Some Recent Knitting

Scott's Adirondack Pullover

Any color, as long as it's grey.

Gift Scarf 2

Not sure yet just who will get this one.

Gift Scarf 1

The Universal Yarns wool/dralon blend. This feels nice for 70% synthetic. The color sequences were messed up at the factory a bit, but I don't mind too much.

My life in list form: no time for a proper blog post.

Machine conspiracy: one vehicle in shop with unknown malady.

Tomorrow's scheduling complications: re dentist, kids, schools, cars.

Today's expected snow on top of

All the other snow and ice we already have, and

It's cold. It was 1 degree F at 7 a.m. today. (or is that one f'in' degree?)

current knitting: another gift scarf.

Seasonal rant: Maybe this can hold off til around Dec 22?

I hope to make a proper post with pics and fun stuff soon. But my BIL and his wife, who are very nice, but childless and tidy and earn about 10 times (not exaggerating) what we live on are coming to visit the day after Christmas and I'm not sure how we can get ready for that.

The good news is, my sister phoned the other day and we chatted for over an hour. We haven't really talked in about 15 years, so this was interesting.

More anon. I'm off to pick up Thing 2 at his school. Later, will (I hope) be able to pick up Huz-beast, Thing 1, and my car on a subsequent outing. Otherwise, I'll have to get creative.

edited to add:
My vehicle was ready. Whatever made the Check Engine light come on was self-limiting for now. So, I don't need a new transmission today. (Whew!)

Which means tomorrow will be relatively easy in terms of picking up both kids from school and getting them both to the dentist for their appointments.

Whatever snow we're supposed to get tonight hasn't started yet, so I didn't have that added complication to my late-afternoon errand-running.

Project Reports

I'm in a project starting frenzy lately

Scott's Adirondack Pullover

A hat from Knit Picks Panache, like Solstice, only with a different design motif and adult size

The Gift Scarf

Another scarf I may frog, only 2 inches in, so not a big deal

I thought I might get some pictures of the projects, but it's cold here, so I wimped out. And the hat didn't turn out very well, so I need to do a bit of frogging and reknitting on that.

I did get my submission stuff done and sent with a comfortable amount of time for meeting the deadline. Now it's Wait and See time.

Meanwhile, I still have more finishing work to do on Constance Shorewood, mostly the zillion and one ends. The collar and band settled down nicely with aggressive steaming. I do think I need to do a bit of something around the buttonholes (like buttonhole stitch, maybe?), to give them a bit more structure and tidy them up.

I've discovered the joy of tormenting my almost-teenager. Last night we were sitting on the couch near each other while he was doing math homework. I was helping intermittently, and flipping through Knitting for Him. There's one model in that book who I think is really hot. I mentioned to Owen that I was enjoying looking at that model and he was very disturbed; like moving as far away as he could without leaving the couch and saying, "Ew!" disturbed.

Did you know that if your almost-teen is playing loud music that annoys you, you can trick them into turning it off in under 5 seconds? Just start dancing. No kidding. First he'll say, "Stop it." Then he'll say it louder, with more emphasis: "Stop It!!" And then, he'll turn off the speakers and put on headphones. Ah quiet.

Tensions seem to be building at Chez SABLE as we head into the December Gift Grab Frenzy. I hate what Christmas has done to our culture and the effect it has on my kids. I find it disturbing and perverse that so much of our retail economy rests on the buying frenzy of one month or so out of the year. I'm sure I'll have a rant or two on that topic before we're done.

The Gift Scarf so far

Approaching the end of the first ball of yarn:




This is a very fast project; perfect for a respite from projects that take a million years to finish.

The Week in Review

Tonight I am staying up late, guilt free! Indeed, I'm required to! Owen and his friend Josh have gone to the local laser tag place where they have a Friday night deal that goes until 12:30 a.m. And I'm to be the designated driver when it ends. Often, I have an urge to stay up late and have to drag myself away from the computer or my projects because my more sensible self knows I'll regret it if I don't. But tonight, I'm on duty. And tomorrow morning, when the Little Emperor awakens, I'm not!

