Ancient Threads Spin & Knit

Baby Turtle

2011-05-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

Tim found a baby painted turtle in the garden yesterday when mowing with the scythe- he was pretty tiny!

With finals this week and all of the final projects that had to get done for school, I haven't been doing much knitting, but I did start a new sock during the royal wedding for myself- made with my bamboo yarn, I wanted something I could wear in summer, and wouldn't get too hot-
Pattern is Roza's socks from Spring 07 Interweave Knits- I made these before and really liked the pattern. but the socks wore out superfast- either I wore them all the time, or...

But anyway- here is the new sock

Rather than Study

2011-03-09T05:14:00.001-08:00

So I mentioned 10 minutes ago that I have two midterms left and I would rather do anything than study, so I thought I would procrastinate a little longer and tell you about the new household experiment we have started this week.

Inspired by Stanley Family at http://www.savingsandstewardship.com/search/label/Eat%20from%20the%20Pantry, we too are going to Eat from the Pantry/freezer for March.

Our Pantry- only a portion of the stockpile!

I have been stockpiling since last October and the grocery bills have been going down, but we still spend too much at the market and the pantry shelves keep getting fuller and fuller.

So, other than fresh produce and dairy (and coffee*) I can't purchase anything at the market. I'm trying to keep the monthly grocery budget to $50.

So, I need to come up with some recipes that use what is in the pantry- a new one to try this week
http://www.womansday.com/Recipes/Tuna-Stuffed-Shells
I'm not sure what the kids will think, but they can stand a shake-up once in a while and stop being so picky.

*We are almost out of decent coffee and that is a staple I refuse to live without. All I have left is one bag of the Eight o'Clock bogo coffee I got last Fall, Eight o'Clock is not my favorite, so I usually mix it with my favorite Green Mountain Dark Magic Espresso. That makes it drinkable, and helps the Green Mountain go further.

I do have a couple of loopholes,
1. if there are freebies this week at Price Chopper that I can get, so if it is free/nearly free I can purchase those. What I will need in dairy/produce should help cover the 50% I need to get the double coupons, so we spend enough at the market.
2. I can still get the papers as needed.
3. Over the weekend it was my Mom's birthday and she likes Carvel ice cream cake, so I went ahead a bought one of those ($18.99!!!!). She is worth it and I can't make those chocolate crunchies like they can. So that doesn't come out of my budget as it is a special occasion purchase and happened before I decided to do this anyway.

Midterms Already!

2011-03-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

I can't believe we are at midterms already for this semester. I guess that means the job hunts really needs to get kicked into gear!

Met with Deirdre yesterday and she gave me some great ideas, and she will be sending my resume onto some people she knows. I would still like to work at the University again, but I'm not sure that opportunity will ever come through with the NYS budget situation.

Two exams down (both A's!!!!!!! - even in Intermediate Acct II!!!!!!!) and two to go this week. And this proctoring has got to stop, what a waste of time watching undergrads taking exams in huge rooms- I understand the need for proctors but why do they need so many of us? 3 people to watch 30 kids, really?

went to the market

2011-02-15T06:01:00.000-08:00

I went back to Price Chopper yesterday and scored a few things with double coupons

Some types of Ronzoni Pasta was a on sale for $1 a box, I have six coupons for $1 off of 2 boxes so when the coupon doubled they were all free. I scored 12 free boxes of pasta. (it will last a long time, we don't eat pasta more than once a week)

The large bottles of Gain were on sale for $2 a bottle, I had 2 $1 off coupons from a P&G mailer, so they were both free.
Betty Crocker Potatoes (in the box) were also free after the sale and doubled coupons, so I got 4 boxes of those (they also will last forever, we rarely eat them)

I got a 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk for $.25 with a sale and double coupon. There was more, but I can't remember them all without my receipt in front of me.

I ordered a few coupons from the coupon clipping people, and will go back on Friday to score some more freebies! For the things that remain after a few months, I will donate to the food pantry in town, so I can make more room in the pantry and keep my stockpile fresh.

Cloissone Jacket

2011-02-15T05:54:00.000-08:00

Last summer (Spring?)I started working on the Cloisonne Jacket from the Fall 2010 Interweave Knits. It is a really pretty lace edge, colorwork cardigan.

I hate doing colorwork flat and I can't figure out why Interweave thinks that its readers can't do steeking. Why on earth would anyone what to do colorwork while purling? It doesn't make any sense to me. Learning how to steek is far easier than trying to handle 20 odd rows of back and forth colorwork while purling.

So anyway, here is how I did it
I knit the bottom lace like normal, then added six stitches to the count and joined the sweater in the round

From the six additional stitches, I made 1 purl, four knits 1 purl. I added the purl stitches to have a nice turning round once the steek was cut and turned back. I plan on cutting up the center of the knit stitches

when knitting in the round, just add these in, carrying the floats along like normal.

But, I still have work to do on this, I got through all of the interesting parts of the colorwork and I stopped at the armholes. But February break is next week, who knows I may get inspired and pick it up again.

Currently, I am working on a mobieus scarf for my Aunt's 75th birthday party on Saturday. I need to accomplish six inches of knitting a night to get it done in time. As it is knit on size 11 needles, this shouldn't be a challenge, but oddly when I have a deadline, it always is a challenge.

Will I be jinxing myself if I say school seems easier this semester?

I love to save $$

2011-02-04T11:25:00.000-08:00

Last October I read a book called "Be Centsable" by Chrissy Pate and Kristin McKee. I was really surprised how much money they saved by using coupons. So, I got interested and started looking online and reading other peoples blogs and found out that you can use coupons to get stuff for free!
So, today was grocery day, and since learning how to use coupons, it has become a game and not so much of a chore. I go to the Bennington, VT Price Chopper because they have double coupons, and it is the only store I know of that does in the Capital Region. Before coupons and Advantage savings, I spent 364.09, but I only paid 245.86. A good part of that was Advantage savings, but over $50 was in coupons. Here's what I did really well on

Colgate Wisp- I have no idea why anyone needs these, but they were on sale for $1.50, I had a $.75 coupon that doubled for $1.50 so they were free. I assume the kids will have fun with them.

Friskies Cat treats- Again, I don't buy too many treats for the cats, I mean Chubbs is gigantic, he doesn't need too many treats. These were $1.69 a package and I had a $1.00 off one coupon so once it doubled these were also free.

Hood Sour Cream 16 oz. This was on sale for 1.89 each and again I had a $1.00 off coupon that doubled to make them free!

Heluva Good Dip was on sale for $2, and I had a $1 off of 2, so when it doubled. they were only $.50 each.

There were more- but the best deal was Unilever products were buy $30 worth of products (before coupons) and you got a coupon for your next visit for $10. There were tons of Unilever product coupons last Sunday in the paper, and Price Chopper had a ton of these products on sale, so I was easily able to get my $10 coupon.

So, we have lots of food for our first annual anti-SuperBowl Party- I'm so excited!

It was a good day. I then came home and cleaned the house. We are all ready for the weekend.

Snow Day

2011-02-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

Jake doing his impression of a teddy bear

I can't believe I went through the whole Christmas vacation and never posted anything. Returning to grad school has been overwhelming. But, I'm happy to say I passed all of my courses and have started the Spring semester.

I'm back working at Pineridge X-Country ski area a few days a week. It is fun to go back to something you did ages ago and see changes (and what hasn't changed!) The conditions this year have been the best in the past 10-15 years! And still we get people who complain. It's groomed too much, groomed too little, too cold, too warm. While Tim and I always talk about owning another business, I'm not sure I can handle the whiners.

So, we got about a foot of snow between yesterday and today, and the University canceled classes, so I get an unexpected day off. No time for knitting however, homework and baking are the tasks today.

I remember my mom always liked to bake her Portuguese potato bread when we had snow, and I have tended to keep up that tradition, snow days usually turn into baking days. So, today I made pain au chocolat from the King Arthur Flour catalog Winter 2011. I made a few modifications to fit my budget and pantry:
-We were nearly out of white flour, so I used all White Wheat flour (King Arthur Brand)
-I used Idahoan Yukon gold instant potatoes I got free with a coupon stack ages ago. We never eat instant potatoes, but it was free, and they never go bad, so I got them anyway. They are a great addition to bread recipes.
- we didn't have any grapeseed flour, so I left that out.
I also made the dough in the bread maker- (I really love that thing $5 at a yard sale!) almost thru through the first rising, then I took it out and put the dough on the woodstove to rise further. One thing I noticed, this dough doesn't rise a lot, but it should be puffy. I then followed the followed the directions in the recipe from #4 on

- I couldn't afford the chocolate sticks from King Arthur, so I warmed up some Nutella, spread it on the dough and added some semisweet chocolate chips (10-12 chips) to each roll.

They came out great and are a nice snack with a mug of hot Ovaltine! Mmmmm!

Knitting

Not a whole lot of knitting going on- I started a new sweater and got bored with it. The Cloisonne I started in the Fall needs some work, so that is on hold as well. Lately I am doing some plain toe up socks using stash yarn I got in a swap ages ago. It seems like all of my socks are wearing out at the same time. I am doing both socks at the same time and am ready to do the leg portion, I just need a find an interesting pattern to use to get this project done.

But I did make Tim a new hat to his specifications- he wanted a chullo type hat with no ties and with pine trees on it. I used yarn from Stonehedge Fiber Mill, Shepard's Wool. This is seriously nice and soft and it was great to work with. We bought our mill equipment from Stonehedge years ago, so I have a soft spot for their mill.

updates

2010-11-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy summer and already we are into Fall! November 1 no less. Tim is saying that it is winter already, I'm not buying into it, but it is cold out today. I wore my Arwen cardi and a mohair scarf and I'm still cold.

I'm back to school full time, studying Forensic Accounting, it has been a lot harder than I thought it would be. So while I am loving being back in school, and I really do enjoy the classes, the work is all consuming sometimes. I have three major projects due in less than three weeks, so I really need to get going and get some work done.

I hope to graduate in May, get a job and then I take the CPA exam in another year.
So, knitting is happening as it happens, some days more than others.

Things I'm working onThe Cloisonne Cardigan made in the same colors as the Interweave one but I went cheap and bought knitpicks yarn instead. I couldn't picture wearing alpaca in colorwork, it would just be too warm
In addition, I tried to do the colorwork as the pattern said, but gave up in frustration - I ripped it out and re-knit it with a steek. I can understand why Interweave may not want to use a pattern with a steek, but seriously who can stand to do that colorwork while purling! Ridiculous, it would be a great opportunity to teach people about steeks. They are easy to do and simple to work with.
I'm past the colorwork and now working up to the armpits. I made a mistake when setting up for the arms and ended up putting it down for a while.

