Skool's Out 4 Summer

Everybody, sing the song with me. Yippie! Thing 1 and 2 are out of school for the summer. They actually got out on Thursday but today is the first day that I've gotten to enjoy the full effect of sleeping in. Ahhhhh. Snuggling up in the sheets while the faint murmur of the Today Show lulls me back to sleep. On the one hand, I won't have to drive two plus hours each day schelepping them to and from school and to misc. activities. I REALLY get to flex-time with my job so the reward is if I get up early, I get to knock off mid-day and go to the pool and work on my tan - ha ha ha! And I won't have to make lunch, pry the boys out of the bed with a crowbar and yell like a pit crew chief to go, go, go so we're not late to school. On the other hand, I turn into slave driver and entertainment director for the next three months. Anyone want to take bets on when the words "I'm bored" are first uttered in this house? I'm hell bent on not letting them turn into couch potatoes and glaze over in front of the tv or video games. And yet again, I want them to have fun. Which means, I have to come up with lots of chores for them in the coming weeks. It won't be all business around here but I do have a paying job to do and I don't want to hear bickering, cartoons or video games all freakin' day. We'll see how good parenting skills rate in a couple of weeks. Don't place any bets on how good those are, Peeps.

I have some serious catching up to do and this is the one week in many where I'm not out of town for work and can do just that. Yes, I've been knitting. And I've also been spinning and workin' the dyepot and even dabbling with some designs. I've got many FO's to show you and lots of life stuff to share, too. The winds, they are a changin' round these parts so I have some adjusting to do but I'm up for the challenge.

In the meantime, I leave you with a random picture I took while visiting Raleigh last month. They were selling these sock monkeys at The Gap. I got bored while Thing 1 tried on the millionth pair of jeans so I snapped their picture. I should have bought all of them because looking at their picture makes me laugh every. single. time.

ISO of cheese to go with my whine

Warning! Kvetching ahead. Duck and cover if you know what's good for you.

So much stuff has happened recently and its hard to know which end is up most days. The Tech tragedy was bad enough and while I know I wasn't directly affected, I WAS directly affected. Add to that coming home from spring break to the sad news from our friends who were pet sitting that one of our beloved fluffy-butt guinea pigs had passed on to the other side. She was 6 so I'm sure that it was old age but it was still a sad moment for all of us. Needless to say, I've been a puddle of nonstop tears for the last month.

The canine fluffy-butt, Mavis, came home from the kennel after spring break having a hard time getting around and I can tell that her back legs are bothering her. We're giving her pet meds and trying to keep her off all of the stairs but I fear that her time with us is growing short. She's 14 and has had great health most of her life so we feel blessed that we've had her as long as we have. But I'm having a hard time envisioning the day my sweetie won't be there to greet me at the door.

And the other fluffy-butt piggie has been sick for the last two weeks with some mysterious illness that has left her back legs swollen. The vet has run a bagillion tests, she too is on MANY pet meds and is only marginally better. I literally fall apart when small animals and kids are suffering so this trifecta has nearly done me in. Guess I'm just a whimp like that.

Work is kicking my butt and I'm on the road every week from now until August. Gas prices rose 10 - 20 cents in the time I drove the kids to school and back home this morning. The vet bill. OY the vet bill. My joints are inflammed again for no apparent reason so its hard to exercise. I'm on the pill again to get my hormones back on track. So far, its not working so great. Thanks to the pill, my hoohas are ginormous. And I'm fat and summer's right around the corner. Yeah, I need a huge slab of cheese for all of this whine.

Okay, now that's off my chest. Yes, I am able to see the silver lining of life every now and again. I have wonderful friends, most of them fiber friends. They keep me sane and feed my fiber addiction. Sedalia and Maryland Sheep and Wool were wonderful again this year and I've got the goods to prove it (more in another post I'm afraid). My family is doing well and have been so very loving. Got to see Mom, Dad and Grandma last weekend. All of the Things gave me a SpaVA gift certificate for Mother's Day (pedi, mani & massage here I come). I wake up every day to the song of birds, the warmth of the sun and surrounded by the love of my family. I am grateful for so very much. I'm just having a hard time digging out of the dumps right now.

So I'll try to come up for air every so often and post a little something. But don't be surprised if I'm MIA for big chunks of time. I AM knitting and spinning and I promise to show you soon what I've been up to.

Anyone going to Maryland Sheep and Wool this year?

I haven't seen much buzz in bloglandia about Maryland Sheep and Wool this year. Are any of you planning to attend this year? If not, does that mean that I won't have to stand in long lines to get close to The Fold, Koigu and Tess' booths this year? Will I actually get my hands on a skein of the illusive Socks That Rock yarn? A girl can dream, right?

