Wool-N-Wheels

New Beginnings

2010-09-08T19:51:00.002-05:00

This is my new home. My grandfather passed away in April and I was given the opporturnity to purchase his home.. It is a quante little house with almost 2 acres of land. I have only one neighbor and lots of wildlife that comes to visit. Lots of work have taken place and hopefully this weekend I will be moving in. All of my stuff has been there for a month.

My other news is that I have become engaged to a wonderful man. We have been working diligently on the house. Next year he will be joining me in our new home. It has been exciting, exhausting and statisfying. Needless to say spinning and knitting have pretty much been placed on hold just not enough time in the day.
I will keep you updated on the progress.

Where did summer go?

2009-09-18T21:00:00.005-05:00

Vacationing in souther Maine was part of my summer. My dd and I went for a few days the beginning of August. It was a beautiful week, was warm and sunny the whole time.
Just something about the ocean that just soothes the soul and rejuvinates the body. The smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves is almost as relaxing as a bubble bath.

Nubble light in York Beach.

2wks of work then back to the ocean. BF and I went to Pine Point for a week.

Have been busy with swaps. Knitting for them. Have gotten some fun and beautiful items in the swaps. Working on getting my read swap together now. I hope that my swappie enjoys it.

I have also been doing some spinning as well. Finally finished up the yellow and green with alittle bit of pink. Then spun up the merino tencil " Jack in the pulpit" color way. It is now plyed as well, just sitting on the bobbin waiting to be made into a skein.

Melissa was here tonight and we did some spinning. I started to spin a merino bamboo blend.

Next weekend it is the first annual Southern Adirondack fiber festival. Very excited to have one so close to my home, like 10 mins. Then of course is the mecca of fiber festivals Rhinebeck.

Formulating my list of wants and needs or should I say my lusts and desires.

Great way to spend a rainy day!!

2009-06-18T13:03:00.002-05:00

Say hi to our newest family member. This is Lily, she about 9 wks old. She loves to lie on my laptop while I am working. Have to say that I forgot how crazy kittens can be. She is alot of fun that is for sure.

I decided last week that I needed some retail therapy. So I did some shopping on Etsy. See what I found.

This is merino\bamboo from Sugarbees Politically incorrect collection
This is Starter Wives Lori. Cant wait to try spinning this. Bamboo is a new fiber for me. I love the color.
The next purchase came from Spincerely yours. I love her fiber and colorways.

This is merino tencil. Called Jack in the Pulpit. so very pretty.
Then there was a surprise in the mail as well . I had recently gotten a package from my swap buddy. Well she sent me some more stuff.

A beautiful blue knitting bag and yarn to match.
The yarn is panda wool. Bamboo, wool and nylon. Cant wait to make a pair of socks out of it.
Great color. Thank you again Kim.
Have gotten the knitting bug lately. I just finished a market bag. Hopefully if the weather holds out for the weekend I will put it to work. Now working on dishcloth.
Great way to spend a rainy day.

Blue is the Color

2009-06-08T14:00:00.003-05:00

I have to say that it has been a while since I have done a swap. The bug has bitten me once again. I was playing on Ravelry a few weeks ago and did a search for swaps. There it was "The don't be blue....blue swap". For those of us who love the color blue. The swap was for yarn and any thing blue that we wanted to put in the package.

On Friday my package arrived.

Sock yarn with the pattern and the needles to make them with it. Some fabulous blue buttons.

Above is some soft and lucious mohair lace yarn . A beautiful shawl pin, a wooden key chain drop spindle, a goat charm, a cute sheep tape measure ( not shown because he has already made it to my knitting bag) chocolate truffle flavored coffee and mango white tea. Oh and of course some yummy chocolates wrapped in blue foil.. they were gone in no time....

Prom Season

2009-05-14T09:10:00.003-05:00

This is what has occupied my time lately. Mothers day weekend was prom for our school. This my daughter Jennifer and he boyfriend Matt. Have to say never thought getting a girl ready for the prom was so time consuming. My oldest is a boy so there was not much that I had to do to get him ready. With a girl there is hair, nails, the multiple fittings for the dress, shoes. Wow. Have to say it was well worth it because she does look beautiful.

Unfortuantly I have not been doing much spinning or knitting. All the post on the blogs about the spring fiber festivals have inspired me to get back at it. So maybe the next post I will have some spinning to show.

Butterflies

2009-04-20T12:26:00.002-05:00

Spent the weekend at the timeshare that I have in Lee Ma. Spent Friday afternoon walking around the little shops of Lee and Stockbridge.
Saturday afternoon a friend and myself went to Magic Wings in Deerfield. It is a butterfly museum. With live butterflies of all kinds. What a great place. I highly recommend it. We spent hours there just wondering around taking pictures of the butterflies. Here is the link check it out. http://www.magicwings.com. Below are just a few of the pics that I took. We had butterflies landing on us.

Have been doing alittle knitting and spinning. Seems like the dog destroys it faster than I can knit it. Next post I hope to have some more on that front. Hope that the butterflies bring warm weather thoughts

WELCOME ROSIE !

2009-03-12T12:41:00.004-05:00

Welcome to Rosie! She arrived on Friday March 6th. Isn't she beautiful. She is my first brand new spinningwheel. Like fresh from the box put together yourself type of new. I absolutely love her. She spins like a dream. I also want to thank Tracy from Wooly designs, that is where Melissa and I order our wheels from. He was awesome to work with. I highly recommend him.

Along with the purchase of Rosie whom is partially name after my grandmother, (who is the one who foster my love of fiber arts by teaching how to knit when I was just 8). I have also made some purchases in fiber. The fiber is from Spincerely yours. Some bfl which is my favorite fiber to spin and some merino tencil as well

Rosie has spun and plied her first skein of yarn. I believe it is corredale, in some spring colors.

Really need some color this time of year.

Well I am off to spin some more. Think that Rosie and I will be spending lots of time together.

Happy Valentine"s Day

2009-02-16T09:03:00.006-05:00

Hope that everyone one had a nice Valentine's Day. I had a great V day.

Flowers are from a great guy.

Mittens to go with the hat that I finished. Have gotten the bug to knit again. I need to finish my socks. Not quite sure it is taking me so long to finish even the first one. Wish me luck.

New goodies

2009-02-10T19:54:00.004-05:00

Look what the postman delivered just the other day. My new set of Options needles from Knitpicks. and the carry case. I have wanted this set for a long time. Every since I had tried a set of Melissa's. You have to understand that I have been using the circular needles that I inherited from my grandmother. So needless to say those needles could be as old or older than me.. and not very flexible.

He also brought me a new book. You have to understand that I love to do anything with cables. They are my favorite, so I could not resist when I saw this book and for about $7 how could I resist

Ok, so I had to try my new needles out and I found the perfect pattern for them to perform on. Started the hat yesterday during the day. Melissa and I went to the knitting group at Borders in Clifton Park and did alot of work on it there. Then finished it up this morning. This is a gift for the daughter of the guy that I am seeing. It was an easy knit.

So the bug has bitten me and now that I have started and finished a project. I am ready for another, but however I do have a sock to finish and the second one to start.
I am also planning on having another gathering at my house with Melissa, Carla and Lisa to spin.
We are also planning a weekend away at the end of March at my time share in Lee for a girls weekend.. Can't wait

New things happening

2009-01-22T13:41:00.003-05:00

Wow can't believe how long it has been since I last posted on here. My apologizes.

I did make it to Rhinebeck and did get a couple of things. Had a great time.

The above pic is of my purchase at Rhinebeck it is white suri alpaca and the spindle is from the Butterfly girls...

I love the way that it spins. Have not done much on it since I bought it tho... I know I am bad.

The biggest news that I have started working from home. Which I am hoping will give me more time to spin. I certainly do miss it. And maybe more time to do some blogging.

The Jury is still deliberating!

2008-10-12T20:45:00.003-05:00

I managed to get it together. Used it to skein the last of my brown wool. Was not able to treddle my wheel. Not quite sure why. Once I got the skein off the winder, my wheel treddled with no problem. So I guess that I will have to play with it a little bit more.

