Here’s a look at what I bought at the craft fair this morning. A pair of copper circle earrings (about an inch in diameter) from Laurie Flannery who apparently does not have a website, yet has some beautiful things, and a little, “caged pearl” ring from Julie A. White I bought my swirly, pearl earrings last year.

Really, this craft show has such beautiful things on display–jewelry, pottery, textiles, glass, iron, wood . . . all so gorgeous. And as secure as I am in my own skin and knowing my own talents–I may not be master-class, but I can knit anything I want to knit, I can spin just fine, my embroidery and baking skills are excellent, and I can read almost anyone under the table–still, walking those aisles, I am always forcibly reminded . . . there are so many things I simply cannot do!

The weather wasn’t as beautiful as we’d hoped, there was even a spritz of rain or so–not enough to worry about, but enough that we really had no regrets leaving the show when we did. My sister-and-family did come by this afternoon–my niece did find a (gorgeous, purple) dress for the Homecoming–Chappy was delighted to see everybody and has been resting up ever since they left. (They all went to Applebee’s for supper. I stayed home and cooked some pasta, which sounds anti-social, I know, but was certainly not meant that way.)

Anyway, it’s been a good day. And Fall is definitely in the air!

• Tags: General • Permalink:Ring-a-Ling // 3 Comments »

Okay, so technically, I took this picture a couple days ago on my way to work, but darn it . . . it’s so darn pretty! And today IS the day for showing Sky!

• Tags: Sky • Permalink:Ah….. // 3 Comments »

Not much to report from the Chappysmom household tonight. We’re all just glad that it’s Friday at last.

Tomorrow–which is supposed to be a lovely day–Mom and I are going to the Peters Valley craft fair, (there’s an article here), which we also went to last year. They always have some amazing things to admire and to buy–definitely a pleasant way to spend the day . . . and maybe a little money!

The only worrying part is that my hip has been a little stiff this week (don’t ask me why–apparently we’re all falling apart–Chappy’s skin, Mom’s bladder, my allergies and now this). Nothing to worry about, and it’s probably exacerbated by the fact that I almost never sit down without my right leg tucked up under my left, but still–too much standing and browsing might be a little difficult tomorrow. Not enough to keep me home, of course! But a little–maybe I’ll borrow some of Mom’s Blue Stuff, which she swears by, just to be safe. (Darn this getting older!)

Anyway, this means that Chappy will be spending at least some of the day on his own (awwww!). But we’re going to make it up to him a little later–my sister and niece are coming down this way to look for a Homecoming dress for my niece, and my brother-in-law and nephew are going to come down around 3:00 to our house, and we’ll all spend some time together. This will be very nice, and definitely different. It’s a rare thing to see them late in the day!

I’ve been spinning away at my Good Vibrations roving, too. (Really, we can use some.) As usual, Teyani’s stuff is just lovely. There’s a little more pink in here than I might have preferred, but it’s so sweet, who really cares? (grin)

In knitting–I’m finally on the last chart of Peacock Stole Part 2. Row 224 at the moment, out of 250 or so. Which means the end is finally in sight (phew!). The one concern? Do you remember how little yarn I had left when I finished the first half? Well . . . I’m going to have a problem. I had skipped some of the early pattern rows back when I started this last March (Six months ago!). I did the same thing this time, but . . . went four rows too far. I didn’t realize this until a good 30 rows later and figured it really wouldn’t make enough of a difference in the size of the finished stole to be worth frogging all that lace. Nobody would know but me (and you). But . . . it didn’t occur to me for another 75 or so rows that that was going to mean trouble for the quantity of YARN. I do have a third skein, but . . . darn! I’m going to have to join another skein in when I’ve only got about four rows to go. Talk about frustrating!

I haven’t worked on my knitted bag the last couple of nights, although I’m working on the facing at the top. Then there’ll be the handles, and a pocket for the outside, and then it will be ready to felt. (Or “full,” if you want to be technical.) And the sock I haven’t mentioned in a while? I’ve got about 3″ left and it will be done–then it’s just a matter of deciding if I want to do my next sock in my Sundara Hydrangea yarn or the handspun I just finished. I know which one I want to pick, but to be fair, the Sundara yarn has been waiting longer . . .

Hey–I have a question for any of you who have a Woolee Winder. Mine–now that I have it working again–is making a rattling noise from the eye rocking back and forth in the flyer. And, the cleaning instructions that came with it mention a screw . . . but I don’t see a screw. Should there be one here? If so, I’ve scoured the carpet looking for one that might have dropped, if it came loose and fell out . . . although, who knows how long ago that might have been? I’ve only just gotten it working “properly” again since I took it off in July, and my room was vacuumed pretty thoroughly just the other day.

So, my question is–if you look at yours, does it have a screw there? And if it does and therefore mine is lost . . . where can I get a replacement? It’s such a tiny hole . . .

• Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:All’s Quiet // 4 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday.

Once upon a time, at my grandmother’s house, there was an ashtray in the living room. She didn’t smoke herself, you understand, but she was from a generation where a lot of friends did, and so it was the polite thing to do, to have an ashtray set hospitably out for guests.

Of course, if you know smokers, you know that the butts can be unsightly. And pipe tobacco can leave smoldering clumps.

In enters Donald. This little, iron duck sat in the ashtray, ready to stomp out any embers, squish any clumps of tobacco, at a moment’s notice. He’s tiny, only an couple of inches high, but when my sister and I were little, we were both enchanted by him, and would carry him around the house. (What is it with children and tiny little things?) By then, he wasn’t really being used anymore, and Grandma kept an immaculate house, so sanitation wasn’t really an issue, you understand. We just thought he was cute.

When my Grandmother died, and we went to clear away some personal items from her house, I just couldn’t leave Donald behind, and I pocketed him for old times’s sake. Really, did he deserve anything less?

Besides, it’s never a bad thing to have a fire-fighter in the family.

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Donald Duck, Firefighter // 8 Comments »

No real entry tonight. I went to the dentist this afternoon for what SHOULD have been an hour’s visit to get my two, new, permanent crowns cemented in. But . . . two hours later, I’ve still got the temporary, and there are at least two more visits ahead of me. My dentist wasn’t happy with the way the one in the back was fitting. He said that if I were leaving tomorrow for a year-long trip around the world, it would have been fine, but since I’m not . . . he wants it as perfect as he can get it. Oh joy. I love my dentist (not like Marcia Brady, you understand, but he’s just a genuinely nice guy), but really, I don’t want to see him THIS often. And I told him that I absolutely refuse to come during my vacation in October or on my birthday at the beginning of November–although he’s welcome to come visit at the house any time. (My parents love him, too. Well. . . you know what I mean.)

Anyway, so with the two hour visit, Chappy didn’t get out for a walk at all today, and he got a late supper–not to mention all that worry about where Mommy was, and why was she at work for so long, and, the “Mommy! You’ve got dentist breath!” inspection when I got home . . . and, really, I need to go sit back and relax with him.

Maybe I’ll eat a banana while I’m down there. You know, for dinner . . . Have I mentioned that I hate novocaine??

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Pity Party // 10 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you own any bookends? If so, how many sets? If not, do you need or want any?
2. Which are your favorites? How long have you had them?

I have exactly three sets. Or, well, kind of….

  This one used to have a mate, but it was broken years and years ago, when I was still a teenager. This remaining marble horse bookend now makes a living modelling hats in my closet, next to the skeins of Manos that are probably never going to become an afghan. (You may note that, since the top of the bookend is on the narrow and pointy side, I balanced a spare skein of yarn on his head to give the hats a friendlier perch. Yarn. It really is so versatile.)

  Then there’s this pair, also marble. Basic wedge shapes (picked for that reason after the breaking thing happened with that other horse–these aren’t as fragile). At the moment, they’re spending their time in the hallway, giving the baby gate used to keep Chappy out of his grandparents’ room a little extra heft.

This is my favorite pair, though. Two flexible pieces of metal with rubber “feet” that flex across the top and bottom of the shelf to brace against the books. Very cool. They spend their time hanging out on the bookcase, looking like “book art.”

Because, you see, I have so many books that there really aren’t any shelves that have books with a tendency to fall over. (A book needs room to fall over, and, well, you’ve seen my library.)

Which, of course, is why my bookends end up moonlighting as other things . . . what else are they going to do with their time?

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Bookends // 5 Comments »

I’ve seen this around the blog world lately–Ten Knitterly Things You May Not Know about Me. (Okay, so I may have told you some of this before, but, well….)