Sanguine Gryphon is organizing a blogger picnic on Saturday and Sunday at 1 pm. For more info., click HERE! I'm going to wear an IndigoMuse button to identify me so please don't be shy and say "hi". Just so you know, this is what I look like...


Sheeps 06 with Heather and Zira

I'll be hanging with H, Ei, Kel and Donna this year. Can't wait to see everyone. But I'd love to meet some of you bloggers out there. Drop me an email at indigomuse (at) verizon (dot) net or slip me a comment if you'll be out there this weekend.

On Friday, I'll be working at Strawberry Festival. If you're looking for an excuse to visit the Roanoke Valley, this festival and the Chili Cookoff downtown on Saturday are two really good reasons. Come out to the festivals and enjoy some great food and fun, stay at the Hotel Roanoke, visit the Mill Mountain Star and bask in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I guarantee that you'll want to come back again in the fall. Hope to meet some of you this weekend!

Last day before the Chichi prize drawing

Today is the last day to purchase a Chichi pattern and have your name entered into the prize drawing. I'll announce the winners later this week. If you knit Chichi, send me a photo. I'd love to see how your piggie turned out. Thank for your continued support of this Heifer project.

Knitting for Hokies

As many of you have pointed out, there are several Hokie knitting projects including Project Hokie Hope (PHH) that have popped up since last week. I'm a firm believer in NOT diffusing charitable efforts (Non-profit system and community building are a huge part of my day job). My goal with PHH was to get knitters and other fiber friends from around the world to help the families heal. However, I prefaced my efforts by stating that I don't have a huge blog following and wasn't convinced that I'd have the numbers to pull off such a large undertaking. Considering the widespread support and following that Mosaic Yarn Shop has both industry wide and through its customer base (and the fact that they're actually located IN Blacksburg), I believe that our efforts should be channelled into the Hokie Healing project that was launched over the weekend. Visit the Mosaic blog post for more details as they are different than the ones originally set out for PHH. I've already begun knitting several squares for the project and based on the outpouring of support, am sure that it will achieve its goal of providing blankets for each of the victim's families.

Project Hokie Hope will continue with a different and less ambitious goal. Yes, you are welcome to still send in donations and thank you for your support. My thought is that a fiber art piece could be made and then raffled or auctioned off with all of the proceeds going to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. However, I'll consult with those of you make donations before a final decision is made. I'll keep you - the blog reader - posted about its progress periodically.

Many thanks to everyone who wants to help with the healing process. It is so wonderful to know that people from around the world are wrapping their arms around one little town in Virginia.

Project Hokie Hope

*** Updated 4-26-07

As many of you have pointed out, there are several Hokie knitting projects including Project Hokie Hope (PHH) that have popped up since last week. I'm a firm believer in NOT diffusing charitable efforts (Non-profit system and community building are a huge part of my day job). My goal with PHH was to get knitters and other fiber friends from around the world to help the families heal. However, I prefaced my efforts by stating that I don't have a huge blog following and wasn't convinced that I'd have the numbers to pull off such a large undertaking. Considering the widespread support and following that Mosaic Yarn Shop has both industry wide and through its customer base (and the fact that they're actually located IN Blacksburg), I believe that our efforts should be channelled into the Hokie Healing project that was launched over the weekend. Visit the Mosaic blog post for more details as they are different than the ones originally set out for PHH. I've already begun knitting several squares for the project and based on the outpouring of support, am sure that it will achieve its goal of providing blankets for each of the victim's families.

Project Hokie Hope will continue with a different and less ambitious goal. Yes, you are welcome to still send in donations and thank you for your support. The requirements for submission, etc. will remain the same but now my thought is that a fiber art piece could be made and then raffled or auctioned off with all of the proceeds going to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund in lieu of knitting for the families. However, I'll consult with those of you make donations before a final decision is made. I'll keep you - the blog reader - posted about its progress periodically.

Many thanks to everyone who wants to help with the healing process. It is so wonderful to know that people from around the world are wrapping their arms around one little town in Virginia.

**********************************************************************************
Original Post

I'm always comforted and impressed by the support of my fiber friends. You've been so kind to extend an offer to knit for the victims families. I was afraid to take on such a project because I don't have a huge blog following and worried that only a few people would want to help out. What I've learned through your words of wisdom is that no matter how big or small this project is, it will still promote peace and love in the world. And that my friends is what I'm all about.

So on this day of worldwide Hokie Hope (thanks to everyone who's wearing orange and maroon today. It's a lovely site to behold.), I'm launching Project Hokie Hope.

Why are you doing this IM? To show the 32 families who lost loved ones on April 16th that the fiber arts community not only grieves with them but believes in the hope of tomorrow.