For the first time since I have started spinning I have spun a whole fleece. I have 8 skeins of yarn. 3 of them are off the plying bobbin that goes with my Suzie. So they are big skeins of about 600 yards. The others are about 300. I think that I will have plenty to make the sweater that I want. Now to find that sweater pattern.

What a wonderful fall day!

2008-10-12T20:31:00.002-05:00

It was the perfect day to wash my handspun skeins and hang them out to dry. I have 13 skeins hanging out there. Hard to believe that I had that many done. When I was on vacation about a month ago, is when I did most of it.
Now need to find a place to keep them so that the puppy that we have will stay out them.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered the skeinwinder for my Suzie. It came in pieces with no directions.
Here it is.

While I was trying to figure out how I was going to use it and put it together I put my hands to work and made a dishcloth.

My kitchen is red, so it will fit in well.
Now I guess I will finish spinning the brown roving. It is almost done.

Vacations at home are great

2008-09-04T10:21:00.002-05:00

Sorry that it has been so long since my last entry. Have been on vacation this week and my goal was to get some cleaning and spinning done. It started with an offer to spin at a both at the local fair. I have been spinning since then. The first picture is of my country craftsman spinning wheel. I was not sure that I had posted a picture of it. What a great wheel. I have just finished spinning merino tencil from the sheep shed in color was dusk. I had bought 2 2ounce hanks of roving. Now I have to ply it. The next picture is of the yarn I have finished. The brown is destined to be a sweater for me, the white is some corriedale that is going to be a baby blanket and the other 2 I am not sure yet maybe some mittens.

The next 2 pictures are of a scarf that I am making. My first time knitting with beads. I have to say that it is not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The pattern is very simple. One of those mindless knits. Which is nice to do.This week has been great the weather has been wonderful. Now that my daughter is back to school it is very quiet here. I am hoping by the end of the year to be working from home. Will be nice not having to have to travel. Will give me more time to do other things.

Will be planning spinning get togethers with Melissa and Lisa. Lisa has a ridgid hettle loom and is going to help Melissa and I warp ours. That will be one of our gatherings. I am looking forward to getting together. I think that it will help to keep me motivated to keep spinning.

I have started my list for Rhinebeck. So looking forward to going this year. It will be here before we know it..

Will try to post more often. One of my other goals.

Castle on the Hudson

2008-06-29T10:12:00.003-05:00

After a lot of research and searching the IloveNY tourism website, I found the day trip that I wanted to take. This is Banner Castle located on an island in the middle of the Hudson River in Newburg NY. Not to far from West point. Actually on the boat tour that I took, we went past Westpoint..
It was very humid and hazy as you can tell from the picture. It was a fun day. They do have tours of the island but unfortunately it had been canceled yesterday. Might be just as well seeing it was so humid. It was a great day trip.

Have not done much on the fiber end as of late but I did go shopping last weekend and I did buy something to challenge me for the summer. I bought a scarf kit that contains beads. Something that I have never done. I am up for the challenge. I will post some pictures of it once I get it started. Might be something to start this afternoon.

Day to Dye for

2008-03-28T18:30:00.004-05:00

Couple of weeks ago, Carla and I taught a natural dyeing class. The day started out cold and rainy but did warm up a bit and the sun did come out. Our class was small there was 6 of us. We had great fun. Besides natural dying with madder, onion skins, indego, safflower, we also did some kool aid dying and dying with Wilton cake icing as well.

We had journels for each of the participants to start there own dying journel. I have to say that Carla and I are bad at keeping tract of what we are doing when we are dying.
We do it more for the fun and just like to experiment..

Thank you Barb for hosting our day and Thank you to Marty, Barbs husband for letting us use his shop to play in.

I am slipping!!!!

2008-01-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it has been almost a year since the last time posted. Alot has been going on since then. I have a new job. working fulltime. Makes it hard to find time to blog.
I have been knitting alittle. I did make an alpaca hat from yarn that I spun for my sister in law for christmas. It turned out really cute. I even had enough yarn left over to make a pair of fingerless gloves. Still working on my X&O vest. Keep starting little projects inbetween. I also just started a clapotis out of fiber that I purchased from Adams farm. It has been spun for a while just waiting for the right project to come along. I love the colors. Has all the great fall colors. It reminded me of the fall leaves with a bite of angelena to give it some sparkle.

I appologize for not having pictures, but once again I am having computer issues and am unable to load pics to this computer. But I do promise that I will get pics on as soon as I am capable.

FUN IN THE MUD

2007-04-22T20:06:00.000-05:00

Spring has finally sprung here!! This is a picture of my daughter ( the driver and my sons girlfriend) My son is the one in the back ground. The girls decided that while they were riding 4 wheelers and going through the mud that they would get off and wrestle in the mud.. They were covered from head to toe... My son, the one in the back ground, was reaching for a bucket of water that was on the ground...he proceded to dump it over the top of the 2 girls right after I took the picture.. then the hose came out and the had a water fight with the hose....good thing it was 75 today.... On to the knitting front.... I know have 2 pairs of socks done and a scarf... I am now working on a vest for myself...but I have not been able to do a whole lot of knitting.. I started a new job 3 weeks ago, making a whole lot more money.. I have to say that this job is a whole new side of nursing and there is alot for me to learn.. I am liking it though.. Health wise things are good. I have not been able to do alot of spinning either.. I just don't seem to find the time..after getting the supper dishes done and laundry and all the running for sports I am wiped out and head for bed. Well speaking of bed I think that it is time.. tomorrow is another long day. work, track met, and then off to Dicks for baseball supplies for my youngest.. I will try to include some pictures of my finished work next time..

When is spring coming???

2007-02-25T06:10:00.000-05:00

We had one of the biggest snow storms that we have had in quiet awhile on Valentines Day. It was nice to see the snow,but now the cold can go away. I am not a winter person. Don't get me wrong I enjoy watching it snow from my livingroom window, not through my windshield. The kids are enjoying it though, it came just in time for winter vacation. They have been out on the snowmobiles all week.
I have been knitting like crazy. I finished a pair of socks, scarf and 2 hats. I am now working on another pair of socks. My goal is to make socks for everyone this year for Christmas. (you can stop laughing now!!!) I think that I am doing well. I also need to do some spinning. In October, I dropped off 2 fleeces to be processed by twist of fate spinnery in Ct. (at Rhinebeck). They came not to long ago. I am greatly impressed. The fiber is clean, it was nicely packaged. I did spin some of it and it spins beautifully. One of the fleeces is from Mary Pratt, it is beautiful. My other goal is to spin it and knit a sweater for me to where to Rhinebeck. ( again you can stop laughing) I did not say which year to Rhinebeck. I am also hoping to be able not to buy any yarn or fiber and use what I have here, but with spring just around the corner and fiber festivals starting it might be asking to much. I am going to try and be good.
DH has been home working. Siding the house and when the wind was to strong and cold, they tore out the bathroom, replacing the tub, floor and toliet. Which was a surprise when I came home from work, to find a tub in the middle of the living room floor and the vanity in the dining area and the sink on the floor in the hall. I am not one for having my house torn apart. I have issues with sawdust and sheetrock dust track all through the house. Left for me to clean. While he plops his butt down in the chair to watch the news, then complain because the vacum is to loud and he can't hear. It is a never ending battle. Well, I guess I am off to start the day. Nice to have uninterupted computer time.