So, I got bored with that and I started the Lady Eleanor stole yesterday. I had a ton of handspun mohair that a former customer gave us. So, I handdyed with purples, greens and blues and I have all of that to make into something warm and fuzzy. Our house is cold in winter, so last year I dreamed of a warm and snuggly shawl, so this is a good in front of the file project.

I still have to finish two sweaters and get going on Christmas knitting. Oh well.
Dyeing has been going on as well, new yarns should be up on etsy later this week- early next week depending on when I get my corp financial stmt paper done.

Best reason to spend money

2010-05-02T08:27:00.001-07:00

Puppies!
After months and months of shelter searches and major disappointments, we brought home Ben and Trinny yesterday. Nate and Trinny are on the left, Jake and Ben are on the right.

They are 8 weeks old English Shepard puppies that we got from a breeder about an hour from here.

They are very sweet and doing really well, hardly any whining last night and no accidents in the house yet!

Someday I'll share all of the shelter stories, some of them are just ridiculous-one shelter wanted us to bring in the other dogs in the neighborhood to make sure they got along with the 4 year old dog we wanted to adopt.

2010-04-01T05:10:00.000-07:00

Vote for this cool idea in the Pepsi Refresh Challenge!

http://www.refresheverything.com/playforpower

Its been quite a year

2010-03-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a year. And I'm not going to make any excuses.

Well, there is too much news to share it all, so here is a quick synopsis, I'm no longer in Syracuse, we moved to a farm in Pittstown, the kids are back in public school, I'm in school to become an accountant and I am dyeing yarn again.

Lots and Lots of yarn. This order went out yesterday, more yarn to come. Not a whole lot of knitting going on, but a lot of dyeing and studying. That and bread baking.

March Madness

2009-03-11T16:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say, I'm not much of a sports fan, but when your team is in playoff for the NCAA tournament, I do watch a bit of basketball. Go Orange!

Lately, when I'm not watching basketball, I've been watching old episodes of twin peaks online http://www.mahalo.com/Watch_Twin_Peaks_Online. I remember this show and how creepy it was from the 80's, but I never saw the end, or I don't remember seeing all of it. It is good to bring back the old days.

I was amazed at how much tv is now online, before I moved to the new house in SYR, I thought I had to have cable in order to have anything to watch. But, really all I ended up watching was network tv and HGTV shows. How many house hunters can one girl watch anyway? So, now that I'm moved and I don't have cable, I don't miss it at all. Some nights, like tonight (Wednesday) tv stinks, but I can always find an episode of something on line to watch, or get a movie from hulu.

I think living frugally is beginning to settle on me. Now if I could get the food bills down. I was reading this frugal moms blog about margarine over butter and why she gets margarine. Is margarine that much cheaper that it makes that much of a difference? I buy butter, for me it is like decent yarn, you get what you pay for and butter is worth the sacrifice in my household anyway. I'll give up oreos and orange juice first.

Forgot my knitting

2009-03-08T10:08:00.001-07:00

I can't believe it, since I moved to Syracuse in July, I have been traveling back to my home in Eastern NY every weekend, plus traveling all over the US for work. So, this weekend, when I am inches away from finishing up the Vanda sweater from the summer 08, Knitter magazine.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/vanda

It has been a pretty easy knit, and I have been finishing up the sleeves all week in anticipation of doing the neck this weekend, and getting the damn thing finished. I don't know where my mind is. So, as I didn't have anything else to do, I had to cast on a new pair of socks.

This was a yarn blank that was a gift from my yarn wholesaler last summer. It is Blue-faced Leicester in one of those flat pieces you dye and then knit from. i thought these were all two strands, but apparently not, this one is just one. I dyed it with cochineal and logwood purple, and really like the colors I got. It is nice to save some yarns out for yourself and not feel too guilty about it!

I have new yarns up on ETSY, so go take a look. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5055805

Back from beyond

2009-01-01T10:04:00.000-08:00

Well, back anyway. The fall travel has ended at long last, I returned from Buenos Aires with no yarn to show for it. it amazes me that I was given the opportunity to travel to South America again and I missed the chance to get great yarn at fabulous prices. True, i did get yarn last time I was in BA, but this time I promised myself I would make it Scalabrini Ortiz (we were only 10 blocks away in the hotel) and get yarn.

Well, that didn't happen, but I did get to see two different sides of the Argentine health care system.
One was a bit scary, like the emergency room gurney in the photo below, with another patient next it- (a real lack of privacy here). Best part was, the hospital was only going to ask for a 8 peso donation for 2 xrays, an ambulance ride, all of the blood tests and the doctors visits. We donated quite a lot more.
The otherhospital was outrageously overpriced, but very clean and lovely ($5000 US for an overnight inpatient stay- US not pesos, so I would have been over 15000 pesos!) I had two students who had medical emergencies when we were there, so as the leader I had to go along.
For a bit, it looked like I wasn't going to make it home for Christmas, but then finally things worked out and we all made it home safe and sound.

Tomorrow I go back to work after begin off for 9 days, the longest time I have been home since I had Nate in 1999. I got some work done, including sone new yarns to go on Etsy.

For those of you who have asked, yes, I am still dyeing yarn. But, the majority of that yarn is being sent to Cherry Tree Hill Yarn who buys it wholesale and resells it to her customers, some shops here in the US, some online retailers in the US and in Europe. I stopped the Etsy store when my travel schedule and work life made it impossible for me to consistitently fill orders and mail packages on time. (This fall I was on the road two to three weeks at a stretch). So while I could dye yarn when home for a few days, I couldn't get photos and posts done)

So, we are now in the spring and I hope to devote myself again to posting and selling yarns through the etsy store.

I've also been toying with the idea of a natural dyes podcast. It is really amazing how many questions I get via email about dyeing with natural dyes. So, I thought it would be a good way to help teach other people about this great creative way to get new, unique colors and blends of colors.

It was June- are you sure it was June?

2008-09-03T18:17:00.000-07:00

The last time I posted was wayyyyy back in June- I really don't think it has been that long. But since it took me twenty minutes to convince Google I was who I said I was and remember my freaking password, maybe it has been since June.

Well, I did it, moved to Syracuse. I have my own apartment, my own space for the stash and my own tv to watch and enjoy. Things are going.... not great, not bad but going. It is really weird to be away from home every night. It's like when I traveled a lot when doing sales, you are away in a hotel and everything is surreal. You hear about the issues at home but are helpless to do anything about them.

I also thought I would have soooooo much time for knitting. Well, I do have more time for knitting, I just don't have much ambition to get any done. I did notice last week when things got cooler for a few days I really worked diligently on a sweater I'm making.

This was going to be called Rhinebeck and I dyed the yarn hoping to make some Fall leaf colors, dark rich oranges, and reds with some yellows and browns added in. Well It is more of a tomato orange with some great reds. I like it, but with much of my natural dyeing, the results can be unpredictable. It has a ruffled edge and I may rename it something else after the A fine fleece book came out and has a nicer pattern named Rhinebeck - a great book by the way, I was quite inspired after reading it. Not enough tobegin spinning again, but they say winters are long in Syracuse.

I'm hoping as the weather gets cooler, my knitting mojo returns. Otherwise, I have to force myself to get motivated. Next week I start traveling for work, so in the space of three weeks I hit
Toronto, Boston, Washington dc, NYC, Chicago, Phoenix, Seattle then home for the weekend, then Houston, Atlanta, Miami, home again then , Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, followed up with a quick trip to Dallas for a conference.
I have to figure out what knitting to bring with me, lots of socks I think. It will be a good time to burn thru some of the sock yarn stash that has built up.

Speaking of sock yarn, I have a pile of yarn waiting to be labeled and sent to Cherry Tree Hill. My yarn is now being carried by Yarnmarket as well! Whoo-hoo- this is a great part time job, when you are lonely for home and have no money to spend so have to stay home. Don't worry, itlooks much neater when it is twisted into skeins and labelled. Thanks to my big sister Eileen who came last week and learned how to dye yarn to help me keep up.
I've had to send my regrets to Rhinebeck for this year, I just can't get anymore dyeing done in time. With my planned travel, I am home, in Albany or Syracuse only 10 days between next Saturday and when Rhinebeck starts.

If anyone is looking for cones of undyed yarn, let me know, I have bamboo/merino sock yarn, sport weight, lace weight and some worsted weight I can sell for cheap. Not much merino superwash left, there are some severe shortages of that going arounf this year.

Talk to you soon,

L

my yarn is in the UK!

2008-06-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

I've been doing quite a lot of dyeing lately. Since I met Cheryl from Cherry Tree Hill she has certainly kept my busy. 50 skeins went out last week, an additional dozen this week. and look my yarn is now being sold in the UK at The Wooly Workshop.

That plus the impending move to Syracuse life has been busy- but I found a new home, and how many knitters can say they rented an apartment, just so the stash could have its own bedroom!

I went to my mecca last week- IKEA, and was overwhelmed. I've wanted to go to Ikea ever since I heard about them during mu undergrad nearly 20 years ago. I spent quite a bit of money and really didn't buy too much furniture.

Took it- moving news and more!

2008-05-30T16:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I took the job at SU, and now the whole world knows. We announced it to the classes today, and it is really gratifying to have everyone say such nice things about me.

In other really exciting news, I met Cheryl Potter of Cherry Tree Hill Yarns at MA Sheep and Wool and she is going to sell some of my yarn under the Ancient Threads Farm name. It feels like things are really taking off. So, I bought myself an electric skeiner and a whole new shipment of base yarn!

We sold quite a bit at MA, so I need to get the etsy shop updated again. Now to take the photos and do the loading of the yarn!

Now to get that done, find an apartment in Syracuse and get some new furniture while trying to clean up my job at Albany- oh the fun never stops!

more Syracuse news

2008-05-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

No- I haven't accepted the job yet- but I found out that Syracuse has an MFA in fiber arts http://vpa.syr.edu/index.cfm/page/graduate-fiber-gallery

and I get free tuition! How can I say no to that?

Looking up

2008-05-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, things are looking up! We finally hired someone! He starts on Wednesday, so while I have to work this weekend and most likely next, my marathon spring is nearly over.

And.... da..da...da I got a new job ... in Syracuse. Syracuse isn't that far- only two hours away so it isn't like I can't come home every weekend- and I plan to. But, it does mean I have to leave my husband and kids for a while, until the house sells, and Tim makes a decision on what he is going to do. So, while I'm very excited about this opportunity, I'm nervous if we can make it through.

The salary is nearly a 50% raise for me, and the job looks really interesting, so if you are from Syracuse and know of an apartment in the SU area, let me know. I'm looking forward to living close to work and walking if possible most days. I just don't want to live in a dive. Tim and I have to travel out there after graduation next week to try and find a place. I keep looking at the IKEA catalog and thinking about decorating a place all on my own.

