Spinning Merino/Bamboo, MA S&W, and Llama Fleece!

Last weekend was very busy. Saturday was spent with my husband's aunt visiting the cemetery in the early afternoon. Then, I took him for his belated birthday supper at Panera. We found out they have a gluten free selection so he can eat there once in a while. After that, we visited the two cemeteries for my family.

Sunday was a long ride to MA Sheep & Woolfest in Cummington. I was suppose to go with 3 friends, but, life had other plans for them. I figured I would just skip it this year. Pat had other plans. He decided we were going. So off we went. I only bought some fiber from two vendors. I've been very conservative this year with the festivals. I need to work down the stashes. :)

Speaking of which, currently on my Minstrel wheel, Millicent, I have some lovely Merino/Bamboo blend from Copperpot Woolies. The colorway is "Victorian Holiday". The first photo is of what is left of the first 4 ounce bump and the second one waiting to be spun. The photo on the right is the bobbin of singles. The camera doesn't really show the shine from the white bamboo very well. I started spinning this last week and hope to finish the first bump tonight. It's coming out nice and thin.












My phone rang last night with a call from a young lady I had met in April. Her mother-in-law has a couple of llamas and she wanted to know if I still was interested in their fleeces. So today found me on the road going to collect two lovely fleece. One is dark brown and the other is fawn mixed with some white. There is quite a bit of guard hair and hay to be removed, but, I think they will be worth the end result. I'll post pictures of it once I get them washed.

Knitting Outdoors .... Shearing Day Rewards

I have a lovely new spot in my backyard. It's a two-seat swing and it's the perfect spot to sit, swing, and knit while listening to the birds chirp away. The swing has a drink holder built in under the arm rest and an awning to keep the sun off. Without the awning, I turn quickly into a tomato. I need to pick up a couple of cushions for it though. The metal back starts to be uncomfortable after a while. This afternoon was the perfect time to sit for a bit with my knitting and enjoy the quiet. Well, sort of quiet. Pooh didn't like being ignored and let me know this.

The last two Mondays have been Shearing Day at my friend Sandi's farm. The first Monday saw 16 sheep sheared, and this last Monday saw the additional 18 done. Sandi insisted on giving the three of us each a fleece for helping. I fell in love the the one from "Cream", who is a Coopworth/BFL cross. It's her hogget fleece and so pretty. Photos are : (left top) the fleece; (right top) closeup; (left bottom) crimp shot; (right bottom) lock length.

Spinning in the Warm Sun ... Alpaca Fleece

Today has gotten off to a slow start. It's suppose to be about 80 degrees outside today so I'm getting ready to hang laundry outside. Then, I will sit with my wheel and spin for a bit.

Pat has plans for us to head out to a flea market in the morning. This is nice, but, the stop after that is better. We are stopping at the alpaca farm who just had it's Shearing Days this past Thursday and Friday. Last Saturday, on the way home for CT Sheep and Wool, a detour to the farm was made just to visit. I really want some pure white alpaca to blend with some other fibers. The owner told me she will have some and will put it aside for me if I come up this weekend. Yippee. Now, there is a beautiful silver gray that might find it's way home with me too if it's still available........

Crazy Weather ... Finished Yarn ... Slipper Knitting

Ssshhhh. Don't tell Mother Nature, but I think she is a bit confused or extremely put out with the world. In the past month we have the Flood of 2010, followed by super warm days that felt more like June than April. This past week we have had a tremendous thunderstorm accompanied by giant pea size hail, low temperatures with frost on the windows in the late evening, and the last two days with blustery winds whipping trees like they are twigs. I hope Mother Nature calms down and doesn't decide to send blistering heat this summer. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have said that.

On the spinning front, I have finished plying the Merino/Bamboo I won during the Ravelympics. As I mentioned before, it's called "Steel Magnolia" from FatCatKnits. The name is perfect because the finished yarn reminds me of the delicate flower. I Navajo plied it because the colors were remaining separate during the spinning portion. I'll post a pic after I set the twist.