What can I send? You can help by sending your expression of hope in the form of something fiber related. Crochet a square. Knit a panel. Weave a triangle. Embroider a rectangle. Tat a circle. Cross stitch a sentiment. Quilt your favorite design. Use your creativity and feel free to express yourself however you are so moved. I'm not putting restrictions on shape, size or fiber art because I personally think it will be very cool to show the diversity of the fiber art community through these memorials. So there is no contribution too large or too small. If you're not the creative type, knit a log cabin square or one of my Trinity log cabin triangles. I'll be sure to post additional ideas as they come in. FYI - Hokie colors are burnt orange and maroon (and sometimes white) but you are not required to use them in your piece. Don't want to make something? Send yarn and I'll pass it on to someone who will make something for the project with it.

I will receive your finished piece(s) and depending on how many are sent in, we may be able to make wraps or blankets for each family. However, I'm prepared to make small memorial gifts with fewer submissions such as pillows or wall hangings. *** Just wanted to clarify that the pieces (unless they are themselves a complete piece such as a shawl) will be joined together to create fiber gifts for each family. So each gift has the potential to be a very lovely work of mixed media art.

When you've finished your contribution(s), please be sure to securely package them and include the following on an index card (your information will not be shared with the families or anyone else unless you specify that you would like for me to include it) :

Your name
Mailing address (if international, include the country information)
Email address
(optional) personal note

How long will you accept submissions: April 20th to June 25th *** Just wanted to clarify that the goal is to send these gifts to the families of victims during the summer. From what I've been told by several university staff, students and friends, the outreach on campus right now while greatly appreciated, is very overwhelming. The staff are focusing on the students, graduation and the getting through the next couple of weeks. I figured that waiting until later in the summer, it would give everyone plenty of time.

I'm aware that there are so very many worthwhile Hokie knitting projects that have begun in the last week and its not my intention to duplicate efforts. Where possible, I've already inquired about how I can work with other projects so that the knitting community isn't overwhelmed with requests. Other projects include:

Hokie Healing sponsored by Mosaic in Blacksburg. Drop off your 8 x 8 squares now through the end of May. For more info., visit Gina and the Mosaic Yarn Shop staff HERE

Mary Read Memorial Scarf KAL in honor of Mary Read both a VT student and a knitter. For more info., visit the blog that has been set up HERE

Knitting for Virginia Tech which is collecting hats, scarves, mittens, etc. for the students who will enter or return to the VT campus in Fall 2007. Visit the blog HERE for more information.

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund which is the official Virginia Tech fund that has been set up to aid in the healing process. Visit the site HERE to give a donation to the general fund or to give a scholarship donation in the name of a specific victim.

Where can I send my donated piece/contribution? Email me at indigomuse (at) verizon (dot) net for the mailing address. If you're in the region, perhaps I can arrange for you to drop them off at one of the local yarn shops around the area (I'll be happy to stop by and pick them up) and save you the postage. *** Needle on the Square (in Roanoke, VA), Knitting Sisters (in Williamsburg, VA) and The Yarn Lounge (in Richmond, VA) have offered to be drop off sites. I'll add to the list as I find out about other locations.

How can we keep track of progress? I'll take pictures of the pieces as they come in and post them here unless there's significant interest to start a Project Hokie Hope blog and/or Flikr group. I'll also arrange with Virginia Tech to make sure that each one of these get to the families. I hope to add prizes for a drawing in the coming weeks just to show my appreciation for all of those who support this effort.

The sky greeted me bright and early Wednesday morning with this awe inspiring orange and maroon sunrise.



How can you not have hope after seeing something this beautiful?

Still Numb

I woke up this morning feeling like a blank slate. I honestly didn't know which end was up and then the news quite vividly reminded me of the senseless events that had happened the day before. Some of the major events of my life took place in Blacksburg and on the Tech campus. King Thing proposed to me on the marble slab on War Memorial Chapel. Thing 1 was conceived and born in the Burg. We met our very best friends in the entire world there. I got my first job there. The Things attend summer camp there. We're proud members of the "Hokie Nation" and strut orange and maroon every chance we can get. And while I refuse to let this tragic event "define" VA Tech, Blacksburg and Hokies, there's a lot of healing ahead. Thanks for all of your virtual hugs and sentiments. I know that these families need lots of prayers now and for a long time moving forward.


I turned last night to the only thing that comforts me in the face of adversity - My knitting. Oddly enough, I started making some Hokie Trinity log cabin triangles a couple of months ago with the thought of eventually making a Hokie blanket out of them in time for football season.



They've called to me from the UFO basket and want to be a memorial blanket. I'm going to make 32 of them, one for each of the victims. And while in my heart of hearts, I want to make a blanket for each of the families who lost someone to this tragedy (and realistically know that there are not enough hours in the day to do so without some help), I can at least remember them in the only way that I know how. Damn I wish this numbness would go away.