I'm also looking for some knitting groups or guild that meet mid-week in the Syracuse area.

Things have not improved...or have they?

2008-04-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

Good Karma Spinning Co. has asked me to update their web address to http://www.karmayarn.com/. This is the company that bought our mill equipment.

Wool n Word is now carrying Ancient Threads Yarn in the shop- thank you Stephanie!

Kathy M from PA sent me some pictures of her crocheted raglan cardigan - out of Ancient Threads Yarn- it is really pretty and it is nice to know other have time to create even if I don't.

sock photos

2008-03-19T10:11:00.001-07:00

Knitty Digital used some of the my yarn to make a beautiful pair of socks- they look great!

Things are good- really I mean it- good

2008-02-27T08:04:00.000-08:00

It really funny as i look back over the past few years how things change- we sold the mill, I start a weird little yarn company that is actually successful in its own way-

We were mentioned in the Daily Chum Today- so I hope to leave work early today and get more yarns loaded. I'm getting more customers, and to my eternal thankfulness, repeat customers. Things are really good- so I hate to complain, but

in the real life, my assistant is leaving me mid semester. This isn't totally unwelcome news. The relationship has certainly been in deterioration mode over the past few months and now she seems to be brain dead currently.

That plus the fact that I started on my PhD last semester have left me with little time- I love to dye, I love to knit, but when did life get so complicated? We had a knit-out last Sunday that I was determined to go to- I stopped going to the guild meetings, there just is no time, but this was a must, I wanted to be there. So of course, Jake begins throwing up at 10 am that morning and Daddy is gone- He id get home and Nate and I went, but again I saw the opportunity to do what I wanted and really needed to do for me slipping away. It worked out, I'm fine and no longer a raving lunatic and I actually sat and knit for about an hour last night, so I was talked down from the ledge-

Thanks for listening-

Yarny Goodness

2008-02-17T16:32:00.001-08:00

Wow, Yarny Goodness is up and running! Go visit there now-

Just got the news!

2008-02-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

I just heard that I have been chosen to be in Lime & Violet's Daily Chum this week! I have so many yarns to photograph and put up- new ones too- there just isn't enough time!

just got the word...

2008-02-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

I just heard from Yarn Goddess that her new store Yarny Goodness will be opening on Feb 7th. Pam from Yarny Goodness is selling Ancient Threads yarns for me and I'm really excited to have been added to her impressive list of indy suppliers.

As soon as I get the URL I will add it to the blog.

Now onto the knitting- remember a few days a go I was going to work on the diagonal ribbed sweater from knitpicks, well i could never get past the first 2 rows- maybe it was me, but it just made little sense. I done quite a bit of knitting in my day and followed a few quite complicated patterns, but this one was beyond me. So, I have moved in a new directions and it is going along well- Syncopated Ribs from the Fall 04 Interweave knits, here is photo from lollyknits flickr- I can't find it on the Interweave site any longer. I;'m not too far along, but it is going really well- it helps that they are knit on size 10- I was thinking that the fabric would be too holey and revealing, but it looks just fine. The swatch looks great post washing and drying.

It strange, I used to love these Addi Turbo needles, then I tried the knitpicks one and I far prefer them, the tips are pointy and they even seem smoother than the Addi's- also the cord is superior, more flimsy, but that isn't a bad thing, the Addi's seem stiff and unyielding now. I think I need to order another set of the wooden ones in size 10.

and the usual pair of socks- I'm making the heel flap on this one, the other one's flap is done. When I knit two on two circulars, I can;t figure out how to knit them at the same time for turning the heels. I just can't get that information in my brain, so I do then separately until all the decreases are done after the heel, then I knit the feet all at one.

New yarns!

2008-02-01T09:40:00.000-08:00

I just put in a big order for some new stuff from the distributor! So excited! I reordered some of the original DK merino/silk I had a Rhinebeck. i only had about 10 skeins there and it sold ok- not great but ok. I know there was some fear that the shorter yardage wouldn't make a pair of socks. I then knit a pair for the boss for Xmas and I had plenty left over. I also got back in some of the superwash and nylon that went well and the merino lace. (different supplier for those)

So that is coming back for a limited run- I also ordered some worsted weight, really for me, but I'll share if there is any left. I ordered 3000 yards of Andee, a worsted alpaca/ merino blend I think. i have been thinking lately about a naturally dyed sweater for Rhinebeck next year to show off the colors and see how it goes. Now I just have to decide on the colors, pinks or reds- I'm thinking of a red/brown/orange mix for fall- leaf colors. And I'm thinking about this pattern- Eve from magknits with a different neckline. Or this Rossnyev
or there was another I found in purples and ruffle edge I liked, but can't find at the moment-

And I bought some merino roving to try out- I can spin, I have a wheel, but have always avoided merino for some odd reason (like I have 17 sheep in the backyard and they are all Shetlands or soays? plus I have a billion lbs of Shetland to use up at some stage and no time to spin?)

Anyway, I was gifted some merino last year in a swap and finally spun it up and had a great time, I also bought some from Spunky Eclectic last year at MA sheep and wool. Still have not spun it yet, but I look at it often.

Well we are supposed to be getting a massive ice storm tonight, so Friday night class is canceled, so maybe I can get my reading and paper done for Monday and actually have some fiber fun this weekend? Oh, but then there is always dyeing to do as well-

He did great

2008-01-29T16:38:00.000-08:00

The big boy did great- no mess ups at all, he was loud enough to be heard and he looked cute to boot- I can't believe he is 10 already!

I'm waiting for the Jeopardy test to start- we had a student who went on a did quite well- as I knew him fairly well, I didn't think he was a genius so I decided to give it a try-

Classes started last night again. I like being in class but just thinking about all of the writing and reading on topics i care little about is a little daunting. This time the torture is Educational Leadership in Federal and State Govt- As the faculty said, I'm not sure how much leadership there is in either-

DARE Graduation

2008-01-24T06:29:00.000-08:00

A short day today- The big boy will be reading his Dare essay to the school today- he won a prize. The essay actually was pretty good

A full report will follow-

Casted on and knit one and 1/2 rounds of the sweater- then realized they had not made a mistake and meant k2, p2, not p2, k2- I just can't face casting on 168 stitches again, so I have to tink the 1/2 round- but I was tired and just knit on the easy stockinette socks for a while.

the daily lament

2008-01-23T09:04:00.000-08:00

Everyday i keep saying (mentally or course) - Gotta blog, Gotta blog and then it never happens. I had great plans for the Christmas break when the students were not in school and there are hours streatching out in front of me- well that was before today- the kids are back- the parking lots, hallways and ladies rooms are full.

My classes begin next week- lucky break with the MLK holiday again- i like these Monday courses, you get more days off. I think the lucky course this time is Federal and State Government in Higher Ed. Another policy class- but I enjoyed policy last semester.

Knitting has been going- I have cleaned out so much of the stash in the past year, I am down to a bunch of sock yarn and various other skeins. I was totally out of a sweater quantity of yarn so, I did a knitpicks order of Merino Style for this sweater, the Diagional Ribbed Pullover I got the cornflower blue. And I'm making it slightly smaller then my size, not because the pattern says to do so, but I also have joined Weight watchers at work and I'm making it my goal to lose 30 lbs by the Budapest trip- I have 7 months, so I think it is a good and achievable goal.
Other knitting- I made Tim a double layer hat that came out really nice. Using Karabella Aurora 8, it is really soft and comfy- so I liked it so much I made one for myself, with the same aurora 8 for the inside and some pink Cascade 220 I bought to make Wavy a few years ago.

and I'm working on a pair of socks- this yarn was part of the gift bag I recieved in the Hogwarts Knit Sock Kit swap round 2- I was in Hufflepuff so thats why the blue and gold- one is striping well the other is more random, but the yarn is soft and yummy.

Christmas knitting

2007-12-03T18:41:00.001-08:00

I've decided not to do much Christmas knitting this year. Last year I knitted 7 gifts for different people ranging from sweaters (Mom) to socks (my MIL, sister and boss) to convertible mittens for all the guys in the family. Out of all that knitting, which took a very long time, I've only seen my sister and the boss wear what i made them.

So, from know on, my knitting is for me and my family with the occasional gift for those who deserve and appreciate it. My boss will get her socks, and my sister has asked for a knitted purse, so they will both get what they want.

In other news, I took the kids to NYC after Thanksgiving and we had a great time- Here they are in FAO Schwartz with the life size Harry Potter figures. I got to go to Habu, and only bought two yarns, a cone of silk for a new scarf and a cone of a green silk for myself, project yet unnamed.

On the drive home from the train station, my car started acting up and once I told Tim, we talked about it and we made the decision to get a new car- so I bought a used Subaru wagon. I think this is the nicest car I've ever owned.

visit to PA

2007-11-13T15:57:00.000-08:00

We (the kids and I) went to PA to visit my sister for the weekend- we had a really nice time, the drive was long, but it was nice to be away, no housework to get done and let someone else be in charge.

I got a ton done on the refined raglan- the end is in sight

the lace on the sleeve decreases is looking pretty good, but I think the yarn color is going to obscure it a bit-

I'm planning on taking the kids to NYC the weekend after Thanksgiving. We all have time and it worked out with a place to stay for free. The train is even pretty cheap, so the kids will get to see the city all decked out for the holidays. They have never been, and its been a long time since I've been as well.

Fiber Cult

2007-11-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

I was driving to work today and heard Ancient Threads on the Rhinebeck recap episode of Fiber Cult

This isn't a podcast I have been a regular listener to, but they are up to 9 episodes already. As I listen in the car, I have problems with hearing all of their voices, and figuring out who is who.

Thank you FiberCult, hope you enjoy the yarn.

New Yarns on Etsy

2007-11-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

I got a big shipment of yarn in last week, got some dyed over the weekend and have updated ETSY.

I picked most of the black walnuts at my parents farm in Easton. I'm shocked at how much dye is in one hull- I just loaded all of them into a 5 gallon bucket, filled it with water to cover the hulls and let them sit and stew in the basement. When I want some I just strain it off the top and then filter it with a coffee filter. I love the browns I'm getting with it- very different than the chestnut, quebracho browns, these seem softer.

We got a new ram this weekend also- his name is Edsel, and he is a 7 year old Soay ram. The girls (the ewes) seem very interested.

Good Knitting- no photos

2007-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

I cleaned up the fiber corner on Friday and threw out three bags full of junk. Most of this was stuff from teaching the kids. i come home and generally throw what is left over in the corner and then never look at it again. So, I had tons of acrylic yarn, glue bits, half made projects and satin cord with beads in a ton of bags. I organized, saw what i had and tossed quite a bit. I know know what I have for the rest of the year.