Fuzzy Feet slippers were my travel project on the way to and from CT Sheep and Wool last week. As of yesterday, slipper 1 is ready for felting and slipper 2 is cast on. I'm not rushing these since they really are suppose to be my travel project right now. These are a fun, easy knit and work up fast thanks to the size 10 needles and worsted weight yarn used. If you have thought about making socks, but felt intimidated, this is a good pattern to start with. There is no actual rib, and except for the heel flap, you can do the entire sock on a 16 inch size 10 circular needle if you want. I somehow didn't read that part and just used DPNs for the whole thing. It works either way, and is good practice for using DPNs with fingering weight yarn socks later.

Right now, I think I will sit down with my Evenstar Shawl which hasn't seen much love this past week with other things needing attention. Bye for now.

Spinning Wheel on "Pawn Stars" Show

My husband and I like to watch a show called "Pawn Stars" on the History Channel. It's about a pawn shop in Vegas run by three family members, father, son, and grandson and a few staff members.

Last night's episode included someone bringing in a spinning wheel they wanted to sell. It had belonged to his grandmother and then mother. I recognized it as a Country Craftsman. The man didn't have a clue what to do with it or what it was worth. Rick, the son part of the owners, proceeded to tell him it was a "fake" wheel when he saw the stamp under the table of the wheel. He called it just a pretty decoration, saying people didn't really use them. Except for little old ladies. He then proceeded to say it was a worthless item and he should take it home and use it as a decoration. Or try to sell it to a shop that does home decorating. Grrr.

This wheel was complete. All it needed was a driveband. There was fiber and yarn on the bobbin. I'm tempted to write into the show and tell him he was wrong about it. I was surprised at his response because usually he will tell the owner of the item if he isn't sure of an item, not just brush it off.

Yep. I'm going to write a comment to the show. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

Opening Day at Gilbert Stuart Birthplace

Today was the first day of the season for a historical home in Rhode Island. With a constant drizzle of rain, nine spinners, myself included, sat with our wheels in the tobacco mill and talked about making yarn. Johnnycakes, hot dogs, coffee, and lemonade were available to keep us full and warm. Flowers and some beautiful beaded items and jewelry were available to buy or just look at.

I managed to almost finish spinning the last of my Merino/Bamboo from FatCatKnits. Plans were to spin the last half ounce tonight, but, it didn't happen. I'll do it tomorrow night and start the plying as well.

Here are some pics of the grounds of the Museum. The first two are of the pond. The waters are still high from the recent Flood of 2010.


These two pictures are where you can usually see the fish swimming. Not so today.

Here's the view from the walking bridge and a shot of the waterwheel from the front.

Fiber Festival Season Begins Today

Today was the kick off of the New England Fiber Festivals of the Spring. CT Sheep and Wool held all it's usual wonders and fibery goodness. It was the first time a friend of mine had been to a festival and she had a wonderful time. Seeing some friends I hadn't seen in a while was especially nice. The more years I go to the festivals, the more people I remember from the previous year. It was lovely to talk to some I haven't seen since last year's CT festival.

Of course, two Border Leicester fleece, one black and one white, came home with me. Add to that 1/4 of a gorgeous white scoured 4-pound Mohair fleece which was split between 4 of us. I was tempted to add both a Cormo and a Polypay fleece to my growing pile, but decided to wait until the MA festival in May. Both fleece were hard to leave behind.

My favorite wool fiber, Rambouillet, was being sold in the yellow barn at the A Touch of Twist booth. I got some to add to my dye stash. This fiber takes dye beautifully, and, spins like a dream. A couple of colored bumps also made their way into my bag for my spinning pleasure.

A new T-shirt also came home with me with this year's logo on it.

That's it. I didn't use all the money I had budgeted for today and am very satisfied with my newest acquisitions.

It's going to be an early night for me since I've been up since 4:30 this morning. I think I will go spin for a bit and finish a bobbin while the wool fumes are still floating around my head.

