....a bump in the road ???

So...anybody think it has been w-a-ay-y too hot lately ? It certainly makes the ambition non-existent.....have tried to get some things done (I really want to make some fresh bread, however, in this heat kneading a batch of dough does not even get considered). About all I have managed to do beyond setting out some washbuckets for cleaning fleece, is getting my dyepot going.

The first dye-bath used the purple tablets and the blue ones (easter-egg dye tablets, I stocked up after the holiday). As always happens, depending on how much lanolin may still have been present on the fleece, the fiber does not take up the dye at the same rate...and sometimes too, the dye "breaks" so you find yourself with surprises once it is rinsed and dried. Well, no surprise here then because it did 'break' resulting in a deep pinkish-purple edging into royal purple and aqua going to a bright turqoise.....see:




And, since the dye had not exhausted, figured I could go ahead and dye another batch, so put in another 12-16 ounces of fiber in the crock (no new tablets)...this time I got the aqua shades.

And the dye is still not exhausted, so mixed in red tablets. Now I have a lovely shade of deep pinkish purple.

Still working this one….added green tablets, hoping to come up with a nice shade of brown. Ummm, no…but did get a lovely deep olive green/bronze out of it.

Ok…still seems to be some life left, so threw in the rest of the tablets (yellow and orange, I believe)…..This time I got what resembled dry grass (?hay) yellow/green. And with that, I considered this experiment DONE. Here is a pix of my lineup:



So, now the job will be to get enough of each color spun to do what I need….and at the moment, the old brain cells are working their way around possibly plying the white with either the grass or the aqua, and using a two-ply of the brighter tones for the entrelac bands (and since I like my socks on the shorter side, 3 bands will be sufficient). But, that will need to wait a bit, but in the meanwhile, only the Shadow knows…..lol



Other than the above, have gotten some done on the Special Birthday surprise (I need to finish it as it will be presented next week). Have also been working my way thru the TestKnitting shawl (Cirque); have fallen woefully behind in my Scarf o’Year project, cast on for yet another pair of socks (yes, I know, still several in the works, but they are at a stage that evening/end-of-day-tiredness is not the best of time to be working on them so they are temporarily in a holding pattern).

..until the next time !

…and so…what have I been up to of late? On first glance, it appears to be not much of anything. With that being said, the summer muggies arrived and with it, ambition/energy to do much of anything at all went by the wayside. This has resulted in only a few buckets of fleece being put to soak in soapy water and rinsed, then leaving the rack sitting on the monkey-bars to dry – this morning only marked the second such batch that was brought into the house. Yes, it is dry; no, it is not quite spin-ready yet. The monkey-bars sits at the back end of the yard, under a pine tree – handles of fiber get shaken and pulled apart to lose their accumulations of dust granules, pine needles, and the occasional beetle that wandered in to check it out and got stuck in the fiber. So, AC has been running quite a bit, and once I sit down to watch TV at night, I am either working on something that does not require a lot of thought/counting of stitches/anything more than simple stitch patterning, or, after placing the old newspaper sheet at my feet to catch all the bits, I start in on picking the fleece apart/loose, a few handfuls at a time. Then pick up the spindle and spin away. Repeat from ‘picking…”

And just so you don’t think I am slacking…the fiber is from 6 sheep that average anywhere 6-12 pounds of raw fiber apiece – my wash buckets will only hold about 1 to 1.5 pounds each (depends how grubby the raw stuff is), and with only doing three of these at a time…..yeah, it takes a while to wash all of this, so expect to find notations on ‘washing’ – this will continue until the weather makes it not a good idea to be outside doing so any more (of course, this will also mean that the balance of this year’s fleece that doesn’t get washed before getting stored in the garage for the winter, will be in some of the early spring/summer wash buckets).

So, you may ask….what did I get accomplished, if anything, this week? In looking over my notes of what I have worked on (I have a notebook that I list how much time I spend on any fiber projects)….this week as previously noted, was not an overly ambitious one. Yes, fiber got washed. Yes, spinning did take place (the PinkLavender roving is completely spun). Yes, knitting did take place (working on a Test knitting project). On top of that, I have founds lots more, make that LOTS MORE, projects of various kinds that I would like to make (socks, shawls, and sweaters too!), so only time will tell which of the many will actually transfer from my queue to actual WIP…

…gotta run….lunchtime ends far too quickly for my usual verbosity…… So, will just leave you with a close-up shot of some of the spinning that I have been working on...just a little something to pass the time away while dreaming about all the wonderful items in my queue....

...such a week it has been....

...So, now comes the time of updating my progress, such as it has been. First, let me preface this by saying it has been rather hot, or "HHH" (hot/hazy/humid) here for the past week -- the last thing I want in my lap when I am feeling sticky is sticky raw fleece...for that matter, a lap-full of a knitting project isn't always that desirable either, but it is either I have something to keep my hands and brain focused, or the heat just frazzles me and I end up catnapping in my chair....hmmm...not very restful nap or hot/sweaty palms......