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

I know I am late in wishing everyone a happy new year. It has been hectic. Started off the new year, teaching a med course. Now it seems that I have gotten a cold. I really don't understand why seeing that yesterday it was over 60 degrees here, today it is in the mid 40's. My plants are so messed up. They think that it is spring. With all that has been going on I have managed to finish one project and start a new one. I finished the vest that I started a while ago out of some of my handspun. I hope that he likes it. It is to be a birthday present. My new project is a scarf from the winter issue of knitty. I started it on Monday evening and it is just about done. I can't believe how fast it is going. When I get some batteries for the camera I will post the pictures. I have no idea what the next project will be. I need to find something to take with me to work. I knit at lunch time. Melissa and I have decided that with the new year that we need to work on decreasing our fiber stash. We had gotten the idea from some of our fellow bloggers who are not adding to there yarn stash but using it up this year. So we have decided to do the same with our fiber. No new fiber until we have used up some of what we have!!! ( yeah right, how far away is Cummington?) Wish us luck!!!!

Winter is here!!

2006-12-09T07:27:00.000-05:00

Wow it certainly has been cold here the last couple of days. Tuesday gave us our first taste of snow. Just enough to make driving fun. Fortunately it did not last long and by the end of the day it was gone. It still remains cold and for the weekend it is going to be warmer. Has been a long week. I have some health issues that have really started to take a toll on me. Since July I have been battleing high blood pressure that just came on suddenly. I went to the cardiologist on Wednesday, he increased my meds that I am currently on and started a new one. Since I have started the new meds. I have had a headache like you would not believe, and extremely tired ( more so than usual). This does not give me much time to get any spinning or knitting done. As much as I hate to say it the desire is just not there. Hopefully once my body adjusts to the meds it will be better. My hope was that Christmas this year would be better. Last year was horrible, with my husband hurt and out of work and me not working Christmas was hard. I made alot of gifts last year and I am feeling guilty this year because I am not making things like I usually do. I am working on finishing the Irish Hiking Scarf that I started last year, Hopefully it will be done in time to give it to my sister. The vest will not be done. Might have to be a birthday present. My daughter yells at me for bringing my knitting to her basketball games, but she will just have to get over that. Maybe I will have pictures of some finished projects next time.

They are done!!

2006-11-26T07:45:00.000-05:00

This is the sunset off my deck on Thanksgiving night. Beautiful

It has only taken me months to make these socks. I bought the yarn from Janet Lynn of www.the-wheel-thing.com during our Hot N Hazy spin in. Started them shortly after but I guess life was just to busy. Finally they are done. I am thinking they are going to be for me, but now with Christmas so close they may be part of a gift for my mother. I am still working on the vest. It is coming slowly. Of course now I am itching to start a new project. Not quiet sure what that will be. Since my last post only the other day. ( I don' know what has gotten in to me. Usually it is months before I post again. ) Things have gotten very stressful here. So I need to find something to keep my hands and my brain occupied. In July I started with panic attacks, started on medication, it seemed to help but yesterday I had to work very hard to hold one back. They scar me and it means that things are going down hill again. I am letting things bother me that perhaps I should not. Well now that I have vented and don't feel anybetter it is off to do some blog reading.

I got pictures!!!!!!

2006-11-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

Wow time does fly when you are having fun,( I think it is fun that I have been having, not quiet sure). Things in my life just seem to get more hectic. Rhinebeck was a great relaxation for me. Here is the fiber that I purchased. The white is cormo silk blend from Foxfire, the blue is a blend of mohair and wool with some Angelina in it. The dark is a red and black Lincoln. The fiber pictured in the front is moreno tencil blend from the Sheep shed. I had purchased some in May at Cummington and fell in love with it. So I just had to have some more.

I also added to my dropspindle collection as well. I purchased 2 Hatchtown spindles one is a Lady Anne made out of Fishtail oak. It is one that I have wanted for a while, more for the looks then to spin on. The other is inlaid with Lapis. It spins wonderfully. In the picture as well is the 3rd spindle that I purchased, a Vermont Spindle made of Zebra wood. The other is one that I purchased before Rhinebeck,( I just could not wait) It is a Spindlewood spindle, exactly 1/2 ounce in wt. It has become one of my favorite spindles. Thanks to Janet Lynn of www.the-wheel-thing.com for getting these new spindles. They are beautiful.

Unfortuantly I have not had a whole lot of time to spin. My wheels keep giving me dirty looks. My suzie currently has beast on it. I am in the process of spinning more to finish the vest that I had started as a gift for a friend. I don't think that it will get done in time. The back is done and the front is about 1/4 done. My country craftsman has silk on that, but it has been awhile since I worked on it. Time just seems to fly. I miss spinning. It was a great way for me to relax. With some of the health issues that I now have and person things going on, I really need to do more.

Tuesday was our Christmas get together for our spinning group. What alot of fun. It is always so nice to see my fellow spinners. One of our fellow spinners, Lisa of http://spinaround.blogspot.com was there. Lisa had been ill and had not been coming. It was so nice to see her again and know that she is feeling better. She does some beautiful knitting and spinning. I can't wait for our next spinning get together. Well that is all for now.

Chachachanges

2006-09-04T06:47:00.000-05:00

The weather has certainly taken a change, it feels like fall. One of my favorite times of the year. The colors of the trees and the crisp air in the morning, are what make it my favorite. Life here has been going through its own changes here. I have started working full time. I love my new job. I am a Medical Trainer for a bordering counties ARC. It is hard to get back into the routine of getting up and going to work every morning. The kids start school in a few days and perhaps that will help everybody get into a routine. Things at home have been very stressful as well as some health issues that I am having. I have been walking just about every night. Hoping that it will help lower my blood pressure. Has not helped and now I am on a b/p med. Not what I wanted to do. Unfortnately I have not had alot of time to spend spinning. All of my wheels sit in the living room calling to me. Only one wheel has a project on it. I know that is sad. I do have some projects in mind so that may be my inspiration to start again. Also have a sock started and slow progress is being made on it. I did get to turn the heel last night. That is something that I like to do all in one sitting. I do like the yarn that I am using. It is Opal that I purchased from The Wheel Thing in july at the hot n hazy. The pattern and colors are really nice. If I can keep the batteries in my camera I will try to post some pics. Have a great Labor Day!!

Hot and Hazy II

2006-07-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

No I did not fall off the face of the earth. Life kinda carried me away. Since my last post in April alot has changed. I had a job at the local icecream shop as manager. I was working 40+ hours aweek, but that was not enough for her. I asked for a day off to go to a job interview, because the icecream stops flowing after labor day. and she fired me. Oh well! I do have a new job that I start on Monday. I am very excited about it. I will be working for a local county ARC as there Medical Trainer. July 1st was Hot and Hazy II. We had a good turn out compared to last year. I want to Thank all the vendors for coming. I will try to include some pictures. We are hoping that next year is an even bigger turn out.
I bought 2 new spindles from Janet Lynn of The Wheel Thing. A Tabachek and a Forrester, along with a skein of sock yarn. From Grafton Fibers I purchased 2 batts of fiber, a bright blue and one that is orange and turquise blended. I am hoping to make socks from them. They are already spun.
Some of my other spinning purchased happened at Cummington. I bought my pretty Saxony wheel, A Country Craftsman. I have wanted one for a while. Yes I now have 3 wheels.
I try to give them each equal time. I also picked up a Russian Lace spindle from Janet Lynn. It is walnut and beautiful. I have not learned how to use it yet but I will. Also bought a fleece from Mary Pratt. Sad that you have to travel 2 hours to purchase from you neighbor, but that is how it goes.
My knitting has come to a stand still. I joined the Mystery Stole 2 knit along and had to rip out the first 9 rows and I just have not gotten back to it. I need to. It might be something to do at lunch. I am also working on a vest, the back is just about done. I am thinking that I am not going to have enough yarn. It is beast that I spun and I am going to have to get some more. Maybe I can get it done in time for Christmas. We shall see. Things are just going to get crazier.
Yesterday, I had a follow up visit with the eye doctor for a retinal tear that she discovered 3 months ago. She found that I had an occluded vessel in my right eye. So off the the retinal specialist I went. He took all kinds of pictures and injected dye. He is not quiet sure what the couse might be. High blood pressure is one theory. So now I am off to the primary for a complete work up. Then back to the specialist in 6 wks so we shall see what happens.