Thanksgiving
Our Thanksgiving was pretty low-key, which is the way we like it. No travel. No company. No big pre-party clean-up. No panic. I did cook the meal and it all turned out ok. The funny part is that I don't particularly like traditional Thanksgiving food. I don't dislike it: just not anything I lust after all year. We had a 12 pound turkey, boiled potatoes, baked sweet potatoes with brown sugar and butter, broccoli, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie. Nothing came from a can. Mr. SABLE made the pies from a pumpkin Owen grew last summer. I did provide him with frozen pie crusts, because neither of us has the crust-making gene dominant. Tomorrow, I turn what's left of the turkey into soup and clear a little space in the fridge.

Knit Night
A week ago I went to Late Night Knitting at The Sow's Ear and had a little session of the Hog'n'Blog gang. So named by Dale's Mr. Dearling. Members thus far are Dale, Chocolate Sheep, Molly Bee, and me. Honorary member: Dale's Lovely Daughter. I had Owen in tow, which worked out ok. He practiced some of his magic tricks on the assembled knitters and was mostly well-behaved. When I got out my camera to try to take pictures, though, he put his hand in every one! Eventually I gave up, so, sorry, no photo documentation of the momentous occasion.

Current Projects
I've been working on a submission for a big time print magazine. I have no idea how it will turn out. I'm not expecting too much, not because I think my submission is lacking. To the contrary, I'm quite excited about it. I just find that it's better to approach it all with a bit of detachment. And I have a bit of dread that it might get accepted, because it isn't a quick'n'easy little project. The hard part, though, is getting all excited about a project but then, not actually making it right away! You make the swatch, you draw your sketch, you maybe do a schematic, and write a few descriptive words. Then put it all in a big envelope and send it off. After a time, you either get your submission back or a contract. If you get the contract, then you knit like the dickens for 3 weeks to make the deadline. And then, as far as I can tell, half the knitters in the world post online why your pattern sucks. Or not even the Why, just that It Sucks: no further explanation is forthcoming. So, detachment is in order. I do the footwork, I send it in, I see what happens next. If they don't want it, I'm going to make it anyway; it's just that cool.

Black Friday
I'm proud to report that no one in my family did any Christmas shopping today. Or shopping of any kind. The boys all went to a movie while I stayed home and enjoyed the quiet. I did a bunch of spinning, without too much aggravation to my left hand or carpal tunnel. After a little random Ravelry cruising, I figured out the appropriate use for some yarn that sneaked into my stash about a month ago, so I cast on for that and started. Pictures of that tomorrow. I'm making the Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf from Universal Yarns Classic Shades. This is a 70% Dralon/30% wool blend, with gradual subtle color changes: very like Rowan Tapestry but much cheaper. I don't know what in the world Dralon is. Sounds like Dacron meets rayon, but whatever. It feels nice and the colors are lovely. The yarn has a nice sheen, no doubt from all that dralon.

(A quick search reveals that Dralon is a type of acrylic commonly used in upholstery. Maybe the yarn in question will wear well. Doesn't look like it will, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.)

Maybe Not What You've All Been Waiting For...

But it's what I have ready. This is the Iron Mountain Hat.







It's a pretty easy knit and a great way to dip your toes in the water if you're working up to trying some simple Fair Isle accents in your knitting. Iron Mountain is a reversible, double-layer hat, with fold up brim for extra warmth. Shown in my rustic handspun 2 ply fingering weight yarn, it would work quite well in any number of commercially available yarns.

Pattern available for immediate pdf download. $4 US

November 13, 2007

Constance Shorewood Yolanda Twatt Catfirth Wadbister
Just odds and ends to finish up here:

What's left:
finish sewing in sleeve
darn in a million ends
reinforce buttonholes
buy and attach buttons
Steam the hell out it.

Here's a closer view of the collar:


I might wish I had made it more generous, but I'll have to decide after the steam the hell out of it step. If it wants to stand up, thus exposing the wrong side to scrutiny, I'll probably redo it. If it lies down and plays nice, I'll keep it as is.

The naming:
It sounds like Shorewood is the preferred choice by the majority, with Constance running a strong second. The other women's names were never seriously in the running; I was just playing with the alphabet after my bedtime.