That being said, have been busy when I wasn't working/cooking/cleaning. With the Tour de Fleece running concurrent to the Tour de France, have been trying to get as much spinning time in as I could (including time spent prepping fleece in wash buckets, etc).


The assorted small batts/rovings are being worked on in between washing and spindling of Dorset fiber (which will eventually have some in a dye pot....I have visions of perhaps an entrelac cuff in assorted colors later this year). I have also completely spun the bag of "Mystery Roving" (a mix of alpaca, suffolk, angora rabbit, and mohair), with yardage that I believe will do for a pair of socks


Have been plugging away at the Sky Scarf (apologies, no pix yet), as well as the SecretSurprise pressie. And, I went and added another project to my list, TestKnitting....here is where I stand as of Sunday morning, 07102011:



...and there you have it....the coffee bucket only holds a portion of the Dorset (I have at least a case-of-paper sized box full of freshly washed fiber (with at least ten times that amount stored in the attic from previous years), so have plenty to keep me busy ...lol. Oh, and before I forget.....the previously mentioned projects that were completed...here is my Robin (still unblocked)



and my green alpaca socks:

Lights !!

....and just so you know I am still here.....while waiting for the show to begin, sat on the hillside watching this



(while spinning of course), and once it got too dark to see what I was working on, the main event commenced



and




Hope that those who celebrate it, had a very safe and happy Fourth of July

...on Your Mark....get Set.... and....G-O-!!!!

I knew it would happen --
…go on record and say “I will do A_, B_ and C_” and the next thing you know, something happens that throws a monkeywrench in the works, usually because:
I really have no interest in working on _B_ again, or
I have now found “IT” that must now be done, or
circumstances change such that I no longer NEED to do a certain project, etc, etc……

Case in point #1: When we first started talking about doing this, there had been a wedding afghan in the lineup which now is not happening and thus the afghan is on hold indefinitely (it will be made some-day, just not anywhere in the forseeable future). So, it was not posted on the list previously posted.
Case in point #2: In order to work on one shawl that had been spun for, I needed to finish a long-languishing shawl in order to use that set of needles. Well, with watching the Stanley Cup hockey playoff (lots of knitting time), I was able to get to that point of completion (it is not blocked, but Robin is DONE !)
Case in point #3: In terms of the rotating socks, the ones I said I would do first weren’t even touched – when I reached into the bin and grabbed a sock kit, it was a different pair (green Frog Tree alpaca), which was also some of my hockey knitting, and this pair is now DONE.
Case in point #4: Was just reminded that the Tour de Fleece begins shortly (July 2-24), so need to figure in spinning time as well as determine WHAT to spin (and determine end product for such spinning).
Case in point #5: Have added (and already CO for) a project that will take 365 days to complete (you only do 2 rows/day), and even though it is listed as a scarf, have already decided to ‘widen’ it a tad so that I may actually be a skinny shawl when complete.

Pheww !! So, all-righty-then…you know what this means, don’t you ?

....yup, "adjustments" had to be made, and here we go (again!):
- Tour de Fleece spinning (lots of washed Dorset fleece), eventual game plan on this fiber is a trip thru the dye-crock and then onto socks
- TdF spinning of lots of amall bits of assorted rovings I keep finding stashed all over the place
- Sky Scarf (Lea of Leafcutter Designs)
- Special Birthday (in progress)
- Grad.Silk shawl (spinning is complete, not CO yet)
- Baby gift #1: Emil’s Peababe
- Baby gift #2: longies (have washable yarn ready to CO)
- Wendy’s Summer Shawlette (ready to CO)
- Make Your Own Ending shawl KAL
- Wagon Wheel shawl (in progress)
- Saroyan (in progress)
- Cedar Wrap (in progress)
- Stitching of patches onto DD’s Girl Scout vest
- Socks #1: Alaine (in progress)
- Socks #2: Tabi sox (in progress)
- Socks ####, rotating between other in progress: CoffeeBean, Tardis, Fishing, Wensleydale, HospSox
- New Socks: Spiral eyelets for DD; Circle sox for me, and several more that I found I really want to do

….and I think this is all I want to commit myself to at the moment, because you know that even tho it l-o-o-k-s like I have totally lost my mind…maybe, just maybe, I haven’t….

….Change is good…Change is necessary…Change means there is re-evaluation going on….Change means growth…(..of course, it could also mean that my filing system is so bad I have to change in order to get anything done at all...lol )

Until the next time ...when hopefully I get add a few pix of completions and/or in-progress !

...In the beginning.....

…always wanted to start something with these words…this kind of fits the bill. In the beginning, there were only words and pictures on a page, with stacks of assorted yarns and fibers and needle-paraphernalia as well as patterns galore! The paper, how it flies and floats when tossed to the side…the scattered mumblings of ‘no’ and ‘maybe’ and ‘what in the world was I thinking of?’ are punctuated with exultant “Yes!” and ‘perfect opportunity to try this technique’ and ‘who am I kidding? I am not ready to tackle this one yet!