I then organized the UFO's, found a scarf that only needed a few hours work took it with me to work and finished it before going bowling with JA on Friday night- I ended up earning $160 in donations!

Saturday I got new tires on the car and had three hours of uninterrupted knitting time. I finished the second sleeve for refined raglan and have now attached the sleeves and I'm getting to the yoke bits. I still like this pattern.

Sunday, I did more dyeing- so the Etsy page should be updated as soon as I can get it skeined up. I used to have Logwood purple as my favorite dye, but I think that has been replaced with black walnut- so look for browns, purples and of course pink.

Happy Anniversary

2007-10-31T11:07:00.000-07:00

It has been 21 years honey- Tim and I started dating 21 years ago on Halloween- We were at the Halloween dance in High School - I was dressed as a dalmatian, he was a mountain man in tight buckskin pants- I'm not sure where those pants ended up, but I still have my dog collar somewhere

I started a pair of socks in my Sioda yarn- The yarn is dyed with lac and looks like a baby pink and light purple blend. The Sioda has a barber pole effect, the merino picked up the dye differently than the silk (85% Merino and 15% silk).
This one is in DK, so to make sure I had enough (this is a smaller skein than I sell), I weighed the ball as I wound off enough to make one sock- this is the baby cables pattern from the first Charlene Schurch book
Sensational Knitted Socks
This is a great sock book if you don't have it.

I have been often asked about beginning socks and how I learned. I followed the directions in the Anne Budd book, The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: Basic Designs in Multiple Sizes & Gauges (Interweave) This is a great book and I recommend it for every knitters library. it gives basic patterns for nearly anything a knitter needs to make at one point or another. I was forever looking for mitten patterns at one stage for hand spun and then I found this book, now I can spin away and worry about gauge later.

What I'm listening to- Henry the VIII, I am- Herman's Hermits- This song is a bit before my time, but I saw Herman's hermits and the Monkees in concert when I was in High School, so it took me back to the fateful dance. All I can think of is the horrible Lionel Ritchie song we danced to

Never mind- Norah Jones is on now- I'm going to make it

Now back to real life-

2007-10-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

I have actually been doing some knitting this week- one I can't show you, because she found the link to the blog- so no peaking at the Xmas gifts!

Here I am on the Refined Raglan-

I like this sleeve design a lot, it and the rest of the sweater had a provisional crochet cast one, you then turn the edge and pick up the stitches on the other side, so the edges come out super neat, with no ribbing, and no curling. I know you are supposed to pull the chain out, but I liked the way the white looked against the brown. I may try to use this sleeve in the disastrous Spiral sweater of my own misguided design from ages ago. it would be quite nice to wear my own sweater design to a show sometime.

And, I found my Clapotis from last summer. i don't think I ever loaded a photo, so here it is-

It is too long and too narrow, so I think I need to reknit it again. Tim was right, the colors are ugly, maybe I can overdye it and make it better-

We made Knitter's Review!

2007-10-25T07:28:00.000-07:00

We were mentioned in Knitter's Review!!!

I can't breathe! I can't breathe!

- Donkey from Shrek 1

Just my luck

2007-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

We have a two hour evacuation of the building and I didn't have my sweater knitting with me- I know, I should always have a sock project handy, but after making all those samples for Rhinebeck, I don't have any desire to knit socks at the moment. I'm trying to finish the refined raglan I began last Spring.

But look, someone else is planning to make socks- Dropstitch knitter - who bought two skeins of my yarn- I'm so excited- i can't wait to see how all those skeins look knitted up- it's like letting my kids leave for school all over again-terrifying and exciting all at the same time- you are happy for them, but cringing at the same time.

and another one

2007-10-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brownhair/1713864146/

The amazing thing

2007-10-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

The amazing thing is- I bought nothing at Rhinebeck- and I did try. i walked around on Sunday afternoon when it started to get a bit quiet and I saw nothing that I had to have. The yarn diet has been going really well this year and while i have bought some yarn, it certainly isn't what I have bought in the past.

I did drop off a merino fleece we found in the basement to Twist of Fate to get processed, but other then that- nothing- not even fried dough! So, I think I deserve a present- I worked hard- I dyed all that yarn and worked all weekend without fried dough- although the fried dough guys were just across the way and it needs to be fiber related- so I'm thinking a woolee winder would be the perfect me gift-

Tim wants a Soay ram as his present

and look - my sold yarn on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/archivistontheedge/1698058825/

Bad swapper, bad blogger, bad driver- decent knitter

2007-10-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

July- really July! Has it been that long? Apparently it has- no excuses really, but now that Rhinebeck is come and gone- let's hope time is a little easier to come by.

Rhinebeck was great- thank you to everyone who stopped by the Ancient Threads tent between barns 26 & 27- we had a record breaking show and the hand dyed yarns sold like crazy. I took over 120 skeins and I think about 10 came home.

I will try and get those on Etsy asap- maybe today. The roving all sold really well also- we have a small amount left.
One of the best parts was seeing some of the projects people brought in to show off- made from our fiber
here's one

A beautiful shawl made from mystery roving- I'm sorry I forgot the get the name of the spinner/knitter- please email me if this is yours!

I think the whole experience showed Tim how there is a market here- now he is talking about buying/ making another carder- I have to order more blanks to dye. Back to work tomorrow-

I'm the worst pal ever!

2007-07-31T12:49:00.000-07:00

So after all the bitching I did earlier because people can't say thank you- I'm weeks behind in getting out my pal's box for http://www.hogwartssockkitswap2.blogspot.com/. The order with the needles and the special prizes hasn't come in yet- and I'm anxious not to be a bad pal.

Back from Ireland. I was disappointed, the students weren't as fun as last year- my boss stayed the whole time. I don't know I guess it just wasn't foreign enough. I did buy a small amount of yarn and did very little knitting. I drank a lot of beer and did no dancing. What a waste of a trip. Otherwise it was a nice trip, the building were beautiful and the people were great. The business was very good.

Maybe I'm a moron

2007-07-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

But I'm not really sure how the swap trivia thing works

1. "What happens if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" "Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Which two people are talking? Harry and Ron in SS, just before they go to fight Malfoy in the trophy room.

2."If he raided our house he'd have to put himself under arrest." Who say this? Fred in CS- he is talking about Mr Weasley.

3. When sitting on the wall next to Professor Dumbledore at the beginning of the book, who does Professor McGonagall bet was the wizard responsible for the shooting stars seen by Muggles over Kent?
Doris Crockford
Dedalus Diggle
Gilbert Whimple
Cuthbert Mockridge

4. Known by the students as Nearly Headless Nick, what was Nick's actual name?
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
Sir Nicholas Delaney-Podmore
Sir Nick de Mimsy-Porpington
Sir Nick Delaney-Podmore

5. When venturing into the Dark Forest with Hagrid for their detention, who is the first centaur Harry and Hermione see?
Bane
Ronan
Firenze
Morgana

6. We know that Parvati Patil was sorted into Gryffindor house, but what house was her twin Padma sorted into?
Slytherin
Ravenclaw
Gryffindor
Hufflepuff

7. What colour do the flames turn when you use Floo powder?
Bright red
Emerald green
Bright blue
Bright yellow

8. What colour tie was Cornelius Fudge wearing when he came to take Hagrid to Azkaban?
Brown
Silver
Purple
Scarlet

9. After running away from the Dursley's, Harry took up a room at the Leaky Cauldron. What number room did he stay in?
7
11
9
3

10. While Ron, Hermione, and his other classmates are in Hogsmeade, Harry stops in for a chat with Professor Lupin. What did Lupin tell Harry he had just taken delivery of for their next lesson?
Red Caps
Hinkypunks
Kappas
Grindylows

Picture Scavenger Hunt
The pictures can either be posted on your blog or you can link to them from your blog.

Harry's Aunt
Whomping Willow
Cornelius Fudge
Buckbeak
Emma Watson

it would be nice-

2007-07-04T12:31:00.001-07:00

If I could spell sock correctly!

Scok kit swap answers

2007-07-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Hufflepuff, but I thought I was more of a Ravenclaw

2. List your favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length. Or would you prefer circulars? I love my crystal palace bamboo dpns, and the knitpicks circs

3. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length? I would like the new knitpicks in the new size.

4. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
5. Do you have any allergies? no allergies

gratitous sock photos

2007-06-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

Yes I have been knitting, no it has not been exciting-

Roza's Socks in Cherry Tree Hill- wild cherry

I also finished a pair of plain stockinette sock sout of my natural handdyed- it would be nice to have a photo, but that is just too much to ask in one post- to be organized that much?

I'm also making the Lutea Lace Shoulder shell from summer 07. I need to add something to the sleeves to make them more sleeve like. I have quite a few balls of Rowan Cotton rope I bought for a song last spring, so I ma using that and hope I have enough. I was going to send this yarn off to charity and then saved it, so it would be nice to do something useful with it.

We leave for Dublin in just 5 weeks from today. I feel like I am so behind, but I think I am actually in better shape today than I was at this time last year.

Uninspired...

2007-06-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

I've been having inspiration problems lately. All I want to do is cast on something new, when I have so many things undone. Two pairs of socks are here unfinished, a Roza's in Cherry Tree Hill Wild Cherry, and just a plain old sock in my own naturally dyed. Both have one sock completed. (the natural sock 2nd is almost finished, but it is taking forever)

I have my clapotis done with the silk from Argentina, but I wasn't happy with it. The clap pattern is fine, but the yarn is too bulky so I need to rework the stitch count, or I will run out of yarn. Also, my assistant was rooting around in my knitting bag looking for a magazine to read and she dropped a ton od stitches off the needle. sigh... I think it is a firing offense, but others disagree.

And, I am working on the refined raglan from Winter 06 IK. This issue was by far my favorite in a long time, and I plan on making many things from it.

So, I did some spinning. I pulled out some Merino and was working on very fine spinning. It was quite refreshing to do something new and work on a new fiber for me. I was really pleased with hoiw it came out.

I have been reading "Knitting for Peace" by Betty Christiansen and I got inspired to do some more charity knitting so I cranked out a pair of mittens in a night while watching the national spelling bee. I also got in contact with a friend with the idea of beginning a charity knitting group with some of the kids in the area. I have taught many of the kids at Morningstar how to knit, so why not keep it going over the summer? We need to work out the details... but more to come.

MA Sheep and Wool

2007-05-29T17:00:00.000-07:00

MA sheep and wool was a sell out- I had 23 skeins of my handdyed, natural dyed yarn and I only have three left! Now to buy more yarn to dye for Rhinebeck-

I met Spunky eclectic and bought some yarn and roving! I also got some new dyes to try out- tesu and mycrobalan.