Please pray for our community today

If you believe in prayer, please pray for the many families of those injured, killed or affected by the shootings that occured on the Virginia Tech campus today. The Muse family are diehard Hokies, King Thing and I attended VA Tech and my heart weighs very heavy with this tragic news. What's even sadder is that this is the second shooting incident on campus this school year. I can't even begin to comprehend what has happened. But I do know that our community will never be the same again after this incident.

A pig, Heifer, prizes and a new pattern

First, the pig. Introducing Chichi, the felted pig...



Mom to the little needle felted piggie I made to celebrate Chinese New Year earlier this year. Many thanks to La (email me, I have a free pattern for you) who suggested that I name the little piggie Chicharon (Chicharon is Spanish for fried pork rind). With that inspiration, I settled on the nickname "Chichi". So many fun names were submitted but this one was just perfect.

Chichi is my first (drumroll please) published IndigoMuse original pattern. I'm so proud of how she turned out. Not only is Chichi a whimsical pattern but she also offers a sampling of intermediate techniques making it a delightfully fun skillbuilder pattern.

However, other than periodic donations, I've never felt like I made much of an impact with my knitting which is in sharp contrast to the non-profit work I'm engaged in as part of my job. That all changes with Chichi and is where the "Heifer" comes in. 50% of the net profits from Chichi will support the global efforts of Heifer International. Specifically, Chichi will provide the gift of (hopefully) several pigs in the coming months for deserving families. Heifer is an organization near and dear to my heart because recipients become donors through their "teach a man to fish" philosophy. I'm sure that many of you are familiar with Heifer but if you aren't, please take a minute to visit their site and read about the incredible work that they are engaged in.

Did someone say PRIZES?!? Why yes I did. So far, I have this loverly skein of handspun merino/silk. Its 50 yards of worsted weight fushia yarn. Zira is bathing in the remaining 3 oz which is just enough for another 100 yards or so that I'll also spin up to be given away. Its a beautiful fiber just perfect for a lux version of Chichi, wrist warmers, a baby hat - imagine the possibilities. You are automatically entered into the drawing for these yarns (and more) when you purchase the Chichi pattern between now and April 30th - just in time for you to make something PINK for Project Spectrum! The drawing will be held on May 1st. Purchase the pattern, send me an email with "Chichi drawing" in the subject and you're on your way to winning these goodies.

And so by clicking below, you can purchase the pattern. Chichi is a Pdf. download that is emailed to you once you have completed your purchase (You will need Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or later to open the file). Thanks for your support of this worthwhile project. Enjoy!

Chichi

© Tanya Brooks 2007

* For non-commercial use only. Wholesale/retail inquiries,

email indigomuse(at)verizon(dot)net

Yarn:

Manos de Uruguay, Malabrigo, Rio de la plata or other kettle dyed chunky yarn

Needles:

1 set US 10.5 (6.5 mm) double-point needles

Gauge (unfelted):

3.5 sts/20 rows = 4" stockinette stitch

Finished Measurements:

Body - 9.5" circumference

Ears - 1.5"

Legs - 2"

Nose - 1"

Tail - 5"

$3.95

Effective March 2008, a flat rate of $1 per pattern sold will be donated to Heifer projects. Donations will be made quarterly. Thank you for your continued support!

Cheeky Monkey

You know I can't resist a fiber named "Cheeky Monkey" especially since I like all things monkey and have my own Cheeky Little Monkeys. Plus I figure that it will distract you from other things that I was supposed to have ready by today.


See the Cheeky Little Monkeys?

Amy over at Spunky Eclectic had this fiberlicious goodness in her shop and it had to be mine. Yup, I didn't stop at ordering the Finnsheep fleece. There have been other LOFAD purchases over the last couple of weeks (she says smiling sheepishly).




Sumptuous merino/silk dyed in brown, pink and peach. It reminds me of those Brach's candies whose name escapes me now.

A little less than 2 oz of that fiber became these singles ...




that became this sock weight yarn ...





that will become socks. Yes, socks from she-who-doesn't-love-socks. But it screams to be socks and I have to listen to the fiber or they've all threatened to pack up and run away and we can't have that.

Hope that distracted you enough. If all goes well, I'll have permission to move forward with my project later today. If not, zee Muse has many, many rabbits left in her hat...

I suffer from LOFAD*

Yes, I suffer from a disorder that thousands of fiber enthusiasts around the world have been recently diagnosed with - Lack of Fiber Anxiety Disorder* aka LOFAD. You know who you are. The worst afflicted are the ones who think that sock yarn doesn't count. It grips you when you least expect it, causing one to hemorrhage cash for no rational reason and hide fiber in boxes, under beds and in the dark corners of closets. To date, there is no cure.

Severe LOFAD sufferers usually have plenty of fiber in their lives. I give you exhibit A.