This was so much fun and I get to do it all over again in May. :)

Fun at the Fiber Mill and New Lambs at the Farm

Wednesday found me riding up to Fibers4Ewe Mill with Sandi after a quick stop at Mystic River Yarns for a set of Addi Turbo Lace circular needles in the 60 inch size. I need these for my Evenstar Shawl. A skein of Mountain Colors sock yarn in the colorway "Lodgegrass" also came home with me.

When we got to the Mill, Liz was busy working on orders and packing stock for the CT Sheep and Wool Festival which is this Saturday in Tolland, CT from 9a.m. to 4p.m. I helped Liz pack up some of her rovings and yarns. During that, I found 3 more rovings that were the same as my purple sparkly one I had bought back in October at the Pumpkin Festival. Of course all three had to come home with me, along with a lovely skein of sock yarn. I hope to have enough yarn from this fiber when I spin it up to make a good size shawl. The sock yarn is spun by Liz on her spinner machine and it's a dream to work with. I can't wait to pick out a pattern to knit it up in. Let's just say I started my festival shopping early. lol

Part of the time I was there I learned a little about how the machines processed the fiber. I actually got to put a fleece through the picker for that part of the process and add to to the conveyor belt for the carding machine. Sandi was working at the pin drafter. It was cool to watch different colored rovings become a lovely blend. My hands were itching just to snuggle some of the finished products. We had pizza and soda for lunch in between. The day just flew by and before we knew it, the clock said 3:45.

Supper was nice, as well. We went back to the farm and picked up Sandi's husband to join us for Chinese at the Tea Room Restaurant in North Stonington. It's in the plaza in front of the Senior Center where we have our Happy Hands Fiber Arts Group gathering every month. The food was really good, and it's the first Chinese food I've had in a long time. :)

Sandi has some new lambs at the farm. There are a set of month old adorable gray Merino/Coopworth cross ewes, and a five day old rambunctious Cotswold ram. As of last night, she can add another Cotswold ram, and a set twin Coopworth - one ewe and one ram. I can't wait to see the latest additions.

Spin Demo, Destash Raffle, and New Spun Yarn

Last Saturday, April 10, found me in Groton, CT at the Groton Family Farm Sheep Shearing Day. Happy Hands Fiber Arts Group was asked to do a spinning demo during the shearing. It was a wonderful, happy time with over 100 people coming to see the Shetlands get their hair cuts. Monet, Sandi, and I were spinning on wheels, and Lora was using her spindle. Hot Chocolate, coffee, and cookies were offered. Eggs and honey were also available for sale. Of course, there was processed fiber available from last year's shearing. I think it was my favorite demo so far.

We had bought some of Warren's fiber during our first Happy Hands Fiber Arts Group Gathering last January, so we were spinning some of this fiber during the demo. An additional eight ounces found it's way home with me to be added to the original 8.

After leaving Groton, I decided I could still make it to Pawtucket to the Spinners Guild meeting which was at Slater Mill for April. I got there at 2 o'clock, so only missed the first hour of it. I really wanted to finish the bobbin I had started that morning so I kept going. A few days later, with two bobbins full, I have 8.35 ounces and 599.5 yards of pretty yarn. It's a heavy lace/light fingering weight. It will be joined by the other 8 after I finish the Merino/Bamboo I had started previously.


Sunday, found me heading back to CT for the monthly gathering of Happy Hands. This time, I had a big bag of yarn and a fleece to destash. At the March gathering, Lora had asked about destashing some of her yarns. It was decided to turn it into a "raffle" and have everyone bring stuff to re-home. I also belong to the Ocean State Knit and Crochet Guild and this is originally something I participated in with them. All the goodies were put on the table and arranged by item or group. A cup was put in front of each item/group. Everyone was given 20 "tickets" to write their name on and then put in the cup of the item they hoped to win. We had a bunch of fun and laughs with everyone going home with at least one new to them item. There were a few items left with no tickets. It was decided to donate them to the Senior Center where we hold our gatherings. Here's a couple pictures of the tables. Sorry they are a little blurry.