MA Sheep and Wool

2007-05-24T10:38:00.001-07:00

We are going to Massachusetts Sheep and Wool
Apparently MA sheep and wool had a cancellation, so we are in! Hope to see you there. I will have all of my new yarns there as well as dyed roving and our natural colored stuff!

Its been sooooo long!

2007-05-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

And still no new knitting content. Graduation is this weekend, so finally these kids will be out of here.

I got a new laptop at work and it is really nice if I do say so myself. The computer guys earned themselves a plate of pecan cookies.
Maybe next week life may return to normal- o but wait, we leave for Dublin in only 8 weeks! All the planning needs to get done!

Out of the loop

2007-04-27T16:19:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have been out of it for months and months- not checking anyone elses blogs has left me dazed and confused. Welcome to spring in a University! As classes wind down we wind up to get in next year, plan graduation and generally work to get the kids out of here.

Things are also busy at home- we now have six lambs, Out of all the photos here is Megan and Gomer. Megan is the tilted head one- she and Gomer are Soay crosses. Soay are an ancient sheep breed from the St Kilda islands. They are not sheared, but are rooed- you pull the hair out similar to an angora rabbit. I haven't had the opportunity to spin any of it yet, but the fleece is pretty rare and hard to come by. We now have six grown Soays and now 2 lambs that are crosses with Shetland. Tim is trying to get a Shetland cross that roos as well- not sure how is going to work for him.

Knitting- no photos of any ontresting. I'm working on a feather and fan scarf for one of my students wife. She arranged her Mom to bring me wool from Chile last month and I know she went out of her way to do so, so I wanted to do something to say thank you.

new lambs, new yarn and a soap maker

2007-04-03T10:53:00.000-07:00

We had a new lamb born on Sunday to Pome II (daughter to Pome I), she is really cute and is getting around just fine. Birth for Pome was alot easier than it was for me!

I loaded more naturally dyed yarns to Etsy, more pinks this time, rather than reds.

Also a friend of a friend is a soapmaker and can be found here - I love her blog name!

I sold yarn!

2007-03-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to announce that I sold my first two skeins of yarn on etsy! Now come the dreams of world domination and the fantasy that I can do this full time and quite my well paying, but irritating at times job. So, I used all of the money to buy more yarn and dyes to use.

Thanks Holly!

2007-03-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I got my last Sock-ret pal package on Wednesday night!

it was filled with lots of great stuff. The socks fit great and I love the yarn and the chocolate as well!

My pal was Holly

Thanks Holly!

Does it count?

2007-03-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

Does it count as buying yarn if I didn't pay for it? I bought some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino this week, but it was only three balls, on sale and I used my gift certificate from Christmas. So, I'm saying it doesn't count.

We bought a new Mac with our tax money. Tim seems to hate it, I love it. I just have a hard time with a few things, like hyperlinks, I can't find the button and I'm too lazy to code it manually. Maybe it is the mac? (Can you tell I'm the webmaster at work?) I'm even thinking hard about getting a microphone and starting my own podcast. I;m taking a class on Audacity at the library at work. For work purposes of course.

I've been doing quite a lot of natural dyeing of sock yarn. They are coming out really well, so I'm going to post them on the Etsy site at www.AncthdsFarm.etsy.com. (or look in the sidebar, for my mini etsy shop- Thanks Lavender sheep http://lavendersheep.blogspot.com/ for pointing out this was possible) I was afraid that the colors would run, but they are pretty firmly fixed. I can't wait to cast on a pair for myself.

I've decided to use names from old sitcom tv shows- we'll see how it goes

we got into Rhinebeck!

2007-03-14T07:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, I had always heard that it years and years to get into Rhinebeck as vendors, but somehow we were asked to come after we applied.

It may have something to do with being an outside vendor, but I'm really excited- now I just have a ton of dyeing to do. We have this tent and it looks so cool set up
We bought it from tentsmiths a few years ago and everyone comments on how great a tent it is-

I can't believe the Connecticut show is in six weeks. I have so much work to do-

51 days!

2007-03-08T12:52:00.000-08:00

i can't believe I've been 51 days without buying yarn! I've been working really gard at using stash yarns this Spring and it is going pretty weel. To begin with I had a six foot cabinet stuffed full of yarns, plus it was beginning to overload onto the floor in front of the cabinet as well.

The funny thing is I really only had enough in my stash for two sweaters, the rest is all sock yarn, homespun and odd balls I picked up for smaller projects. So, it is dwindling slowly.

Another thing is I took a hard look at all of the ayrns I was keeping as special things, the yarn I bought in Uruguay, what I bought in San Francisco and decided it was time to begin using it. Why do I hold onto these balls of yarn with no projects in mind. So, the Uruguayan yarn became a scarf for Tater, the SF yarn will become a gift.

Lastly, I took a look at all of those odd balls and leftovers and made some hard decisions. I bagged up three large grocery bags and am planning to send it all to a women's halfway house in PA. I certainly can't use it all, or never will and maybe these women can get something out of it. I have the info if anyone is interested.

Update!!!

2007-03-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Well I think maybe the snarky post worked- I did get a thank you

And I would like to say thankyou to my Sock-ret pal who sent me an unexpected extra - a llama calendar. My kids took it off somewhere, or I would photograph it for the blog. I really need to get thier rooms cleaned out.

More updates, we had a long talk this past weekend regarding the fiber mill and have decided to open it for the public again. Tim ordered soap and that is in- so the webpage is up, we are in business again. I think selling the roving on Etsy helped his decision along. Also, we did make changes, we will no longer take merino, ramboillet, targee, southdown or anything really fine that is impossible to clean. if it comes in clean we can do it but otherwise it just took so much time and resources, it wasn't worth it financially. I will be taking on a bit more, doing the emails and helping more at night and on weekends. I should be able to know, my job is calmed down since I started just after we opened the mill 4 years ago.

I will supplement with naturally dyed yarns and sell those at the sheep and wool fairs. We have applied to get into Rhinebeck and I have my fingers crossed. We expect to be at Connecticut and Massachusetts (we hope for Mass anyway!). For anyone interested, here is our webpage
Ancient Threads Farm & Fiber Mill.

I really enjoy the wool business and the customers, it is just hard not to have the regular income that normal employment brings.

Shouldn't I at least get a thank you?

2007-02-28T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I sent one of my secret-gift exchange (unnamed to protect everyone) pal her gift a little late. I think it was Feb 9 th or something when it was supposed to be out on Jan 31. And I have the thing from the postoffice that says it was delivered just a few short days later. Wouldn't good manners dictate that said spoliee would at least say thank you. I'm not looking for effusive thanks or her first born kid, but an acknowledgement would be appreciated. I had to email her last time just to make sure she got it before I got a thank you. Now I understand work, kids, home blah, blah blah, but I have all those things too and I still get to say thank you in a resonable time frame, (two weeks seems reasonable to me).

To my former pals and current pals, I always appreciated everything you sent, and Margarethe I working on a pay it forward now, Arwen got in my way. With warmer weather here today I'm glad I finished in time for yesterday.

Fyberduck- My friend Michele has taken on the neckwarmer project and reports back that it looks great

Arwen is done!

2007-02-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

I'm not ever sure if I ever mentioned I was working on this. Since I am such a bad blogger. I started A Cardigan for Arwn sometine in early-mid Janurary and have been working on her ever since. I'm really pleased with the final sweater. While it is boxy and shapeless- it is a casual cardigan, and I'm good with that- I'm boxy and roundish, so take that into account.

The front shot with grinning idiot with multiple chins partially cut out.

and the back shot of the hood

Yarn: baabaa joes wool packs in Forest - ply was 10 I think. I used about 4 packs of 250 yards each. and I had very little yarn left in the end.

Source: My stash- I bought tons of this yarn last year when Stephanie of Wool N Word had her fire sale last year. It was about $18 for five wool packs, so I have one left in the green and five left in a natural brown. the yarn despite being sold after the firwe didn't smell of smoke at all.

The problem- I don't know what to do next. I have almost nothing on the needles- lets think
Jake's alpaca afghan- yeah right (destined for the frog pond- I discovered I despise feather and fan in this year)
My spiral sweater- also not going to happen- major issues with this one - I wasn't ready to design at the time.
Jake's cashmenre hat- I knot this once and the yarn (panache from Knitpicks) just isn't meant to keep its shape, after three weeks it was about a foot too long and looked like that kid from Fat Albert, you know the one with the hat half way down his face. I ripped it and am reknitting with a strand of merino added.
Jake's scarf- I took some left over Panache and added in a strand of my navajo plied shades and knit them together. The color looks great together.

But, wait Feb is almost over, can i wait to finish all of the cold weather stuff till later- do they really need hats, mittens, and scarves for this time of year?

Hat re-do

2007-02-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

Tim mentioned a while ago he wanted a new hat, so I spun up some of Freya's fleece for him. Freya is an emsket Shetland ewe. Emsket is a grey/blue mix and it tends to be somewhat rare, so she is a special girl.

I spun it fairly fine and then chain plyed it, or navajo plied it into a three ply yarn. So, it became a fairly bulky yarn taht I then knit in a waffle knit hat. Well, it was way too big. I made the mistake of not making the ribbing on a smaller needle, so it streached out, and really didn't keep the hat in his head.

So, I decided to use my steeking skills and do some surgery.

I measured Tim's head and then the hat, measured again, and then cut out about 4 ribs of the hat. At the top, I stopped before cutting thru the tie-off at the top and cut my steeked part off of the center. I was going to graft them togther, but it was really difficult to see the stitches, so I just ended up seaming it up the back, and he wears the seam to the back. Here it is all finished and about 4" smaller-

Typical sock photos

2007-02-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

Well it is the standard sock photo
but I'm really proud of the yarn. It is Knitpicks Bare that I dyed in natural dyes, using Lac and Logwood purple I got a mix of purply grey and pinks that I really like. i didn't expect it to be so stripey, but I'm ok with that.

Etsy store

2007-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

I finally posted some of the roving we have laying around to my Etsy store. Check them out if you like. There are a few I priced high, as I don't really want to part with them, but if they go, so be it.

I've been working on quite a few projects, Jake got a hat made from Panache from KnitPicks in Cranberry, Tim got one made of homespun and I have been working on A cardigan for Arwen from the Interweave Knits Winter 2006 for me. I bought the yarn last May from Stephanie when she had her fire sale. it is BaabaaJoes woolpacks in the 10 and color is forest green. I really like how it is coming out.

The back is done and I am 2/3 done on one front/sleeve. This pattern is really fun, the cableing isn't too extensive, yet the pattern is intresting enought to keep me awake. The back nearly killed me with the stockineet, but I did it first knowing I would never get it done if I did the fronts first. I know there are several knitalongs for this, but I can't face another swap/Kal etc yet.