This is most of the yarn and spinning fiber in my knitting room. Note the over abundance of fibers especially the spinning fiber on the bottom shelves.



Check out the baskets that contain several pounds of washed fleece waiting to be carded. You can't even see that 5 lb bag of llama that is lost somewhere in the garage.



And yet for some reason, I had a panic attack over some Finnsheep. A week or so ago, I thought that I'd washed the last of the fleece that I bought a couple of years ago. So I ordered some commercial Finn top thinking that it would be wonderful to just spin it without having to wash it, pick it, card it, yadda yadda yadda. I've waxed poetic about the wonders of Finn before and couldn't wait to just spin this ethereal stuff. But when the commercial Finn arrived, I realized quickly that all Finn is NOT created the same. Yes, its very nice stuff but its. not. the. same.

Panic set in. I started gasping for air. What would I do if I didn't have some flurfy Finn to spin this year? I immediately started combing the internets to see if I could locate a fleece. Ack! Most of the fleece for 2007 has already been claimed. It seems that everyone loves Finn as much as I do. It didn't matter that I don't NEED more fiber. I couldn't even get past the panic. A couple of hours later, I finally found some online and faster than Brangelina can adopt another child, I bought a Finn lamb fleece and its due to arrive any day. Crisis narrowly averted. All is right with the world again.

And then I found the rest of the Finn fleece that I thought was all gone.



And there's quite a bit left. Double crap in a can! This just illustrates how severe LOFAD can get the best of you. Now I have even more fleece coming and there aren't enough hours in the day to wash and spin all of this stuff. I know I need help and trust me, I'm trying to stop but its so hard. I've knit most everything I've shown you so far this year from the stash so I AM working through it.

In the meantime, my answer for LOFAD is to give some of my over abundance away. I gave a bunch away to Thing 1's class this week. They worked hard for it. I did a spinning demo for his class and then gave them CD spindles that King Thing and I made. And all nine of his 14 year old classmates learned how spin. ALL. OF. THEM. It brought tears to my eyes. How can you not give kids your fiber when they do something magical like that?

Here's what I've spun up so far this year and some of these kiddies (and many others who haven't even been spun yet) will find new homes with some of YOU!!!



More detailed swag info will be revealed later this week (even if it kills me. I hate paperwork and that's what I'm working on right now related to this project).

And some of the fiber is intended for charitable endeavors. I can at least use my knitting and spinning powers to heal and not to harm, right?

*** ETA: BTW, I've suddenly lost the ability to reply directly to your comments. They come to me by email but your return email addy is "hidden". So please know that I read your comments and truly enjoy them but simply can't jot a quick note back to you. Hopefully Blogger will fix this bug sooner than later.

Fiberlicious Foto Friday

(Warning: Photos of fiber p0rn ahead)
Okay, sing-a-long with me to the tune of "Fergalicious". It's Fiberlicious. Don't know the song? Um, guess I've been watching too much MTV Jams.

Thanks for all of the kind words about piggie and the Zune cozy. I couldn't help but laugh out loud regarding potential names for piggie. And I thought that I had a twisted sense of humor. I'll announce his new name next week in addition to fun surprise.

In case you're just tuning in, one of my goals for 07 was to dye with the intention of spinning vs. playing with colors with nothing in particular in mind. First, gotta make sure you have the right tools.

Free weekend with nothing on my agenda?

Check!

Dyepot? (make sure that it is EXCLUSIVELY used for dyeing fiber. Don't want to poison the kiddies)

Check!



Presoaked fiber?
*** I soak mine in a warm bath with a touch of Dawn and vinegar for around an hour.

Check!



Dye tools?

*** Color wheel (lost my favorite one for a few weeks and had to use one printed from the internets), gloves, foam brushes, The Dyers Companion, fibers to test colors, various cups and measuring tools, Prochem acid dyes (these were already mixed so I didn't need a mask), vinegar, distilled water and LOTS of newspaper and plastic to protect my very WHITE kitchen island.

Check!



Alright peeps. Let the dyeing begin. I did a dye study of some of the few Noro yarns in my stash. Unlike most knitters, I can't stand the itchiness of Noro but I LOVE the colors. The fibers are obviously spun into the color bands that you find in the skein vs. dyeing them once spun so I thought that I might strive to dye some different color gradations and then spin them into Noro like yarn. I wanted bright saturated color so I mixed fairly strong batches of dye.

As far as the fiber, I used the domestic wool (breed unknown but probably Shetland or Jacob) that I bought in Asheville at Earth Guild. Each mini batt that I dyed is approximately 1 ounce of fiber. I also dyed 2 ounces of merino/silk that I bought at Rocktown Yarns (a new knitting shop find for me in Harrisonburg, VA back in January). I began by practicing with a 20 yd sample skein of the domestic wool that I spun and plied on the Asheville trip. I aimed for grades of color from pink to dark blue and pour small amounts of dye on each section of the wool and ended up with a rainbow. It was all wrapped in plastic wrap and steamed for 30 - 60 minutes (I honestly lost track).



