What a long strange trip its been

Busy, busy, busy. Its now my middle name. So much has happened in such a short period of time. I promise to add pictures before the end of the day (if you don't want to wait, check out my Flickr photostream HERE) but in the meantime here's an update:

Thing 2 was reassessed recently and was found to have severe ADHD and significant problems with executive function. (((sigh))) I know he could have worse things to deal with but I couldn't help but feel bad for him. And contrary to rational thought, I felt like a bad mom because its likely I have it too and passed it on to him. Long story short, we decided to give Straterra a try inspite of my anti-medication stance because he was quite miserable at school. Several weeks in and he's doing very well, no side effects and is thrilled with the ability to focus. Praying that he continues to do well into the future.

My best bud's sister had her twins (the ones that I made the stroller blankets for). I made them some cupcake hats to match their stroller blankies and some teeny tiny socks to keep their little tootsies warm.







We spent Spring break with The Dead (minus the late Jerry Garcia) - thus the title to this post. Thing 1 and King Thing went to the shows in Greensboro, NC and Washington, DC. Thing 2 and I joined them for the show in Charlottesville, VA. It was quite the 90s flashback for me and a first for Thing 2. Thing 1 made his rounds to several shows when he as a baby but of course he doesn't remember any of it. After the kids were quite appauled at first but eventually they settled in and had a blast people watching. I'm always amazed at how laid back everyone is and how the police don't bust anyone's chops. If only the weather had cooperated - brrrrr!





Sadly, during Spring break week, my grandma's sister (Great Aunt) and King Thing's grandmother were both hospitalized :( My great-aunt didn't make it and we said goodbye to her on April 24th. She was one of the neatest people I had the pleasure to know and her antics and eccentricities will truly be missed. I feel blessed to have known her as long as I did. While I'm sad that she's gone, I'm so glad that she no longer has to suffer.

King Thing's grandma is still in ICU, on a ventilator, trying to recover. We feel pretty helpless and just continue to pray. Her recovery is in God's hands and those caring for her now.

I hit Maryland Sheep and Wool in the midst of all of this crazy train that is life and was so glad to have had time to visit with my buds Ei and Heaz.







Look who else we got to visit with - Carrieoke! And we got to meet her sister, Ysolda and so many others at the Ravelry meetup this year. I think this was my fourth trip and the wettest to date - ick! But we still had fun in spite of the rain. Heaz is getting married soon - squeee! Ei and I coaxed each other into buying rigid heddle looms this year so I came home with a Schacht 20" Flip. Wee doggie, there is so much to learn about weaving. I feel like I have to learn yet another fiber related language. Warp, weft, sett, arghhhhh. It's coming slowly but surely and after three practice projects, I've warped the loom for a "real" planned project - a wrap.







Keeping my fingers crossed that I did the calculations right and I have enough weft yarn to complete the project. Math is NOT my forte so I won't be surprised if I'm off in my calculations. I'll just chalk it up to yet another learning opportunity.

So in general, life is crazy but good. The sun and warmth and green is back and I'm loving every minute of it. I've got some other good news to post about but that will have to wait for another post. I promise it won't take me two months to get to it :)

Nesting

Trust me, it’s not what you think. I’m not pregnant and I’m not busy feathering my “nest”. I’ve been busy making little fiber nests out of combed merino fleece that I scored on my visit mid-February to Lynn’s Fantasy Farm in Pearisburg during sheep shearing day. I came home with Dinah and Alice’s beautiful fleeces and upon the owner’s strong suggestion, sought out some combs vs. hand cards. I borrowed a friend’s Louet/Edward Scissorhands like combs and combed the freshly scoured fleece before rolling them into nests.



Gorgeous Fleece


Washed and dyed locks


Lots of loverly little nests


Spun and plied yarn


Close up of colors


Finished Yarn


While I’m all about the process, the hand combing merino thing is a lot of work. And there’s a great deal of lost fiber. However, it’s equally difficult to find a fiber mill that a.) takes in small amounts of fleece to comb into top and b.) hard to find a mill that even combs fiber into top. Long story short, I’m going to have to buy some more fleece so that I can hit Zeilinger’s (http://www.zwool.com) minimum and hope that it will be ready in time for me to pick it up at Maryland Sheep and Wool in May. It will be worth it. It’s a dream to spin top and this merino is fabulous stuff.

Thing Two and I had a blast at Lynn’s farm though it was mighty cold that day.


The shearer hard at work


Her two dogs were the sweetest creatures I’ve ever encountered and her flock was well cared for and very loved.