It's a little white for April

2006-04-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

It has been snowing like crazy here today. We were only suppose to have slushy stuff on the grass. Oh well. I have some time off between jobs. I start at the local dairy bar at the end of the month. It should be fun. I love to make ice cream sundeas. With all my time I have been working on the Alpaca (someday it will be finished). I got the urge the other day to work on the beautiful silk that I purchased last summer. I have been spinning it on my moosie, it is one of my favorite drop spindles. On other news. Carla, Melissa and I are planning our hot and hazy day again. This time it will be in July. We are very excited. We have some new vendors this year and hopefully Bosworths will be able to come. They have emailed Melissa. I am still working on my license to drive bus. Hopefully by the end of the month I will have my license. It will be nice. It will give me some extra money for the upcoming fiber festivals. Well off to do some more laundry.

Is It Spring yet?

2006-02-01T19:01:00.000-05:00

I just had to have something springy. You walk out the door here in the northeast and you are not sure if it is Janurary or the end of April. Monday I had the windows open airing out the house and last night it was snowing, tomorrw it is going to be in the 40's again. You just can't figure it out. Since my last post life at my house has become even more hectic. My job at the local ski area has been very busy. I am also working towards my drivers license to drive school bus. I have decided to put away my knitting for now and work on getting some of my spinning done. It has been so long since I sat down at my wheel, it felt really nice to just sit and spin and not think about any thing but the fiber going through my fingers. I am still spinning the alpaca that belongs to a friend. Hopefully I can get that done soon. I have so many other things that I would like to spin. I have added the pictures of the vest that I made for my mother for Christmas . I am so glad to that done . It turned out beautiful. I my make one for my self some time.

Time flies...........

2005-12-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

How does it go" Time flies when your having fun." Well I don't know about that but it sure has been flying here. Life has once again thrown me a bowl of pits. My husband had to have more surgery on his leg. Seems the screws that were used to attach the plate to repair his leg broke. Causing the plate to move out from his leg. So on Tuesday before Thanksgiving. he had more surgery to repair that, all new hard ware and I am not sure what else they did. He was in surgery for 4 hours. He came home Thanksgiving morning. Now we are looking at another 6 months of recovery time.

On the knitting front my needles have been doing double time. I finished another Multidirectional scarf, 2 felted bags and 1 sock from the sock yarn that my spindler secret pal sent me. I am still working on the red vest, so far I have only had to frog once. I am hoping to start on a pair of socks for my father and one for my brother and I am still thinking that I would like to make hats for my nieces. But time will tell. I am going to limited on time because I will be working at the local ski area with in the next week. It will be cold enough for them to be making snow. Off to do some more knitting.

Surprises in the mail

2005-11-10T12:36:00.000-05:00

Saturday I recieved my first package from my secret pal from the spindlers list. What a great package. There were 2 skeins of sock yarn from Knit picks, 2oz. of merino tencil blend roving a silk cap, a candle and a yummy bar of chocolate. I love the bummer sticker. Thank you so much Secretpal. I sent out my first package to my pal on monday. I also sent out some of the Alpaca yarn that I have been custom spinning. I really enjoy spinning it but it is time for a break from spinning that for a while. I started on my christmas gifts. In the spring I purchased some Highland wool from Elanns thinking I would get an early start on my Christmas gifts. What was I thinking. I found a vest pattern that I really liked in the Folk Vests book by Cheryl Oberle. I choose the Clock Vest. So far it is going well. It has been a while since I have made a large wearable item. Hopefully I will get it done in time for Christmas. LOL.

Stop the Merry-Go-Round

2005-10-25T07:22:00.000-05:00

I want to get off. What a summer it has been. Since my last post in July, life has gotten even crazier if that is possible. DH is improving daily. Thank you all for you comments and concerns. It is nice to know that there are a few who do read my blog. Mid August, a group of friends and I held our Hot and Hazy fiber day. The name did it justice. It was very hot. What a lot of fun we had. David Paul from Merlin Tree was there as well as Janet Lynn of The Wheel Thing. Mary Pratt brought some of her fleeces to sell. We all so had some local vendors there as well. The only thing that was a little upsetting was that we did not have the spinner turnout that we wanted but what a lot of fun. The week following that was fair week. Carla and I spent the week at the fair spinning for a friend who raises Alpacas. She was promoting her store and the Alpaca industry. During that week my father in law was hopitalized with kidney failure. He is improved and just as orney as ever. It has keep us busy. My husband now drives him to dialysis three times a week. Now fairs are over and I am off to work at the corn maize for the fall. Unfortunately the weather has not helped. All it seems to be doing is raining. Is it possible to be suffering from sun deprivation?!!!!! LOL. I did make it to Rhinebeck. I was afraid I would not. Money has been pretty tight. But I had a great time. Came home with 3 new drop spindles and some camel down. One spindle I do have to say is for my daughter. I purchased her a Bosworth Feather wieght purple heart wood. She picked up my moosie that I had gotten this summer and she had so much fun spinning on it that I thought she should have her own and I could have mine back. It is a wonderful spindle. It has gotten me to spin more on a spindle. I also bought a BW mini for me and a porcilean bottom whorl. I am currently spinning alpaca for my friend. She has commissioned myself and Carla to spin her fiber for her. What alot of fun. I can't think of a better way to spend rainy afternoons then spinning. Well I should be off to do some housework and laudry. (they never seem to end) Now that my merry go round has slowed down some perhaps I can work on my blog some more. Maybe even get some pictures on.

Time to make Lemonade

2005-07-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

When life throws you lemons, you just need to make lemonade.

Can things get any crazier. I have been attempting to post for months and my computer or blogger will not let me. So many things to write about. Were to start. I guess the best place to start is with the most dramatic thing that has happened.
Last Friday I went to work with DH ( he is a self-employed carpentar). He was setting the roof trusses on a barn and needed an extra pair of hands, mine to be exact. I was the ground person, guiding the trusses to there right spot. We had 2 more trusses to set when he fell from the peak of the roof to the truck bed of the crane. He broke his right femur in the fall. Saturday morning he was off to surgery to have pins and a plate put in to repair the brake. Wednesday afternoon he came home with crutches and walker. He lost alot of blood during surgery and from the brake. His thigh and knee are very swollen and that makes it even more difficult for him to get around. He is not to put any weight on that leg for 8 weeks. I have a feeling that it is going to be a long summer.
On a better note. Melissa and I are planning a fiber day/spin in. We are getting help from some of our other friends as well. We are hosting it at a local corn maize. It promises to be alot of fun. I just hope that with all the planning that I have put in to it I will be able to attend.
On the knitting front, I have been working on a pair of socks. The first one is done and the second is well on its way. It was something that was easy for me to work on while sitting in the hospital. Not much spinning has been getting done. There just does not seem to be enough room in the living room for the wheel. And to be very honest I am just to tired.
Well duty calls. I will talk to you all soon.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-16T14:39:00.000-05:00

Wow were has the time gone. I can't believe that it has been a month since my last post. Life has gotten so crazy here. Spring does that. Many things have happened. Were to begin. At the end of April some friends and I helped out at the County fiber tour. The weather was not the nicest. It rained on Saturday and Sunday was very windy, but we had a good time. When ever we are doing any kind of public demonstrations we always to some dyeing. This time we used Safflower, Dandilions, hibiscus and Koolaide. The colors were great. The kids had a great time going out in the yard and collecting the dandilions. I do have to admitt that with the demonstrations, I have gotten better with a drop spindle. We did learn some new things too. How to andean ply and to navijo ply. They are not as hard as I thought.
Remember the baby blanket that I have been working on forever. Well it is finally done. It turned out beautiful. I am so proud of myself. My first major handspun project. I am hoping to start the flower basket shawl next. My goal is to have it done to wear to Rhinebeck. I have some light grey coopsworth that I think I am going to make it out of.
I want to thank Liz my secret Pal for a wonderful last surprise. She sent me some beautiful multicolored yarn for socks. A sock pattern, soap, a yummy scented candle and chocolate. Thank you so much. It was alot of fun.
The baby shower went off with out to much of a hitch. My son decides at 5:30 that he needs to go to the emergency room because he has some metal in his eye and it is bleeding. I send his father afterhim and finish getting my stuff together for the shower. DH takes DS to the ER. He had a metal sliver just under the surface of his scleara in the corner of his eye. The whole corner is bloodshot. We have been going to the Doctors everyday to keep an eye on the swelling and for infection. Mothers Day this same son takes a tractor down over a 7 ft. bank on the edge of the road. He did not get hurt . Thank goodness but I really think that he is trying to do me in.
Now for some exciting news, 2 friends and I are going to be putting together a web business to sell our fiber things. We will have drop spindles, fiber felting kits, knitting needles and many other things. I will let everyone know when it is up and running. We will also be going to the big Dressage event at Saratoga Race course. They are having a llama and alpaca show as well. We have been invited to join a local alpaca breeder to share her spot. She has a store were you can buy alpaca products and some of the things that we are selling as well. It should be alot of fun.
Well I think that I have covered everything.
I promise I will be better about posting.