I love how this fiber takes the dye. Not only does it have a slight sheen to it but it dyes very evenly. I only wish I knew what it was.

Once I figured out how much dye to use to get the deep color saturation that I wanted, I started dyeing the wool batts. First out of the dyepot was this batch.



I was shooting for Hokie colors (VA Tech Orange and Maroon) for the top batt and am fairly pleased though the colors aren't quite as true in person. The bottom was supposed to be teal and green and I ended up more with turquoise and green. Can't complain because the colors are incredible and exceeded my expectations. The dyes were poured onto these batts and they were steamed for over an hour (seemed to take longer for the dyes to set). There were some other batts that I forgot to take pictures of but they ended up looking like this once spun.



Fiber on the left is the rainbow yarn above. The yarn on the bottom is dk weight singles that I knit into a Trinity log cabin triangle just to see what would happen if you used a variagated yarn.

Next up, some very dark chocolate brown roving that I called "Woodland". I was very curious as to what colors a dark roving would produce with heavy concentrations of color. I used dark orange, royal blue and black on this batt (which weighed 2 oz) and ended up with this very interesting color combo shown as braided roving, spun singles and plied yarn.



Doesn't look much like orange, blue and black does it? I spun this up and plied it so that Catie could see how it looked at our March spin/knit in. Very interesting how that yarn dyed up. The jury's out on this one.

Next out of the dye pot was a small ball of forest green roving that I called "Morning Dew". I rolled the roving into a tight, layered ball, soaked it in dye, double wrapped it and steamed it for at least an hour and a half. The resulting varigated color was incredible. Alas, I forgot to take a picture of it before I carded it with the angelina. Doh!



After it was plied, all I could do is gaze at it in the sunlight. It truly reminds me of morning dew glistening on grass as the sunrises in the morning. I may need to add angelina to all yarn from here to eternity. I love sparkles in such a bad way.

Next out of the pot, my favorite and what I called "Blue Ridge Dusk". Its the 2 oz. of merino/silk dyed with violet, forest green and turquoise. I'm such a sucker for purple and green together. I'm going to have to play with these colors more in the future. This merino/silk spins like a dream, like cotton candy, like heaven. I can't wait to dye more.



Believe it or not, there's more but I'll wait until I've spun some of it up before I flash you with it. I've ordered some additional dye colors from KnitPicks and as soon as they arrive, there will be much more dyeing in my future. If the dog and the kids aren't careful, I'll dye them too if they sit still too long.

I'm cooking up some good stuff for ya'll in the near future. Stay tuned...

Finished objects so far this year

Wowzers! My last post put you right to sleep. Not a peep outta anyone. I guess no comments are better than some of the fur that's flying on some other blogs these days. I read this post a week or so ago and it truly spoke volumes to me about how I can lead a happier blog life. That's all I'm saying lest I too get flamed.

Anyhoo, for what its worth, here are a few of my 2007 goal related FO's that have popped off my needles in recent weeks.

Sheepy Zune Cozy

Specs...
Pattern: My own based on the measurements for my Zune (Microsoft version of iPod)
Yarn: Tweedy wool reclaimed from thrift store sweater and my own handspun Finnsheep
Needles: Size 3 Inox circulars







Notes:

This was great practice toward my goal of mastering stranded knitting this year. I also recycled some yarn, incorporated handspun yarn into the project and practiced pattern writing using a chart. Plus, I got to knit sheep with sheep. How kewl is that? If anyone is interested, I'm happy to post the pattern. Just drop me a line.

Chinese New Year Piggie/Boar

Specs...

Pattern: my own based on a Chinese New Year photo of ceramic boars
Fiber: Dave Simpson "Dharma" - silk/merino blend in pinks, peach and orange and a smidge of black merino for the eyes and detailing
Needles: Clover needle felting tool with fine (size 34 I think) felting needles
Finished size: 1 1/2" h x 1 1/2" w





Notes: I love how piggie turned out. And he's so tiny. Can't think of a good name for him though. This is the first time that I've needle felted with my Clover tool though I bought it over 6 months ago. It is a dream to use and makes quick work of needle felting projects. I still like using a single needle for the detail work, though.

The body is a a needle felted ball made with several layers of fiber. I then made two triangles for the ears and attached them to the head. Next, I affixed a small ball for the nose and felted it into place. Four pyramid shapes for the legs were felted and attached. The tail was a twisted piece of fiber that was knotted and attached. The nose, eyes and toes were added last. Took about an hour or so to leisurely finish while watching Pirates of the Carribean - Dead Man's Chest (I sure hope the final installment ties up all of the weird loose ends from this one) in January.