1. Technically, I’ve been knitting since I was about, what, 6? None of my family knits (although I’ve taught my niece), but our next-door neighbor did, and she taught me how to knit. Not cast-on. Not purl. Not increase or decrease. Just knit. Obviously, I didn’t actually make much with this except a bunch of rectangular things. (She DID show me how to cast-off, and eventually, I figured out casting-on.) All in all, not an auspicious beginning.
2. When I spent a semester in London in college, in 1987, I was impressed by how much wool there was to buy–even in the department stores like Selfridges–and all for a reasonable price, too. (Or, so far as I can tell.) I was tempted to buy some, but thought it would be a waste of money, since I wouldn’t know what to do with it. But I swore to myself (a la Scarlett O’Hara) that I wouldn’t let that happen again. When I got home in December, I went to the bookstore and found a copy of of Maggie Righetti’s Knitting in Plain English, which I found absolutely wonderful. Not only did she explain things clearly and in an entertaining fashion, but she introduced two concepts which made all the difference. Continental knitting, which was so much easier than the English method I’d been “taught” (kind of) when I was little. Not to mention that you could carry two colors in separate hands for fair isle knitting, which made it well worth the while. And, second, circular knitting. You could do that? Amazing. I was hooked without even doing anything yet.
3. The first sweater I made (and I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this), was a Lopi Icelandic sweater. Circular. Multi-colored. Big enough needles that the whole thing went quickly enough to be encouraging to a beginner. In fact, the entire thing took me 10 days from beginning to end–a record I’ve only beaten once. (If you’re going to break a record, the Olympics is the right time, right?)
4. Thanks to encouraging, mind-broadening authors like Maggie Righetti and Elizabeth Zimmerman back when I’m learning, I’m pretty much willing to try anything, knitting-wise. What is there to be afraid of? It’s just yarn, right . . .
5. Just about everything I’ve learned about knitting has been from books, magazines, or the internet. Not counting the neighbor who got me started (but had no follow-through), I’ve never had a lesson.
6. I have a copy of the original edition of the big Vogue Knitting reference book, which I read through with needles in my hand, trying out different techniques as I went. I didn’t test every lace or cable pattern, but I did try my hand at each new technique as I read about it. So, even before I ever made a cabled sweater, I had at least tried and understood the concept of cables. I’ve got to tell you–it really takes the fear out of trying new things.
7. I love coming up with unexpected color combinations, and rarely ever use the colors called for in a pattern–experimenting in front of a wall of yarn, trying out different yarns with their comrades to see what works and what doesn’t is more than half the fun.
8. For that matter, I rarely use the yarn called for in a pattern, either . . . although I do that more often than I ever use the colors. Again, I like to experiment.
9. My favorite thing to knit? Sweaters. I love making something that I can wear, and I love how the different sections require different expertise–it’s fun and interesting, and not boring.
10. But then, there’s nothing quite like blocking lace, either . . . and a shawl is often easier to toss on than a sweater is . . .

Feel free to join in, if you want to (and haven’t yet). It’s always fun to talk about knitting, right?

Oh–and I can’t take any pictures of knitting tonight since my camera’s batteries are charging, but I DID take this picture this morning. I’d gone out to get the paper, and glanced up just in time to see this pretty cloud, reflecting the pink glory of dawn. Of course, I didn’t have my camera with me to take the picture, but I ran back inside and got it just so I could take the picture. Just for you. Of course, the cloud had moved a bit while I was in the house, but still . . . pretty, huh? I can only imagine how pretty it would have been if I’d gotten up just a little earlier . . .

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning, Sky • Permalink:Ten Knitterly Things // 8 Comments »

Well, I’d say it’s about time for me to finish off the top of my bag, huh?

Because, here, you see (looking kind of dark), the knitted reproduction next to the original I’m trying to recreate. Not that it’s exactly looking its best at the moment (the knitting) since it doesn’t particularly stand up very well at the moment. I kind of hooked the needle point protectors over the piping on my ottoman to hold it up long enough to take the photo.

What I need to do at this point is knit the tube/sleeve/facings . . . whatever you want to call them . . . into which I’ll be inserting the bag frames. That shouldn’t take too long. And I’ll be making one side about two or three rows bigger than the other, so that hopefully, when the whole thing is done, the two halves will overlap and fit snugly.

And then, I really need to think about handles! And pockets. And that lining . . . Maybe a button?

Now, reading material. I got two good things in the mail today.

First, a new Dick Francis book. My horse-loving cousin got me reading his horse-racing mysteries back in eighth grade, and I’ve been enjoying them ever since. It’s been about 5 years since he came out with a new book, though, and I’ve had this pre-ordered for months. Had almost forgotten about it, in fact, until it arrived. I admit that I’m a tiny bit disappointed that the main character is Sid Halley–he rarely ever uses the same protagonist in more than one book, but this is Sid’s fourth appearance . . . and, I hate to admit it . . . he’s not one of my favorites. Obviously, as a former champion jockey forced to retire due to injury, the author has a special place in his heart for him, though. I was going to start this right away, but now . . . I think I’ll finish the Lymond Chronicles (best historical fiction author ever) I’m reading, and then give the earlier Sid Halley books a quick reread before tackling this new one.

But the other thing that came? Whole Dog Journal, one of my favorite periodicals. And the best part? Oh, do they ever have an article that’s right up Chappy’s and my alley. “Teach Your Dog to Read.” Seriously. You can even get flash cards. (The stick figures are particularly cute.) Not only does this sound like a whole lot of fun, but there really are some practical applications–especially for service dogs. How helpful would it be for a seeing-eye dog to be able to determine which is the ladies’ room rather than the men’s room? Or spot the sign for the ATM? It could really happen.

Hey–did you know ChicKnits has a new pattern? Ariann, very pretty!

And–if you haven’t, Celia is still taking donations for her Asthma walk. As a person who now seems to have asthma, let me tell you, it is not fun!

Oh, and whoa! That editorial is taking no prisoners….

Anyone want to live in The Shire?

Want your blog to be more popular . . . because you make it worth visiting??

Okay….I did this kind of thing during boring classes in school, but I was never anywhere near this good!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Reading Material // 12 Comments »

  Here’s the very beginning of my next batch of spinning–the Good Vibrations roving I got last week. You’ll note that it’s on my Woolee Winder, which I finally have functioning again (phew!) Really, though, I need at least one more bobbin from them . . . either that, or a bobbin winder and some “temporary” bobbins. Because two is just not enough!

Yes, I AM spinning these as nice, familiar, worsted singles. I could try woolen, it’s true, but . . . well . . . I need something nice and familiar to follow up that learning experience.

Hey, this is a solid, psychological tactic–you let the mind work toward something familiar rather than something new. This is why (and here’s a tip if you ever find yourself required to memorize the Declaration of Independence or a speech or something), memorization is easier if you start at the end and work towards the beginning. One sentence, paragraph, couplet or whatever at a time. If–disregarding the “sense” of it–you start with the very end and then little by little memorize the parts that come before, as you recite, your brain will always be working into familiar territory. The hardest part will be the very beginning, but as you recite, it will get easier and more comfortable the further you go.

I mean, everyone (American, at least) remembers the beginning to the Declaration (“When in the course of human events….“) but who remembers the ending? (“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”) Ditto the Gettysburg Address (“Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” versus “It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for
which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people,
for the people, shall not perish from the earth.“) or basically anything you may have been required to memorize back in school. The beginnings are easier to remember because they’re what we learned first.

I caved a bit today. I took Chappy to the vet where (surprise!) they prescribed an antibiotic for his skin infection while not being able to state why he has it or how to prevent recurrances or explaining why he’s losing fur in spots where the skin is perfectly clear. Gosh, really, I’m just so surprised (grin).

But, see, here’s the thing. I do feel a bit like I caved, instead of standing by my belief that too many antibiotics are bad and that there should be a gentler way of treating this. And yet . . . after almost a week of medicated and/or moisturizing baths, ointments and sprays on his skin, extra supplements in his food, and so on, I haven’t noticed any change for the good whatsoever. And while he hasn’t seemed miserable, still . . . so . . . he’s on a different antibiotic and I’ve got my fingers crossed. Good thing he’s still getting Stonyfield farms yogurt in his food, huh? Now, I’ll just have to wait for that fur to grow back…

But, on the plus side, I, at least, am having a fabulous hair day. I tried two different things from my usual routine of scrunch-out-the-water, scrunch-in-some-gel, and let-it-air-dry-without-touching. First, I put in some AG re:coil, underneath the gel, and then I put my hair in a “pineapple” last night. This is something I got from the forums at Naturally Curly.com, and is as simple as putting your hair into a loose ponytail right at the top of your head before going to sleep. It keeps the pillow from crushing out the curl, and the gravity from pulling it out . . . and looks something like the leaves on top of a pineapple. I must say, I will definitely be trying this again–even if Chappy does laugh at me!

Now, I have to go comfort Mom . . . apparently, somebody thinks her wedding-gift cross-stitch looks like a dead chicken, and really, she’s quite upset…. (grin) (Okay, more like mildly indignant….)

• Tags: Chappy, General, Hair, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Good Hair Day // 15 Comments »

Well, its faults are legion, but still . . . As of noon, I had one bobbin of these mostly-woolen singles . . . As of dinner, I had two full bobbins (don’t ask me why they look so gray). And as of an hour after dinner, I had a 4 oz skein of two-ply yarn.