Oh, I almost forgot. I came home with a beautiful russet brown alpaca fleece and half of a yearling Mohair fleece. I gave half the Mohair to the other name in the cup with me, Monet. We were both drooling over it. lol :)

Blog Housekeeping

There are some new templates available, so I decided to clean up my blog a little. Actually, breathe a little color into it. :)
Leave a comment and tell me what you think of the new look.

Still Cleaning Up

There is still some water in the basement which is slowly being cleared up. The ground is still so saturated, it's still weeping in a little bit. The water only got a couple inches deep at it's worst. I consider us extremely lucky compared to so many other people. It could have been much worse. There's a tributary and pond behind a street in back of me. Before this flood, the worst storm I had seen in my lifetime was the Blizzard of '78.

I'm hoping to get the dye room back to normal so I can use it by next week. The big braided rug in the main room of the basement is going to be trashed. We may be scraping up some of the tiles too. I don't know how much of the stuff not in plastic bins is needing to be trashed yet. Thank goodness the boiler, hot water tank, washer and dryer are all safe.

My heart goes out to the people who have lost so much due to this catastrophe.

Mother Nature Needs an Attitude Adjustment

Today is not a good day, weather wise. The plan was to do laundry, and spend some time working in the dye room. Well, the laundry never happened. The working in the dye room did, but, not the work I planned.

Thanks to Mother Nature's cranky mood, she dumped lots of water on the New England coastline. Pat went to do a batch of laundry, and found some water. Thankfully, he checked the rest of the basement out. Yep, it was raining in. There's about 200 gallons at one end of the main room and it's going under the wall of my dye room. Luckily, it was heading toward the floor drain he used to connect my sink when he put it in. After disconnecting the sink, we started swishing water. The shop vac helped, but, not much. I moved the plastic bins of fiber and yarn to the dry side of the room. After inspecting the bottom bins, I was relieved to find everything was nice and dry inside. Yippee!! Nothing was lost. The little heater was sitting on the edge of the puddle so I'm not sure if it got wet. The wheel casters might have stopped the water from getting under it. We will plug it in outside later and see how it is. I just hope the stuff in the other room fairs as well. Most of it is in plastic bins as well, but some isn't.

Now if cranky Mother Nature could see her way to calming down, I would really appreciate it so my room can finish drying out. It's going to take us most of tomorrow to finish cleaning up the mess. The weather forecast is for a few days of dry and sunny weather. I hope so. The dehumidifier is also going to be working overtime afterwards. The big braided rug will probably be trashed too. :(

I'm going to make supper then knit or spin for a bit. Enjoy your night. Stay warm and dry.

Surprises in the Mail

A few days ago I got a box from Korea. I knew it was coming, but didn't expect it that fast. During the Ravelympics, I was on Team Plurk. Some of the lovely ladies decided to send out prizes to the people who completed their projects and got medals. My prize was a lovely braid of squishy merino/bamboo from FatCatKnits in some of my favorite colors.Here's a picture:

In today's mail, I got another package. Right before St. Patrick's Day, my friend, bySarah decided to hold a contest. The random generator chose my name for the prize. She made me a fabulous totebag. Thank you Sarah for such a wonderful, thoughtful gift. I can't wait to use it!

Here's a few pictures of it. The first is straight from the wrapping. I had already untied the ribbon before taking the picture, so I just tucked in back in.

These two are from each side. There's a pocket in the center of the green side too. It doesn't show well in the photo.

Of course, if there is activity in my house one of the cats or dogs has to be around to check it out. Here is proof of this:

Isabella (left photo) and Tipper (right photo) inspecting the new arrival:

Lace Woes and A Nasty Headache

It's been a tough week here in CK6 land. Late Friday night, I was happily knitting away on my Evenstar shawl and was about to start the wonky round 25 of clue 2. For some reason the directions didn't make sense to me. Then I saw it. I had misread the SSK and K2Tog stitches, and switched them as I knit. It wouldn't be bad except I did this on rounds 17, 19, 21, and 23. This meant tinking back 8 rounds and reknitting. Grrrr. I'm currently back to knitting round 20.

