeries will be accomplished by the end of the year and I can go back to filling my Etsy shop, contributing to Phatfiber boxes and spinning up the third and final sock batts from my series.

Have a lovely holiday, and be nice to each other!

"Prime time to reassess looms"

2009-10-30T10:32:00.002-04:00

OK, did anyone else take that as some sort of possible sale on weaving looms? If you're a true fiberholic, it sure did!! It's the headline on a story in the local paper, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, talking about the ongoing argument about reassessing our homes. However, when I went looking for the article online so I could link to it here--the first 2 Goggle ads were for weaving looms! Go figure......

How To Spin My Posy Toes Batts--Sweet Peas final

2009-10-21T10:08:00.008-04:00

Hey! Remember this photo? It seems to have taken forever to get these socks finished. Wrapping up the outside work for the winter, getting samples ready for the October Phat Fiber Sample Box, preparing for a workshop on Textured Yarns that I'm teaching, yadda yadda. The socks are finished, washed and sitting in my sock drawer--yah!

Now for the techie stuff. This method of spinning yields a mostly-worsted yarn, which means I got more yardage out of the same weight of fiber--406 yards, to be exact. The size was the same, 16 wpi, but the yarn was less lofty and I had 158 yards remaining. The yardage used for these socks was 248, while I used 246 for the Snake Plant socks. Same pattern (You're Putting Me On socks by Judy Gibson), same needles (maybe).

So the difference in yardage can only be attributed to the spinning method. I have to say, the Snake Plant socks feel much thicker when wearing them in my Birkies! I think somewhere in the house move I switched needles? It looks to me like the left sock is thicker (US #1) while the right sock is rather wimpy and long and thin (US #2). Or perhaps my spinning changed in the 1-2 months between sessions? They feel just a little bit different when on my feet, which is a lesson on not letting your sons/friends pack and move your precious fiber and yarn!

Next up is the Caladiums batts, which will be spun in the third and final method recommended on the instruction sheet included with the batts. Since we're entering the holiday stretch here in the US, please have patience. I host all the holiday dinners here in addition to trying to keep my Etsy shop stocked. Speaking of Feistywoman Designs, I contributed to the Phat Fiber Sample Box for the first time in October--some of you who bought boxes may have already received yours! I've blended up a series of hand-pulled sock rovings especially for the holidays because, well, I just love wearing sparkle on my feet during the holidays and I thought some of you might, too! Here's the Snowdrift socks I just finished (fiber available Thursday) .....

Fingerlakes Fiber Festival

2009-09-28T20:45:00.004-04:00

We took a week of vacation, ostensibly to visit the son in NYC but really just a way to drag hubby to Fingerlakes again (sshhhhh, don't tell him). In the last several years I have become disenchanted with the bigger festivals. It's not that they aren't nice, but I always enjoy being able to talk with the vendors and stroll the grounds in a leisurely manner. There's less of the hottest trendy stuff, but there's so many little treasures tucked into those booths if you can get in there to look around--I just love the little festivals. Last year we spent at least an hour solving the world's problems with Jonathan Bosworth--try THAT at Maryland!

The purchases. Usually, when I attend a festival with like-minded addicts, we throw all our days' purchases on the bed and play Show n' Tell. Since I was with hubster, you folks will have to play stand-in so I can show off my stuff. I usually have specific colors or fibers in mind; this year it was blues, greens and reds and BFL.

First stop was Winderwood Farms tent (actually it's always my first stop). I love Bob's dyework and can't get enough of his tops.

I found some really superb dyed tops at Cloverleaf Farm in the main barn. She repeats the same colors in various blends, so if you want to make plied yarn of different fibers it's quite possible with her tops. Here we have (l to r) Merino in Craisin colorway, Wensleydale in Southwest colorway, BFL in Raisin colorway, and Wensleydale in Gems colorway. The Wensleydale is for an experiment I have in mind. She also dyes silks in the same colorways, wonderful if you work in fabric!

Then back to the Ag Building to visit Maggie's Farm. She's a teacher in central NY who also happens to have a farm where she raises sheep, angora bunnies, makes soap and sews the greatest bags. I bought Mother Fiber (wool IS the Mother of all fibers, isn't it?) in Magenta and Navy to ply with some of the roving you'll see next.

The photos just don't do these fibers justice, but all I had for studio space and lighting was the window of the hotel room with early evening light. Ah well, we do what we can.

Last stop was Bob Geigers Farm. I'd met his wife Linda last year when she tried her hand at dyeing. What an enthusiastic lady, with a good eye for color. Sadly, she passed away this year but I undersatnd that her husband has vowed to carry on her dyeing. He's done a great job of it if you ask me! All fibers are BFL, my fav to spin.

That pink/purple one in the middle is a thank-you pressie for my kitty sitters. They take care of the boys just like I would if I were home, and the cats love them. Hope you liked your pink, Margie Girly-Girl! The other two will look smashing plied with the navy Mother Fiber in some way. I'm just not sure which novelty technique I'll use for spinning the yarn but it WILL be interesting.

Enough for tonight. I've had a long day, including packing up my samples for the October Phat Fiber box, and need to climb into bed so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow. 'Night all.....

Oh dear, I'm off-schedule yet again

2009-09-10T18:57:00.002-04:00

Well, I really had the best intentions to post the beginning of the Sweet Peas socks this week, I really did! Then life got in the way again. We're heading out for a short vacation soon and there was lots of day-to-day stuff to be done before we can leave--like washing my clothes so I can pack them. And then there was the knitting to be packed, which is always the first thing I do when I'm heading out on a trip. Yep! I packed the Sweet Peas sock, so no stats on it and no pix. I CAN say that there was a total of 406 yds spun and they came out at 16 wpi, just like the Snake Plant yarn.

Hopefully, I'll get a chance to see some friends at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival next weekend. I'll be the short chubby one with the dazed look on her face, wearing a Steelers shirt......stop me and say hello!

How to Spin My Posy Toes Batts--Sweet Peas

2009-09-04T18:02:00.006-04:00

I apologize for being a few days late with the blog post. I ate some eggplant on Monday that didn't agree with me and have been sick for several days. It was not wasted time, as I started work on a Christmas present--can't say who or what because they will read my blog and spoil the surprise. At any rate.....

For the second technique and pair of socks, I chose the Sweet Peas colorway because....well, I just wanted purple and deep pink socks! And I know that the worsted technique described on my handout as 'stripping the batt lengthwise' will yield long repeats of color. I usually spin up 1-1/2 batts onto a bobbin and then ply it on itself from a center-pull ball, then repeat for the second 1-1/2 batts. This mixes the colors in a way that I enjoy. I started by unrolling the batt on my dining room table.

Then I split the batt down the middle, leaving about 1-2" still joined.

I then split each of those halves in half again in the same direction, leaving a join at the ends. With this batt, I split the batt so each color would have just a bit of the next color included. Once I have 4 sections split, I start from the other end and split those 4 in the opposite direction, leaving a join at each of those ends. When finished, you should have 8 sections of the batt pulled apart lengthwise like a series of Z's. When I was a kid we used to cut a piece of paper in this fashion and open it up to make a long 'rope' of paper (we were easily amused kids).

The next step is to attenuate these Z's into a useable 'top' and rolling it into a ball. Starting at one end, with your hands about 5" apart, gently start to seperate the fiber as though you're drafting to spin. Actually, you ARE predrafting the fiber. Doing this makes spinning a fine yarn much easier as most of the work is done for you before you sit down at the wheel.

This is the yarn I've spun up on the first bobbin. This bobbin has been plied and the sock begun, but we'll talk about that next week.

I'd like to end with a little philosophy I learned in the last few months. As you've heard me mention ad nauseum, we've moved into the family home which my oldest brother occupied for many years. He managed to alienate himself from just about everyone and almost lost his life because of it. He had a 45-year long argument with the next-door neighbor who wanted him to cut down the walnut trees, and they haven't been on speaking terms for 20 years. It was this neighbor who called the EMS when the wife noticed that my brother had not been out of the house for 3 days, and she thereby saved his life. Tonight I delivered homemade soup and muffins to them because she's had a hip replacement and can't be on her feet long enough to cook (no, her husband can't cook--he can't even boil water!). And WE haven't cut down the walnut trees either, although we did have them trimmed thoroughly, and they've stopped asking us to cut them down. It was so simple to have a conversation about pruning the branches that hung over their yard and solve the problem instead of the name-calling and silence that had ensued for 45 years on BOTH sides of the fence. Life is too short to hold grudges and hate people (unless they're dangerous). Most problems are solvable with good communication; silence is the weapon of the truly stupid, and it NEVER works the way they think it will.