But, as I say, there are plenty of faults. The first of which is that when I started spinning this roving, it was as teeny-tiny, worsted singles, before I ever decided to experiment with the woolen thing. So the plied yarn at one end of the skein is rougher than the other. And there are a lot of these little, twisty, corkscrews that snuck past as I was plying. Because, of course, there were plenty of places where the thin spots were vastly overspun in order that the thicker spots might hold together. Obviously I need to work on that–but really, how DO you balance having enough twist to hold the thick parts together without overtwisting the thin ones? (I know . . . practice!)

On the plus side, though, the singles only broke once while I was plying, which was much better than I expected. The sections of woolen/woolen singles came together as a nice, fluffy yarn. And it doesn’t look horrible.

Also, well, the speed thing. I couldn’t believe I got that whole second half spun in just a couple of hours. That’s FAST. I forgot to count the turns on my niddy noddy, so I can’t tell you the yardage, but still . . . 4oz of yarn, of which I did half AND the plying in less than three hours? That’s definitely speedy.

Still, this yarn’s not going to win any prizes. And the over-twisted sections make for rough-feeling sections in the yarn, which may or may not soften when I wash it. And I haven’t dared to take it off the niddy-noddy yet, so I couldn’t begin to tell you how balanced it is(n’t). But still . . . it IS an entire skein of yes, amateurish, but still, woolen yarn spun by yours truly. So, I’m proud of it anyway. I WILL, however, be spinning my next batch of yarn in the nice, familiar worsted method (grin).

I’m not the only one who finished something today, either. Mom finished the wedding present she made for her friends. She and Dad met them on Martha’s Vineyard last winter when all of them were staying at the same inn for “Christmas in Edgartown,” and that’s when this couple got engaged. So, instead of just buying them something, Mom adapted the cross-stitch map of Martha’s Vineyard that she’s made any number of times. She stitched the whole thing in metallic blue and copper, left out all the cute little pictures like a ferry boat or the lighthouses, and instead just put one, big, red heart out by Aquinnah, where they got engaged, and then put their names at the bottom. How’s that for a great gift? (And, I promised her I wouldn’t put her picture on my blog, but, well, those happy eyes . . . how could I resist THAT?)

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning, Martha's Vineyard • Permalink:Wooly Thinking // 8 Comments »

T is for Tricks!*

  Sit.
The default position, used for “please” when asking for any behavior. One of the first things he learned as a puppy, right along with house-training and “Leave it” doggie-zen.

  Down.
Really, what else is there to say? Except that often when he does this, he’ll fold his front paws, and it looks absolutely adorable.

  Bravo!
Also known as a play-bow. When we did this trick with Katy, we called it “curtsey” because “Bow” sounds too much like “Down.” We couldn’t use that for Chappy, though, because boys don’t curtsey, so we use “Bravo” instead, so he can take a bow for being so wonderfully cute.

  Hi!
We don’t use the “Shake” command for this one–it seems rude–we just say “Hi” and hold out our hand, and then Chappy puts his paw in ours. Much more civilized. And he’ll alternate between paws, too. “Other hand” generates an immediate switch.

  High Five.
We usually follow up the handshake with a high-five, which is usually only one paw, but it took us a few tries to get this picture, so . . . here we have a high-ten (grin). Or, well, eight, technically.

  Spin.
One of our favorites. On cue, Chappy will spin, clockwise, one full circle. He never goes in the other direction. (And I love the cool, action shot here.)

  Hmm. This trick doesn’t actually have a cue, other than holding a treat in the air. Chappy will balance on his hind legs for it OR will stand on his back legs and then spin around on them. Really, he’s very talented.

Other tricks he can do that weren’t photographed? “Back-up,” which really, he’ll only do for a step or two. And, he learned it at about the same time as “Bravo,” so he sometimes gets confused and does a combination of the two . . . backing up into a bow, with a flourish, or doing a play-bow and the scooting it backwards across the floor. But hey, he DOES know it. He can also catch tossed treats, and volunteered to do that as many times as necessary for the photo shoot, but, well . . . And then, I don’t think sitting and waiting for permission to eat his meals counts as a treat, exactly, but he DOES.

(And, he asks that you please ignore the glimpses of skin on his back because of the ointment matting down his fur, and want to be sure everyone knows that he is NOT going bald and that he REFUSES to do a comb-over no matter what. He was very firm about making sure you were all aware of that.)

* Oh, and thanks to Norma for the instructions on how to center something on Typepad!

• Tags: ABC-Along, Chappy • Permalink:T is for…. // 8 Comments »

Here’s what I’ve been spinning lately.

I know, I know, it doesn’t look perfect.

I’m working on my woolen drafting. It’s nowhere near perfect, and I have no idea how well it would hold together for plying or whatever, but I’m trying. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes I end up with a length that seems just right. Sometimes . . . well . . . not. But I’m not giving up!

I just figure that it’s possible this entire bobbin of yarn may end up completely useless, and am willing to accept that as part of the learning process. (Though I must say, the roving from Crown Mountain is just lovely, and so easy to draft.)

Mom and I went out, on this rainy Saturday, to to to Whole Foods to buy some skin stuff for Chappy. The poor boy is still itchy. I considered taking him to the vet yesterday, but didn’t because I KNEW that all they would do would be to prescribe another course of antibiotics, and I’m just not willing to do that to Chappy. Not one month after his last batch. So, we’re concentrating on medicated baths every other day or so, and skin-friendly sprays (like the collodial silver from Sitstay.com, which seems to be really helpful, as is the Buddy Boo Boo ointment from Cloud Star) . . . and, well, we’re crossing our fingers. Some of the red, irritated-looking spots are looking less red, which is good, although he seems to have lost some fur in spots that aren’t anywhere near the irritated sections . . . I can’t decide if that’s just normal (well, slightly extreme), autumn shedding, or the sign of a greater problem . . . but since the skin there looks perfectly fine, I’m willing to wait and see a little longer. Anyway . . . we’re working on it. Fingers crossed!

Okay . . . back to my spinning, before Typepad shuts down for the night for its “upgrade.”

And, welcome Autumn, my favorite season, by far! (Not counting the allergy thing.)

• Tags: Chappy, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Woolen // 6 Comments »

Here’s some pretty sky to brighten your day.

I’ll admit, however, that it’s not technically a Saturday Sky, since I took the picture on Friday on my way home at lunch.

But . . . well . . . how could I resist such a pretty picture?

And besides, the forecast for Saturday is cloudy with rain late in the day (and on Sunday)–I figured I was better off getting a good and interesting sky picture while I could.

Note the fresh corn growing, too, and the wooden fence teetering up the hill. This whole section used to be a farm, but they turned part of it into soccer fields (with a gravel parking lot, which is where I was). There’s still a working farm, though, and they import other fresh fruits and vegetables to their farm stand which is JUST over the rise and just out of sight. You’d never guess that just past those trees off to the right there’s a 4-lane highway, huh?

Added: And it’s a good thing I did, too . . . this is what our sky looks like this morning. Gray and wet. It’s raining, earlier than we’d hoped, which means the walk in the park isn’t going to happen. (Although, if Chappy’s problems are seated in allergies, that might not be a bad thing, really, even if disappointing.) Blah.

At least I have a pretty, blue-sky picture to look at, though!

• Tags: General, Sky • Permalink:(Almost) Saturday Sky // 1 Comment »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday.

Maybe you’ve seen these . . . I don’t even know what to call them . . . the kind of hanging art things people have in their gardens, twirling in the wind. Well, that’s what this pretty, coppery thing was meant to do . . .

Except, well, I never could bring myself to put it out in the yard, where it would get dirty and oxidized. It just seemed a shame, you know?

So, I planned on hanging it in my bedroom, where its coppery shine would go perfectly with the decor . . .

Except, that would have required putting some kind of hook in the ceiling, and really, that’s just so much work, you know? (grin) So, it ended up being “temporarily” hung in the office, by the “library.” And really, I think it looks just lovely there.

The only sad part? It never gets to play in a breeze.

Still . . . it does have some company . . .

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Wind // 6 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

But, enough about books. . . what else do you read?? Magazines? Newspapers? Professional journals? Cereal boxes? Phone books? Purchase invoices? Homework? (Please be specific. There may be a test later.)

Books are by far my favorite reading material. Full-length books. Not short stories. Books.

It’s true, though, there are times I read other things. I glance at the newspaper in the morning, but don’t really read it. But there are some magazines–there are some craft ones, yes, but also the Smithsonian, which I’ve subscribed to since high school. Whole Dog Journal. TV Guide. Real Living. Writers Ask, too–a nice little newsletter that interviews writers.

Beyond that? Well, yeah, cereal boxes. Soup cans. Shampoo bottles. Bumper Stickers.

Really, if you want to get right down to it, I’ll read just about anything.

In fact, here, I’ll tell you a story. (Have I told you this before?) I’ve been reading since I was three years old. Or at least, that’s what my Mom tells me. Along with the anecdote of how my Grandmother didn’t believe I was actually reading, that she thought I was just repeating some story I’d memorized, until Mom handed me the newspaper or something, and I took off, struggling through the day’s headlines while my Grandmother’s jaw dragged on the floor.