But I think Constance Shorewood sounds like the name of a soap-opera character. Maybe she once did a stint as a pole dancer in a boobie bar, 20 years ago, under the name Yolanda Twatt. But since then, she's married up in the world, is active in the Important Ladies Who Lunch League in her fictional city, and looks elegant on the arm of her oh-so-important husband, Charles Shorewood, MD. But then, she receives a message from someone who knew her back in the day, who has a photo of her at her old place of employment, and wants $50 grand to keep quiet. How far will Constance go to protect her reputation and standing in the community? Tune in tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I've had lots of other bloggy ideas running through my brain, but they all leave when I sit down to type.

On Saturday I went to see The Wallflowers in Milwaukee with my neighbor A.P. We had a great time. (You can see A.P. modeling the Autumn Walk Scarf over at TGB.) It was one of those kind of concerts that just seems magical. The band played forever. The encore was as long as the main set. That was my birthday present to myself.

Mr SABLE left on Sunday for a work trip to NJ, leaving me to figure out how to get both kids to school in the morning, get Owen to his mandatory band concert tomorrow night (after The Little Emperor is supposed to be on his way to bed), attend both parent-teacher meetings, while providing proper childcare for the young 'uns, and generally just muddling through my week. Not even getting to the birthday issue, which isn't that much of a big deal. It can shift around as needed.

My folks phoned earlier and my dad asked, as he's been doing since I can remember, how it feels to be (fill in the blank). This year it's 46. Chatted with my mom a while and had a good laugh or two.

My folks are at my grandmother's house now, overseeing the removal of most of her stuff to be auctioned off at the end of the month. My mom said it was quite a spectator event for the neighborhood as the stuff went out to the trucks. Yes, plural. It took a fleet of trucks to do it. Read all about it and go buy stuff if you're in the area.

Last night my boys and I were driving past the Culvers on the beltline in Madison, and as usual, they were scoping out the Flavor of the Day. (Culvers is a fast food chain, with a different frozen custard flavor each day.) Owen reads aloud, "Cinnamon Bun" and we both burst out laughing. If you don't get the joke, listen to this, especially pay attention at time 4:31 on clip.

More cardigan names

Yahara
Lake Mendota
Sand County
Trempealeau
Shorewood (a twofer: ritzy neighborhoods in both Madison and Milwaukee)
Vilas
Bayfield

(I just took a quick look at the Shetland Islands on Google maps. There are some delightful place names there: Twatt, Bixter, Semblister, Catfirth, Freester, Wadbister, Huxter, Flugarth, Swining, Busta (that means "enough!" in italian! Oh, wait, that's basta!))

Then there's the female names approach:
Adrienne
Bonita
Constance
...
Xaviera
Yolanda
Zelda

Constance might work.

I got waylaid from finishing tonight because Owen insisted on playing Monopoly with Mr. SABLE and me. I trounced them! In record time! First, I commandeered all the railroads on my first pass around the board, then I bled them dry. In the end, I owned everything except Park Place. And I didn't even really feel like playing. Go figure.

The Name for the New Fair Isle Cardigan

Regular readers know that I struggle with naming my patterns. Some of them come together pretty quickly and others require input from my readers.

To that end, here's where I stand on choosing a name for the new Fair Isle cardigan.

The colors in it remind me of the play of light on leaves in late autumn, with a steely grey-blue sky. So many of the names that could go with that have been done to death; Autumn Leaves kind of stuff.

So, here's a list of ideas I have so far. I'm happy to hear other suggestions, too.
Prairie Road
Fond du Lac (the Wisconsin place names theme)
Merrimac County (where I grew up in NH)
Cedar Grove (back with the Wisconsin place names)
Sugar Maple (there's a color way in Cherry Tree Hill yarns with this name, but I didn't stumble on any knitting patterns with the same name in a brief search.)
Maple and Birches

The place names theme seems promising, though I think one has to be careful. How would the Beloit Cardigan differ from the Door County Cardigan? :)

If you have any great ideas, let me know. It's going to be a complicated one to write for multiple sizes, so we've still got a while. I've started playing with the numbers and I think I'll have to offer it in only 4 widely-spaced sizes. This is due to the 28 st. repeat in the largest motif. I'll probably include brief directions for fine-tuning size with small changes in gauge.