This project doesn't fall under any of my goals for 07. It was just simple fun!

Noni Patterns "Ruffs and Cuffs"

Specs...

Pattern: Noni Patterns (Formerly Noni Bags) Ruffs and Cuffs
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza
Needles: Size 10 Clover bamboo









Notes: The construction on this pattern is freaking sweet. Each flower is knit as a chain (see the photo above) and then stitched together. Then all of the flowers are lightly felted, assembled and a velvet backing is stitched on the inside of the collar. Add a magnetic snap and you're already to hit the town in your new accessory. I've worn this one quite a bit to keep my neck warm and gotten lots of great compliments. A truly fun pattern to knit and would make great gifts for the holidays next year (Its not to early to start planning now).

Got some fiber to flash you with in the next post. Hope to see some of you at RVS&K in Salem tonight!

2006 Reflections - Final installment

Sorry it has taken me two freakin' months to reflect on 2006. And many thanks for enduring my Asheville tome. It was a great trip. I highly recommend that you escape with friends whenever you can cause life is WAY too short. Also, a HUGE shout out to all of the visitors from Mason-Dixon knitting. Thanks for stopping by.

I spent my first glorious "penis-free" weekend with my spinning girls back in January. All I can say is that women. are. amazing. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. We are invincible, we are powerful, we are loving, we are vulnerable, we are creative and if you're not careful, we'll someday rule the world. I have to tell you that I came home on an estrogen and spinning high. I'm still in awe of how we found each other over two years ago. Either way, it doesn't matter HOW we found each other, just that we did. Thanks ladies for making my life so very rich!

While I was on this retreat, I finally finished spinning and plying my Dharma (don't you love the name? Of course the joke was where's Greg all weekend.) merino silk while on holiday from the "Things". I also plied a little ball of Finnsheep singles that had been languishing in the bottom of my spinning bag.


Dharma and "Greg" the mini skein of Finnsheep

I got some weird looks over how I ply my yarn. I spin until I nearly fill a bobbin. Then I wind off the singles onto a nostepine to make a flat center pull ball. I take the end from the center and the end from the outside and ply them together until all of the yarn is gone. I don't honestly know why I do it this way. I'm sure I saw it out on the internets somewhere a couple of years ago. There's an article that just went up in the Jan./Feb. newsletter at Fiber Femmes describing this technique complete with pictures. Do any of you spinners out there ply like this?

Okay now back to the final reflections installment.


The Future - 2007

I had an epiphany over the holidays. My dream of owning a retail knitting/spinning shop will need to be deferred at least for the next 10 years. I realized that I'd have to be "married" to a store and things like vacations, QT with The Things, visiting family and friends and carefree knitting and spinning would be practically non-existent. I'm not ready to have another "child" at this point in my life when my boys are still in their formative years. I'm a little sad but am glad to set that one free for now. Though, I won't make resolutions, some of my hard and fast fiber goals for the year are:


* Have fun with Fair Isle and stranded knitting - emphasis on FUN. I want to learn to steek, play with Kaffe Fassett motifs and become uber proficient at stranded projects. I've already got a couple off the needles. I'll show you more in another post.

* Dyeing to spin - Color is such an important part of my life. I'm constantly inspired by nature - the sky, the weather, animals - and would like to tap into those inspirations to paint more fiber and yarn. I truly want to move beyond the novice colorist stage this year.


* Spinning to knit - Most of the spinning I do is for pure pleasure and to learn about the process. I want to be a bit more purposeful in spinning fibers for specific projects. I have some silk, cashmere, Finnsheep and other lovelies that truly should be spun with a purpose.


* Get creative with my spinning - I'd love to spin some novelty yarns that include beads. I'd also like to spin textured yarns and combine unlikely fiber partners.

* Publish a few patterns - this prospect is scary but I'd like to publish a few patterns this year to see where it takes me. I need to accumulate a good list of intrepid and adventurous test knitters so this dream can be a reality.

* Master finishing work - I'm the first to admit that my finishing work leaves a lot to be desired. I hope to either take a couple of classes to over come my finishing fears or practice, practice, practice until I get it right. It also means forcing myself to select projects that require a lot of finishing. This is the goal I want to do the least and yet need to work on the most.

Two months into 2007 and I've worked on every single one of these goals - hot bad, eh? But I know the proof is in the pudding so I'll flash y'all with some pictures and more details very soon.

Asheville Yarn Crawl - The finale

Call it a fiber high or lack of judgement but we got greedy. We suddenly decided that we needed to hit ALL of the knitting shops in Asheville and the surrounding area. We spied one shop that wasn't in our list in some arts and craft directory and decided that we'd skoot over to visit since we had some extra time. This was the true dud of the trip - The Enchanted Forest (didn't even bother looking for a link because they don't deserve the patronage).