Thanks to a nasty migraine headache, which put me flat on my back in bed for about 10 hours, I haven't touched the shawl since Sunday. I don't drink, but, the best way to describe the residual effects is to say it feels like a hangover. I've got dizzy vertigo and nausea if I move too fast or shift the eyes quickly to look at something, fuzzy head, extremely tired, no energy, and not really an appetite. The last part is good. lol. It usually takes about 3 days for me to kick back so I hope I'll be normal by tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest. My dye plans are on hold for at least a couple more days. I don't think working with the dyes or chemicals would be good for my head right now.

Tonight is knit night at Sue's and I plan to attend. Those last 5 rows are calling to me to put them back. I'll take Ditto with me also in case the lace is too much for me to deal with.

I also got a new chart holder from a destash on Ravelry. It's the same as the Knit Picks one only twice the size. It's made by Knit Pro who is not in the US. It has a pocket to hold my pattern and notes, a tab to slide a pen into, and can be set up at 2 angles with a couple of different snaps . I'm loving this new toy.

Discovering a New Spindle andTechnique.... Plugging Along At WIPs

This past week has seen me in still not finished in regards to my spinning and knitting projects. The Masham fiber is almost spun into singles. Evenstar is about half way through clue 2 with clue 3 sitting on the side to be done. Ditto sweater is still in a state of yokeless.

I did go to the Spinners Guild meeting on Saturday and managed to get a bit of the Masham done. My Sonata wheel was squawking at me most of the meeting, so much time was spent searching for the cause. It was determined to be my left treadle. After blowing the dust out, wiping it down, and re-oiling, the wheel was finally quiet.

Sunday was the Happy Hands gathering which was fun as always. I met a lovely woman from Albania who showed us how she spins on her Albanian spindle. It's quite different from drop spindle spinning. Actually, it looks much easier to do. If she is there next month, and willing, I'll try to take a few pictures of her spinning. For now, here is a video I found on YouTube that demonstrates the same technique.

Lately, I've really been wanting to work on my spindle spinning and that is the plan now the sun is shining and the weather is warmer. I will sit in the yard and spin with the new spindle I bought at RI Handspun on Tuesday night. It's a sweet little Cascade Tiger spindle.

Mr. Attitude's fleece is almost all washed. Thank goodness for this. I did get some more colors from Pro Chem, so I can play with some more dyeing in a few days. The beads are here for Evenstar, and, the yarn for the Legolas kerchief and Spruce scarf are on their way from Knit Picks.

Lace Knitting, Enjoying the Warm Weather

A few weeks ago, I signed up for the Evenstar Mystery Shawl from Susan Pandorf. It's the first project/pattern of a multiple pattern series based on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The whole series should take about 3 years and include about 6 patterns in each of the three sets. You can find details and sign up for the first set, Fellowship of the Ring, at Susan's blog, A Few Stitches Short. So far, I've managed to get almost through the first clue of the shawl and hope to start Clue 2 in a couple of days.

My Ditto sweater is a bit too short. Seeing as how I had to frog the yoke, I might as well add about 3 inches to the body. It was actually a bit shorter than I wanted it to be. When I measured it before, it looked like it was the right length, but, when it was finished I learned it was too short. The sleeves will be getting a couple more inches with the increases as well.

My Minstrel wheel is actually empty today. I've been finishing up some more of the WIP bobbins and little bits of fiber I had hanging around. There was 1.5 ounces of a pretty blue/brown Falkland fiber I had received as a sample with an order from Into The Whirled. I have a couple of other skeins of yarn I had already spun up in very similar colors. I'm thinking of knitting a shawl, starting with this fiber.

My Sonata has the Masham still on it. I plan to spin some of that up next.

It's been such warm beautiful weather around here the last few days. In the back yard, sits a lovely two seater swing with an awning that is calling my name. I'm tempted to grab a wheel or the knitting and sit in the back yard in soak up some of the sunshine. Maybe tomorrow will be a good day to do this. :)

The Sound of Kitty Sleeping

I'm sitting here trying not to make a loud noise or move too quickly. My cats, Tucker, Buddy, and Tipper are all snoring in unison. It's loud enough to be noticeable. My other cat Tiger just decided to give a nudge to Tipper and Buddy to let them know it's a bit too loud. lol

Ravelympic Awards

I got my third and final award today. Here's all 3:

The Wheel Won

Since I haven't touched my wheel since last Saturday, it won the decision of what is next to work on. This is what I'm spinning up now. It's fiber from Fibers4Ewe Mill which I bought last summer. I was trying to get a good shot of the sparkle. I think the photo on the right caught it pretty well.