The Sun is shinning!!!!!!!

2005-04-13T07:55:00.000-05:00

Can life get more hectic. I am frantically working on the baby blanket, it is almost done. Just need to sew all the pieces together. I am happy that it is going to be done with time to spare. The baby shower is May 14. Now the major planning for that begins.
I have also been spinning as well. I finished up the grey mohair. I am in love with that fiber. This is just one mohair fleece that I purchased at Rhinebeck that came from Hill Shepard. What a wonderful fiber. I put my drum carder to work as well and did some blending. I used the Polypay/angora roving and some logwood dyed superwash. The polypay is a light grey. It turned out ok, I am not sure that I really like the polypay. The skein that came from it is alittle on the rough side. The roving spun up with slubs and even though that was my intention alot of them came on there own. Now I am spinning the romney. It spins very quickly. It is alittle courser than I am use to but I think that it will make some nice yarn.
Things on the home front have been crazy. DH is working on a building to house the horse. She will be coming home with the next month or so. My job is to find a companion for her. I just can't seem to make up my mind as to what I want. Angora goat or sheep. DH would perfer neither but............ Also on the animal front, the ducks are fornicating all over the place. We have a nest with over 40 eggs. I don't expect them all to hatch but you never know. My youngest son is preparing for his 4H pheasants. They will arrive the middle of next month and at the end of summer he will release them. He is also going to raise Turkeys. We will be having baby bunnies with in the next week as well. So life springs eternal on our little homestead.
Along with all of the home happenings. Our 4H group has been asked to do demonstrations at a local farm for the Washington County fiber tour. We will be doing some drop spindle spinning and spinning with our wheels. Dying will be another of our demonstrations. The owners are going to be shearing one of there Alpacas as well. It is going to be great fun.
Well I am off to do some house work and hopefully some more spinning.

2005-03-26T09:14:00.000-05:00

Jennifers shawl

2005-03-26T09:10:00.000-05:00

Gifts from my SP4.

Happy Spring

2005-03-26T09:05:00.000-05:00

I have a severe case of spring fever. I can't wait for the snow to finish melting and to warm up more. So many things to do.
I have been spinning and knitting like a wild woman. I am trying to get my baby blanket done for the baby shower. My sister and I are planning it for the first weekend or so in May. I had 6 of the 7 panels done when I realized that I would not have enough to do the lace edging. So now I am back to spinning some more. It is a good thing that I really love this fiber. BFL that I purchased is just so soft. In between spinning that I spun some of the mohair that I had gotten from Rhinebeck. That skein is finished 444 yards. Now to think of something to make with it.
Melissa and I have been asked to do demonstrations the end of April for the local county fiber tour. We will be at the corn maze. For my followers this is the same place that we were at in the fall. We will be doing the same kinds of things. I am hoping to have some skiens spun so that we can dye them. As well as fiber. We are going to be shearing an alpaca. Then cleaning the fiber and spinning it. The kids in our 4H club will be doing demos too. My secret pal is great . I recieved the interweave scraf book in the mail last week. I have 2 scarf patterns picked out that I want to make soon. I just need to go find the yarn or spin some of my own. I have added some pictures. (finally figured out how to add pictures again. ) One is a picture of the skein of yarn and the book from my secret pal, the other is of my daughter Jennifer with the purple poncho that I made for her. Have a great Easter.

Time for Spring!!!!!

2005-03-11T10:04:00.000-05:00

Once again it is snowing here. It seems that we have had more snow this month than all winter. We went away the last week in Feburary with the kids, snowmobiling. Everyday we were there it snowed. Well I guess I should not complain to much. When it snows that means there is no yard work to do and I can spend my time spinning and knitting.
On the spinning front, I am slowly getting the BFL spun to finish the baby blanket. The baby shower will be coming up soon and I really need to get that done. Last week my fiber from the processors returned. They did a wonderful job. I am absolutly in love with the mohair. It is a grey (like a salt and pepper), and just as soft. I can't wait to spin that. Also there is polypay/angora blend that is a light grey. There is about 3 lbs. of that. I have an idea as to what I want to do with some of that. Then there is a white romney, it is not as soft as I was thinking it would be but I think most of that will end up in the dye pot.
Besides spinning, I have been busy knitting as well. I am still working on my Irish hiking scarf, it is about 1/2 done. I made a scarf for a birthday gift for one of my daughters friends. It is blue varigated boa yarn with a blue solid cotton yarn you use for dishcloths. It turned out really cute. I also made a hat and booties for a friend who just had a baby out of kiogu yarn. Now I am working on a secret project. I am hoping that it turns out the way I want it too.
I recieved a package from my secret pal last week. Thank you secret pal. The box contain this lopi varigated yarn, some Lindt truffles and this huge bath fizzy. They are great. It is hard to keep the kids away from the chocolate but I am trying. I will try and post some pictures, I have not been having very good luck with that as latly.
Well I am off to watch it sonw from my spinning wheel. Have a great day.

2005-02-18T08:35:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that February is almost gone. Spring is around the corner (or that is what I keep telling myself). I have been busy with my knitting. I started the Irish Hiking Scarf, out of some yarn I had in my stash. I also started a felted vest for my sister for Christmas. It is progressing well. I finally finished my daughters poncho. I did not think that I would ever get that done. Now I will have to get a pic of her wearing it.
The 3 fleeces that I sent to Wooly Knob are done and in the mail. I am hoping that they come today. I am anxious to see how they turned out. I already have plans for the Mohair. I hope I can get it spun in time to make a Christmas present with it. My DH thinks I have lost my mind. I am excited about getting the fiber and making plans for it and he is thinking " Where the hell is she going to put that!" That was after I told him that we needed a companion for the horse, when she comes home. I am still trying to decide what it is that I want. Sheep or Angora goat. It is a hard choice. I don't think that I can get away with getting both. Seeing that I already told him that we are getting 25 pheasants to raise and release from 4H and I am getting Turkeys to raise.
Two weeks ago I tried to teach the girls in my 4H club how to knit. They all attempted to knit. Some had better luck than others. It was hard for me to teach them. I knit contennital style. That is the way my grandmother taught me. I have tried the English style and was unable. I hope that they went home and practiced. Tonight we are going to make knitting needles. I think that will be alot of fun. I have some great ideas for them. It might even make a great secret pal gift. It is funny how many things can be used for knitting needles when you start looking around.
Winter vacation starts next week for my kids. My DH and I are taking the kids snowmobiling for the week. Each of us has snowmobiles, it is about the only family thing that we do. My DH is a carpentar and works all summer so winter is our time to have fun. We are going to the Tughill Plateau. Just off of Lake Onterio. They get lots of lake effect snow. Hopefully I will remember to pack my camera and have pics for you to see. I am off to pack. Talk to you next week.