I don’t actually remember how old I was, but I DO remember the instant that the concept of reading clicked in my head.

Like most Moms, mine had taught me the alphabet, and Sesame Street started its run on PBS just at the right time for me, but you know as well as I that parroting the alphabet is a big leap from the comprehension that letters put together make words, words make sentences, etcetera etcetera.

The moment that I made that mental leap? I remember it exactly. We were in the car. I’m pretty sure we were going to my Grandmother’s house (the other Grandmother), but can’t guarantee it. What I CAN tell you is that I was in the backseat, and I looked up (way up), out of the window at a sign. Ironically, I can’t at all remember what the sign actually said. But I do remember that I looked at it and the letters represented sounds, and the sounds combined to make made words, and the words were ones which I knew. I got it. It made sense. Angels sang. The heavens opened and light beamed through the clouds. It was a very private little miracle.

Because at that instant, not only did I make the connection between written letters, words, and so on. But, like a switch being pulled, I had the revelation that, with this knowledge, I could read anything. I could read the picture books scattered in my bedroom. I could read the books scattered in my sister‘s bedroom. I could read Mommy and Daddy’s newspaper in the morning. I could read absolutely anything in the entire world that I wanted to read . . . all I needed to do was learn the words. I clearly remember that sense of revelation and the feeling of the whole world opening up to me. (As well as being daunted at the thought of all the words I was going to have to learn to accomplish this task.)

The family joke is, that I’ve been trying to read everything, ever since.

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:But, Enough About Books…. // 5 Comments »

I came into work this morning and found this newspaper on my desk. A coworker that lives near my sister saw this–a picture of my niece, in the paper, and brought it in for me. How cool is that? (She’s in the picture on the right.)

I got my Patternworks catalog today–apparently they have their own yarn now. I wonder where they got that idea?

I’ve got a tired dog tonight. He got a walk at lunchtime. He got another walk after work. And he got a bath, after which he needed, of course, to run laps around the house to blow-dry his fur.

The bath, well, that’s because Chappy’s recurring staph infection, um, recurred. Sigh. I do NOT want to take him to the vet because he’ll just give him another course of antibiotics, which ultimately isn’t going to help anything. It temporarily takes away the symptoms, but it doesn’t do anything to resolve the underlying problem. I figure I’ll be bathing him with this medicated shampoo every couple days for a while; I can add, I suppose, some more skin-friendly supplements (although he’s already getting quite a few); there are topical ointments I can (and have) put on the red, itchy spots. But really, what I WANT is to find a way to keep this from recurring again.

Okay . . . I’m going to go spin now….

• Tags: Chappy, Family, General • Permalink:Fame // 10 Comments »

Lest you think I haven’t been knitting at all, here’s a look at my progress on my bag. The base is a large rectangle, and the sides so far are about 6″ or so . . . they need to be about 14″, so there’s still a way to go.

Really, I’m feeling my way through the whole process–my first knitted bag, my first felting project, my first bag design . . . Just. You know. Fingers crossed!

My lace, well, it’s coming along. I’m about halfway done with this half, so . . . it’s coming along. It just seems so SLOW (grin). Did the first half take this long?? . . .

Hmm . . . I just checked (blogs are excellent for record keeping). I was just about at this exact same point on April 23rd. I’d started on March 12th (give or take a day). So . . . a little more than a month. And I finished it July 8th–a total of three and a half months.

This half? I started July 9th, and here it is already over two months and I’m just at the halfway point? I’m going to be working on this until Christmas . . . Well, hopefully not that long. I wonder what the odds are of getting this done to wear to Rhinebeck? (No, really. Stop laughing!)

As usual, I have a whole slew of knitting project ideas percolating in the back of my brain. Not just obvious things like, say, knitting up my Sundara Hyacinth socks. But sweaters . . . and I’d love to make an afghan out of the Manos I’ve had hanging in my closet for a few years now. I have yarn for a Clapotis, too, that’s just sitting there. Silky Wool just waiting for me to give it a try. And I have lots of gorgeous lace yarn that deserves to get out of the closet. And there are a couple, small Christmas projects I’d like to make. I don’t do Capital-C-Christmas Captial-K-Knitting insanity like some other knitters we know. But I will do a hat or two, a pair of socks. Never more than, say, two or three little projects, that I always start well in advance . . . but there are a couple things I’d like to do there.

And here I am, stuck on my two, main projects and a pair of socks . . . not able to move forward until they’re done. Yes, I know, people DO add in more projects as inspiration hits, but I don’t do that. I like to keep a reasonable limit on the number of and kinds of projects I have going at once. And besides, think about it. I’ve been working on the same lace project for six months now. Six. Months. Really, I have to get this done already! It’s beautiful and I love it, but I’m ready to move on, you know? So many gorgeous lace projects popping up over the last few months . . . it’s torture (grin).

Speaking of gorgeous, you must check out this incredible art made from folded paper. Absolutely beautiful.

Now, it’s Talk like a Pirate Day. I’m not going to even try, but here’s a quote from my all-time favorite G&S, The Pirates of Penzance–sung, of course, at top volume. I’ve actually been stuck on the soundtrack (the one with Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt, and Rex Smith, from 1982) for over a month now. It’s by far my favorite version–delightfully silly (as is the whole story, of course). Why, oh why, is that ot available on DVD? So, really, I’m happy to share it with you…. Come on, sing along!

With cat-like tread,
Upon our prey we steal;
In silence dread,
Our cautious way we feel.
No sound at all,
We never speak a word,
A fly's foot-fall
Would be distinctly heard -

Come, friends, who plough the sea,
Truce to navigation;
Take another station;
Let's vary piracee
With a little burglaree!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:With Cat-Like Tread // 7 Comments »

  Here’s a look at my very pretty finished yarn.

To recap, this is 70% Merino and 30% kid mohair, in the “Copper Slate” colorway, bought from Crown Mountain Farms.

I bought 6 oz, and spun it into 3 sets of singles, which I then triple-plied, and ended up with 22-wpi. The fact that I managed such fine 3-ply just makes me so happy (grin).

For an idea of the size of my yarn, here’s a comparison. The one on the left is the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock I’m using in my socks. The one in the middle is the Koigu KPPPM I used for the sock heels. The one on the right is mine. (Mine!)

Really, I’m very proud of this yarn. And boy, it’s just beautiful!

Now, yesterday, I experimented with some other roving I had. I’ve decided that I don’t like spinning with 100% alpaca. It’s beautiful and soft and silky, but still . . . I didn’t enjoy spinning it. The deciding factor ended up being when the yarn broke and I could NOT find the end on the bobbin for anything! Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. I took the singles off the wheel and stuck the rest back into its ziplock bag where, no doubt, it will languish indefinitely.

Then I took some nice wool and tried the whole woolen-spinning thing again. I don’t know–I think this is one of those techniques that is easier to learn if you’ve got somebody right there to say helpful things like, “You’re pulling back too far,” “Your tension is too tight,” “You’re fiber isn’t drafted enough.” Stuff like that. Now, I understand the concept of woolen spinning, and the idea of long-draw drafting. And of course, I understand that it’s easier to do this with hand-carded wool rather than the commercially processed stuff. But still . . .

My biggest problem seems to be that I’ll actually get the wool drafted out in something like a reasonable consistency. I’ll let the wheel add some extra twist before I feed it into the bobbin. I’ll test periodically to make sure the yarn is solid enough not to drift apart. All of which sounds like things are going like they should, wouldn’t you agree?

But the problem is that when the yarn inevitably breaks (which, of course, it will during a new technique), not only is it particularly hard to find the end, but the yarn breaks. And drifts apart. And splinters. And turns into fluff. All while I’m trying to get the bobbin rethreaded. SO frustrating. I wasted so much wool while I was trying to just get my end rethreaded through the orifice . . .

Which then makes me wonder . . . assuming I kept going, how well (or badly) would this stuff work as yarn, anyway?? It certainly doesn’t seem promising! If I can’t get 12″ of yarn pulled back off the bobbin so I can continue spinning, how could I ever ply these singles? Or knit with them? And since I’m doing this experimenting on my own, there’s no one to ask.

Really, for whatever reason, learning to spin worsted on my own was much easier than learning to spin woolen!

On the plus side–look at the pretty roving I got today. This is in place of the “Beat Goes On” that I sent back to Teyani last week. I decided I’d just get a whole, different colorway, but couldn’t make up my mind. I ended up saying, “I like these two, surprise me.” Well–surprise! “Good Vibrations” it is!

But first, I’ll finish the Shetland I’m playing with on my wheel . . . I wonder how many yards I can get out of 4 oz….

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:I promised pictures // 18 Comments »

Would you believe that this is a complete sentence?

“Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.”

Honest. Would Wikipedia lie? It took me some time to wrap my brain around this one, but . . . kind of cool, really. (Simple pleasures, right?)

