visit to PA

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

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

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

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

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-

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!

We were mentioned in Knitter's Review!!!

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

- Donkey from Shrek 1

Just my luck

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

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

The amazing thing

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

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!

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

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-

If I could spell sock correctly!

Scok kit swap answers

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

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...

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

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

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!

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!