Off my soapbox and on to the knitting.....

How to spin my Posy Toes batts--Snake Plant

2009-08-27T19:20:00.008-04:00

The Snake Plant socks are finished! I have 80 yards left of the yarn, and realize that I never posted the total yardage. And now I've either lost the notes or packed them in some box somewhere. Oh well....

At any rate, they are thick, soft and spongy to walk on. I think they will do well in my Birkie clogs this fall and winter. Too thick for dress socks, tho. But it's nice to know how this particular method works up. Notice how different the striping is on the socks? That's due to the haphazard way in which I just grabbed a handful of fiber and spun it up.

I'm working my way through the Sweet Peas fiber. I have one sock started and the second bobbin ready to ply. Will post pix next week and talk about yardage, wpi and all the other techie stuff. In the meantime, here's a panarama (left to right, back of the house to front of the house) of my studio 2 months ago when we moved my fiber/yarn boxes in. I've added a dissembled loom, a carding table and some more boxes since but at least I have all the books on the shelves and the sock fiber unearthed so I can make sock batts for Etsy. Just have to figure out which fiber will be stored in the knee walls and how to know what's stashed in which cubby.

It's done! Well, sort of....

2009-07-01T19:02:00.003-04:00

We've managed to mostly complete the move, and we're still married to each other and actually still talking to each other. Which I understand from friends is rather unusual. Never again. I will die in this house, or pay someone else to pack and move/donate my stuff.

But now we have to UNpack all that stuff, and still go through the junk we left behind to see if there's anything we still want, then clean the house and list it. I will be glad when it's all finished. Some things we learned:
1. Start WEEKS earlier than you think you need to. Although I was working mostly by myself, I should have started this packing back in February.
2. Never underestimate a salesman. One moving company salesperson sent me a contract which I never signed. Figured he'd get the message. Nope. His company showed up an hour after the one we'd signed with, but the crew was more than happy to go home that hot humid day.
3. Never believe the moving agent. If they say it's okay to NOT pack the freezer/refrigerator, they really don't mean it because the truck driver WILL make you pack both before they'll even consider putting them on their dolly.
4. Hire a moving company who hires professional truck drivers. Joe backed that truck into our driveway with inches to spare, because he thought about what he wanted to do and knew how to do it. Joe, here's to you!
5. Pack yourself a lunch. Otherwise, you'll be stopping at the local coffee shop for a quick muffin and brew. The truck crews usually pack/buy their lunch and eat it while in transit to the new house, and you won't have a spare minute to stop for a McNasty burger.
6. Swallow a dose of your favorite pain med and/or sleeping pill before going to bed that night. You'll be so tired and overwrought that you won't sleep without them.
7. WIPs make lovely packing material. They cushion the breakables and lighten the load. However, prepare yourself for the rude awakening when you realize just how many WIPs you really have!

When all is said and done, I'm glad to be here even tho the work isn't finished. Even tho we've named the rabbits here Hassen and Pfeffer and named the deer Stew, Burger and Little Stew, and named the groundhog #%&$* because she and the kids leveled my garden--it's still a great place to live. And I can't say enough good things about South Hills Movers--they were professional, supportive, thorough and hard-working.

I have begun to spin the second Posy Toes batts for the series I was writing on spinning my sock batts. The first batts were spun and one sock is completed. I'll continue the series soon--I need to download photos and figure out which box I stuck the sock knitting into. I know I was packing the CDs when I used it for packing material...wonder if it's in the Living Room boxes.....(wanders off to check)

The first step is admitting you have a problem

2009-06-13T23:26:00.003-04:00

I/we need a 12-step program. We rented an econoline van yesterday in order to move our boxes of stuff to the new house so we wouldn't have to pay burly guys to do it for us. And hubby and I have received our Godsmacks today. The four of us loaded the van with my fiber and yarn boxes and drove off to the new place. Unloaded. Oldest son and I stayed behind to hang light fixtures while youngest son and hubby went to load up again. Second vanful was half boxes of fiber and yarn--and there's still bits and pieces of yarn at home! The other half was boxes of hubsters books. And the third van was more boxes of books. (Although I have to say that MY boxes were MUCH easier to unload than his--we had to use the riding mower and trailer to drive them from the van to the door and then walk them up the stairs.)

Oh dear. We. have. a. problem. Is anyone interested in becoming our Executor of Fiber and Books? I think the boys' inheritance is tied up in our collections and they'd probably like some cash when we die instead of wool and history books. They've already threatened to hold a big bonfire in our honor, fueled by my fiber and his books. And today they took bets before we started packing, trying to guess how many loads it would take to move my fiber/yarn. It's just embarrassing.

Won't stop me from going to another fiber festival, tho! Phffft!

Temporary hiatus

2009-05-11T22:34:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted for 12 days, shame on me you say? But, but, but.....I have a good reason! We've stepped into high gear on finishing the 18-month-long renovation and getting ready for the upcoming household move, and I can't seem to keep a straight thought in my head any more. Had to send the hubster out to threaten the carpenter today because I was busy chasing down the last 2 cans of matching paint for our interior trim--company changed their line of paint when I wasn't looking, humph! I certainly shouldn't be at a spinning wheel trying to make fine evenly spun sock yarn if I can rarely drive one block without thinking of 3 things I forgot to do and almost driving into oncoming traffic!

So.....posts on spinning sock yarn will be sparse or nonexistent for a bit. I'm cleaning, painting and packing boxes. But I'm definitely thinking about how to spin the next batts. I just can't manage it right now. Will hopefully post pix of packing/moving soon!

How to Spin My Posy Toes Batts--Snake Plant techie stuff

2009-04-29T15:26:00.002-04:00

Hmmm.....I suppose I should throw some numbers out there for those of us who enjoy them? Or want to copy my socks exactly? (that's not gonna happen. handspun yarn will differ every time because it's our hands that control the yarn, and our hands are not machines built to churn out exact duplicates. besides, I want my students and other miscellaneous spinners to follow their own karma when making yarn)

Now that I've exposed yinz to my rarely-humble opinions, here's the relevant stats. As stated a few days ago, I like to put a lot of twist in the singles and ply tightly to produce a nice tight yarn that will stand up to the wear that socks get. My yarn was spun on the 16:1 whorl of my Bosworth Journey Wheel. I did not keep track of the tpi (twists per inch) because I've been spinning sock yarn long enough that I just do it to my usual standards, which are engrained in my brain. Sorry. However, the 2-ply washed and finished yarn came out at 16 wpi (wraps per inch) which is standard sock yarn. Since it was spun semi-woolen, this yarn was spongy and bouncy and I felt it needed to be knit at a tight gauge. So I've used US#0 for the toes and heels, US#1 for the body of the sock, and US#2 for the bind off. I'm using Judy Gibson's You're Putting Me On Socks pattern and so it's very easy to switch to the smaller needles when necessary. The gauge I'm getting is 7.5 sts and 10 rows per inch over Stockinette. It's a nice tight fabric and a nice thick sock, yet soft, flexible and springy due to the Merino content in the batts and the semi-woolen spinning technique.

I've gotten one sock finished already (a 4-day sock! amazing!) and have cast on for the second one. I've not yet started spinning the next set of batts for a very good reason. I've been spending a good bit of time this past week at the almost-renovated family house, dealing with a stray pit bull that's been hanging around. That means lots of time to sit and knit on the porch while I wait for her to wander back into the yard, for the police to respond to my call (didn't happen--wonder if they'd come in a REAL emergency?), or for the county dog warden to stop by again. This dog would sleep on the front porch but would run away when we got within 30 feet of her. Last night the dog warden left a humane trap on the porch with a big bowl of kibble. We caught her this morning! She's an older dog and a bit thin from living outdoors for several weeks--she was shaking with fear when we talked to her inside the cage. So sad. But she's now in a safe haven that's run by a very kind man who loves pit bulls, and will either live out her life with him or be adopted by a very special person. Saving her is the best reason I can think of for not getting my spinning started.

How to Spin My Posy Toes Sock Batts AND Hiking Pix!

2009-04-26T17:14:00.014-04:00

The Snake Plant yarn is finished.