Now, let’s see . . . I still have no interesting knitting photos for you. My bag is about 4″ tall, but doesn’t really look any different than the last photo I showed you. My peacock stole is up to row #117, just starting the next charg, but I’m not even at the halfway point for this half. In other words, the whole thing is about 3/4 of the way done . . . but still, again, it doesn’t look THAT different. It’s just kind of there.

In spinning . . . I don’t have any pictures for you there, either, but I do have a story. Well, anecdote. See, last night I finished plying the singles I showed you on Friday. Then I wound them off onto my niddy-noddy, but still . . . I wasn’t happy with the way the yarn looked. It looked underplied. But by then, I was tired, so I left it on the niddy noddy and went to bed.

Today, I slid it off the niddy noddy and . . . um, no. Even allowing for the pre-wash stage, it was way too twisty. Unbelievably twisty, in fact. And compared to the “live” sample I’d made while spinning the singles, it just didn’t look right. I just wasn’t satisfied.

So, I carried my wheel into the other room, put my skein on my swift, and started running the whole thing through the wheel again, adding more twist. Except, of course, I’d already changed back to the regular head rather than the plying head. Hmmm. Well, I thought, maybe it will fit. So, I started treadling . . . this was frustrating, actually, because the yarn kept getting caught on the corners of my umbrella swift, which kept stopping and starting in its spin . . . But still. I kept on treadling. And treadling . . . (grin). The yarn just BARELY fit on the bobbin. As in, for the last few yards I had to move the feed to the very, very end because every other spot was brushing against the flyer. (Phew!)

Then, I wound it all back onto my swift. (Note to self: I really need a new swift or skein-winder.) Tied the skein, took it off the swift, and . . . uh-oh. Twisty. But the yarn LOOKED good, so, I soaked it in the sink and hung it to dry, and . . . well, it looks good. It actually looks pretty balanced. And I love the way it came out. (Running it through the wheel again was SO worth the extra effort. It needed it, and I wouldn’t have been happy with the way it was at first.)

But, pictures? Well, not yet. I mean, I can’t take pictures of the wet yarn, can I? Not if I want to show you the pretty colors! So . . . tomorrow.

  Meanwhile, here’s an adorable photo for you to admire…. I know this is a face that I can’t resist!

• Tags: General, Uncategorized • Permalink:Buffaloing buffalo from Buffalo // 3 Comments »

  So, let’s see . . . today we saw some cute little Angora goats.

And, what appears to be a racing sheep . . . (Okay, I know that they blanket a sheep to keep the fleece relatively clean, which is great, but I’ve never seen them wearing hoods before.) Underneath the mask, this apparently was a California Red. Or maybe a Tunis. Really, it was hard to tell . . . I don’t know what the “Canvas” breed is called.

  Of course, we can’t forget the Alpacas. They really are such sweet-looking animals. I love those limpid brown eyes, and that cute top-knot.

  There was a sheepdog demonstration (don’t tell Chappy there were dogs there, huh?), which I found pretty interesting . . . (Please note the Saturday Sky–it’s not much, but it’s there!)

  The twins were more interested in looking at the chickens, ducks, pigs and the turkey that were also hanging out at the festival than in watching the dogs. (Check out the cool, Elvis, feather-do this duck’s got. The others in the pen were following him around like groupies.

  Here’s a fascinating shot of a pair of monkeys climbing a fence . . .

We had a really nice time, although the festival itself didn’t really take that much time. Risa saw a few friends she hadn’t seen in a while, the kids had fun looking at the animals, and it was really pleasant . . . but still. We went through everything twice and still were done by 12:30. We climbed back into the car (eventually . . . there was definitely some monkey-wrangling involved) and thought we might stop at the outlets in Flemington . . . but by then, Kat was asleep, and waking her up would have been dangerous. We thought, well, maybe Bridgewater Common mall, since it’s on the way, but Alex was still awake and Kat still completely zonked. We ended up driving all the way back here, stopping at a diner for lunch around 2:00. (This went reasonably well, but still, neither twin particularly listened to Mom and therefore, neither of them got any ice cream. These things happen, right? It’s not like Mom didn’t warn them!) But then after lunch, we headed back to my house, to see my favorite animal of the day.

Chappy was thrilled to see us, and gave such a nice, friendly, (thankfully) bark-free greeting to the twins. Then we all went out on the deck to sit outside–by far the most convenient place because I hadn’t planned ahead and gotten baby gates put up. That was a good choice, though, because it gave the two of them a chance to run around for a while where there really wasn’t anything they could get in trouble with or hurt themselves on. I brought out two of Chappy’s balls (big enough that they wouldn’t roll under the railing and off the deck) and a good time was had by all . . . even if Chappy spent most of the time in the corner, where it was safe. (Behavior that should sound familiar, huh, Liz and Shelley?)

Note the fresh, shiny curls in this picture, because he had a bath right after Risa and the twins left. He’s been scratching a lot lately, and I know he’s got a staph-spot on his back, which I’ve been putting Neosporin cream on lately. (I’d rather avoid another course of antibiotics, you know?) But it’s been over a month since he had a bath anyway, and we DO have that medicated shampoo, so . . . Well, let me tell you, there’s at least two reasons he’s been scratching lately. One, the slight skin eruption, but two–wow–shedding. What a lot of fur came off of him during this bath! Just as I was lathering him up, my fingers were covered in loose fur. I had to clean the hair-catcher on the tub drain three times just so the water would drain. All that loose, shedding fur . . . no wonder he’s been itchy!

Really, I should brush Chappy more often. Actually, I’d love to, except that brushing is a game for him–he tries to catch the brush, I try to make contact. It’s not ideal behavior, of course, by a long shot . . . but I figure he sits relatively still while I do his nails (the body stays put, but the paw twitches and flinches and moves just enough to make the job difficult while not technically misbehaving). And he’s wonderful about sitting still while I give him haircuts with sharp scissors around his ears and his paws and his (ahem) private area. So, the brushing thing? I guess I don’t mind that much that he doesn’t sit still for that. He doesn’t object to the brushing, mind you, and it obviously feels good, but it’s a high-energy grooming task for both of us and frankly, it wears me out. We get pretty much the same effect with bi-weekly baths and the occasional trim to get rid of felted matts under his ears (which are impossible to brush through anyway), so I figure, most of the time, the brushing issue is moot.

I’m sure you’re wondering if I bought anything? Well, the answer is, other than a bottle of water to drink, no. But I meant to. See, Risa bought some beautiful roving, and the vendor (who she knew but whose name I can’t remember at all) gave me a tiny bit to play with. I decided that I liked it too and was all set to buy some, but the seller was busy with another customer. Fine. I waited. And waited. And waited. Meanwhile, the twins were getting fidgety and after a while, Risa said they’d just walk up a ways so the twins wouldn’t get cranky . . . but meanwhile, the seller–who had been friendly and chatty with Risa–was completely ignoring me. Sure, she was talking with this other customer, but I was standing there and . . . not even a glance in my direction.

I can’t stand rude behavior like that. I mean, yes, she and Risa have known each other for years, so while Risa and she were chatting, I had no problem being on the sideline. That’s normal and fine. And the other customer came along while I was still making up my mind, so of course she got taken care of next. But since by then Risa had stepped away from the booth . . . apparently I was still invisible. I hate that. So all I ended up with was one little twist of wool, which I fidgeted with for the rest of the afternoon, and here it is, twisted into a ring, which has actually felted pretty nicely. So, there–it’s an FO already and, even better, it didn’t cost me a thing except a little aggravation. But, thankfully, not enough to spoil the day. And, as Risa said, it made an excellent prelude to Rhinebeck!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Garden State Livestock. // 4 Comments »

Look, see?

Not only have I been spinning, but I’ve been plying!

Here’s the very first look of my Merino/Kid Mohair 3-ply yarn in the “Copper Slate” colorway. (Roving from Crown Mountain Farms, of course.) I just love these colors, and the yarn is coming out so nice, too.

Really, though, I am not enjoying plying these days.

First, there the “balance” issue . . . and yes, I took a sample as I spun to get an idea of what it should look like. But it still doesn’t help me figure out whether I’m under- or over-twisting the yarn as I ply. I spin clockwise, so that’s a Z twist. I ply counter-clockwise, so that’s S. But if the yarn twists back on itself with, say, a Z-twist . . . does that mean it’s under-plied or over-plied? (The fact that my brain simply doesn’t seem to want to recognize the difference between Z and S when I look at twisted fibers. I know with my head that they are so named because the slant of the twist mimics that slant in the middle of the letters, and yet, as soon as I squint at the yarn, my brain just can’t picture the correlation. It’s a weird, conceptual thing.)