We got right to work, skirting fleece. I was stunned that Thing Two jumped right in because there was lots of icky stuff to pick out on the skirting table. He simply donned some rubber gloves and went to work. What a trooper! I hope that we can make it again next year.


Thing Two at the skirting table

Purple Nurple yarn

Remember this "Purple Nurple" yak/merino roving that I dyed a week or so ago?



Well it's all spun up, navajo plyed and made into yarn, a gift for my friend CM's birthday.










This yak/merino is yummy stuff to spin. Must.buy.more.soon. I hope she likes it. If not, I'll gladly take it back - LOL!

Unfortunately, the temps have dropped so I have no excuse (other than being down with a flu-like cold over the last few days) not to cast on for the rest of Walk in the Woods.

Tell me, what are YOU knitting now-a-days?

Thrummed cardigan, anyone?

Wrong side of the back of the "Walk in the Woods" Jacket

I'm so very tempted to leave all of these unwoven ends hanging free and call it a thrummed cardigan. Is there such a thing? I believe it would be quite cozy on really cold nights. However, considering the heat wave we're having right now, its not the easiest thing to knit on. I'm not casting on for the front until it cools down a bit. It has felt like a heating pad in my lap over the last few days. But I was determined to finish the back before I took a break from her so I willing roasted.



Back of Walk in the Woods Jacket

I swear I can't see the vibrancy of the detail until I take a picture of it. Its like one of the pictures that you stare at until another picture appears. It just looks like a bunch of colors in person.

While I wait for the weather to cool down (those are NOT words you will hear from me very often) so that I can cast on for the front of "Walk", I'm spinning up some custom dyed yak/merino roving that I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year from The Fold.



Its gorgeous stuff and purple is my color right now. Alas, this is destined to be a birthday prezzie for a dear friend. I can't wait to see it knit up. Its so rare that I get to see my handspun actually put to use - LOL!

Happy spinning and knitting everyone :)

A Walk in the Woods

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the crispness of the air and the transformation of the verdant Blue Ridge mountains into a veritable color palette. I can't think of a better time to cast on for the Walk in the Woods Jacket from the Interweave book "Inspired to Knit" than now. I haven't found a book in ages that excites me as much as this one does. There are several patterns that I can't wait to cast on for but this one beat the others hands down.

I dove into the stash and was surprised that I had 75% of the colors in either Manos or Malabrigo yarns. The other 25%, I decided to spin up and dye using the Rupperts Corriedale I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. Twas a labor of love washing, carding, spinning and dyeing that yarn but it was worth it. I love the results.



Washed and carded batts



All spun up into yarn



Cooking up maroon yarn goodness



Happy dyed skeins



Finally, casting on



What I felt like once it was all over...

I've learned so much just knitting the sleeve as a swatch. A year or two ago and I would have impaled myself on my needles before I would have taken on such a large scale intarsia project. There are SO many ends to weave in. But I'm madly in love with all of these colors. And I will love this sweater forever so I plod ahead and am 1/3 the way up the back. I screwed up one flower on the sleeve (its an Amish mistake, right Robin?) and knit it in the wrong color. I might frog it, I might say the heck with it and leave it. I'll decide another time. The inconsistent thickness of yarn makes me a little crazy from time to time but it seems to all work out in the end. And while it is NOT a portable project, it has been an easy project to pick up and put down thanks to my magnet board. And its knitting up quickly. I'm hoping to have it finished by my birthday later this month as a prezzie to myself (and perhaps to wear to Stitches East which continues to be an on-again/off-again prospect). We'll see if I'm all smiles after another week or so of knitting on it.

On an unrelated note, I've started a Ravelry group and Heifer team for Heifer International supporters called Team Ravelry (you can also visit the team's progress through Team Heifer HERE). If you love Heifer and its outreach, please consider joining or supporting our efforts. We're planning to do some fundraisers, knit-a-longs, team projects, etc. in the future. I'm going to be posting more patterns soon and Heifer will again be a beneficiary. Lots of fun is planned for the coming months. Hope you'll come along for the ride.

But does she knit anymore???

Yes, I still knit and have actually done quite a bit over the last few weeks. But work and life have kept me from blogging regularly. I've included some shots of several completed knitting and spinning projects and random fun I had fun with the fam in DC a couple of weekends ago.

Until later...

Another baby pinwheel sweater (for King Thing's cousint's new baby)



Experimenting with Spinning Techniques including navajo plying



More little peas...



Fiber Fairies were made for the 2008 Ravelympics



Still adding colors/sections to the Seafoam wrap...



Experimented with natural dyeing on roving and yarn



Experimented with using acid dyes



Had tons of fun at Madame Tussauds in DC and visiting the FDR memorial










Clicky for more photos from the DC trip.