By the way, the mac and cheese for lunch was delicious. I ate it before I thought to take a picture to show you how it turned out. Pat really liked his gluten free version too. I made it really simple. Take a cup each of uncooked pasta, milk, water, and shredded cheese. Add a little salt and some Tabasco sauce if desired. Mix together in the casserole pan. Top with a little bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees, covered with foil for 35 to 45 minutes. Remove foil to allow for a bit of browning and let bake 10 min. Remove from oven and serve. The next time I will spray the casserole with Pam because it did stick a little bit.

Empty Hands, Lots of Options

I have plenty of projects sitting here in front of me to start or finish. I could spin, knit, crochet, or dye some fiber. The wheels are both calling to me along with my Ditto sweater that needs the yoke re-knit. I could pick up that book and little plastic shuttle and try to learn to tat. I could go in the other room and try to warp the loom. With so many decisions, I don't know where to start first.

Lunch is almost ready to come out of the oven, so I think I will decide while eating my homemade macaroni and cheese.

Ta Da !! Project #3 Crosses the Finish Line!

My last Ravelympic project is finished. The Rocky Butte socks look great! And I had 3 days to spare. :)

Close to the Ravelympic / Knit Olympic Finish Line

The spinning and dyeing events are both finished and posted. Now, I need to concentrate on the rest of the knitting event. Sock 1 is completed and sock 2 is started. I'm on the leg part already. I think I can finish by Sunday if I glue myself to my chair and just knit on it. This is definitely a challenge for me. Since I always take at least a month, and usually longer, to knit a pair of socks, this is a record if I can complete these in time.

I knit the leg a bit shorter on these and they fit my foot and leg perfect. I did change the pattern near the toe slightly. I didn't want the rib stitch on that part, so I did an extra 7 rows of stockinette instead. The yarn is Fiesta Baby Boom in "Raspberry Mocha". Here's a pic of sock 1:

A Fiber Filled Weekend

Friday evening kicked off my weekend with the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I didn't watch them because I was busy almost up to the lighting of the flame. My Ravelympic/Knit Olympic spinning project commenced with the lighting. Here's the 12 ounces of fiber in the bag, and partially pre-drafted:

Saturday was the monthly meeting of the RI Spinners Guild. We had a good turnout this time with lots of topics discussed for 2010, as well as a demonstration of how to create a boucle` yarn on our wheels.

Sunday was spent with some other fiber loving friends at the second monthly gathering of the Happy Hands Fiber Arts Group in N. Stonington. Here are a few pictures of our "fiber home".

Here's a couple of shots inside the building. I love that the center is decorated for each holiday. It makes it feel very festive.

Here are a couple pictures of some of our wheels:

Today was suppose to be a dye day, but, I have yet to finish spinning the singles. So this means tomorrow will be a day of dyeing instead. With the snowstorm coming tonight, it will be a wonderful way to pass the time. I'll be starting my other Ravelympic project, "Rocky Butte" socks, while fibers soak in the prep solution.

Ggrrrrrrr Or Frogging Half A Sweater

The yoke of my Ditto is finished .... or so I thought. Sadly, the sleeves are a bit too tight underneath making the sweater not fit right. I thought about ways of steeking the arms, and adding a gusset, but that's not going to work. The body needs adapting at the arm hole too.

There's no way out of it. I have to rip out the entire yoke to repair this problem. The good part of this is, I can also add a couple of inches more to the sleeves since they were a trifle short at the wrist anyway. After ripping it back this project will be in time out during the Olympics for the next 2 weeks while I work on a pair of socks, some dyeing, and some spinning.

Off to the frog pond I go..........