But, other than that, I’m frustrated with my Lendrum. One, the plying head is hard to treadle. No matter how I adjust the various tensions–the height of the mother-of-all against the wheel, the tension in the brake–treadling is a real effort. But also, the sliding guide/feed that replaces hooks on other-style flyers does NOT stay in place. It keeps twisting around on the arm, or actually moving . . . the tension meant to hold it in place is clearly not tense enough. So, I’ll position it, start (laboriously) treadling, and then . . . suddenly the yarn’s feeding in the wrong place. Sigh.

We won’t even address the issue of the annoying, tensioned lazy kate that, no matter how loose I make the tension, grips the bobbins so that . . . especially when they start getting close to empty . . . the singles are harder to get from the bobbins to the wheel.

But, enough about the problems. The yarn looks beautiful, doesn’t it? (No, I’m not fishing for compliments.) I just can’t make any guarantees about it being balanced. I’m not holding my breath (grin).

Tomorrow, Risa, her twins, and I are going to the Garden State Sheep Breeder’s Association Festival. (A long name for a small festival!) Ina from Jersey Knitter is submitting some of her new spinning into the skein contest.

Chappy, meantime, plans on being bored and sulking for most of tomorrow, while I’m out gallavanting. Poor little guy–he hasn’t had a walk in the last two days because of the rain, and it’s not looking good for tomorrow, either. We’ve got our fingers crossed for the weather, mind you, but either way, since I’ll be out for a good portion of the day . . . it’s not looking promising for a walk tomorrow for poor, lonely little Chappy.

Of course, I’d feel worse for him if he hadn’t gotten himself into trouble this morning. He ran into my parents’ room, jumped up on the bed (which he’s not supposed to do), stole my Dad’s socks, and leaked on the bed. I’m not sure if it was an accident or an intentional thing, but still . . . that’s not a fun way to start the day. So, we’ve got the baby-gate up across the hallway again, and Chappy’s not allowed in their bedroom for a couple days. Tsk, tsk! I mean, really, no marking territory on his grandparents’ bed!

---

Another cute little meme–Go here and look through random quotes until you find 5 that you think reflect who you are or what you believe. Repost in your blog

(Although, I may have gotten a little carried away–I couldn’t stop at five, I was having too much fun. And they may not “reflect” me so much as just, well, amuse me.)

If God had really intended men to fly, he’d make it easier to get to the airport.
–George Winters

It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
–Robert Benchley

Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.
–Alfred Hitchcock

I’ve had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn’t it.
–Groucho Marx

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.
–William James

Trouble is part of your life, and if you don’t share it, you don’t give the person who loves you a chance to love you enough.
–Dinah Shore

Good order is the foundation of all things.
–Edmund Burke

A cheerful mind is a vigorous mind.
–Jean De la Fontaine

Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a different way to stand.
–Oprah Winfrey

There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.
–Oscar Levant

Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.
–Adlai Stevenson Jr

When I was born I was so surprised I didn’t talk for a year and a half.
–Gracie Allen

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Can I Quote You On That? // 10 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday.

I’ve had this little porcelain cottage since high school. Mom and Dad bought it for me in the Great Britain section of Epcot, down in Disney World. We’d gone for just a weekend, the three of us, because Dad had a business trip, and figured it would make a nice break for us from a New Jersey January. Naturally, the day we were supposed to leave, we had a snowstorm, and out flight was delayed. Not only that, I woke up that morning witha fever–the first one I’d had in years and years. (When I told my parents that I had been so cold during the night, they said I should have gotten up and taken some Tylenol. I asked why, they said because of the fever. But, really, this had been the first time since I had been in elementary school that I’d had a fever–how was I supposed to know? When I was little, Mommy took care of these kinds of things!)Anyway, because of the fever, they wouldn’t let me help shovel the driveway clear of all the snow–even though that was the ONE winter that I adored shoveling–and when we finally got to the airport, I fell asleep while Mom and Dad were checking in. I slept on the plane, which is absolutely unheard of for me. Mom and I walked around Disney world in the rain that Friday, while Dad was in his meeting, with me trying to keep warm . . .

The next morning, I woke up feeling fine, but the weather was still pretty miserable. Wet. Damp. Cold. It even felt colder in Florida than it had in New Jersey, although of course, that wasn’t actually true. But we weren’t as bundled up as we would have been at home, either. But we saw Epcot Center, which was still pretty new (there were some exhibits that weren’t even open yet). And my nice parents got me this little souvenir.

I adored these little cottages–I loved the tiny details, as if you could climb right inside. Which, of course, is something I used to imagine all the time . . . I’d sit with it right in front of my eye, picturing what it felt like to walk up to that little front door, to peek into (or out of) the windows, to climb the stairs . . .

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Cottage // 5 Comments »

My issue of Spin-Off came today, and I really enjoyed reading through it. (Although, I’m going to have to go back to really appreciate the technical aspects of some of the spinning-in-the-fold instructions.)

There are some adorable tea-cosy patterns. Including, especially, my favorite. I may have to add this to The List. There’s a great write up on Cara‘s Spin-Out, too, as well as a tribute to Jane Hyland by Liz. Oh, and an article about those nice Bosworth people…. I do still lust after a Journey Wheel….Nice issue.

Good timing, too, because I needed the incentive. Do you know I have not spun since Saturday?? Tsk tsk tsk.

In fact, that’s where I’m going right now . .

Thank you for your good wishes, too. We appreciate it!

Ooh, and look–I’ve adopted a new puppy! (Chappy picked the name . . . Quiddick was already taken.) Pet him! Give him a biscuit! (Thanks to Shelley over at Shelley’s Book Shelf for letting me know about these.) How cute, huh?

---

adopt your own virtual pet!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Wet, Dreary Thursday // 5 Comments »

Booking Through Thursday

1. Do you tend to read more books written by one gender over the other? If so, which one? Men?
   Or women? I find this kind of interesting, actually. Glancing over my extensive (grin) library, most of my fiction does seem to be written by women. Not to say that the men aren’t represented, but there are more female-written novels than male-written. On the other side of the shelf, though, more of my non-fiction is written by men. I’m not sure why–there’s quite a variety over there, and yet the ladies are under-represented.
2. Is this a deliberate choice? Or just something that kind of happened? It just kind of happened . . . odd, huh? At least about the non-fiction, I think.
3. And (without wanting to get too personal), is this your gender? Well, yes, I am female . . . so the fact that I would connect more to fiction written by women does make a certain amount of sense. But the fact that I have more books about history or biography or dog-training written by men is curious. It’s not like women can’t write incisive history just as well as men, after all! Although almost every craft-book I have is written by a woman, as are the fashion-decorating-etiquette kinds of books.

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Men and Women // 3 Comments »

Well, it doesn’t look like much of a bag . . . yet . . . but it will. The bottom is done, and I’ve just picked up the stitches around the edge and knitted about three rows. Clearly, there’s still a way to go, but . . . progress, at least.

I also did two, whole rows on my stole . . . exciting, huh? That puts me at row 103.

But then, I got over an inch done on my sock this afternoon, so that I’m only a couple rows away from the heel.

See, I had some extra time this afternoon. I went to the doctor (who prescribed Singulair and an Albuterol inhaler, by the way), and then over to the pharmacy, where there was some kind of computer glitch with my insurance–one scrip was accepted, the other wasn’t. It was sorted out, but . . anyway, they had a chair in the corner of the drugstore, so I sat there and knitted. Kept myself quite entertained, in fact. Now I’ll just keep my fingers crossed . . . allergy medicines I’ve tried in the past have not agreed with me, but my doctor assures me that this one is “different,” so . . . hoping. Skeptical . . . but hoping.

Hey, without going into details, we’re having some problems that may (will?) hit the crisis point within a few months unless something changes . . . there are some plans, but they’re not moving quickly enough and, well . . . if you could say a little prayer, send some helpful vibes our way . . . it would be much appreciated. You know, before things become critical…. Positive thinking can never, ever hurt!

Oh, and some good news? My niece got accepted into her number one college choice! That is so, so exciting! She applied for early-admission, it’s the only school she really wants to go to. In fact, she talks about it the same way I talked about Drew my senior year in high school. That she just knew it was right the minute she saw the campus, it was just what she’d always pictured in a college. Really, she could almost be quoting me . . . I’m so happy for her! Now, its just that pesky little financing issue . . .

---

I got this over at Phyl‘s and thought it was cute.

My 10 Names Meme

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: ( pet and current street name) Chappy Birch

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your moms side,
your favorite candy) Maude Chocolate

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of last name, first three letters of your middle name)
B Ann

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Yellow Dog

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Ann Denville

6.
YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2
letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom’s maiden name and
first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)
Boydefrden

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (“The”, your favorite color, favorite drink) The Yellow Water

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first name of both your grandfathers) Otto Albert

9. FUTURISTIC NAME: ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne and the name of your favorite shoes) Stella Merrell

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother/father’s middle name ) Carol Walter

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Slouch Bag // 15 Comments »

Dentist again today–an hour and a half for the intermediary step between the temporary crowns last time and the permanent ones in two more weeks, and my mouth is sore. And it didn’t help that the sore teeth in the upper right part of my mouth made my right ear, which has been twinging a bit with the allergy/sinus thing the last few days, decide to jump in and play, too, and start to ache. Sigh.