It was spun on the 16:1 whorl of my Bosworth Journey Wheel, as will all the sock yarns in this series. I like to put a lot of twist in my sock yarn and then ply it tightly so it wears longer.

The sock has been started, and I can see the subtle variation between the forest green and the teal colors. The tan seems to be mixing in well--I wanted it to appear serendipitously in the sock. Hopefully I'll have the time this coming week to start spinning the Sweet Peas colorway.

On another subject altogether.....
We went out early this morning to a local park, Raccoon Creek State Park. The Audubon Trail is at it's peak at the end of April and I LOVE wildflowers!

Trout Lily and May Apples

About 9:30 we heard honking and saw a pair of Canada geese calling for their buddies to join them. After a bit they flew off and circled the area a couple of times before heading out to their destination.

"Hey Mable, it's time to leave!" and a Trillium

By 10:30am I was getting pretty sweaty walking around in the valley, but it was so worth it. sigh....If only I had the time and enough colored wool to interpret all these flowers in sock batts.

A hillside of Virginia Bluebells and Carpets of tiny white flowers

Virginia Bluebells and Wild Phlox

How to Spin My Posy Toes Sock Batts: Snake Plant colorway

2009-04-16T15:01:00.004-04:00

I started on the Snake Plant colorway last week and am about halfway through the 3 batts. I'm spinning them by grabbing a handful and spinning from the side of the handful. In the above photo, I've unrolled one batt in preparation for yanking off a couple of handsful--notice my favorite sheep watching over the proceedings. I decided to work across the batt for no other reason than it's easier to tear the handful away if I move in that direction.

I'm hoping that by using this method I will be able to mix the pale tan color more thoroughly with the green and deep teal colors. It's not that I don't find a green-and-tan stripped sock to be appealing, it's more that I have already started knitting a pair of green stripped socks and just don't want duplicates in my sock drawer. (There's already enough confusion in my life without my willingly adding more!)

This is a shot of my spinning technique--fluff out the handful and spin from the side:

This technique is yielding a semi-woolen yarn which is thicker than my usual sock yarn. However, since many of the fibers are no longer parallel within the yarn, the sock should also be warmer.

I'm hoping to be finished with the spinning and twist-setting in the next 2 weeks. Then it's on to knitting the actual socks to see how the yarn behaves.

How to spin my Posy Toes sock batts: Introduction

2009-04-08T11:04:00.002-04:00

While carding up some batts yesterday, I decided that a tutorial on the 3 spinning methods I recommend would be interesting. I've spun the batts myself but never compared the results, and I think it would be instructional for me and for my readers. What I plan to do is spin a colorway in one of the 3 methods, photo/post pix of the yarn, and then knit up a sock with the yarn. Seeing them all in one place and perhaps side-by-side (if Blogger will align them all) will be something we can all learn from.

I think I'll start out with the "grab a handfun and spin it" method, and will use Snake Plant for this. This colorway has two close greens and a light tan--I think I would prefer that the tan be mixed into the yarn more and I think this method will work toward that end. Give me a week or so to spin it up and we'll see what happens.

A week of spinning

2009-04-03T12:48:00.004-04:00

I'm rather amazed at the amount of spinning I've been doing lately, especially with all the renovation I'm dealing with! This past week I finished off 2 skeins of Delicate, a superwash and Merino wool and silk yarn. I was playing with an idea for sock blends that would be different, and while this yarn probably isn't appropriate for socks I still love it. (The silk waste formed clumps in the spinning which would not be comfortable as socks but is still way cool.)

When I plied the bobbins I had quite a bit left on one bobbin and, not to be a wasteful slug, I plied it on itself. And THIS is the yarn I absolutely love and exactly the one I was looking for when experimenting with carding those batts! I call it Marbled yarn because the colors melt into each other in much the same way as marbled paper. It's suitable for socks, and as soon as I can get enough carded up it will appear in my Etsy shop.

During the recent spinning-and-carding spate, I also got some Posy Toes Bamboo batts carded up. The yarn I spun from these batts isn't photographed yet (it's raining outside today so photos will have to wait for the sun to reappear). However, there's 3 lots of batts in the shop for those who want to celebrate Spring or the next St. Patricks Day by wearing green socks. Hopefully I'll be able to get more carding done this week and will be able to offer the last of the Bamboo sock batts, Petunias. Then it's on to the Marbled series--I can't wait to play with this and see what colors I can create.

Take care and have a lovely weekend!

What was I thinking? Renovation of a money pit

2009-03-26T08:08:00.007-04:00

Yeah, it's the family house that we've owned since 1943. Built in 1911. We were doing the last bit (we thought) on the diningroom, then finish the flooring installation in the diningroom and kitchen, and have Sears install the oven/cooktop. Then we could move in and enjoy the acre of trees and the garden. It. Ain't. Happenin.

The second floor of the house has not had the wiring replaced since 1911, and we thought we'd do that in the future. However, we discovered an exposed junction box in the diningroom ceiling that had to be rewired so thought we should have the second floor rewired while everything was exposed anyway. Unfortunately, the electrician and I discovered this week that the rooms that had been rewired in 1968-70 were done in the 4 years that electrical wiring had to be made of aluminum because the copper mines were on strike. The 1911 wiring is very dangerous to say the least. The aluminium wiring is only marginally less dangerous. sigh.......

The diningroom ceiling--junction box in question is at the point where the two heat ducts meet.

However, I DID manage to get lots of skeins of yarn finished and put into the Etsy shop this week. There's 6 skeins of a pastel beaded yarn called Hibiscus Patch (so-named because the deer have eaten all the ones that popped up at the house, and I just needed some hibiscus somewhere!)

And a skein of DK/Sport weight sock yarn in my Posy Toes Bamboo, Sunflower colorway.

The Hibiscus Patch is tempting me to knit a spring shawl. But I already have at least a dozen shawls and 35-40 WIPs sitting around. Do not need another shawl/project. If I say it enough, perhaps I'll convince myself.....

I learned something new today......

2009-03-12T21:51:00.004-04:00

I often tell my students that although spinning is relaxing, there are just some times that you shouldn't spin. For me, I can't spin during Steeler football games because I've been known to jump up and knock the wheel over! You have to know yourself and learn when you just can't manage to spin a decent yarn. Today that lesson was brought home to me yet again.

I had some minor surgery this morning, the second of two that were scheduled, and it's always traumatic for me to undergo ANY medical procedure. I'm the woman who gave birth twice with Lamaze because I can't stand the thought of them sticking a needle in my spine, that's how bad I am. So, last time they gave me post-surgery painkillers based on acetominophen which does me NO good whatsoever. This time I requested an aspirin-based painkiller.

Once the anesthesia wore off this afternoon, I took the first one. Felt pretty good so went into the studio and carded sock batts for a couple of hours. When it came time to take the next one, I sat down at my wheel to spin the snowy white sparkly sock batt. And at one point the yarn drifted apart because I'd treadled in the wrong direction for one or two revolutions, I thought. Fixed the problem and soldiered on, although the pill was making me drowsy enough to almost fall off the chair.

This evening I went to ply the bobbins on the wheel and discovered that, at the point where the yarn drifted apart, I'd somehow reversed my spinning direction and spun the last THIRD of the bobbin in the wrong direction! If I'd tried to do this intentionally, I'd have had to rig the yarn somehow on the bobbin so it would work. But being 'under the influence' meant I just did it without thinking and almost botched up several hundred yarns of fingering-weight yarn. Problem is fixed, taking me an hour to respin the incorrect yards and the lesson is learned:

Do not spin during Steelers football games, nor when taking really really good painkillers. Sheesh, y'think I'd be old enough to know those things already? Maybe I can blame it on the stress of surgery.....

New stuff happenin--I'm excited!

2009-03-10T12:16:00.005-04:00

I'm re-energized this week, coming off the "Cabin Fever" months of January and February and having lots of good things happen in my life. Last weekend during a nasty windstorm/cold spell that kept me inside hibernating, I finally came up with a solution to an art project I've been wanting to do for years. Back then I thought I had to draw or paint the idea, but realized that it would work best in cross stitch. It's about my family and is very internal and private, but cross stitch is a medium Grandma and Mom would have used and understood perfectly. I really don't want to go into the entire backstory or show the finished project, but I can say that it's been incredibly cathartic to finally get this thing out of my system. I'm sure some family members will not appreciate it, but hey! it's not always about YOU, folks!