Knitting like crazy

2005-02-10T11:22:00.000-05:00

Since my last note, my needles have been very busy. My first felting project was a sucess to some extent. The pattern was from Knit One, Felt Two. I used grey Patons classic wool yarn and stripes in maroon. I even used needles larger than the pattern called for. Finished the knitting and threw it in the washer 'just like the directions said". If any one knows of someone with a head the size of a large grapefruit let me know, I have a beautiful grey felted hat for them. LOL. My kids were very supportive and laughed there fool heads off. DH asked if I was going to give that to the cat to wear. My thoughts are atleast it looks like a hat.
My other project that I started was a Christmas present for my sister. I found a felted vest pattern in Felted Knits book. Made a big order to Elanns for the yarn. Decided that I am going to make them for my mother and sister in law as well as one for myself. 45 skeins of Highland yarn came the other day. I have the vest started. Sometimes you are apprehensive about trying something that you order online. I am one of those people who really likes to feel what they are buying, but I had heard so many good things about this yarn on the blogs that I tried. It is wonderful yarn. I am very pleased.
Still plugging away on my daughters poncho. It is not all that exciting and I am having a hard time working on it. Pictures to come in a day or 2 of my projects.

Never Rains ...........
DH went snowmobiling last weekend. I was looking forward to a quite weekend. I knew that Saturday was going to be crazy but not Sunday. I was hoping Sunday just loungeing around in my pj's drinking coffee, watching movies with the kids and knitting. NOT. I returned from taking my oldest to work to discover the dog chain in the middle of the road and the ducks gone.
Dog was in the shed were he was hiding. He had been injured, I believe by a car, and the ducks after looking for them half the day finally came around late morning. The dog is much improved but he had me worried Sunday morning. Hopeful he has learned his lesson that those ducks are not to be messed with. I also lost 2 of my rabbits because something scared them. DH came home earlier because his riding buddy was sick. My point to all of this is NO knitting was accomplished.

Today it is snowing like crazy, I keep expecting to see the school bus come down the road,but not yet. Well I am off to make a cup of tea and do some spinning.

WOW.... it's February!!!!

2005-02-01T07:49:00.000-05:00

Were did January go? I am glad that it is gone. The weather has warmed up. In the mid 30's yesterday and the same for the rest of the week. The sun was shinning. I was getting alittle bit of spring fever. I am hoping to open some windows and let the house air out alittle today. Everyone was sick last month and maybe some fresh air will help clean the bugs out. LOL.
Joshuas socks are done. He wanted them for school today. He is having standardize testing and they can wear slippers, he took his socks. I am still working on my pi shawl. It is progressing slowly. Some frogging will have to take place later. My pattern is just not matching up. In the mail last week I received a ROAK from Maggie. 2 knitting magazines with some cool patterns in them. Thank you Maggie. Yesterdays mail brought my "Love Ewe" exchange. Some beautiful red Romney and Alpaca blend fiber and two heart shaped sachets from Rita in Maine. I not sure what it wants to be yet I will have to think on it.
SP4 starts today. I received my pal on Sunday. My thoughts all weekend have been on the list of questions. Here it goes.
1. Are you a yarn snob. Not really. I prefer to use wool or a blend, but if I need to use acrylic I will.
2. Do you spin? Yes I do and I love it. I am always looking for new fibers to try. My favorites are Blue Faced Liecester, Alpaca and Mohair. I don't ccochet.
3. Do you have allergies. No allergies.
4. How long have you been knitting? My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 8 and I have been knitting ever since.
5. Do you have an Amazon wish list? No I don't.
6. What's your favorite scent? Hydrangea is my favorite, but I like them all.
7. Do you have a sweet tooth? Yes, Dark chocolate is my favorite.
8. What other crafts do you like to do? I also do some decorative painting, sewing and gardening.
9. What kind of music do you like? My favorite is Celtic, next is baroque ( Classical) , as well as classic rock and country. My computer can play CD's. I am not sure about MP3's.
10. What's your favorite color? I like almost any color. I am not fond of neon or really bright colors.
11. What is your family situation? Do you have pets? I am married, and have 3 kids. 2 boys and a girl. We have lots of pets, a horse, dog, cat, 25 rabbits, 15 ducks and 2 pheasants at the present time anyway.
12. What are your life dreams? This is the question that gave me alittle trouble. What I would like most I think is to have a fiber shop. Selling fiber, wheels, yarn and have classes. I want it also to be a place where people can come and spend the morning, afternoon, or evening working on a knitting project or spinning and just having a good time.
13. What is your favorite yarn to work with? One of my favorites is Alpaca, the other is Merino, but I like most.
14. What fibers do you absolutely not like? The new designer yarns. The eyelash especially.
15. What is your current knitting obsession? I quess that would be socks. The work up quickly and they are easy to take with you.
16. What is you favorite item to knit? I enjoy knitting most anything. Smaller items are nice because they go faster.
17. What are you knitting right now? Currently I am working on a baby blanket, Pi shawl and a poncho for my daughter.
18. What do you think about ponchos? They are ok. I am not overly fond of them.
19. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? I am comfortable with both.
20. Bamboo, aluminum or plastic? I really like the wood needles, I have a set of DP Brittany's that I love. Aluminum is next.
21. Are you a sock knitter? Most definitly!
22. How did you learn to knit? My grandmother taught me. I knit continnetial.
23. How old is your oldest UFO? 3 months. Only because I need to spin more fiber for it.
24. What is your favorite animated character or a favorite animal/bird? My favorite bird is a Bluebird.
25. What is your favorite holiday? I quess that would be Christmas. I really go all out for it.
26. Is there anything that you collect? Santas, blue and white dishes and drop spindles.
Now I am off to start my frogging on my shawl. Keep knitting.

What great fun computers are!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-01-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

Well the vacation is over. I took my computer to be fixed. The gentleman fixing it, plugged it in and doesn't everything come up the way it is suppose too. I felt like such an idoit. So now I am back on line and the computer is working great.
I started a pair of socks for my youngest son made from Sizzle sock yarn. He also wanted a hat so I have that started too. I know, I have two projects started at once, and yes it is driving me crazy. I don't normally do that. As Melissa says I am very "anal" about having more than one project going at the same time. I have my self geared to finish than start another.
My spinning wheel is diffently not feeling left out. I have been spinning like a mad woman. Hopfully I will get aleast one skein done to start my Pi shawl. Then I will have 3 projects going. OH NO!!!!!!!!
I want to send out a Thank you to Mande for the certificate to Adiago Teas. I have some of there Roobios tea and it is wonderful.
Secreat Pals 4 starts soon, the deadline for sign up ends the 21. She is up to 300 people. I just have to figure out now how to put the button on my blog.
Have a great day. It is good to be able to be back on line again.

I am disabled for now

2005-01-16T16:22:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I will be off line for a while. My computer decided that it need a vacation and had the nerve not to ask me. Melissa was good enough to let me use hers, so that I could let everyone know that I won't be around.
I should have lots of news when I come back.
Talk to you all soon.

2005-01-13T10:54:00.000-05:00

Heart dishcloth

2005-01-13T10:52:00.000-05:00

Diagonal scarf

Another week gone

2005-01-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

I can't believe how fast the week has gone. It seems like it was yesterday when I last posted. Well the boys are finally happy. We got SNOW. The snowmobiles came out of hiding and they went riding this weekend. Unfortunately the snow will not last long. The temps for today are going up to almost 60. That will take care of the snow. They did have a snow day yesterday due to the ice that came through during the day.
Thanks for the comments. I did finally get my dishwasher working. After last week, it was worse than when I called them to fix the leak. I also had to call them on my new dryer. Just a week old and I turned it on Monday evening and I had sparks and smoke come out from the bottom of it. I was too the point of tears. I was so frustrated with all of the appliances and with DH he was not making the situation any better. All are working well now.
The baby blanket is coming along. Since my last post I have 1 1/2 strips done. I also made my daughter a garter stitch scarf from purple velour yarn. She won't take it off long enough for me to get a picture. It was done on size 13 needles, and was done in 1/2 an hour. Real quick.
Yesterday was a goof off day. With the kids home not much in the way of house work got done. I did get some knitting done. A diagonal scarf made from Trendsetter yarns by Dune.
Not sure what I am going to do with it but I have some things in mind. I also made a heart shaped dish cloth for the" Love Ewe" exchange that I joined. What a lot of fun that was to make.
One bobbin full for the Pi shawl. On to the next. I keep thinking that maybe I should just go buy some yarn but I don't know. I don't have anything made out of yarn that I have spun. My goal was to have spun and knitted a shawl and have it done to wear to Rhinebeck in the fall. Yeah right!
The best news of the week was that I was accepted into the secrete pals 4. I am looking forward to checking out my new pal. I have some great ideas for stuff to send. Well I am off to chop some ice off the walk.