Luckily, the Advil I took as soon as I got home eventually kicked in. And I laid my sore ear on my hot puppy for a while (hugging a dog is always good therapy, you know). The shower and shampoo helped, too. But still . . . the knitting was not adventurous tonight. The lace was, well, definitely out of the question. The tote bag would have been great, but I’m right about at the point where I need to start the sides . . . but first, I have to be sure the propoprtions of the unfelted bottom are correct, and, well, that required thinking, too. So, I worked on my sock, which is coming along nicely.

Really, I need to write down what I’m doing . . . this pattern has potential.

Have you SEEN the buttons for Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo? (Which now has it’s own site.)

You know, real buttons, as can be ordered over at Cafe Press?

One for the squares for the Bingo cards. And one (even more hilarious) for those playing.

Darn it, Dolores with a lasso almost makes me wish I hadn’t volunteered to be a square . . .

Will Rhinebeck weekend NEVER get here?

• Tags: General • Permalink:Ow 2 // 11 Comments »

Here’s the wheel I learned to spin on, my Ashford Kiwi. I got it secondhand on Ebay almost two years ago and am really quite attached to it.

However, the poor thing rarely gets used anymore. I use my Lendrum for just about everything, and I haven’t used the Kiwi for anything at all since last November.

That’s just not fair. It deserves better.

So, what I want to do, is find a new home for this good wheel. I’ve got the wheel–a double-treadle, versatile wheel. Seven bobbins. A basic 2-bobbin lazy kate. A hi-speed “kit,” and a maintenance kit.

New, these would cost about $350.

I’m thinking . . . $300. Maybe $275?

But–here’s the important thing. The big Condition.

I am not willing to pack and ship this. I don’t want to take it apart, and I definitely don’t want to risk shipping damage.

So, that means that whoever buys this wheel has to be somewhere within pick-up distance. Or willing to meet me at a halfway point no more than an hour or so away from me here in northern New Jersey. Or, going to Rhinebeck on Saturday, since I would be willing to tote this to Rhinebeck on the one day I’m going.

What do you think? Anyone want to give this poor, lonely wheel a new home?

Updated 3/31/07: This has been sold. But thank you for your interest!

• Tags: Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Kiwi, Anyone? // 16 Comments »

September 11, 2001
Never Forget.

[Read more →]

• Tags: Uncategorized • Permalink:Always Remember // 7 Comments »

Here’s a look at my knitted-bag-to-be. This is two strands of Cascade 220, knitted together, on US size 10.5 needles, which feel absolutely HUGE. I put the bobbin of singles in the picture as a size-reference, but I must say, those colors look pretty fabulous together, don’t they? Although, really, the brown in the knitting isn’t quite as coppery as it looks in the photo.

I had planned–well, hoped–to get the rest of my third bobbin of singles spun up today, but that didn’t happen, because I didn’t feel well enough to sit and treadle this afternoon.

Last night, I colored my hair (very necessary), and while working the dye into the back, I got a face-full of dye fumes, which triggered . . . not exactly an asthma attack, but something like. I’ve had a bit of a cough for the last week or so–not nearly as bad as last month, when Chappy was coughing, too–but kind of there. Well, last night, after I did my hair . . . wheezing and whistling.

I couldn’t get to sleep until after I’d used my inhaler (leftover from my lung infection last March), because my lungs were whistling with every breath . . . and I slept fine about 5:15 this morning, when that same noise woke me up. And again around 6:15. And 7:15 . . . and I was just more or less short of breath all morning. (And yes, Norma, I took some Elderberry syrup.) We took Chappy out for a walk this morning, but it was a short, just around the block one.

Of course, instead of being really smart, I then did what I’d wanted to do today–I cleaned my closet. Pulled out my craft stuff, the extra parts to my spinning wheel, books, yarn . . . I vacuumed around inside the closet (it’s amazing the amount of fur that gets in there). Reshuffled things to make better room for my knitting books. Stuff like that. Surprisingly, my lungs were better after that.

But anyway, that was my day. It would have been a lovely day for a good, long walk, but that didn’t happen. I planned on doing some baking. That didn’t happen. I should have cleaned my bedroom, but that didn’t happen, either. (Ironic, I know, that I vacuumed my closet, but not the rug I sit on every night while I type.) And I really wanted to spin, but . . .well, maybe after I finish this post.

Today would also have been Jilly‘s birthday. She would have been 23 (yes, unlikely, I know.) Here’s a picture of the two of us at work however many years ago this was. Our office had a “Stuffed Animal Day,” where people brought in stuffed toys. Well, I brought in Jilly, because “She was the most stuffed animal I knew.” Mom came and picked her up around 10:30, but for a little while, we worked together. (Please note that Jilly brought HER stuffed animal. A little teddy bear named Chewbone.)

Oh–and let me ask those of you who embroider. My Mom is making a wedding gift for some friends and wants to put their names at the bottom. We need an alphabet about 5 stitches tall and relatively narrow, to spell out their names–does anyone have a good one we could use to chart them?

• Tags: General, Katy, Jilly, Muppy, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:So-So Sunday // 7 Comments »

Silver Jewelry, to be exact. My favorite kind.

Especially the Earrings.

  Curvy ones.

  Curly ones.

  Long(ish) ones.

  Short ones.

  And there might be a necklace or two, though I don’t wear them that often. This is one of my favorites, though. “Road sign” charms from Martha’s Vineyard, one with Katy’s name, one with Chappy’s. (There really are advantages to naming your dog for tourist spots.)

  We won’t forget my authentic Boykin Spaniel charm, either, all the way from South Carolina. (Boykins ARE the state dog of South Carolina, you know.)

Thanks, of course, to my Diva Peacock Stole part 1, for modelling. She’s trying to keep herself occupied while she waits for me to finish part 2 . . . which is taking a looooong time.

And, sure, I could have used “Spinning” or “Spindles” or something like that, but I thought this would be more fun!

• Tags: ABC-Along • Permalink:S is for Silver // 5 Comments »

Ah, that feels better, now I’ve got that “Must Buy Books!” itch scratched.

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Ahh…. // 1 Comment »

  What’s wrong with this picture?

Yep. Two full bobbins, ready to ply, waiting on my Lazy Kate . . . but the third? It appears to be a bit behind the others . . .

No matter! I separated it out into a bunch of smaller strands of roving in my hat, like I did with the last batch, and I spun on the first piece or two, “to get it started,” last night before I went to bed.

I love the way these singles look. I love the colors (“Copper Slate,” you’ll remember). I have no idea how I’m doing as to yardage, but I’m trying to get as much as I can. Mostly because I want my finished, three-ply yarn to be usable for socks. I did pull off a sample and folded it in thirds to let it twist up on itself, and it looks like it’s in the vicinity of sock yarn!

Of course, with a total of 6 oz of roving, this could make a lot of socks!

My other socks are moving onward, looking beautiful, although I didn’t get much done last night. I was tired after a refreshingly busy day at work, and then flipping pancakes for supper.

I DID start my to-be-felted bag, though. (Garter stitch on big needles was about my speed last night.) I had tossed my swatch in with our weekly load of towels on Thursday and remeasured, and so I’m starting with 50 stitches of double-strands of Cascade 220. I’ll knit this, the bottom, in garter stitch, until it’s a rectangle of sufficient size, and then pick up stitches around the outside and work the body upward in stockinette stitch. In my studies of the original, it doesn’t look like I really need to do any shaping at all–that a rectangular bottom with straight sides should be perfect. We’ll hope so, anyway!

And, oh yes, I’m doing this in the brown and blue–not the magenta. That was really just too pink for my tastes. I’ll just take the look of the finished product on faith, is all…

Here’s what our sky looks like this morning–clear and blue. It’s supposed to be about 80 degrees today–not too hot, which is a plus.

Mom and I are planning on heading to a bookstore. Do you know, I can’t actually remember the last time I was in a bookstore?? You have to realize how horrifying that is for me. Like a knitter who hasn’t been to a yarn shop in months. (Which, come to think of it, I haven’t been, either.) And I think the need is fairly urgent, too, because while we all know I have plenty of books, when I’d finished my current book yesterday and went looking for another . . . I couldn’t find one. I picked up and started four different books over the course of the night last night, and none of them “clicked.” Clearly, the library needs some fresh blood. Because while I am delighted to read, and re-read, and re-read again, just about any of them that I enjoy . . . sometimes, you just need something new! So . . . the bookstore is calling.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Still Lazy Kate // 5 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday.

A look into my (dusty) cup of pens on my desk….

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Pens // 7 Comments »

Just a couple things.

I finished the first of my two socks. I’d show you more, but I actually have Plans for this pattern, so a peek at the toe is all you’re going to get. Yes, it’s a contrasting color. I even, in fact, used reinforcing thread to give it extra strength (ooh la la!). The main yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in “Indian Summer,” which was gifted to me by Shelley back in April. The contrast? Some Koigu that I had in the closet. I thought the colors looked really well together.