Catching Up.....Ravelympics Plans

After all the running around last week, this has been a quiet week. I did take a mini road trip up to Fibers4Ewe and picked up my batts. One kind is Border Leicester and the other one is Border Leicester and the Kid Mohair from Rhinebeck. They came out absolutely gorgeous! If you have any fiber you would like processed, don't hesitate to bring it to Liz. She has the equipment that can handle just about any fleece. I've had everything from a Merino lamb fleece to adult CVM processed with no problems. The plan is to start dyeing up the batts this week. With the snow storm predicted for tomorrow, that might be a good time to do so. I never did make it down to my room this weekend as I had planned.

The "Daffodails" fiber is almost finished. I have 3/4 of a bobbin of singles sitting here waiting to be plied. I know I have another piece of this fiber, which was a sample, in a bag with another blend from Silver Sun Alpacas. I want to add it to the bobbin before plying the last part.

On the Minstrel, I have the Masham. I haven't touched it since last Wednesday night.

The sweater is slowly moving to completion. I am almost at the end of the yoke. That hasn't really been worked on much this past weekend either.

Ravelympics starts in a few days on February 12th. If you don't know what this is, it's run in conjunction with the Olympics. About 8 years ago, The Yarn Harlot started Knit Olympics, which I participated in. My project was the Lady Eleanor Stole which I finished with a day to spare.

For the Ravelympics, my fiber of choice for the spinning event is some BFL "Thin Ice" from Spunky Eclectic. "The Rocky Butte Sock", which was created by Miss Violet of LimeNViolet, is my knitting project for the Sock event. Since I tend to take about a month or longer to knit socks, these might get finished because they are sport weight. I just need to wait a couple more days for the yarn to arrive from The Loopy Ewe. I'm also going to be dyeing some of the batts for the dyeing event. The spinning and socks are also my projects for the Knit Olympics this year.

The Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL also starts on February 12th. I've yet to wind my skein of yarn for this. It's 2500 yards of laceweight. My plastic ball winder is too small, so a friend of mine is going to help me out by winding it on her big wooden ball winder. I might even have time to start Clue 1 during the Olympics. ha-ha. This coming Saturday and Sunday I will be busy with both my spinning groups, so I hope to get a good chunk of the "Thin Ice" spun up.

It's going to be a busy 16 days of fiber projects. I hope my husband doesn't mind the house and cooking getting a bit ignored during it all..........

Traveling With Fiber and Yarn Projects

It's been a busy week. The fiber traveling started last Saturday with the monthly spin in at RI Handspun, where I managed to finish plying the purpley pink singles I finished spinning earlier in the week. I had bought the fiber at Fibers4Ewe Mill. Six ounces and 641.5 yards of sparkly yarn were the results. Now, it needs a bath to finish it off.

Tuesday was a quiet knit night, also at Sue's shop. I managed to get to the last decrease for the Ditto sweater.

Wednesday was a day of debating. I had been invited to a spin in with the Bayberry Spinners and I was nervous about going over the Fall River Bridge if the temps dropped and the roads got icy. Everyone knows I don't travel when there is snow or ice predicted. Marva offered me a ride, so off we went. We managed to miss the exit, arriving 45 minutes late, but still had a great time. I started spinning the Masham I had dyed a couple of weeks ago. A few of the ladies really liked the colors I used. It isn't as soft as I thought it would be, but I have some plans for it.

Thursday, last night, was a spur of the moment trip. Sandi and Monet were going to the SEConn Stitch and Bitch in New London, CT. Sandi invited me to come along, so off I went. It was a terrific night and I met a couple of wonderful ladies. We had so much laughing, talking, coffee, and sharing, I only managed 2 rows on my sweater. I plan to go again next week if the weather is o.k.

Tonight is spent home and I plan to curl up in my chair in a few minutes with a cup of tea and the sweater. I hope to get the last 2 inches of the yoke finished so I can start the button band tomorrow. My goal is to have this WIP finished before the Olympics start in a week or so.