Attempting to snow

2005-01-05T08:31:00.000-05:00

I am so glad that yesterday is over. As I mentioned yesterday, the repairman came to fix my dishwasher. Well, it needed a new valve and a new motor and then he shorted out a wire and popped the braker. Went to turn it back on and had sparks and smoke. Now it needs to have new wiring from the braker to the machine. When he came to the door, I smashed my foot in to the leg of the couch and I think that I broke one of my toes. It is now purple and aches like a tooth ache. How ever I did manage to get some spinning done yesterday. I did not realize that it took so long to fill a bobbin when spinning something as fine as I am doing.
The weather is dark and gloomy here today. Snow showers, but the best is yet to come. I would not mind so much if it was just snow. Snow would make everyone happy here. We have 6 snowmobiles and do alot of family riding. Snow is better than Christmas here.LOL.
I hope to get another section on the baby blanket done today. I forgot to mention that it is a shell design. The pattern is calledHeirloom Knit Baby Blanket. It was on a free web site. Very simple and seems to be working up fast.

2005-01-04T10:07:00.000-05:00

The Mode Dea socks, not sewn together yet.

2005-01-04T10:05:00.000-05:00

The start of my brothers baby afgahan

2005-01-04T10:02:00.000-05:00

Washed red Mohair.

Christmas break actitives

2005-01-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Since my daughter was sick. I had some time to play. My brother and his wife are expecting there first child in May. I started an afgahan for them out of some Blue Faced Liecester. It was fiber that I purchased this summer and spun. I loved spinning it and like working with it even better. It is perfect for this blanket, it has a beautiful luster and is very soft. I have pictures following. The blanket is done in strips and then sewn together and then an edging is sewn on three sides. I have 2 and 1/2 strips out of 7 done.
The Mode Dea socks are done kindaof they are not sown together yet but that will get done. I really like the yarn. The pattern was easy to follow as well. I am not quite sure who the socks will go to yet. I might even keep them for myself.
One of the other pictures that I posted was of some Mohair that I washed over the weekend. One of my new years resolutions was to learn how to wash some of the fiber that I purchase. This was one of the 4 fleeces that Melissa and I bought at Rhinebeck. It was suppose to go to Wooly Knob with the others but the box was just not big enough. So I put it in the washer. After 6 rinses I think it is going to be alright.
To Gracie and Amie, Anytime you want to come and play you are welcom. Thanks for reading.
Time to go, the repair is suppose to be coming to fix the dishwasher soon (I hope) LOL

2005-01-04T09:59:00.000-05:00

Pi shawl wool.

Welcom to the New Year........

2005-01-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

I have many hopes and expectations for the new year, hopefully it will start better than the year ended. Vacation week was busy. Along with it being busy my daughter had the flu (or that is what I think it was). She nearly passed out on Wednesday when she was at riding lessons. Her instructor thought that maybe she just did not want to ride,but I reassured her that was not the case. I week is programed around lessons. We count down the days until we have lessons. Now that we have a horse it is even worse. She is feeling much better today and even made it to school. I have the whole house to myself( the silence is deafening, but nice).
While Jen was laid up on the couch it gave me time to do some things. I join theEZasPi KAL. I even talked my friend Melissa into it. I ordered 2 books because I knew that I could get her to do it. I started spinning what I am going to make the shawl out of. Last fall, Melissa and I purchased fleece from Mary Pratt. A local sheperdess and neighbor. One of the fleeces was a Corriedale cross that is dark grey. When we sent it to be processed we also had some silver colored alpaca that we had blended with it. It spins so nice and I have lots of it.

Time to start anew.

2004-12-27T08:45:00.000-05:00

Hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I have been very busy with Christmas activities and have not had the time to blog. I am here now and hope to get up to speed. I have been busy making more socks. They are so much fun to make. I found this great sock yarn at Micheals while Christmas shopping. Moda Dea. The colors are great and it knits wonderfully. I have a pair of socks started. One done and the 2nd on the needles. My youngest son, for christmas gave me a skien of Moda Dea Dream in light blue. It is so soft. Another cool thing that I recieved as a gift was Knitting Pattern a day Calander. What a neat gift. It has so many nice patterns in it. I want to try them all. Not just yet, I have a sock to finish and a baby blanket to finish.
If I start anything more I might get confused or lost. I have this thing about having to many projects started at once. I really like to finish one before I start another. It is driving me nuts having to projects going at once now. My poor wheel, I think she feels abandoned. She was placed in the corner for Christmas and she just stares at me all the time. Soon she will be out of the corner. My fleeces from Wooly Knob Fibermill will be ready and I will want to try spinning all that I sent out. I really can't wait.
Well I need to go do some house work so that I can spend sometime with the kids this afternoon with there new board games. I am hoping that the snow that we are getting continues. Everyone here wants to go snowmobiling. It would be nice to have them all gone for a while. That would give me the oppurtunity to research what type of fiber animal that I am going to be getting this spring. See my DH and I purchased a horse for our daughter. The horse comes home in the spring and she is going to need company. I just need to decide what would be the best thing to keep her company. Any one have any ideas? They would be greatly appreciatied.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it Rain

2004-12-07T13:52:00.000-05:00

Yeah I know that is not how the song goes but yesterday it snowed like crazy, and now it is pouring rain. Which I suppose is alright seeing that I have been spinning like a wild woman to get this skein done for a woman in Florida who order it for a Christmas present. The weather decreases my desire(not) to go out shopping. It was so nice yesterday to have a cup of tea and to be able to sit at my wheel and just watch the world around me become white. It is just the best thing. Now it is all going to turn to mud.
Last year on days like yesterday I could look out the window, watch the snow come down on my nieghbors sheep will I was spinning some of her wonderful wool. Unfortuantly they are not in that pasture yet.

My progress on the scraf for my mother is coming along nicely. Hopefully I can have that finished this week. Then I think that I can start the baby afgahn for my brother and his wife. It may take me awhile to finish it.

Well I need to go back to plying. Break is over and it is still raining.

Uuuugggggghhhhhhhh

2004-12-04T16:27:00.000-05:00

What a week it has been. It started on Sunday night when I realized that the Patches of Berries scarf that I am working on was not right. The diagonal was going in the wrong direction. I ripped out about 12 inches of work. This is to be done for Christmas. So started my week.

I just could not keep track of the days. Monday I made a trip to a tack shop that is an hour away for one of the few gifts that my daughter asked for. She wants the Breyer Horse Hildago. They had just sold the last one, but they could order it. Now it means another trip back there. Tuesday and Wednesday I went christmas shopping. I just can not get in the mood for christmas. What to buy? I have no clue. My oldest is 14, he just wants money. He also has a birthday on the 28th of Dec. So it means I have to come up with a birthday gift too.

I do have some brighter notes though. I sold 2 skiens of yarn to a woman in Florida. One of the skiens needs to be spun but that is not a problem. My wheel has been giving me the evil eye anyway. Ithink she is feeling a little left out. I have been busy knitting and not spinning. I did spend time this morning spinning, so maybe the dirty looks will stop.

I have gotten about 15 inches done on the scarf and everything is going in the right direction. YEAH!!!!!!!
Now if I could just get my fairy godmother to finish my xmas shopping for me, it would be terrific. Well a new week and a new list of things to do. Will I get it all done? Man I hope so.