I need to finish and send off my SP9 package, but I will probably miss the 31st deadline. I'm almost there. I did get the Sock-ret thing done at long last.

New year, new stuff

2007-01-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of things to say thank you for...

First, to Fyberduck who sent me this neckwarmer as a thank you to my pay it forward gift last Fall. The purple/blue was yarn she intended to use in the One skein swap and something unfortunate happened to it, so she sent something else. After saving what she could, she sent me this. It is a bit too small to fit my fat neck, so I am working on taking the skein she sent me in the summer and reworking it into a scarf.

And my SP9 pal, revealed herself with this package
It is a great felted bag that she handdyed the wool and knit. It has the cute little side bag that is felted onto one of the handles. My kids tried to claim it, but I finally got it away from them. it is a perfect size for my smaller WIP's that I carry to work. And just in time, I was teased the other day for using ziplocs to carry all of my projects. I Thanks you Margareth from Austria!

What happened?

2007-01-09T14:09:00.000-08:00

What happened to winter? i worked all summer on new things to wear and now it barely goes below 40 degrees? Well today we got down to 34- I got to wear my new pink coronet hat from knitty. I've also been wearing my fingerless mitts that Fyberduck sent me-they are great for this in between weather.

I've been walking- a lot lately, I did the Univeristy loop twice last week (3 miles for a loop) and did another 1.5 on another day- I also did the loop again today. With this weather, I feel like I have to get out and I am feeling better. I think my favorite thing thsi week is my IRiver. I loaded a whole bunch of old 80 & 90 music and put it in a playlist, so now I can walk to Come baby come and We are the champions when i walk- when that gets old I can listen to knitting podcasts.

I'm taking a class, Presentation Skills here at school. My boss is teaching it, but i am enjoying being in the classroom again. I keep thinking about the PhD, but can't really do anything until the kids are older. It isn't about the work, its about the time to do the work.

On the knitting side, I am working on my sock-ret pal socks- they are nearly there. They are out of Knitpicks gloss and to say this yearn is fairly inexpensive, it is pretty nice. I also started a new cardigan for me, A Cardigan for Arwen from the Fall or Winter 2006 Interweave. I'm about 10 inches done on the back boring square. I'm using some old Baabaa Joes woolpacks I bought at Stephanie's fire sale last summer. I have a tom of this yarn and got it super cheap. I'm attemptiong to knit everything from my stash this year. Not sure how it will go, but I'm trying. So far so good.

Sock-ret pal thanks

2006-12-20T12:23:00.000-08:00

I revieved my sock-ret pal gift at a great time. It has been a rough week and I really needed those M& M 's Thanks!

Holiday shopping- almost done and out of money
Holiday knitting- getting there,

Mom H's socks- done but ends to be woven in- the pattern is in the sidebar from Funky Knittier Deb-

Mom D's sweater- knitting the button band as we speak- it came out really nice!
Dad's mittens- tops need to be knitted, they need to be felted (my own design)
Grandpa's mittens- on the blocking board
Dad H's mittens- done (completely!)
J's Teacher's hat- done - I really liked the pattern- here is a photo of Nate wearing it and looking like a hoodlum
Linda K's socks- done-
Eileen's socks- done (really a birthday present, but I'll count it anyway)

So, I was finishing up on a pair of mittens this past week and DH said, I really need to buy myself a new hat, mine is too tight and it always feels like it os going to squeeze off the top of my head. He meant his store bought knit hat- I just looked at him. How many millions of hats do I have to knit in front of the guy before he realizes I know what I'm doing? Buy a hat? is he insane. I have a stash that is threatening to take over the living room completly (and would if I had all of fiber in there as well. One advantage of owning a fiber mill, you can sort-of hide your fiber stash admist the bags of wool and no one is the wiser- you just call it "inventory") and he thinks he needs to buy a hat?

Thanks again to my SP9 pal

2006-12-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

I didn't have the best of weeks, so imagine how thrilled I was when I got this in the mail from Austria!

Three beautiful skeins of handpainted yarn in a really pretty pink and orange colorway, and a pair of wristwarmers and toys for the brats. You may notice the toys again didn't make it to the photo. They loved it and so did I- Thanks so mucjh- the yarn is beautiful and I'm going to save it for something special for me.

The holiday knitting is coming to a close. I finished knitting the cardigan for my Mom, it needs finishing however. I knitted a pair of socks for MIL, my sister Eileen and my boss. They are all complete. I knit a scarf for my SIL and I made up and knit a pattern for felted hunters mittens for the FIL. I have to make two more pairs, maybe three for the rest of the guys.

My hands hurt. I have been getting up at 4am to knit for a few hours in the morning and I think I like it. My stomach doesn't like all the coffee, but I'm feeling peppier than I have in a while. When this is done, I'm making myself a cardigan, dammit!

Life just gets me sometines

2006-11-30T12:03:00.000-08:00

It used to be I came to work and was bored on occassion. I maen like write your own novel type bored. Well that was in a previous job, but even here I occassionaly had a minute to check out blogs or actually update my own.

Used to be things got busy in August and it died out in mid-oct only to get busy again in March. well things are still crazy and it is all of my own fault. I was warned not to do a good job, they just find more for you to do.

Today sucked- really sucked. Last Saturday, I was all set to go to spinning guild- I hadn't been in over a year. I pay the dues and then never go, so I had Tim watch the kids and I was all set to go. Then the car wouldn't start, so I speant all day watching Vanity Fair- the BBC one and knitting on Eileen's socks. So Tim figured out what was wrong with the car, so valve was sticky and said I needed to get a tune up

So I took it in this morning- now I owe them $542 and my ride to the dealership went home sick today

Then I got a call from the school that Nate my youngest threw up at school and I needed to come get him- well no car to go, called the college where Tim works- they don;t know where he is- called MIL, she was all set to go and we finally found Tim

Now I feel sick- $542 for car repairs! just before the credit free christmas? I hope those kids understand why Mommy has nothing under the tree this year. Can I knit more things in just 26 days? I suppose easy fun fur scarves won't make it for all of the neices and nephews will it? Does the dollar store sell anything I can pass off as a real gift?

SP 9 Thanks`

2006-11-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

I have been such a horrible blogger this Fall. I have no real excuse, but I was on vacation all last week so there are a few days I can account for.

First and foremost, I want to give a huge thankyou to my sp9 spoiler! I got the below all beautifully wrapped and shipped all the way from Austria! The socks fit great and I can't wait to use the yarn. What is missing from the photo are the gifts she even sent the boys- they grabbed and used these great little puzzles before I could get the photo taken. Thank you so much!

Sock-ret pal package

2006-11-06T14:21:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much- sock-ret pal. I needed those M&Mm's that day! My package actually came last week, but I'm just getting to blog about it know. Last week I was on the road for work everyday but Tuesday, so Tuesday was a major clean up day at work.

So, in general it was a lousy week, followed by a worse weekend, so the bright spot of getting goodies in the mail was a bright spot indeed! I'm at home on dial-up so I'll have to add the phnoto tomorrow

We also got our first snow last week, on the 2nd, most of it is gone now, but it was definately there-

Rhinebeck

2006-10-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Well I only live an hour from Rhinebeck, but I'm not going this year. I went last year, and while I had a very nice time a spent quite a lot. This is not a knitting event really. there are a lot of fleeces, and some yarn, but really I think all of the hoopla over this show is crap. I think Rhinebeck is overrated and $10 a person to get in is outrageous.

In other news, I am going to Baltimore for a couple of days to a confrence next week and I look forward to finding new yarn to play with.

Saturday night we are taking the kids to the Welsh heritage festival at Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT. We processed a bunch of thier fiber one year and we have always wanted to attend the festival. With Brenda Dayne now in Wales, I feel like a welshwoman already-

SP 9 answers

2006-10-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? I really enjoy wool over everything else. I dislike knitting with eyelash yarns or anything with trailing sticky things.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have a roll up case for my straight needles and I’m trying out a solution for my circulars, but generally they all end up in a basket where I keep all of my tools and notions, mixed in with half used balls of yarn and other detritus of knitting.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I would call my self an advanced intermediate. I’ve tried almost everything to varying degrees of accomplishment. I am self taught from a Coats and Clark book when I was 15, and I took a class on continental knitting three years ago. So I have been knitting for 22 years, and really serious knitting for the past 4 or so.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Not yet

5. What's your favorite scent? (for candles, bath products, etc.) I don’t like scented things, they give me a headache. If I had to choose one, cotton from Yankee Candle

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? I like M&M, and can’t eat dark chocolate

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? I spin, and felt. I teach fiber arts to a group of elementary kids, so I generally learn new things to teach to them like braiding or beading, but I wouldn’t have sought them out on my own.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I like instrumental and soundtracks, I have an ipod and listen to audible books and podcasts when I commute.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? I like greens, blues and purples to wear, but I also have a thing for reds, pinks and oranges. It depends on the day.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? I have a husband and two boys, 7 & 9. we have two barn cats, 9 shetland sheep and some chickens

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? I wear scarves, hats and mittens, and shawls- not ponchos. I live in upstate NY and the weather here can get pretty chilly!

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Socks at the moment, but I have been doing a sweater that I am enjoying

13. What are you knitting right now? I am working on Christmas kntting, a sweater for my mom, the last sleeve is started at last, I have a pair of socks on the needles for my MIL and a I have an afghan I have started for my oldest son. He likes cozy things.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? I love handmade gifts

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I use all of the above and it depends on the project. I’ve always used Addi’s, but recently discovered the KnitPicks needles and they seem to be working out for socks. I like sharp points

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? I have both and love them very much

17. How old is your oldest UFO? Well I never finished the sweater I started when I was 15, but I finally threw it out. I have a sweater I started from handspun two years ago and ran into design issues. Someday I need to revisit it and finish it.

18. What is your favorite holiday? Halloween, it was when my husband and I met

19. Is there anything that you collect? Dust and yarn

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? I would like to get one of the Cat Bhordi’s books on the mobius techniques. I have subscriptions to most of the knitting magazines around.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? I am taking a class on steeking in November

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? I am a sock knitter and I wear a size 10- no idea what the measurement is

23. When is your birthday? (mm/dd) 09/13- just past!

I've decided to become an adult

2006-09-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

Not that this isn't like 17 years overdue, but I have decided to be an adult and let some of my yarns go. So, several beautiful things that I bought and now have decided that I can live without are up for sale on Ebay. I now know that I will probably never be sucessful at lace in a major way, so i am selling off the lace weight, some sock yarn in a color I will never use and some Great Adirondack in worsted weight that I bought at Rhinebeck and can't think of what to do with it-

If you do items by seller, my seller name is Highlyn- bid away- this means toys for the kids under the tree this year-

Sock-ret pal answers

2006-09-28T11:36:00.000-07:00

I've been paired up and I'm looking ofrward to another great swap-

here are my answers to the Sock-ret pal questions. I have to work on my wish lists.