BTW, for those of you who wonder what the sleeve looks like before I cut the steek on the cap and sew it in, that's it on the right.

So this is the month when...

we're all supposed to blog every day. As if that's gonna happen! I could do it, but I think it might cost me readers.

Anyway, it's just out of some kind of guilt-inducing group-meme menatality that I'm posting this right now. Because I don't have anything interesting to say or show you.

OK, well, maybe this...

After reading more about Ravelry on the designers' lists that I subscribe to, I thought maybe I should get on the list. There's a lot of potential for self-promotion, which is pretty much what monetary success rests on. I was kind of curious about how many people are making my patterns, since I don't turn up a lot by googling. So, I got my invite yesterday. After poking around a bit, I couldn't figure out how to get set up as the designer of the patterns of mine that were already listed there. Eventually I figured out that I had to request this, and did. 24 hours later, the email comes back that they can't find any designs by me in their system. ?!?! When I searched my name, I found 25 of them! Pretty much my whole body of currently available patterns. It took a couple emails to straighten that out, but we did.

The upshot of all this is that I've been doing some poking around in there and putting in pictures of my patterns. My original reaction when I first heard of Ravelry was that I had no need for the data-base function, personally. What I didn't consider was that I might benefit from supplying the data to others, rather than using the data myself.

Meanwhile, I've been formatting the next TGB newsletter. It's really coming together. I'm proud of all the new stuff coming up, though most of it isn't mine. And I'm proud of the job I'm doing putting it together as design/layout job. So, go sign up!

Hey! It's November!

This is one of the two squirrels who have been feasting on our jack-o-lanterns in the front yard. They are very forward.

Thank goodness we got through Halloween. Both kids are still alive and, although they are living on candy, they are calming down because the anticipation is behind them for now. Until December...

I got a wonderful package in the mail today. Well, they attempted delivery yesterday, but I went off on errands and wasn't home to sign for it. Today I trotted off to the P.O. and retrieved it.

Both of these pics get bigger if you click, for that total yarn pr0n experience.

Feel the Kauni love!




Don't they look happy together? I have plans for these two. I also have a cone that turned out to be camera-shy, of mixed dark blues and purples, very lovely stuff. When I was ordering, I couldn't decide from the online photos if the pale yarn would want to marry the browns or the midnight blues. I think she wants the browns.

Today I finished the front of the long-running WIP, Scott's Tweedy Sweater.

This photo is strange looking because I was standing on a bench and at a weird angle. Front and back are joined at shoulder seams. I must be more than half-way there if there's just the sleeves and finishing to go. Let's see, look for the FO pic in about 2009. This is really an easy-peasy knit. I just need to be in the right space to work on it. It frees my brain to write essays in my head while the hands do their thing.

Cardigan Progress

Progress shot of the Fair Isle cardigan. The second sleeve is in the home stretch.

A Day at the Park

Gone To Seed

This is a photo from earlier in the fall. I'm pretty sure it's the dill by the back step: it looks like dill to me. But there are some other things around that look similar in the seedy stage.

I spent the whole day in the basement lair wrestling many yards of moss colored fabric into the shape of a long hooded robe/cape kind of garment for Owen's Halloween costume. It really ought not to have taken so long, but my serger is giving me all kinds of grief, which really slowed things down. Bah. And it was a glorious day here. I did get out of the house, to the supermarket, but somehow, that didn't really count. I planned to get out and take pictures, but somehow, never got to that. Tomorrow, the knitting updates and the costume, for certain. And maybe some more scenes from a late autumn garden.

I'm in some kind of strange funk the last couple of days. When I was in college and tried to run with a cool crowd, there were times when I had a sense that everyone else was at the party without me. It's like that. That vaguely dissatisfied sense that my whole lot in life is not quite what I planned on, and not really in a good way. Which is a lot of hogwash. Yes, not what I planned on, but really, that's good. What I planned on was dying young from the fallout of my extreme lifestyle, not living to be fat, middle-aged, and a mom. So, I'm suffering from what my sane self thinks of as high-class problems. This is kind of a late autumn thing for me. My birthday approaches and I get that melancholy reflection on time and mortality and all that angsty stuff. It seems a little worse this year, maybe because 46 is the entry point to the Late 40s. Really, still the Mid 40s. and really, still pretty young in the scheme of things. But knowing 50 is just around the corner kind of freaks me out.