So the choosing process has commenced, with several definite’s now waiting in the bin, each pattern matched with it’s yarn/spun fiber and assorted post-it notes with the giftee name(if applicable)/needle size needed/buttons or beads. The bin also contains a carry-bag so that at a moment’s notice a Kit can be grabbed. The remaining necessities for the carrybag is the “essentials” kit that will remain – you know the one, it’s the bottomless purse for needlecrafters that contains the space crochet hook for catching drops (though a bobby pin will do in a pinch), the tape measure, the extra short pieces of yarn for provisional cast-on’s and/or stitch holders, an extra small caliber double-point (or cable needle, or in a pinch a paper clip), an assortment of stitch markers (an unopened Dollar Store special of 500-pack mini hair elastics) that double as row markers, a small pair of scissors, a mini notepad and pen (an extra Post-It pad is always good too, mark and move about on your pattern without ruining the pattern copy), a travel pack of Kleenex, and of course there must be something chocolate! I am sure that other bits and pieces will eventually find their way into the bag over time, but for now, these are my essentials. Each pattern is enclosed in its own page protector, and any books have their pages appropriately tagged with multicolored post-it’s.

Now, as to the order of the patterns….I have always been one to flit from one project to another unless a deadline loomed large – that way, I did not have time to get bored or frustrated with any one pattern, and I got to enjoy a number of different fibers/techniques concurrently. So to, there was always something new that would demand to be added to the list. And if the mojo to work on those projects just wasn’t there, there is always the assorted cottons for making cloths/towels/scrubbers or small amounts of wools for wristers (both my projects of choice for random brainless knitting). But, for this particular Year of Projects, I find myself starting before July 1st for a special surprise pressie due within a few weeks. I also have a few baby presents to be made for this summer and fall, and a graduation present that may be needed for January instead of June……So, I will list my YoP-Book items but not in any given order…I will leave that to the individual postings of what I worked on….

So, without further ado (other than explanation/rationale for the choices), the following is AnDy’s Amble through the Fiber Patch……as it has been quite a challenge to winnow this list of “Must Do/Should Make/Already Begun/Asked For” down to a workable sized list. With over 30 items (more, if I dig further), something had to give. So, beginning with the gift items that figure prominently:

- A special birthday (details to be revealed afterwards to prevent the secret from getting out)
- An upcoming graduation (see Spinning section below)
- Several babies: (1) Emil’s PeaBabe, and (2) a pair of longies
- Christmas items (not determined yet)

Add to this several of the SIP’s currently being rotated through -- I am going to pick 2 pairs to finish:
- Alaine
- Tabi socks
If time allows, rotate another pair or 2 – these sox are on top of a pair on my To-Do list for my DD
- Spiral Eyelets

Spinning has been completed for Wendy’s Mystery Summer Shawlette and knitting will be worked on as soon as I complete a SheKnits mystery from a previous year, Robin, that has been languishing on the needles (I need the circulars, hence Robin must be completed in order to cast on!). Add to this, the silk roving is almost completely spun, and will shortly thereafter be knit into a shawl as graduation gift for a niece (beads will add just the right touch of bling).

I have several other shawls to be added to the mix (including at least one new SheKnits Mystery-8, and one to make in cotton thread Autumn Sun) but these are going to wait to be listed until I finish a few older ones (Cedar Wrap is over half done; Saroyan has been started; and Wagon Wheel is over ¾ done).

…And if I find I don’t have enough to do (ha ha), there are always washcloths/towels, wristers, or`naments, mindless-hockey-socks, etc…

Luna !

I am on a roll here.... I either go for months on end without a single post, or I am finding inspiration and beauty every where I go. Take for instance yesterday when I went to see how the building of the woodshed was going. Hubby is in the process of building walls on top of a concrete box base -- on an inside wall, I found this little guy (?gal)

Hubby said he had not seen that one but had almost stepped on another that he moved outside the shed, and upon looking where he told me he had placed it, yup, still there, and a third one attached to the outside of the building. Now, around here, we may see 2 or 3 over the entire summer, so to see that many all in one place was very kewl. This morning hubby needed my help to hold a beam he was nailing in place so I looked around to see if they were still there -- they were, along with 2 more !

After I was done helping, I headed back to the house ...among other things to get to work, and also to find some info on the moths, or Actias luna. Apparently, these moths developed from caterpillars hatched from last fall's eggs (which over-wintered somewhere nearby). The adult moths only live for about a week, they do not eat (no mouth), their only purpose is to mate. Once they do that, they will die. The eggs will hatch, and the caterpillars will eat their way through several stages of development before finally spinning themselves into a cocoon (this silk is spinnable by people, I am given to understand, though it is not the strongest of silks to use for this purpose). These cocoons will hatch and the new moths begin their life cycle again, with this batch of eggs waiting until the spring to hatch.

I suppose I will need to look around the area a little closer this weekend...maybe I might get lucky enough to see one emerge -- now that would be way-kewl !