2004-11-26T13:52:00.000-05:00

My newest stash additives

2004-11-26T13:49:00.000-05:00

Socks that I made for my sister for Christmas.

Knitting in my sleep..........

2004-11-26T07:58:00.000-05:00

What a busy 2 weeks I have had. I have been trying to post for the last week and just seems that my computer was not cooperating. I finished my sons other sock. What alot of fun they were to make. I went to a little yarn shop in Greenwich and bought more sock yarn and some yarn for a baby gift and for my Mothers Christmas present. Then I came home and order what I could not find there from the pattern works. More sock yarn, pattern for baby things, Charlottes Web shawl pattern and Patch of Berries scarf pattern. They came on Monday. I have been knitting like crazy. The sock yarn that I bought is done in to socks and I have started the scarf.
With the socks done I was ready to start the scarf. I went through my needles to find the right size, every size under the sun but the one I need. My grandmother had taught me to knit when I was young. I would spend every afternoon after school with her. Well when she died I inherited her needles, but she never need to use size 3 I guess. So I had to go buy a pair. LOL
Now the scarf is started after attempting about 3 times to get it going. I just could not get it to come out right. I was always haveing a extra stitch. Thank goodness I was only a couple rows into the project. With a little peace and quiet I got it going and now it is really pretty. I just hope that I get it done in time for Christmas.
After Christmas it is baby things. My brother and his wife are expecting there first baby in May. So Aunt Lana gets to make baby clothes. They are my favorite things to make. I have some beautiful White Blue Face Liecester that I plan on using. Some of it is spun I need to finish the rest. My wheel keeps giving me dirty looks. I have not spun on it in about a week and it is feeling neglected. I have been knitting like crazy and it seems like I have been doing it in my sleep. Off to make Turkey for my family.

2004-11-10T16:56:00.000-05:00

The finished skein.

2004-11-10T16:54:00.000-05:00

The blended odds and ends

The finished project

2004-11-10T16:52:00.000-05:00

I finished spinning the odds and ends the other day but was just to sick to take off the bobbin. Today was a good day for that though. With it so cold I was in the mood to wrap it on the nitty noddy. I love to spin but there are just some things that I would rather not do. That is one of them. It is like making a sweater, I love the knitting part it is the sewing it together that I don't like.
I recieved in the mail the other day the Blue Faced Leicester that I had ordered from the Cooper Moose. OHHHH it is so soft. BFL has become one of my favorite things to spin. Now to decide what I want to spin next. The choices are almost endless. Time to go start another project. Maybe it will be a Christmas present. HA HA.
Keep spinning.

2004-11-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not it fits!!!!!!!!!

It looks huge

2004-11-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

Well the cold weather has finally hit and given me a cold in the process. Since I was feeling under the weather, I dug out one of my unfinished projects that I started during the summer. I promised my oldest son that I would make him a pair of socks for snowmobiling this winter. I finished the first one last night. He wears a size 13 shoe and he is only 14.

Blending the odds and ends

2004-11-06T10:49:00.000-05:00

I finally finished the stuff that I promised Melissa for the craft show that she is doing today. She was a little nervous that she would not have enough stuff for the 12ft. table that the needed to fill. I offered to make some things for her to take.
It was so windy yesterday and with the kids home, I thought what a good day to pop in a movie and do some blending. I had almost 4 ounces of variagated green mohair locks, 2 ounces of green merino and silk blend, some lt grey alpaca, white mohair and tort colored angora. I decided to blend them all together. I had purchased a Louet Roving carder over the summer and had not really had a chance to use it. Life just got so busy. So I went to work ..... Started with the green mohair locks then I started blending that with everything else. I ended up with the top and bottom full of a large shoe box( the kind that work boots come in). That took me all afternoon. By then it had gotten so windy that the power went out. Well I guess that supper will have to wait and I started spinning. WOW it spins nice. It is a light in color but I think that it will be really soft. I will have to take some picts. When I can get more batteries for my camera. The kids seem to like them.
That is it for now. I need to go do the dishes from last night.

Done at the Maize

2004-10-30T15:08:00.000-05:00

Sorry that it has been a while since I have written anything. It seems like alately all I have been doing is running. Running my oldest son to work, my daughter to riding lessons, and all over the place for my DH.
I finished my fiber education that I was doing at the corn maize on Thursday. I had so much fun. The kids for the most part we good. I learned alot by doing it. The Alpaca that they have there on the farm is great. She is very tolerant of the kids and having everyone pet her. I have learned alot about them as well. The best part is that I have been invited to come back next year to do some more. Guess what I will be doing this winter?? More research!!!
When I went to Rhinebeck, I purchased dark grey Alpaca roving. Some how I managed to get it spun and made into a scarf. The scarf was a gift for Kate. She and her husband run the corn maize. Now this was the brillant move, I wrapped it and was half way to there house when I realized that I should have taken a picture of it. Good one Lana. I do have more so I will just have to get to work and start another. I did promise my oldest son that I would finish his socks first though.
I do need to start thinking of Christmas presents. So little time and no ideas. I have been really good. My goal every year is to make everyone some thing for Christmas. I usually make it to even if it is just an ornament.
Till next time.

The pictures are up

2004-10-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

Hi, I did it!!! I managed to get the pictures up from the weekend. What a fun time we had.
I spent Wednesday morning teaching 100 first graders about fiber and where it comes from. They got to use a CD drop spindle. Some of them where quite good at, some had a hard time grasping the concept. I can't blame them any there. I had and still do have a hard time with it.
Tomorrow I get to do it all over again.
Anticipation is mounting. Melissa and I are off the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival. This weekend. We have been waiting and saving for this for a year. We have a great time. This year we are taking some friends along. Hopefully we will get them addicted as much as we are. We have been getting our list of things that we want to get and look for together for weeks. I am hoping to bring home more fiber. Yes, you know you can never have enough. The more I bring home the more it irritates DH. I did sell a skein of yarn so I am progressing. He can't say too much. I will talk to you after the weekend and let you know how the shopping trip makes out.
Until next time. Remember to keep the roving flowing.

2004-10-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

Our first dying project.

2004-10-14T12:13:00.000-05:00

Our display.

2004-10-14T12:09:00.000-05:00

My son and fellow 4H club member spinning and enjoying theday

Spinning with the kids at Maize Quest

2004-10-10T05:07:00.000-05:00

I had been asked several weeks ago to do a spinning demonstration this weekend at the local corn maze. I enrolled the help of my friend Melissa and her daughter Hannah. Also my 4H group. What alot of fun. Melissa and I set our tables. We skeins and felted things and beaded jewelery but what we had the most fun with was the dye pots.
We had been esperimenting alittle with dyeing. I had done koolaide and she had done some with food coloring. This time we had each bought some natural dyes from Adams Family Farm in Wilimington. She purchased Bazilwood and I Logwood. The colors were unbelievable. Some of them we rinsed in an amonnia bath at the end. We are hoping to do some more today with the same amount of success that we had yesterday. The best part is it is not work we get to play at what we love all day. If we have one child or adult go home and persue there interest in fiber arts then the day was even better.
Time to get some more stuff ready for today. Have a great day.
Lana

New to blogging

2004-10-08T21:09:00.000-05:00

I am finally going to make my blog. I have enjoyed reading them for a while. I am not all that computer savue. But here goes nothing.
This day has been very hectic, not unlike the week. I have been attempting to get things together for our spinning demonstration at the local corn maze for the Columbus day weekend. It just seems that every thing that I attempt to to gets interupted or put on the side and then left undone.
I am looking forward to spending the weekend doing the thing that I love the most, spinning and doing alot of fiber activties and hopefully getting some one else involved in spinning. My 4H group will be there off and on during the weekend giving demonstrations with the drop spindles that they made, We will also be doing some weaving and dying. That is what I am most anxious about. It is something that Melissa and I have just touched on a bit . We have not done a whole lot of it. But we shall see. I will post pictures of our weekend for all to see.