I'm becoming vaguely anxious about my parents as they get older. They're in great health, but they're starting to talk about the end times of their lives. I still think of my mom as about the age that I am now: how can she be 21 years older than that?

When you're 25 and have all those infinite years stretching out ahead of you, it's hard to imagine how quickly they start to pass, how soon they start to seem finite.

So, enough of all that. Good thing Thanksgiving comes soon and I can be prodded toward gratitude.

Autumn

It's been a busy time here lately. I've been doing a bit of knitting on the Fair Isle cardigan, making headway on that second sleeve, but mostly been doing other stuff that involves making blocks of text and pictures fit together in pleasing ways.

I spent Tuesday morning with my friend Cindy, taking pictures of a lot of her FOs, which was great fun. While we were out at the park doing that I got the picture of the sumac above. It's one of my favorite autumn trees.

There's going to be a new TGB newsletter coming out in mid-November, so make sure you sign up for it! Lots of stuff going on that you won't want to miss. We're all excited about what's to come

Morgan Cardigan Pattern Available

Autumn's in the air and you need a warm cardigan to chase away the chill. Morgan features an easy-to-wear zipper front, raglan sleeves, generous collar, and traditional fit. The color pattern was found on a sweater in the Shetland Museum's online photo archive. Made in a rustic, worsted wt. yarn, with a cut steek, Morgan is an excellent choice for the knitter who has done some stranded work and would like try something a bit more challenging. Click to enlarge pictures.

Difficulty: Experienced



Finished measurements:34, 38, 42[46, 50, 54] inches

Yardage: worsted wt. wool,
MC 800, 800, 1000[1000, 1200, 1200] yards
CC 400, 400, 600[600, 600, 600] yards

Gauge: 20 st and 24 rows = 4" or 10 cm in Fair Isle stockinette st.



Price $6

Fair Isle Progress, Again

Never one for patience, I had to sew in the one sleeve I have done and get a peek at how the shoulder/armscye shaping worked out.

Two front views:



and a back view:


I think it looks pretty good. I had to introduce the cardigan to my good friends June Tailor (she's such a ham!) and Mr. Steam. After a nice blast of Mr. Steam while June supported the shoulder area, it looks very professional, if I do say so myself.

I cast on for the next sleeve yesterday. Then bands and a collar. Maybe I'll be done by Halloween.

This Week's Knitting

Fair Isle Cardigan

I've been working on the sleeve cap area of my first sleeve. This is new for me, because I've always done Fair Isle sweaters in the traditional way, with a drop or modified drop sleeve and picking up stitches from the cut steek to work down to the cuff. I think I'll like the result, even though I'm not someone who ever minded the drop-sleeve look.

Here's a detail of how it's working out.

I plan to continue the sleeve cap decreases until the top of the next red band, then cast off straight across the remaining couple inches of stitches.

Scott's Tweedy Pullover
This is one of my longest-standing WIPs. It's been in progress about 2 years. It's not a UFO because I still plan to finish it and I do work on it from time to time.

There's nothing especially difficult or even time-consuming about the pattern. Just a simple slip stitch pattern using 3 fine-gauge yarns and #3 needles. I think it's the purling back that gets to me. I don't mind purling, but my left hand does. I feel like all my knitting progress has been a bit slow lately because my hand is hovering on the edge of mutiny.
Here's a detail of the stitch:


I'm coming to the conclusion that spinning really seem to aggravate the CTS. I hate to think about that. I'll try playing with my posture and holding my fiber differently, but I wonder if my body's telling me I'm not meant to spin.

Update

The spinning of the last few days

This is 3 ply from the Brown Sheep mill ends; wool and mohair. I didn't ply the earlier yarn I made from this as tightly as I did this, so not sure how well it will all work together in one project. You can see some of the earlier effort in the upper left of this picture. I'm considering running the older skeins back through the wheel for a bit more twist, as I've come to realize that I'd been under-plying my yarn up until about 3 weeks ago. Of course, there's so much fiber waiting to be spun, maybe I should just move forward from here and not try to go back and fix earlier efforts.