And, most exciting of all, there were 3 fiber art connections this week. First, KnitDance on Etsy had purchased a skein of my Jordan Almonds yarn to make fingerless mitts for HER shop. Here they are, and didn't she do a wonderful job?

I was also invited into the Fiber Friday Carnival over on Alpaca Girl's website. I consider it an honor to be included with lots of great textile creations and creators.

Lastly, I've decided to become a sponsor of the Makin' Cookie's forum over on Ravelry. They've formed to knit socks from Cookie A's upcoming book and are soliciting prizes. I'm donating a bag of my sock batts (enough to spin yarn for a pair of socks) which will be included in a gift basket with other items to enable (my favorite word, 'enable') you to make a pair of Cookie A socks from scratch. I think it's a lovely idea and would like to thank Theresa for initiating and running the forum. If you're not on Ravelry, you should be! Go there now and request an invitation!

I must be off to get some work done today. Am having minor surgery Thursday morning and so won't be able to attend the Spinner Central gathering at the shop that evening. I do hope to make the Ewe Guys spin-in on Friday though--I miss Ewe Guys (pun intended)!

New shawl is finally done!

2009-02-26T16:51:00.008-05:00

I have finally finished the last lace point on the shawl and blocked it--woo hoo!! I have a love of deep lace on my shawls, but it takes forever to knit. I love this version of my Red Dog Redux shawl, made of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in Blueberry Mix as the main color and Noro Kureyon Sock yarn as the contrast color. The half-circle shape is fun to knit and wraps around me in chilly reception halls like it was tailored for my body.

Both the rose shawl (which is the original version and which won first place in handspun knitted shawl category in 2005 at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival) and the brown shawl are knit with my handspun yarn.

I wish I'd remembered to pack the brown one when we were in LA for BILs wedding last year. The day of the wedding it dipped to 50 degrees--shocking in LA but still manageable for us Pittsburghers. The poor bride was freezing, tho, as she had to stand around outside for 2 hours while the wedding portraits were taken, wearing a sari and little red slippers. I spent over an hour wishing I had the brown shawl to wrap around her--maybe she wouldn't have come down with flu the next day?

ETA: The pattern is available on my Etsy site but is not yet available on Ravelry--has to do with glitches and other stuff that Casey does that I don't even PRETEND to understand.

How does this happen?

2009-02-20T08:55:00.009-05:00

Somehow life got away from me again this week. You would think, in this economy, that a young man would be glad to have someone finance his business startup, right? We took the chance because we'd known this fella for 10 years and had watched him mature into a hard worker, and so when he approached us to propose that he do the renovation on my family home we gave him a chance. Last week we had to fire him and hire another more-established contractor to finish his work. Which involves sending carefully worded letters that let him know why he was fired so that we can take him to Small Claims Court to recover the costs incurred in paying for the second contractor. And then cleaning up the mess he left behind because he decided that partying at the house was a priority. How does this happen? Did he not listen when we and the local Small Business Administration told him that construction work is hard and that being the boss involves solving problems? His average work week these past 2 months was 10 hours/week which will not finish the renovation in this decade! This is his little 'Nintendo Nest' in my mom's bedroom.....I spent yesterday morning emptying bottles and tossing his garbage.

The the piles of construction materials which require us to hire a dumpster, fill it ourselves and have it hauled away.

And then we hired a contractor to put down new flooring, so next week there will be TWO table saws and at least 3 guys in the house making noise and sawdust. But at least we can finally see some progress in the renovation and are more confident that we'll be able to move in before June. Yay!!

I'm still plugging away on the Red Dog Redux Shawl.

When it's finished I'll redo the photos on my pattern and post it on my Etsy site and in Ravelry. It's a very easy shawl to knit with two different lace edgings--a shorter one that goes rather quickly and a longer one which I love to death and which takes longer to finish up. I have about 8 repeats to do and then the blocking--should be done this coming week. Then I need the weather to cooperate so I can get decent photos outside.

Did you notice I was gone??

2009-02-11T15:57:00.003-05:00

Due to a sudden bout of laryngitis followed immediately by a bout of bronchitis, I've been down for the count for 2 weeks. As soon as I got strong again, it was time to hop a plane and head for Charlotte, NC to celebrate my wedding anniversary with DH. I'm back and catching up with work, my Etsy shop, SWA business and COE work. Did you miss me?

Interesting item about the local news media in Charlotte. A snowstorm blew across the entire east coast while I was there and the following morning the local tv station was having a great time scaring the local populace into staying indoors all day. I can understand that the city is not prepared for salting the roads or plowing. But to tell people not to go out because the water dripping off store awnings is refreezing on the sidewalk, and you will probably slip and fall and go to the hospital in an ambulance is not journalism--it's scare tactics calculated to boost ratings. C'mon guys, wouldn't it have been more responsible to simply tell folks to be careful?

I'm also happy to report that the number of spinning students who are signing up for my classes has increased tremendously. I'm so happy that I can pass this skill on to others who are smitten with the magic of making yarn to their own liking. It's just such a kick to see the sparkle in someone's eyes when they 'get it'! That excitement is my drug of choice and much better than any silly street drug I could buy. You guys rock!

Sweater finished! Another COE skein done

2009-01-20T14:29:00.004-05:00

After almost a year of work in fits and starts, I've finally finished hubsters sweater. This was a Filati Mens Special #6 that I purchased last November while living in Holland. I bought the yarn from Webs and had it shipped home so I could start knitting as soon as I landed home again. We thought the company had English translations, but when the shop owner called Lana Grossa he was told that issue #5 was the last to have an English translation. Drat! My friend Anke stepped forward and translated the pattern so that I was able to start knitting some time in late March/early April. Knitting was halted during the hot summer and finished min-January. I caught this photo right after hubster scraped the car at 5am so I could drive him to the airport for an early flight. He looks good, he likes it and I'm finished with the darn thing--just too many stitches in the same pattern stitch for me. I like a little change-up in my sweater-knitting.

And I'm halfway through the Fine Textured Cotton skein for the COE. Made lots of little punis for this skein and they are SO fun to spin. I may just have to get more of this cotton from the southern plantation that grew it. Especially since I don't think they use those nasty exfoliants since they're growing a "tourist patch" and not harvesting for the cotton market. Photo shows the basket of punis and two bolls of cotton sitting in front. Too bad there's no real use for all those cotton seeds I plucked out....

COE Handspinning progress report 1

2009-01-16T11:36:00.004-05:00

This was the week I started in earnest on spinning the 40+ small skeins required for my submission. I had originally planned to post photos and give in-depth details of the process, but then realized that my identity is supposed to be anonymous for my submission. While I can talk in generalizations, I won't be posting pix of the skeins at this time.

It took me 2 days to finish the skein of Fine Woolen yarn from a raw fleece. I'd forgotten how much work is involved in cleaning, carding and finishing wool--and now I'm glad that I now longer have to do it this way. "Back in the day" when we didn't have access to many mill-prepared fibers, if you wanted to spin you bought a fleece and prepared it yourself. And spinning a fine and truly woolen yarn was something I'd never done. I've used long draw and I've spun woolen yarn (especially good for the kids mittens when they were little), but not so fine as required for this skein. I've got over 300 yards in a 1.4 oz. skein!

Have started prepping the cotton bolls for spinning, teasing the cotton off the seeds and carding it into punis. I've also gotten some Rambouillet lambs fleece from Wild Rose Farm washed up and ready for combing. Hopefully, I'll get some spinning time this Saturday either before or after I teach on Saturday. Sunday is, of course, reserved for watching the Steeler game--Luv Ya, Black 'n Gold! Go Steelers!

Six Hands: End of the story

2009-01-08T12:16:00.002-05:00

So, Dottie has finished and listed both the scarf and cowl on her Etsy page. They are both lovely and ON SALE! Go take a look at the Garden of Colors scarf http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=18681691 and the Garden of Colors cowl http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19310653 Truly lovely work! This was a collaborative project between Whirligig Yarns who dyed the alpaca roving in such colors that I couldn't pull myself away from her site for 3 days, myself who spun the alpaca roving and plied it with Merino wool, and Dottie at CCDZS who pulled it all together with her crochet hook and imagination.