In our defense, there was a picture of luxury yarn in the ad. It encouraged us to come in and even promised 40% off all yarn. How could we resist? The first sign of trouble was that the navigation system took us to the wrong end of the road we needed to be on. Approximately 15 minutes out of our way. When we finally found the place, the sign read "Consignment Shop". Our spider senses told us to turn back but we'd already come so far. There on near-empty shelves, nestled between an old waffle maker and a wasp's nest, lay a few dozen orphan skeins. I wanted to save them from their fate. There were skeins of Fiesta, Needful, Lily Chin and Art Yarns that shouldn't have been subject to that suffering. But before I could rescue them, CM quickly ushered me out of the store. I don't think we spent more that 120 seconds in that shop. Talk about false advertising. Shame on you Enchanted Forest for not stating in your ad that it was a yarn clearance instead of a sale. We gave it a negative 5 our of 5 stars. It sucked big time.


By now it was 4pm and tick, tick, tick we had one shop left to visit - Yarn Paradise. Should we dare put all of our hopes and dreams in one basket? We'd purposely NOT gazed into the windows of the store so that we'd be surprised when we arrived. Our fingers and toes were crossed that we'd saved the best for last.

We almost trampled each other trying to get into the store. Not only was it growing colder as the sun began fade but we knew that we didn't have much time to shop. Once inside the doors, we knew that we'd reached yarn mecca. The store not only has a great selection of yarn, books, colors and customer service all under one roof. We marvelled at the fact that not only did they have great floor stock but they had plenty of backstock too. No problem finding enough yarn in a color you want for a large project here. Koigu and Claudia's Handpaint overflowed from several Lantern Book tiered baskets near the front of the store. Colinette and Noro dripped from the walls in the "fireplace room". We all immediately got ADD and wandered for a bit which I think made the staff suspicious because they followed us around for a while. This put me off at first but then again they might have a lot of theft so I tried to keep that in mind. After a while, they backed off unless we asked for help. My main goal besides buying fiber was to stock up on some yarns so that I could tackle some sort of fair isle or stranded project. I scored big time with some Koigu , Koigu mill ends (who knew there was such a thing) and some Debbie Bliss Silk. The others had bigger projects to buy for so we set to work on filling those needs.

Yarn Paradise is paradise!

Tons of great yarn

CM practicing her "mannequin pose" ala Fluffa in a Debbie Bliss cardigan

The staff and even their customers were too kind and very helpful. Thanks to their very nice store samples and swatches, we bought even more yarn than we'd planned. They have great selection of Louisa Harding, Ella Rae, Katia and Nashua yarns. And staples like Debbie Bliss, Noro, Cascade and Classic Elite. If we'd decided to stay until Monday, we could have gotten our Friday Night Knitting Club books signed by the author. Darn it. Talk about bad timing. Yarn Paradise scored a great big shiny 5 outta 5 stars! Worth every dime!

By now its almost 6 pm, its really cold and windy, our dogs were barking and hunger had set in. We decided to make reservations at another highly recommended restaurant - Zambra Tapas so that we'd have a snowball's chance of eating dinner at a decent hour. We couldn't get in until almost 8 pm so we decided to survey our haul and play with fiber for a while. SF is the fashion designer so she "laid out" all of our stuff on her bed for the photo shoot.

The whole kit and kaboodle

TE and S's Haul

IM and CM's Haul

Not bad, eh?

Zambra is everything that everyone said that it would be. The selection of tapas dishes was incredible. There was a three piece flamenco (?) band playing that was as flawless as a digital recording. We even ran into some friends from Roanoke. What a great way to cap the day and the weekend.

Of course we stayed up gabbing again and playing with all of our new fiber, yarn, pattern books and gadgets. We out lived the fire and reluctantly went to bed sometime around 2:30 am. Just one more row was heard more than once during the evening. After another one of Bruce's delicious breakfasts, we packed, knit until noon and then zipped by the Grove Park Inn just to see what all the buzz was about. This place is a behemoth. Just look at how small the cars are next to the building.

Grove Park Inn

And the view from the back of the property...

Breathtaking, no?

We finally couldn't put off the inevitable and headed back home to "reenter" the real world of kids, husbands, pets and housework. I spent the car trip deconstructing on of S's sweaters for TE in hopes that we can work up a pattern for it in the coming weeks. I've never done such a thing so we'll see how it turns out.

Don't you love the different buttons?

Now that I've done my little part for Asheville tourism, who wants to meet me there for SAFF in October? I'd love to see if we could rent the entire B&B and spin and knit all weekend. Come on, you know you wanna :)