Last night I went to the knit night party at The Sow's Ear. They had a big turnout and I saw a couple of my favorite local blogger/knitters, Molly B (whom I'll never manage to call by her correct name), and Dale-Harriet. I met Dale's delightful daughter, Mary, and chatted a bit with Heather B. Also bought the Interweave Gifts issue (LOVE the cover hat!), the new Spin Off, and a couple big balls of locally made roving in wonderful subtle shades of grey, black, blues, and purples.

Today, I'm happy to report, The Little Emperor seems well! Hallelujah! His voice is almost normal, fever is gone, and appetite and energy levels are returning to normal. I hope we don't get any more bugs like that one this school year.

Also today, I went to the supermarket and stocked up on everything. Spent $175! That ought to hold us a little while.

While I was out getting pictures of the handspun yarn, I noticed a monarch working the butterfly bush flowers:



I got about 6 good images before she flew away.

Friday 5 October 2007

Sick Kid
Wow, where did that week go? Little Emperor has been out of school all week, running a fever, croaking like a frog and occasionally, barking like a seal. We went to see our buddy Dr. Claire yesterday, who confirmed that it's just a nasty virus. Lungs, ear, and throat are all ok. So, whatever great ambitions I may have had for the week are gone. I can't even remember what they might have been.

His teacher phoned Wednesday afternoon to find out what was up. She asked, "What did they think it was?" implying a trip to the doctor had already taken place. I thought she might write me up to Child Protection when I told her I hadn't taken him yet. And you know, with the first child, I would have been to the doctor on Tuesday, probably. But having been around the block a few times on this stuff, I know when I'm going to hear, "Just a virus; wait it out," and when I'm going to be leaving with a prescription for antibiotics. And Claire confirmed that they sometimes have a better idea of what's going on when it's been going on several days.

So, we're living mostly on shelf-stable stuff, like pasta, that's around, augmented by a take-out meal or two. I miss the supermarket.

Fiber News
I did a little spinning this week. More of the Brown Sheep mill ends 3 ply: two dark plies and one light one. I'll try to get pictures later today, but I have another skein's worth of singles to ply up, so will probably do that first.

Now, off to do a little laundry and see where the LE's at in his video. Those old Garfield DVDs run forever.

A Random String of Sentences Posing as a Post

a random photo apropos nothing in particular

This is a special kind of milkweed that is not winter hardy in our zone. It's growing in a big pot near the front door. We were talking about finding a winter home for it, but Mr. SABLE's workplace now forbids plants not provided by the official plant service. It's that German top-down management style in action again. Bah. And we don't really have a good bright window in our house where it can winter over.

So, this seems to be the week of the plans that come to naught. Yesterday morning, the LE awoke with a cough like a barking seal: not a lot, but a bit worrisome. Being the overly-conscientious mom that I am, I kept him home. By 9:30 a.m. I was regretting the decision, because he seemed quite well and perky. No cough unless I happened to ask how he was doing. Then, he produced a feeble and somewhat theatrical little cough for me.

This morning, when I went to get him up for school he again had the seal-barking cough. And he felt hot. And was running a small fever, about 100.7 F, or 38.7 C. So he stayed home again today. Today he seems like a sick kid: lying around, not eating much, not demanding as much, kind of losing his voice. I keep sneaking off to get other stuff done, but my windows of opportunity are about 15 minutes each, max. The good thing about keeping him home yesterday is that I probably avoided exposing more children to whatever he has, at a time when he probably would have been more contagious. Small consolation. I have to remind myself that part of the reason I don't want to work outside the home now that both kids are in school, is so that I can be available on a moment's notice when one or both of them are not at school, for whatever reason. But it's boring for me, being On Duty for a sick kid.

I finished some socks a couple days ago. They were supposed to be for Mr. SABLE, but when I finished the first one, even though I made it really really big, it was clear that it wasn't big enough. It did fit Owen, though, so I made the matching one for him and he's got a new pair of handknit socks. Mr. SABLE will get the next pair.

I've been working on various UFOs and WIPs, too. The Fair Isle cardigan and Mr. SABLE's Tweedy Sweater (LONG overdue!) being the two main ones.

Off to serve more soup to the sick kid.