Why I make every effort to stand behind my work; pattern clarifications

2008-12-30T14:06:00.005-05:00

I think most of us folks "of a certain age" can agree that customer service at big-name companies in the US has become scarce, if not completely extinct. On Feb. 4, 2006 hubster bought me a set of Godinger silver salt and pepper shakers for our anniversary. (The Steelers also won the Super Bowl the next day but I don't think it was intended as part of my anniversary present.) The set was part of my 'good china' used only on holidays and important dinners. I used the set that Easter. Took it out for Christmas 2006 to find that there was white crust on the side of the salt shaker, but I cleaned it and used it. Next time I wanted to use it for Easter 2007, it was again encrusted and the top was fused to the body by crust. Looked up the company online so I could ask them how to clean it and avoid the same experience in future--no address, no contact info as they are wholesale only. Six months later they now have email, which I used and to which I never received a reply. Couldn't use them for Christmas 2008 either, so sat down yesterday to search out a phone number which is now included on the website. First time, I went round and round the digital menu and finally left a message. Got tired of waiting for a return call and phoned again, only to be told that I shouldn't keep salt in the salt shaker (???). Then I'm transferred to 3 other people, none of whom "work in that department", including the supervisor (Mr. Torn) who got rather nasty with me and sent me back to his assistant, who tells me to contact the Mississippi plantation where the set was purchased. This is a direct quote from their website:
"The Godinger motto is, "customer first". Our aim is to focus on the unique demands of every customer, and to aggressively fulfill those needs. Our excellent customer service is what allows us to retain and grow our loyal customer base."

Really? In what alternative universe are you known for your customer service? Not here, not in my house right now. All I wanted to know was how to clean off the salt shaker so I could use it and learn how to care for it in the future. Godinger Silver is a lesson to me in how I will never treat a customer of mine. I may not be able to solve your problem, but at least I won't tell you that it's not my department and shove you off onto someone else.

All of which leads me to an small announcement. If you have purchased a copy of my Red Dog Redux Shawl pattern, please be aware that I've made some small changes to make the lace pattern easier to follow. If you're interested in receiving the clarifications, please contact me at feistywoman AT verizon DOT net.

Thank you all for being wonderful customers, wonderful friends and loving family this past year. May all your needs be met and may you enjoy good health, good friends and much love in the coming year.

Turning the page

2008-12-11T15:26:00.004-05:00

The holidays are a few days away and I'm pushing myself to finish knitting the gifts I want to give friends and family. Obviously I can't post photos as that would be giving away the surprise, but I promise to try to get them up after Christmas.

Last month, I decided that I really needed to concentrate my efforts if I was going to complete the COE-Handspinning work for Level I. While in the Netherlands last year I did much of the research, but still have several in-depth research presentations to finish. Although I've done some of the spinning, I really need to start producing finished sample skeins to complete the 40 that are required. These are not projects that I can pick up and work on for 20-30 minutes but need my full attention. And all of it needs to be packaged in a certain way and sent off for the examination in October 2009. So this is my New Years resolution--I'll be devoting much less time to my Etsy shop and saleable items and spending several hours each day finishing up the research and samples for the examination. I'll still be teaching at the shop because I so enjoy enabling others, but I need to buckle down and get this done. I've already learned so much and refreshed my memory of spinning basics by doing the research. I'll be blogging about the work as it gets done and putting up photos, because I think this learning experience could benefit many of the spinners I know.

For those who observe the holiday (and those who don't, too!), I wish for you lots of yarn and fiber in your stocking, many happy hours of knitting, good health, and the love of those around you.

Last chance! and...What WAS I thinking?

2008-11-30T19:46:00.004-05:00

The sale in my Etsy shop ends Tuesday morning. This is your last chance to pick up yarn for making gifts at 10-20% off, fiber to spin into gift sock yarn or gift socks at 10% off, and handspun/handknit scarves at 30% off. Don't wait till the last minute to buy, as I rarely repeat myself.

New addition to the shop today--It's Only Natural neckwarmer and mitts set:

And early tomorrow I'll be posting this handspun/commercial wool scarf:

This August I worked a shift at my CSA in exchange for $30 worth of produce. Silly me figured that it it's free I should take a bunch of apples and cabbage. The apples came home in September and I made tons of applesauce, apple butter and dried apples (great in hot oatmeal!). In early October I picked up a case of cabbage and we shredded and packed it in 2 crocks to ferment into saurkraut. (I'm of German descent and there's nothing better than a good wurst, potatoes and homemade kraut with a cold beer.) Last weekend the kraut was done and we proceeded to can it. I had 12 quart jars left and figured that was plenty--HA! After all 12 were packed solid, I still had 2/3 of the last crock left! We packed the rest into every plastic freezer bag we had. We figured we had a total of 24 quarts of saurkraut. Yep, 24 quarts! So we started calling friends and family to rescue us. We've managed to give away enough to ease our storage problem, but I've got saurkraut enough for the next 2 years. We have decided that 50# of cabbage was....ummm.....just a tad too much saurkraut. What WAS I thinking?

Holiday Sale! Come fill up your stockings with fiber goodies!

2008-11-22T09:14:00.002-05:00

In preparation for holiday shopping and gift-making, I’ll be having a sale in my Feistywoman Designs Etsy shop. Starting the morning of November 27 through the morning of December 2, most items in my etsy shop will be marked down 10%, 20% and 30%. I carry handspun yarn, spinning fiber and completed garments so you have quite an opportunity to find something for all the folks on your shopping list. As always, there’s free domestic (continental US) shipping on orders over $50.

Six Hands: The yarn is finished and heading to the next artisan

2008-11-19T08:17:00.015-05:00

I finished spinning and plying late on Saturday, washed the yarn on Sunday and let it dry while watching the Steelers football game. I will not comment on the game except to say that I'm happy we won and that perhaps the NFL should insist on more extensive training for the officiating department--which is MUCH nicer language than I used during the actual game!

The yarn is firm due to the nice tight spin and ply, yet soft and supple due to the Merino/alpaca fibers. Just the right yarn for a long-wearing yet soft garment. The yarn is being forwarded to Dottie at http://www.ccdzs.blogspot.com/ Let's see what her creative mind and talented hands can do with this yarn.

Six hands: It may LOOK easy to make yarn, but….

2008-11-12T18:55:00.009-05:00

…getting it right is sometimes it’s a royal PITA. Here's the first bobbin of luscious alpaca spun up on my Reeves double-treadle chair wheel.

I’d planned to use some of my own combed top with the Whirligig Yarns dyed alpaca, and I chose the wrong colors for it! Well, not the ‘wrong’ colors as there really ARE no wrong colors, but the wrong colors for the end product I was trying to achieve. Here’s the waaay too bright yarn—

And here’s the waaay too bright yarn being stripped off the spinning wheel bobbin so it can be un-plied and respun onto the bobbin. It's a good thing that the cats had gone outside to climb the apple tree--they think I do these things just for their amusement.

And then I had to spin another color that would be closer to what I wanted and ply the alpaca with it. It took me the better part of an entire day to unply, respin, spin and re-ply the yarn. The first successful skein is finished, so it’s onward to spinning the second skein the next few days, washing both of them to remove spinning and hand oils and give the alpaca a little ‘bloom’, and then they go onward to the next craftsperson. Check back to see what happens….

Six hands make a project

2008-11-09T11:15:00.004-05:00

I’m a member of the Fiber Arts Street Team on Etsy.com—we call ourselves Etsy FAST for short, and it’s also the tag we use for the Etsy search engine so we can find each others’ work. We encourage, advise, and support each other in our creative paths and the team includes artists in most fiber mediums. Spinning, knitting, crochet, weaving, felting and embroidery are techniques that pop to mind although I’m sure I’ve left out a bunch of others (blame it on low caffeine levels today). We have monthly ‘challenges’ where we choose a topic meant to inspire us to create something that defines or describes that topic. We’ve done the Olympics, heroes, harvest, candy and others. Decembers challenge is teamwork, meaning we’ll do a piece using materials from another team member. Since I’m primarily a spinner I wanted to take it a step beyond simply spinning fiber from another member and suggested that some members could form a trio (or more) and work on a project. And I thought it would be fun to watch my trio progress toward the final goal, so I’m putting up pix of the fiber I’m working with. I stumbled onto this combed top at Whirlygig Yarns while wandering around the team sites and I managed to resist it for about….oh, 2 days maybe? It arrived home on Thursday and I couldn’t wait to get my hands into it. It’s 3.7 oz. of huacaya alpaca dyed in a soft rainbow of colors.