Tomorrow's plans are for a day in the dye room. Maybe I can even finish washing the last 2 or so pounds of fleece between some dyeing plans. The laundry also needs to get finished. Since I'll be down there anyway, I might as well do that too. :)


In between all the traveling, I managed to spin up some fiber from Silver Sun Alpaca, "Daffodails". All of the 10 ounces is spun except for the last 2 ounces shown here. The blend is Merino, Mohair, Alpaca, and Firestar. I hope to finish this tomorrow as well and get the plying done by Monday.

Hey!! That's My Ice Cream!!

As I sat at the computer checking my games on Facebook and doing paperwork, I was eating some ice cream. My older cat, Megan, decided to check things out. She jumped up onto me, which she NEVER does. I guess she liked the Turkey Hill Duetto "Apple Caramel" flavor. Luckily, I was finished. Sorry for the messy desk.

Blustery Day Knitting..... Sock Casualty

With the wind blowing and tree limbs whipping on the trees, it's been a good day to just stay inside and knit or spin. I chose to do a little of both. Tomorrow will be spent washing some more fleece again. My room does get a little chilly, so Pat set me up with a portable electric heater to use. I also have a t.v. set up in the room as well. This will be nice to have if I feel like watching something. He is also planning to hang a shelf on the wall for me that is the perfect size to hold all my dry dye bottles.

I need to head back down to the dryer for the last batch of clothes, then it will be time to knit some more.

I did finally have to give up my blue socks. They had a huge hole in one of the heals. I didn't see it until I went to put it on and stuck my finger right through it. I had already tried to darn it once, so that was the end of it. I made them about 4 years ago, so they had a good long life. Now, I need to go stash diving and pick out another skein of blue so I can make another pair. Sounds like a good excuse to me. :)

Another Dye Adventure

Last night was spent dyeing up some more fibers and batts. Here's a couple of pics of them drying on the racks. There's 4 ounces of each fiber. Merino and Masham in the left pic and all the fiber/ batts in the right pic.

Spinning a Purple Cloud

On Sunday, I started spinning a fiber I have fallen in love with. It's from Fibers4Ewe Mill in Putnam, CT. Liz, the owner simply calls it Mill Ends. I call it Purple Clouds. It spins with very little drafting and wants to be a fine laceweight yarn. The sparkle is the perfect touch in the fiber. There is a halo in it as well. I'm not sure what the fiber mix is. Just a bit of this and that. I'll let the pictures speak for the fiber. So far, I managed to spin 2 ounces between Sunday afternoon and Monday afternoon, using my Minstrel wheel. Pictures of the plyed yarn will be posted when I've finished the other 4 ounces.

When Plans Don't Go as You Think

My plans for today were to get up early and start prepping for a dye day in my room. This didn't happen thanks to my hot water tank giving up the fight. Pat went down stairs and found a puddle half way across the boiler room. Thankfully, it didn't go anywhere near the wall for my room. All the bins were safe and dry. Luckily, he caught it right after it let go so more water wasn't going into the tank to leak out. It's also a good thing he can install the new one tonight. I'm also glad it didn't let go when he was in the sling with his shoulder surgeries. We would have simply switched to the boiler's hot water system, which is our back-up.

The plan now is to have a dye day on Monday. I already have some of the colors in mind. Trying to not use my favorites of blues, purples, and pink can be a challenge. Lately, some of the finished products have been really pretty and completely outside of my comfort zone. Warm Earth tones are not my favorite. There has been shades of green, orange, black, brown, and yellow used. And the funny part is I really like how they are all coming out. :)

Since I couldn't do the dyeing today, I did some Navajo plying instead. The "Dark Storm" is finished and awaiting it's bath.

Here is a picture of Tiger on the back of my recliner. I have a bin of yarn on the seat to keep them off, but, Isabella decided it would make a comfy spot to snooze anyway. Tiger felt she needed some grooming and had been washing her face. He stopped just as I went to take the picture. Katy is also snoozing behind Tiger. You can just see Katy's ears and top of her head behind Tiger's back.

Now, I'm going to evict the kitties from my chair so I can get comfortable and knit for a while.