The Little Emperor's First Lost Tooth

The Little Emperor has had two very loose teeth in front on the bottom for several weeks. Today, when I picked him up at school, he told me he had lost one of them. My little boy is not so little anymore!

Fibery Updates

These all get bigger if you click 'em.

Dormant Fair Isle

I hadn't worked on this for a while, and finally put in some serious time on the first sleeve over the last two days. I'm anxious about running out of one color, which I bought from a yarn shop in Ithaca NY around 1990, and it was discontinued even then. But I think it'll work out. I hope.

The Merino/Yak Down Spinning

Just made a small 2 ply skein of this, about 135 yards, about fingering weight. It's fun to spin and I've learned a bit about making better batts by spinning what I've carded. I have more of this to blend and spin, but I'm not in a hurry on this now that I've experienced a bit of it. Which isn't to say I didn't enjoy it. I did. But now I've had a taste, I can work on other stuff that's calling to me. Do you like my Brooklyn Tweed style artsy shot?

A Bit More of the Shetland/Alpaca

I did another three ply skein of this, 165 more yards, and think it will be great to knit with. It has a pleasing hand, nice texture, and will not scream "Home Made!" in the finished object. Still a bunch more in the bag to spin up as time allows.

And now, I must run a few errands while the kids are still at school. How can a seven hour day fly by so fast?

(A Blog Post in Search of a Title)

What have I got that I can show you this week?

The overview...

Some stuff from Wisconsin Sheep and Wool: Merino from Rainbow Fleece Farms in teal and moss.

Owen chose the teal. I bought the moss with the intention of carding it with some yak down I bought in NH last summer.

I made a small sample of the teal and moss carded together and spun up nice and fine.

I'm eager to get into this for real.


Here's a bit of the batt with mossy merino and yak down. I'm eager to spin that, too.

What I've been doing meanwhile:

I bought a pound of this 80% natural black Shetland/20% dark brown alpaca. I've been spinning the singles a little on the thin side, but not microscopic and making three-ply out of them. I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out.


So far, two hanks totaling just over 300 yards.


Here's the close up.

This fiber has some of the lanolin left in, which I've been appreciating. However, when I washed the yarn to set the twist, the water turned a dingy brown color. I wonder if the alpaca was kind of dusty? Because though there is some grease still in the fiber, certainly a lot has been removed. It took two washes to clean up nicely.

Additionally, I've been trying to slowly restore our household to something closer to normal from the brink of chaos. We had a yard sale Friday and yesterday and managed to move out a bunch of toys. I'm planning to set up again next weekend, weather permitting, and add some clothes and other stuff to the selection. It's more about cleaning out stuff than making money at this point. I gave the kids the money from the toy sales, figuring it would motivate them to pick out more stuff to sell.

Sue Made Me Do It

Your Score: Sad Cookie Cat

57% Affectionate, 50% Excitable, 95% Hungry

You are the classic Shakespearian tragedy of the lolcat universe. The sad story of a baking a cookie, succumbing to gluttony, and in turn consuming the very cookie that was to be offered. Bad grammar ensues.

Link: The Which Lolcat Are You? Test written by GumOtaku on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Waspy Visitor

If you are seriously squeamish about buggy close-ups, don't scroll down. Just click away from this page.



Today our neighbor found this critter on her tote bag. She got home from a jaunt to the mall and opened her mini-van sliding back door. And it was sitting on her tote bag. It's some kind of wasp, with a 4" long appendage off the back that they use to drill into trees, says Dr Science, aka Mr. SABLE. The neighbor was afraid to deal with it, and so I went with my camera, a container, a lid, and two assistants who are home from school for an in-service day (already! not even one month into the year!), to photograph and catch the specimen. It's now resting in the container on the porch.



I'm leaving lots of space so those who don't want to see won't have to.
You can still click away...




click to make it bigger!

A very quick post...

to say that I finished knitting the submission AND the deadline was moved for everyone until the 17th AND I got permission to send my entry a wee bit late if needed. So, I just this evening finished up knitting and washed the item and now it's drying. I hope tomorrow I'll be able to get a couple pics and send it all off. Otherwise, the 18th for sure.

And now I can resume my regularly scheduled life.