I’ve just started spinning it, and it’s just lovely to work with. The colors when spun up are clear and change frequently and the color changes are subtle which is just perfect for the end use. I’ll be combining this with some of my own fiber and will hopefully get about 600-700 yards of sportweight yarn. I’ll be posting photos of the yarn being spun and the final plied and washed yarn. And at some point we should be seeing the finished product. I already know where the yarn is going and she’s a wonderful artist, but you’ll have to wait to see what she does with my yarn!

And on another topic completely, Pitt tromped all over Louisville yesterday, Penn State was beaten by Iowa (snort, chuckle), and the Steelers are set to beat the Colts today at 4:15 EST. Life is good…..

Ugly Yarn Day

2008-10-23T17:25:00.004-04:00

No, I'm not declaring a new holiday (although I wish I'd been away from my studio today). After spinning all week and making lovely yarns, I've just had a very long Ugly Yarn Day. The first yarn was a 4 oz ball that I'd traded for on etsy. It's a nice green with a little mustardy yellow peeking out of the center, and I thought I'd do an Art Yarn with it by adding glitter and some felted nuggets. Had about an ounce spun when the mustardy bits started, and I discovered that they were really clots of short fibers, balls of dirt--really just seemed to be sweepings from the barn floor if I'm honest about it. See the mustard lump sticking up? There's a whole big clot of it right beneath the arrow.

Well, I finished the yarn and am in a quandry about what to do with it. See all those slubby bits? Do I go ahead and ply this yarn with an evenly spun yarn and hope it looks like a 'effect'? What happens if it gets huge pills when it's knitted up? There is no way I'm wasting my felted nuggets on this yarn--they will be added to another yarn that deserves it.....

Yarn No. 2 was a lovely 4 oz. ball of dark green and orange that I bought at a festival this summer. I thought I'd ply it with a lovely heathery brown that's been aging in the stash. Again, near the center I ran into a section where the orange was replaced by yellow. I spun on, figuring that the color change wasn't that bad and plying would soften it. You'd think, after all these years of spinning (30+), that I'd know better. See where the orange ends and then begins again several yards later? Aarrgghh!

I'm leaving my studio and wheels alone for the night. Maybe Rumpelstiltskin will come in the dark hours and fix everything for me. Ya think?

Home again, an incredible autumn vacation!

2008-10-13T10:02:00.006-04:00

We arrived home Saturday night with new bikes and a head full of colorful memories. Our thanks to Nelson and Andrea at the Old Clark Inn for another lovely experience (and help with the busted bicycle).

New bikes--All ready to hit the bike trail Monday morning, and my front tire begins to peel off the rim. We find out the hard way that only Schwinn tires will fit their bikes, there are NO OTHER tires that will fit and there are NO dealers in the entire state. So we went bicycle shopping and bought 2 new bikes from Free Spirit Adventures in Caldwell. Amazing how many improvements have been made to bicycles since I purchased mine in 1990. They actually have comfortable seats now!

Cass Scenic RR--Since we couldn't ride on Monday we
headed to Cass to see the sights as it had been closed for the season last time we visited. Took a ride up the mountain on the Shay engine (not your usual steam locomotive) and visited the museum to see what this old company logging was like in its hayday.

Greenbriar River Trail--Not the most well-known bike trail (which is why we like it), this is a well-maintained trail for bikers, joggers and horseback riders. It's 76 miles long and we did over half that distance. Photos show hubby and I on the north end of Sharps Hill Tunnel. We'd have mid-morning coffee each day at Dirtbean Hale, pack a lunch and head out on the trail.

Highland Scenic Road--We drove the section that's Rte 150 from the Cranberry Mountain Nature Center to the intersection with Rte 219 near Elk River. I'll let the photos speak for the drive....

Fog rising from the valley on Saturday morning--

Vacation again!

2008-10-02T09:54:00.004-04:00

We're off to the wilds of West Virginia for a little peace and quiet and bicycling on an old railroad line. The guard cats (and Guardian Security) are in charge of the house while we're away. We'll be in Marlinton, WV at the Clark Hotel if anyone is in the area. It's a lovely B&B in a great little town. Last time we were there, the hotel owner clued us in to the chimney swifts and their sundown behavior--it was awesome to watch. Stay tunes to this channel for news and photos when we return......

Revision on one of my patterns

2008-09-29T20:22:00.005-04:00

I spent the day rewriting one of my older patterns, which meant dragging out my notes and knitting up the item (it's an earwarmer, so not a huge job). If any of you have my Ergonomic Earwarmer pattern, be aware that there's an update that's much easier to read and to follow. It looks like this:

If you've purchased this patten from me, please get in touch and I'll be happy to send you a revised copy. I can be reached at carol (underscore) mcfadden (at) verizon (dot) net--replace the words in parentheses with the appropriate symbols. In the meantime I'll be going through my records for customers who bought this pattern and sending them a new one.

On another front, I've been busy spinning up the recent purchases and posting some of my new sock fiber on etsy. The most recent additions are American Beauty (looks just like the rose when spun up) and Sweet Peas......

I love that sheep, don't you? He was a very-much-appreciated gift from a good friend who understands me only too well. Speaking of sheep, I'd also like to report that No. 55 (the speed-limit sheep from the mattress company commercials) is quite happily hanging out with his kin here at my house. Thanks, guys!

I just LOVE fiber shopping....

2008-09-21T19:37:00.007-04:00

We just returned from Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival. It was our chance to leave the work behind and just go have a good time in upstate New York. Talked with wonderful fiber folks like Maggie Alexander of Maggie's Farm, Bob from Winderwood Farm (look for him on eBay and Etsy) and Jonathan Bosworth who worked his little miracle on my Journey Wheel and with whom we solved the world's problems during a couple of discussions. We also went wine shoppping as we always do when in the region. We picked up a really nice Concord grape wine and a couple of ice wines which I ADORE for sipping after a nice dinner. Saturday night we stopped at the local Tops grocery store, bought some lovely cheese, olives, veggies and a multigrain bagguette to go with the wine. We had quite the picnic in our room, munching Brie/bread/olives, sipping good wine and reading our respective books. It was just the break we both needed.

And now for the good stuff. Some dyed BFL from High Bid Farm (no website but you can find them if you do a search):

The photo just doesn't do it justice, it's much richer than this shows, but what more can you do with the lighting in a motel room?

The always-incredible dyed fiber from Winderwood:

And from Spinners Hill, some combed top and complimentary-colored pouffy fiber (okay, so the technical term is carded cloud, but 'pouffy fiber' sounds exactly like the fiber feels):

I haven't included the fiber I bought this morning, cause there just isn't space for all those photos--once it's spun up I'll do the photography. Trust me, it's luscious! I guess I'm gonna be busy the next couple of weeks. Hopefully most of these will be appearing in the etsy store--except for the Purple Pouffy Fiber, which is mine, Mine, MINE! (I may allow Martha to pet it but, IT'S MINE!)

Many thanks to the Genessee Valley Handspinners Guild who do all the work of organizing this lovely festival.

Someone remind me that I shouldn't work weekends?

2008-09-08T11:07:00.011-04:00

Between teaching, working on Mom's house, family obligations and working on my business, I'm bushed today. Saturday I had 2 students for spinning, which I love teaching. It's all about that "aha moment" when they realize that twisting loose fiber makes YARN--what a revelation, and what fun to see that spark in someone's eyes!

Then we were off to northern parts to take our nephew to the bookstore and the ice cream shop for his birthday presents. Unfortunately, he's recovering from a nasty cold and had developed a bit of a fever by the time we left the bookstore so we took him home. Fortunately, he was entranced with his 2 books on sports cars and motorcycles, both of which have wheels (who knew that books on vehicles were now driveable?). I have to admit, the sports car book was something I pushed for--once upon a time there was a sports car rally near the LYS where I teach, and as I drove to class I followed a Ferrari F430 Spider and was beside a Shelby Cobra remake. When I arrived at the LYS I had to sit and spin for 10 minutes to calm down enough to teach. What I really wanted to do was follow the cars to the rally! I wonder why our youngest son owns 2 models of these:

(EDIT: I cannot get this photo to rotate back to it's original orientation and Blogger is no help at all. You'll just have to turn your 'puters sidewise to view son's 1992 MR2)

and was sent to college on condition that he buy me a purple 350Z when he got a job?