The basics:

How long have you been knitting? 22 years, but I got back into it about 4 years ago- I’ve been spinning for the past 15 years pretty consistently.
Do you consider yourself a beginning sock knitter, an intermediate, or have you been doing this so long you could probably knit a pair in your sleep? A high intermediate I guess, I don’t have to look at the pattern anymore unless I’m branching out into a new style.

The measurements:

While your pal may ask for some additional info to ensure a great fit, please provide your shoe size, or any other fitting related info you think is pertinent. Sorry, wms size 10. Big feet

(fiber related) Favorites:

What colors do you love? Lately I’m into pink, but I also like greens.

Do you prefer solids or variegated? variegated

What fibers do you most love to knit with? wool

Who do you consider your favorite yarn vendors? My LYS, but also Yarnmarket, Patternworks, WEBS and Knitpicks,

What projects (other than socks, of course*S*) do you most enjoy knitting? Felted bags, hats, sweaters and I’ve just started into lace knitting, mostly shawls

(fiber related) Dislikes:

What fibers can you not stand to knit with? To wear? I don’t like to knit with cotton, with cotton/wool blend sock yarn as an exception. I don’t like to wear acrylic too much, and I hate things made eyelash and railroad. I’m not much of a novelty user.

What colors would you never wear? I don’t wear much yellow, orange or lime green, not to say I wouldn’t, but they just aren’t in my wardrobe much.

The Tools:

Plastic or Metal? Bamboo or wood? I prefer wood for sweaters, and metal for socks

Circs or Straights? Circs for socks, straight for mostly everything else (depending on the project

DPNs or Magic Loop? 2 up on circs

Are there any knitting accessories you don't have in your collection but would like? Not that I can think of

The Extras:

Do you have a wish list? If so, please share the link!

Do you like sweet, sour or salty? (or all of the above? *S*) sweet and salty- like chocolate covered pretzels

Do you have any allergies your pal should know about? (Certain foods, smoke, pet hair, etc) no allergies

Favorite scents? Scents you can't stand? I’m pretty sensitive, but I like lavender and lilac and hate vanilla

Do you collect anything (other than yarn and knitting toys of course)? No main collections, but I like hummingbirds and little interesting, funky things

When is your birthday? (month and day is fine!) Sept 13

Do you spin? Dye your own yarn? I both spin and dye my own yarn

Your favorite author/band/vacation spot, anything you think will help your pal know you better...

Favorite authors- Jane Austen, JK Rowling, Sue Grafton, Janet Evonovich, Nora Roberts. I love trashy romance especially if it has a cowboy or babies in it.

Favorite TV- we have been watching old Adventures of Brisco County Jr lately as tv sucks, but I also try to watch Lost and the Amazing Race

Favorite Movie- Pride and Prejudice- the Colin Firth version

Back to Normal- or what passes for normal

2006-09-18T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last week was not a good week- I ended up getting sick and then having to run the kids around because they too were ill- Let's hope things will get back to what passes for normal soon-

So, my one skein swap partner gifted me with a great pay it forward gift. I took a photo and left the camera at home- but it is some hand-dyed merino and beads to spin some beaded yarn- I can't wait to get started!

In other news, I begin teaching fiber arts again today at Nate's school. Last year I taught an hour every Tuesday afternoon, this year I have two hours every other Monday. We can certainly use the extra time. it seemed like the kids learned alot, but they never accomplished anything. So with the time we can tackle bigger projects and I can have some time with each kid. We start today with tie-dyeing and finger knitting with big loops. Another thing I learned is the kids need a lot of finger work before they learn how to hold needles. They lack some fine motor control at thier age- 6-9 so we started doing a lot of braiding and other small objects to increase thier finger control.

I have to go back and redo the whole teaching curicullum soon. I went to AC Moore and dropped a bundle on supplies for this next year. One thing I got intop last year was having no idea what I was going to teach that week and rushing to get it all together on Monday nights, or even Tuesday morning. I need to be more organized about it this year.

I also never put anything away last year and I still have bags of materials all over the living/fiber room with kids half finished projects and unopened bags of beads etc. So, I need to take care of that as well- With everyother week, I least I shouldn't have to scramble as much to come up with fun ideas all the time!

I'm lying

2006-09-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

It hasn't been 36 days since I bought yarn! I'll admit it. I took my incoming class to the high ropes course at Parson's in Albany on Saturday and I broke the yarn diet-

Well, Karen's sale is still going on and I found some Lorna's Laces Swirl for only $7 a skein, so I bought enough to make the Flower Basket Shawl. Karen threw in a bunch of free patterns also. As I have plans to make my sister a shawl with it- Can I call it Christmas shopping instead of yarn buying? I didn't buy any sock yarn however, so I was behaving on that side of the shop.

Well, then yesterday I stopped at Walmart and bought some Lion Brand Homespun. I admit it I am a yarn snob, I rarely will even look at this stuff. it is my assistants birthday next week and she has been strongly hinting she would like a hand knitted gift. There is no way in hell I'm allowing any of my coveted stash yarn to end up in her house and ultimately in her washer. So, I decided a quick shawl in Homespun is appropiate. If she never wears it or does decide to wash it I won't need to cring when she tells me the story about how she "accidently" felted it. Have I ever mentioned- she's a moron- I hate to say it but it's true- she's a moron and I can't fire her.

So I'm only lying about the yarn buying, not about her being a idiot- that is true

I'm veklempt

2006-09-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure if I spelled that right- the big boy started at his new school today. He is nine and it isn't like he hasn't been going to school prior to this. Jake started at his new public school today. For the last six years he has been at a small (less than 30 kids total in the school) private Montessori school. He had the same teacher for most of those six years.

It is hard to let go of the special school he has been with and let him go to the public school. I know he will be fine, and I'm having a hard time not letting mt trepidation show. We seriously agonized over home schooling this summer. Between my crazy schedule and Tim's adjunct teaching schedule, it just couldn't work out at this point. So, we had to make this decision. He will be fine, I have to trust that I have raised a strong, smart kid who can deal with new situations and will be stronger for this experience.

I realized how sheltered he was at a point earlier this year, we went to McDonalds and Jake was really having a problem with going to the counter to order a McFlurry. So, I have been making a point to have him make phone calls to grandma or friends and talk or to pay for his purchases at Target. He is old enough to begin interacting with the world more fully.

Yes, he will be fine and he will make friends- all will be well- that is what I keep telling myself anyway.

Jaywalkers Done!

2006-09-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

I feel like that home improvement show where they look at the project and then do the great big done! over it- at long last (3 weeks maybe) the dratted Jaywalkers are complete. Things imrpoved after I bought the new KnitPicks needles. Now I think I need the whole set and may ask for them for my birthday.
I stopped the pattern at the leg and did the foot in plain stockinette to get this project complete. I did some k2tog and SSK's to get the stitch number back in line after converting to stockinette and it lined up perfectly with the gusset.

And that goes to show I can indeed make top down socks if I choose to. Good to know-

So, I immediately cast on for the plain widdershins, hated the toes, ripped it back and did the short row toes that I like. I'll try to do the heels widdershins style however. The best part, I used stash yarn for these, some Brown Sheep Wildefoot I have had for years. I tried to knit this 4 or five times and always hated working with it. On the bamboo needles, it split all the time and then I tried on thr Addis and finally gave up. It seems to be working much better on the KnitPicks, these will be a birthday gift for my assistant. I know she won't appreciate them, but maybe it will stop all the poorly veiled hints about me knitting for her. Then I can give a snarky comment back about her socks. Hereis a link to a pair that Nat from KnittingNatty made. I only hope mine come out so well. I think I will do the legs in a lacy rib.

One Skein Pal

2006-08-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

My One-Skein Pal revelaed herself-

Fyberduck aka Sara Morris from Eugene, OR

Fyberduck is an alumnus of University of Oregon in Eugene- Go Ducks!

My older sister Eileen is a duck as well!
Here is her, Sara's blog and a photo of the great mittens she sent! They are hand-dyed dk and I have already used them- We went camping this weekend in the Adirondacks and it has been quite chilly lately-

Thank you Sara!

My one-skein pal also recieved her box of goodies- and here is it on her blog
I find it odd that both my upstream and downstream pals were from the same general area-
I was really pleased with the felted bag I made for my pal and I have bought the yarn to make myself one- I got the cutest button to go with them- I chose the button first and bought the yarn to match.

Dyeing Purple

2006-08-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

I spent some time alone this weekend- The kids were with Tim, so I spent some time dyeing sock yarn. I really pleased with the color. It came out as a light to dark periwinkle. First I had to reskein it to a longer length- then soaked it in Synthrapol. I drained it and just covered the yarn with cold water. I was afraid hot would encourage the dye to dissipate too much. This is after 10 minutes of the dye being in the water.

The copper curled thing is the water pipes coming into the washing sink in the fiber mill. Tim designed them, and they work really well.

This is after 30 minutes in the water. I expected the yarn on top of the pipes to suck up the color, but it didn't so I stuck it under water for a minute or so- And here it is hanging on the fence- well this is sideways of course, I couldn;'t get the picture to go the right way- but I'm really happy with the yarn

Steeking class

2006-08-18T07:21:00.000-07:00

Now that I am all signed and sealed- I can talk about it. I am going to take a steeking class at Web's in November. I began a sweater of my own design well over a year ago. It was to emcompass the eleven natural colors of Shetland wool. (We raise Shetland's, so it seemed appropiate).

So, I need to know how to steek to cut the armholes. As this is all in homespun Shetland, I'm a little nervous about doing so- also because of the way I knit it, I can't reclaim all of the colors if I screw it up- so I thought a class would be in order.

That and I've always wanted to visit Webs. I love the website, I can just imagine what it will be like in real life.

But I have been productive

2006-08-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

So, even if the Jaywalkers aren't going well, I have been productive elsewhere in the house-

I picked berries - and made a pie

The pie was really good-

I still hate these socks

2006-08-16T08:48:00.001-07:00

I'm still working on these Jaywalkers. I remember being able to knit a pair of socks in a weeks or so, but these are going on a month and I'm now just turning the heel- I can't wait until till these are done.

I made a commitment to myself to not begin a new pair until these are done, so I'm trying really hard to stick to it. So, I'm a little further along than here, but I will do this even if it kills me. I love the yarn but hate the knitting.

and things continue to go downhill

2006-08-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I came into work late today as I had to go to Jake's new school to register him. I got a distressing email that the president of the University had died the day before in a swimming accident. I'm not sure how I feel, the whole place feels like it is in turmoil.