Sunday was for working at the other house shoveling mulch around the fruit trees that are left after the deer onslaught, watching football (Go Steelers!), and shooting the items to go in my store this week while shooing away the cats. Y'see, when it's near Dinnertime At The Cat Ranch the boys are merciless in letting us know that they are starving and need sustenance. It's a whole process involving pitiful meows, rubbing against the camera tripod, and pointed stares directed our way. Then hubster appeared at the door and they went after HIM.....

"We saw you, yeah, we did! Open the darn door NOW!"

"And I'm gonna be the first cat in the door--don't get in my way Mercury, or it's curtains for ya!"

And now I am, on Monday, incredibly tired and dragging my butt around the house, trying to be effective and productive.....oh well.

Handspun Delight Scarf pattern

2008-09-04T07:53:00.003-04:00

Handspun Delight Scarf by Feistywoman Designs©
(Beginning Knitting Skills)
In this scarf, you have the opportunity to use up those little bits of handspun yarn to create a unique, reversible and easy scarf.

Finished Size: Approximately 4" wide and 72" long
Yarn: approximately 100 yds each of 4 different Worsted weight yarns at 12 wpi. Mark them as Colors A, B, C and D. I like to use a variegated yarn, a textured yarn, and two solid color yarns.
Gauge: 4 sts & 9 rows/inch in Garter Stitch.
Check your gauge before beginning, although exact gauge isn’t necessary in a scarf.
Needles: 40" US #8 & 9 (5 & 5.5mm) or size needed to obtain gauge and/or make a fabric YOU like.

Notes:
You will be knitting the scarf longways, making knots at the end/beginning of each row to form the fringe. To do this when the next row uses the same color, simply make a loop about twice the length of the desired fringe (8-1/2" loop for 4" fringe), make an overhand knot snug up against the knitting, and continue back with the working yarn. To do this when the next row uses a new color, cut the yarn to the desired length (4-1/4" for 4" fringe), tie a knot with this strand and the end of the new yarn.
The bind-off leaves one lonely strand of yarn–you may leave this end as is, or add it to the last knot, making that knot a 3-strand one.

Row/Color Sequence:
Cast On and Rows 1 to4--A

Row 5--B

Rows 6 to 8--C

Rows 9 to 13--D
Row 14–A

Rows 15 to 17--B

Rows 18 to 22--C

Row 23--D

Rows 24 to 26–A
Rows 27 to 31–B
Row 32–C
Rows 33, 34 and Bind Off–D

Scarf:
With larger needles and Color A, cast on 250 stitches. Turn work, switch to smaller needles, pull out a loop for the fringe, make the knot and knit back across the row. Turn. Pull out a fringe loop, make a knot, and knit back. Continue in this manner, making knots either with the same yarn or the new yarn, and following the Row/Color Sequence chart. When you complete Row 34, switch back to the larger needles for the bind off. Cut the fringe loops if you want or leave them as is. Hand wash the scarf, lay flat to dry (Garter Stitch will stretch lengthwise if you hang it), and give the scarf to someone you love. Better yet, give it to someone you like and make them your new best friend!

Sewing up stuff and sneak peak

2008-09-02T10:59:00.008-04:00

I've been making scarves for the last week or so, and having a
blast choosing color combinations for these. All I have left to do
is add the appliques and finishing touchs, stitch my labels in and photograph them for the shop. These are just too much fun to knit and I think I'm addicted! This is today's pile of scarves to be finished--->

And this is the original scarf I designed last year to use up scraps
and sale bin skeins--->

I was too lazy last week to type out the free scarf pattern mostly because the table showing what color to use on which row just won't format for the blog. Hopefully, this week I'll have the time to sit down and reformat the pattern so it can be uploaded here and be easy to access. What I really, really need is someone to be my office manager/IT administrator so I can spend more time creating fiber and yarn and garments!

Speaking of creating fiber, here's a sneak peak of the
wool/nylon/bamboo sock batts I've been working on lately.
They should be up in the shop in a few weeks. This colorway is Morning Glories, one of the 10 colorways in my Posy Toes Bamboo line of sock batts. I've spun up several of these and they spin like buttah! And we all know how good bamboo is for our feet and for the environment! Now I just need to decide how many of the spun skeins will go to Natural Stitches for sale, and how many will stay with me--it's like selling my babies, y'know what I mean?

I also have a neckwarmer pattern in the works but it's still in it's embryonic stage. Very easy to knit up, very elegant to wear, and different from other neckwarmer patterns I've seen. I'm pretty excited about it. As they say in the advertising industry, watch this space for future developments......

In a designing type of mood

2008-08-25T11:07:00.002-04:00

Lately I’ve been in Design Mode and have been writing up a couple of patterns that were rattling around in my head. The first was a scarf I did last year to use up some handspun and some coordinating balls from a sale bin. I had to test-knit another couple of scarves in order to remember what I did--making sense of those little bits of paper with scribbled notes was NOT easy! And I decided that it was a great little design, and just too simple for me to justify actually charging cash-money for it. So the scarf pattern, Handspun Delight, is now available as a free pattern in pdf format (meaning you will need Adobe Acrobat or some other pdf program to read/print it). Please contact me for a copy by leaving a comment containing your email address (this website does not support downloadable pdf’s). I will not publish your comment unless you give permission, but will forward the pattern via email ASAP.

The second pattern, a neckwarmer, should be ready for publication in a few weeks. I still need to finish knitting the first one, have it test-knitted and write up the pattern. And somewhere in there I’m supposed to restock my Etsy shop……

Not that I’m complaining. I love what I do, and I usually end up working 7 days a week just because I like what I do. Sometimes I have to remind myself that there is a life outside of fiber, y’know?

Spinning Sock Yarn--Twist and Ply

2008-08-18T15:42:00.003-04:00

While 2-ply yarns is just fine for socks, you may want to consider 3-ply, Navaho ply (3-ply the easy way), or a cabled 4-ply yarn for you socks. 3- and 4-ply cabled yarns appear to make longer-wearing socks, but of course are thicker and can be more work to produce. You must decide for yourself what you want, but you should always ply sock yarn to make it stronger and even out the inevitable variations in thickness we find in handspun yarns.

You should also keep in mind that the amount of twist required in the singles yarn is affected by the amount of twist that will be subtracted when you ply. 2-ply yarn needs more twist, as the tight plying required for sock yarn will subtract twist from the singles; 3-ply requires less twist as there are three strands of singles being twisted in the opposite direction and thus less twist is subtracted from each individual singles. Cabled 4-ply is a yarn that takes some thought and experimentation to come out perfectly balanced—this is one that requires experimentation and note-taking, but is well worth the effort.

Some pros and cons of the different plying techniques:

2-ply
Advantages: Quickest path to finished sock yarn
Disadvantages: Can wear faster than other techniques

Navaho ply
Advantages: Great way to preserve the striping in variegated singles
Quickest way to get 3-ply yarn
Disadvantages: Little bumps can irritate sensitive feet
Requires finer singles and more yardage than a 2-ply of similar thickness

3-ply
Advantages: Avoids the little bumps of Navaho ply
Allows use of 3 different (in color/texture/content) singles if desired
Disadvantages: Requires 3 bobbins/cops of yarn, all approximately the same yardage

Cabled 4-ply
Advantages: The longest-wearing socks
Allows for many effects with any combination of singles being different in color/content/texture
Disadvantages: Takes the longest to spin a finished, with 3 steps involved (4 singles, then two 2-ply, then one 4-ply

Spinning yarn for socks 2--consistent weight yarn

2008-08-12T10:06:00.002-04:00

Once your fiber is ready to spin, you need to decide what yarn weight you want to spin. Fingering is the commercial standard for sock yarn, but you’re in charge of your yarn now, so DK, Sport or Worsted are all possible. Fingering weight makes something you can wear in your Birkies or to the gym, DK and Sport are good for hiking socks, and Worsted is great for work socks and bed socks. A good way to ensure that you spin a consistent size is to tie a few inches of commercial yarn to the front of your wheel or near where you spindle, so you can easily glance at it to remind yourself of the size you want. Remember that the commercial yarn is plied, so you’re aiming to spin to the size of the singles that make up the finished yarn.

Sample, sample, sample till you achieve the weight you want, and make short notes on how you made each sample (number of treadles, length of yarn drafted till wind-on, etc). For spindlers, you can lay the spun yarn on a piece of paper and draw a line to represent the twist angle, which will give an indication of the amount of twist you inserted in that particular length of yarn. Immediately after spinning a length of yarn, let it twist back on itself in a 2- or 3-ply—this is what your finished yarn will look like. When your sample is the yarn you want for your socks, simply continue to duplicate the steps in the notes you took for that sample, and check your yarn weight occasionally be letting it double back on itself and comparing it to the commercial yarn. By keeping notes and checking your spinning, you can interrupt your spinning and pick it up again later and still be consistent. Keep in mind that sock yarn needs a little more twist and a tighter ply than usual garment yarns because socks take quite a bit more wear and tear. More on this next time….

Sadness and hatred

2008-08-07T08:26:00.002-04:00

I'm battling sadness today and have been trying to deal with this since last evening. I come from a big family, you know the kind of family folks used to have to help with the work around the farm and deal with the higher mortality rate in those days. Mom actually lost 3 of her 9 children before I was even born! And we have our share of family spats. Except my family likes to deal with their differences by announcing "I'll never speak to xxxx again!" which I think is an absolutely silly way to deal with things. How will you resolve your differences if you don't speak to someone? How will you even let them know what p*ssed you off in the first place? I mean, I thought that kind of behavior was left behind in 6th grade, know what I'm sayin?

Anyway, I took the opportunity to visit one of the estranged relatives who is "never going to speak to" his mom or siblings again. But I'm the aunt and figured since I didn't have anything to do with the spat and didn't even know what caused it, it'd be okay to visit and invite them over for dinner this weekend. Rang the doorbell twice--no answer so I figured it was broken and I knocked, causing the dog to go nuts--but I heard voices calming the dog and saw someone look out the curtain. Knocked a second time and announced myself, since they hadn't seen me in a couple of years. Their college-age daughter comes out, closing the door behind her, and announces that they are not interested in coming to see me and in fact don't want to see me at all. I ask what I've done to them, and the girl says she doesn't even know me, doesn't want to know me and wants me to leave. What kind of person sends their kid to the door to do their dirty work? Last time I saw this girl, she was about 5 and here she stands sending so much venom my way that it was overwhelming.

I'm not religious, but I do believe in being kind and behaving well. How, and why, do you teach a child to hate someone they don't even know. This girl and her sister have grown up not knowing their grandmother or 4 aunts/uncles, 5 great-aunts/uncles, 30+ cousins and multitudes of second cousins. Because their father is angry at his mother. And their mother is angry with him. It's just so sad that two people and their anger can ruin the childhood of two once-lovely girls. And what will those girls teach their children (if they can find someone who wants to share a life of anger and hatred with them)? Wow. Just......Wow.

Spinning yarn for socks 1--prepare your fiber

2008-08-04T09:01:00.003-04:00

I've had several requests to write something on spinning sock yarn. This will be the first in a series of three lectures (ramblings?) about how I construct my sock yarn--YMMV.

Once you've chosen your fiber for socks (you can't go wrong with Posy Toes Sock Fiber), the key to spinning fine yarns like sock yarn is to use a thin fiber source. Meaning, if you're using top or roving (wool that comes in long ropes) it's best to split these lengthwise into strips about the size of your little finger or finer. I typically split top into 8 strips and roving into 4-6 strips. If you've got batts like my Posy Toes batts, you can make strips or roll them into really big rolags (see below for handling rolags).

Next, you'll need to pre-draft or attenuate the strips. Hold the end of a strip in two hands, making sure that your hands are further apart than the staple length of the fiber. In other words, if your individual wool fibers average 3" long, your hands should be 4" or more apart. Gently pull the strip in one direction so the fibers begin to slide past each other. You'll notice that the strip is slightly fluffier and less compressed--that's exactly what we want! Continue working your way from one end of the strip to the other. You can leave your attenuated strip in a heap on the floor and spin from that or, especially if you have feline pets, you can roll it in a ball and keep it in a basket or your lap while you spin.

If you're using rolags made from batts or from handcarding, simple take one between your hands and start stretching it out. Work from one end to the other, and if it's still not thin enough for your likeing work back to the other end. Carded batts take several passes until they're thin enough for sock yarn.

Once your fiber is prepared, there's nothing left to do but spin it up. More about deciding the yarn grist (thickness), twist and plying in future posts.......

Yarn sale! Yarn sale!

2008-07-31T09:55:00.007-04:00

YARN SALE!! Can you believe I've been on Etsy for only a year? Seems like it's been longer, but then again I had to put the shop on hiatus when we were transferred out of the States for 3 months. Anyway, to celebrate my first anniversary on Etsy, I'm having a yarn sale. I have put all 19 handspun yarns on sale, many of them are multiple skeins and will have enough yarn for an entire project! All yarns are marked 10%, 15% or 20% off. In addition, I'm offering free shipping within the US on orders over $50--your shipping costs will be refunded via Paypal as soon as I receive payment. Sale will end on August 8.

Last years travels, Handwoven magazine and gardening

2008-07-28T10:16:00.007-04:00

Hubby and I were transferred to the Netherlands last September and stayed for 3 months. We were joined in November by DS #2 and his SO. This is us hanging out on a windmill platform just south of Amsterdam. On my "Bucket List" I have now added a ride on a windmill wing--once a year, you can pay the miller to strap you into a harness and rotate you with a stop at the top to admire the view, upside down of course. DS and I want to go back and try it out--ya only live once and may as well make it worthwhile!

We met many amazing Dutch folks (the bakery with their evil caramel cakes

and the fish store owners who would cook reheatable meals were favorites in our neighborhood). And I hooked up with a group of local spinners. They were also accomplished weavers and knitters and I thought US folks should have an introduction to these amazing people. I've been working on a travel article for several months now, and have gotten confirmation from Interweave Press that it will appear in the upcoming issue of Handwoven Magazine. I'm honored to be able to introduce you to Annie and Ineke--you should know that the Dutch are just as bad at enabling fiber purchases as anyone else. This is the spinning fiber I bought at the annual retreat.

On another topic, we've just spent the weekend working at our other house where I grew up and which needs a bit of renovation before we can move in. We're hosting a family reunion there in 2 weeks and want to have the garden in some sort of shape by then. Last year it looked like this...

Garden is finished! August 4, 2008

We've taken down the old deer fence, cleaned out all the dead plants and numerous butterfly bushes, lifted the walking stones, laid down a weed barrier and are in the process of covering it with pine/black walnut mulch made from trimming the trees on the property. We'll then re-lay the stones and put up another deer fence. My arms and back hurt from all that shoveling, but next year and all future gardening years will be much easier once this work is done. I'm really looking forward to eating all those fresh organic veggies and fruits.

Return from vacation and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

2008-07-21T13:53:00.002-04:00

Family in Connecticut are doing as well as can be expected with summer colds and other stuff going on. My brother knew us and knew our son and was making jokes—all good signs! Our nephews girls (4 and 2 years old) came over from Manchester Center to visit and I was treated to a manicure as only little girls can do. Rather than fight over doing my manicure, we decided they should take turns painting each finger. My left hand was lavendar and my right hand was pink, and all 10 nails had glitter applied on top of the color. Thank goodness SIL had a big bottle of polish remover and lots of cotton balls! I'm knitting purple/red/pink striped socks for SIL to thank her for her hospitality and her polish remover; photos will appear on Ravelry as soon as I get the chance to take them.

We left CT early, and dropped our son at his place in Manhattan. Then we headed for Allentown where we had tickets to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Lehigh University (hubbys alma mater). He gave a 90-minute talk on Generating a Good Heart and was given 2 standing ovations before he even opened his mouth to speak. I have no words to describe how I felt or how the entire lecture hall felt—there were no coughs, no cell phones ringing, no undercurrent of chitter-chatter. Just silence and rapt attention to his words and thoughts and laughter at his jokes. He brought the house down when asked what he would choose to do if he hadn't been chosen as the Dalai Lama--he would have chosen to be an engineer which is what Lehigh is famous for! I find myself hearing his echo in my head every time I’m anxious or starting to stress out or thinking that someone is a jerk. He has a very clear, peaceful and serene outlook on life. If you’d like to hear his entire lecture (or even download it), Lehigh has it online here http://www3.lehigh.edu/dalailama/multimedia.html

I’m off to get some work done. Everything seems to have piled up while I was gone—imagine that!