I hate turmoil- I really just feel like going home to hide and knit.

Bad News

2006-08-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

It seems like when things appear to be going well- they always have to change. I was just at the Periwinkle Sheep last week and was so impressed with all that Karen has done with the shop in the past three years- the yarn quality and the diverse imventory has all gone way up- it was definately turning into my favorite LYS- and it was reachable on my lunch hour- perfect for clandestine yarn shopping-

Well, Karen has decided to close her business- as we did the same earlier this year, I know how hard it is- making the deicison once made, was the best thing for us, but making that decision was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Karen, we are all there for you, and I'll miss the shop

good news, the sale begins on August 15th, so the yarn diet is officially over and I actually have some money to spend!

Argentine Yarn

2006-08-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

And here is all the yarn I bought in Argentina and Uruguay- minus the skein I sent to my one-skein pal

Despite having bought all this plus a trip to the Periwinkle Sheep about two weeks ago, I realized fair season is in two weeks and I only have one finished project to enter- the cabeled socks below- so I made another quick trip today to pick up some yarns for the coronet hat from Knitty, the wavy scarf from Knitty and the Sophie bag from Magknits- I made one of these already and I love how it came out. i bought a really cute button for the closure and bought the yarn to match the button. I add an Icord loop in the middle for a closure.

the one skein photo

2006-08-03T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the magnificent skein of handspun I recieved- it has beads in it- I've never spun with beads- after seeing this I may have to try it.

Argentina

2006-08-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

I haven't really said anything about Argentina- we had a great time- I don't remember the last time I partied this late at night. It was really liberating to be able to trust the people I was with to take care that we all got home safe and the fact I was in charge, but didn't alway need to be.

I had a great time with my students and they got to see a side of me I'm sure they didn't know existed. It was funny, one of my married male students (when drunk) confessed he and a group of other guys ended up a brothel one night and how scared they were- he thought I would be shocked. Well my husband was in the navy and I have to say this guy's story was rally tame-

here we are
I'm in black in the middle with the drink- part of this picture are some of our Argentine hosts as well- they all left at about 2 to go home as they had to work the next day- the rest of us stayed out till 4:30 am- and I still made it to the ferry the next day. This isn't all of the group- 32 of us travelled- only 6 of of us are in the photo

Jaywalkers

2006-08-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to start a pair of Jaywalkers- I had two beautiful skeins of Lorna's Laces sock yarn in this great pink to yellow stripe- Sassy stripes I think- and I wasn't too happy with how the stripes were working out. (All of the airplane knitting got frogged eventually). So, I decided a better pattern that would work with stipes would be great-

I hate this pattern- I'm working top down (already an issue for me), but I got two socks on two circulars, and having to count every other row is killing me- we are about 4 inches into the leg and already I hate them

And the yarn, Lorna's Laces isn't cheap and it feels wonderful, but I'm not so happy with that either-

Maybe the summer is making me cranky- Oh Albany is up to 91 degrees, maybe we should shut down the office and send everyone home becuase it is too hot out! Hello, its summer- its supposed to be hot- like in winter when the snow comes- hello we get snow in the Northeast-

Back from SA

2006-07-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yes,
I'm back- well I've been back nearly two weeks now. I first want to say think you to my one skein secret pal fpr the beautiful handspun yarn- the colors are great and I am in awe of the softness of this yarn. I knew there was a reason I no longer spun. I can't get my stuff to be half that nice. My yarn is all utility yarn - useful, but not pretty. Anyway- thank you so much- I think I will take your advice and make a scarf- it will look great with my winter coat- not hat I want to think about a warm coat on a day like today!

I will post a photo as soon as I unearth the camera from under the pile of mail that is covering it.

toe up socks

2006-06-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I seem to have lost the ability to make top-down socks. I've made them before, I remember it clearly, turning the heel, the magic of following the pattern and the heel just appearing off of the DPNs. I tried again this weekend, using the Jaywalker pattern and my new trekking xxl yarn and it just wouldn't work-

I frogged it and started over, only to rip again and turn to toe up's on two circulars and and a different stitch pattern. I'll have to try again, when I have some quiet and a little more patience.

Tim painted the end of the house this weekend, so the kids were driving me mad.

One skein swap

2006-06-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say think you to my one skein pal- I got my package on Saturday and was really pleased! I think I may save it for myself to make a new winter hat! I made one last year out of some Andean silk I got from KnitPicks, I loved the yarn, but it just didn't have enough wool for memory, the brim got all stretched out and it fell off whenever I tried to shovel the driveway. So I have plans for this ball of yarn.

I shipped my package off to my pal and she did recive it and seemed to like it. Next month's will be sent late, I will be in Buenos Aires for 10 days in the beginning of July, so I hope to hit the yarn stores there and buy a whole new stash for myself. I have an extra suitcase I'm bringing just in case. The exchamge rate is 1USD=3 pesos, so $1=$.33 basically- I can get a lot of yarn- Just need to find it!

Nathan (the youngest son) is knitting Dulann Projects with me. I have two hats and neck warmer done, he is trying to make a scarf. His knitting is really coming along. I have been using all stash yarns for theis knitting, so some of it looks a bit intresting, but it will all be warm.

Jake shows no intrest, but likes to play with the ball winder. We had the fiber arts class visit the farm and the mill for the last fiber arts project of the year. Tim sheared one of the sheep that had been at the school all year, and the kids really enjoyed it.

It was clean...

2006-06-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Well the yarn closet was clean for about 10 minutes- long enough to take the photo anyway. It was intresting to go through all the fiber and identify what was there and where it came from. I travel for business on occassion and I always try to hit a LYS, so each ball I buy is later a reminder of the trip and the time I had. I wished I had been doing this when I travelled 3 weeks a month- but the stash management would be impossible. I see each ball and skein in there as potential- I just need to manage to potential.

I always have to remember that the basement is also full of fiber, both raw wool and clean roving when I think about buying more-

an old post I wrote and never posted from late May

2006-06-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy with the end of the school year here at the University. We all love graduation and seeing the students achieve great things and how happy their families are, but it also exhausting. The worst part in my program is….it isn’t over yet! I still have my students until the end of June.

But, then in the second week of July we are taking a group of 35 of them to Buenos Aires, Argentina! Until I did some research I was unaware that Argentina was the third largest producer of Merino wool in the world. I’m hoping to find some great yarn when I am there!

The other great thing is one of my students, Jonathon is traveling to Chile with his family the week before we meet up in Argentina, so he has promised to buy me some alpaca when he is there. I also have a personal invite to visit Chile in the future, and his wife Carmen’s family.

After graduation was over on Saturday, I stopped at Wool and Word for their fire sale. I bought out all of the BaBa Joes in two different colors to make two cable knit sweaters this winter. I also got more sock yarn (like that was needed!) When I made it home my box from knit picks was waiting and again more sock yarn, and the yarn for Jake’s new needle felted sweater. So, on my day off on Monday I reorganized the wool cabinet,

BEFORE

AFTER

Part of the end of Spring fun was the Massachusetts Sheep and Wool Fair. This is the only fair we made it to this year as vendors. It is usually our best and we know so many people, it make the fair more fun. Saturday began with the truck breaking down in a mountain road- I was following in the car, so we were stuck for about 40 minutes, until Tim got the truck patched up.

We made it to the fairgrounds and set up in record time, only 40 minutes past when the fair opened, and both sweating profusely (it was a very hot day in the Northeast).

Sales of the colored roving was great on Saturday- we made more than Sat/Sun of the previous year and we picked up quite a bit of processing. Sunday was awful for sales (only 2 customers bought) but picked up loads for processing. I think Sunday was just too hot, no one was buying anything.

I did buy something however, I bought myself a new swift to match my new ballwinder.

Cabled Socks

2006-04-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

I finally remembered to take photos of my cabeled socks and then remembered to bring the camera in. These are cabeled socks from the Spin Off Socks books. I used our shades roving, split it in half lengthwise and spun each half separetly. I then knit the socks as singles toe-up. I'm really pleased with how they came out.

I'll have them with me in out tent at all of our Spring shows, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Massacusetts.

I'm really looking forward to show season this year.

Tim roo'ed the Soay sheep this past week and it is incredibly fine- I'm looking forward to spinning some of that soon! The weather has been so beautiful lately, I've been trying to get out of the house more. The boys and I have begun geocaching and have been pretty sucessful at getting the cache. Here they are with their first find.

Kids crafts class

2006-04-10T13:13:00.000-07:00

I should have mentioned it earlier- the fiber arts thing with the kids has been going really well. I like going in each week- I just wish I had more than an hour with them. It has taken some time, but some of the kids have gravitated to spinning, other to weaving, some knitting and some crocheting. I have opted several weeks not to assign them anything and they get to choose what to work on. I love to see them all excited and want to take their work home.
Now once there I doubt they work on it, but at least I gave them a start, and they may remember later some of the steps to create it again.

Well I finally broke

2006-04-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally broke down and bought myself an Ipod, (or a cheaper variation of an Ipod) so that led to me now listening to Podcasts of all of these knitting shows. So, of course I again had the idea of trying to keep up with a blog. I want to be part of a community, I just lack time.

I loved going to knitting guild on the third Monday of every month, until I realized that the hour drive was cutting into knitting time. That and I was too lazy to leave the house once I was in it. So, I will try the blog thing again. I’ actually joining the one-skein secret pal list, so I will attempt to let people know what is happening in my life.

Fiber Arts

2005-10-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

I started the Fiber Arts things at the kids school last week-  we did tie-dyeing.  It was a good time, but I was amazed at how fast things went.  I brought extra just in case and we needed all of it to keep the kids busy.

The tie-dyeing was a bit of a mess, one kids kept trying to squirt everyone with the dye, but I caught him in time.  I wonder how all of their shirts came out.

This week is Kool-Aid dyeing and making ghosts from that Lion Brand pattern they have on their website.  I made one yesterday and it come out pretty cute.

I think next week we will try crocheting, well maybe?

Three Time Sweater

2005-09-15T13:32:00.000-07:00

Finally it seems like life is beginning slowly to get back to normal- I hope to be a bit more proactive in keeping this page up and running!I’ve finished the Shadow sweater and I really like how it turned out. I would have a photo, but Tim’s fiend Ron borrowed the digital camera. I’ll get it back soon… Now, I’m working on a similar sweater for Nathan, in black with a needle felted picture of Godzilla-

I have an update on the three time sweater- after re-knitting the neck I won a blue ribbon at the Schagiticoke Fair- not too bad!

2005-02-28T05:38:00.000-08:00

Shadow- Now how am I supposed to get this done?