Meanwhile, I’m trudging along on my Peacock Stole Part Two . . . I’ve been working for months and I’m only on row 87 out of, what, 250? As much as I love this pattern, and love the idea of making a rectangular version of the triangular original . . . I’m ready to be done with this now . . . and yet, there’s no end in sight!

Oh! And the roving I showed the other day, that I said I was disappointed in? Teyani (about whose customer service I really had no doubts) offered to exchange it for a ‘darker’ batch, which is great. Pretty though it is, I do so hate being disappointed, don’t you?

Did any of you see this article in Publisher’s Weekly, about the slowing down of the knitting trend? (Huh. Obviously the writer doesn’t know any of us.) Although, actually, I thought it was a fair, well-balanced article, focusing on the slow-down in knitting-book purchases in the last year. Well, sure . . . there just aren’t enough really good, new knitting books. I mean, there have been some great ones this year (the Harlot’s, Wendy’s, Mason-Dixon . . . and I’m eagerly awaiting Eunny’s), but once you have a reasonable knitting library, there’s only so much to buy. (Some, of course, would say that my knitting library is UNreasonable, but, what do they know?)

Also, on an important-to-me note, today would have been Katy‘s birthday. She would have been seven today. I could really use a cupcake, too. Our favorite nickname for her was “Katycakes” and for some reason, it just seems like there should be cake today . . .

Is it strange that I still miss her so much? Lord, look at those eyes she had! Amazing, really–same breed as Chappy, and yet her face looked so different. Not quite so rounded, she had that “triangle” of fur down her nose. She kept her hair neat–no topknot on the top of her head. Fewer curls than Chappy. Oh, she was so pretty . . .

But don’t tell Chappy I said so. He gets just a little jealous when I talk about her….

• Tags: Family, General, Katy, Jilly, Muppy, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Pause // 15 Comments »

Booking
Through Thursday

1. We asked last week about what draws you to your favorite kind/genre of book. This week, we want to know–how often do you depart from that comfort zone? If you love mysteries, do you ever read fantasy? If you primarily read cookbooks, do you ever read a good romance?
2. How MUCH variety is there in your reading? Do you mostly stick to one type, with just the occasional toe-dip into a different style? Or do you generally read a variety of things, just, maybe more of your favorite style than anything else?
   

I read a little bit of everything, really. Or at least, a little of most kinds of genres–fiction, non-fiction. History. Science. Science Fiction. Biography. Dog training books. Travel. Essays. Books on writing and grammar. Cookbooks. Craft books. But also in fiction, I’ll read fantasy, mystery, literature, historical fiction, contemporary . . . About the only thing I DON’T read is horror/true crime. They keep me up at night. Westerns and books about sports, romances–none of these are favorites, but even those, I’ll read one every few years or so.

I try to stretch my boundaries and read different kinds of books, even if I keep going back to my favorites, my “comfort” reads. But throughout each month, there’s usually a reasonable mix . . . or at least, I try. I pretty much always have at least one history book and one fiction of some kind going at once, but since I zoom through fiction faster than I do through non-fiction, the finished list each month is almost always weighted toward fiction.

• Tags: Reading • Permalink:Booking Through Thursday // Add Comment »

Best Festival Idea Ever: Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo.

Sheer brilliance, as could only be conceived by Debbie aka Stitchy McYarnpants. (I’ll admit, though, that as much as I love Dolores, this is a little more of her than I really needed to see.)

Baring unforeseen disasters (which I do not expect) I know I’m going to Rhinebeck again this year. With Company, if all goes well. Plus one more, if there’s baby-sitting available at home. It was so much fun last year–and it’ll be even more fun now that I know how to get there. (Piece of advice–if you print the directions off of the Rhinebeck site’s page–make sure everything fits on your paper, and doesn’t scroll way off to some far-distant right-margin in never-never land. Those directions are much more difficult to follow.)

Now, my sweater that I finished the other day . . . I’m rethinking the sleeves. I put it on this morning, thinking I might wear it to work . . . although since the day warmed up, I’m just as glad I didn’t. But the point is that I’m still not happy with the way they look. I like that “diamond” from the side, I really do, but from the front, the downward-pointing sleeve tip is just . . . odd. So now I’m thinking about taking the sleeves out and just leaving the ribbing at the armhole.

So that, instead of this, it would look more like this:

(Well, you know, something like that but with better editing.)

Yeah . . . I think I’m definitely leaning toward doing this . . . It’s either that or rip out a certain amount of the blue to get rid of that little “pooch” and make the finished edging horizontal when worn. But . . . yeah. I like the sleeve, I do, and yet . . . I don’t like wearing it, and darn it, I WANT to wear this sweater!

Oh, and even though Rhinebeck is getting closer and the excitement ist starting to ramp up, for those of you in New Jersey, let me tell you (if you don’t know) that there’s the Garden State Sheep Breeder’s festival down near Flemington in two weeks. Risa, the twins, and I are going. It sounds small and sweet and fun–not huge, like Rhinebeck. Anyone else planning on going??

A friend sent me pictures today of her daughter’s first day of kindergarten. Her daughter was born just a few days before Chappy . . . which made me realize. If he were a human little boy, he’d be starting school this week! That just seems so weird….

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Bingo, Anyone? // 8 Comments »

Because, naturally, I needed more roving!

We have here 8 oz of Merino Superwash in “The Beat Goes On” and 8 oz in “Big Yellow Taxi.” And then 8 oz of Corridale Pencil roving in “Crown Jewels.”

I’ll admit, I’m a little disappointed in the first one. It’s got a lot more white in it than in the picture on the website. (The second one does, too, but I like it just fine.) And I love the pencil roving–the colors are gorgeous, and just what I expected. Still, it’s lovely roving, isn’t it?

And then, for a small, practical thing of great beauty–what about this tapestry needle, huh? Isn’t it just lovely? So much more elegant for weaving in ends than the plastic Susan Bates needle I usually use.

Now, elsewhere in spinning, I finished my first bobbin of merino/mohair in Copper Slate, which is just so, so pretty. I adore the colors and am really happy with the way it’s spinning up. The plan, again, is to spin up 6 oz and then triple-ply them into something resembling sock yarn, which is why I’m spinning as finely as I reasonably can. And really . . . sooo pretty.

Thank you all for your help (so far) with the felting questions. I don’t think I’d made it clear yesterday that, when I mentioned the pocket for the bag frame, that I didn’t mean an actual pocket–but rather, the pocket/sleeve through which I’ll be threading the satchel frame when the bag is done. I mentioned to Jessalu that what I really needed was something that I could put in there to prevent it from felting closed, but which would be easy to pull out AND (most important) would be washing machine-friendly. She suggested a rubber hose, which really, sounds just about perfect.

Then Diane mentioned re-felting the swatch in the washing machine, to make sure the felting level would be the same as I’ll get in the finished product . . . which, I have to agree, is excellent advice. (The only reason I didn’t do that yesterday was that I just couldn’t bring myself to use that much hot water for a tiny little rectangular swatch, and we just don’t do any of our laundry with such hot water.) I’ll see what I can do, though . . . although that would definitely put a massive delay in my getting started. Chances are, I wouldn’t get to do that until the weekend, and well, I’d like to start the bag tonight!

And–head on over to Unraveling and make a donation to Celia’s Asthma Walk. (You know, really, Chris‘s regular announcements of various charity drives and contests is very handy.)

Lastly, any geeky, sci-fi-loving bloggers out there–you have to check out this cartoon. The punchline just cracks me up–I’ve never had that exact reason, of course, but I certainly have sent people to my blog and told them to scroll down past Chappy and knitting pictures to get to whatever I’m directing them there for . . . anyway, I thought it was funny. And, I got there through the blog of Steve Miller, co-author of the Liaden books I love so much. Sharon Lee has one, too. That’s pretty cool all by itself.

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Roving On // 10 Comments »

So, I mentioned last month my intention to try to recreate my beloved Planet Dog satchel as a knitted bag, despite my complete inexperience with felting. (Because, well, where would the fun be without some added danger.)

I’ve started smartly. I’m using Cascade 220 from my stash, which I know felts well. I’ve even made two swatches–one in the greenish-brown which I bought last Spring, which I then decided was too “flat” a color, and then made another one with a strand of that with a strand of magenta, which I also had in my stash.

I marked off 20 stitches and 20 rows with some thread, as detailed in “Felted Knits” and then I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed the swatch in a sink of very hot water, and remeasured the whole thing.

So far, so good, right? Except . . . Well, the first thing I can tell you is that I do NOT like felting by hand. Too hot and tedious.

The second thing is that I don’t like the magenta. I mean, the felted swatch looks fine, and all, but it’s far too pink for my taste. I’d rather see two parts brown to one part magenta, at the least . . . 50/50 is way too much. But that’s okay, I have seven skeins of a really lovely blue Cascade that I bought ages ago for Mason-Dixon’s Perfect Sweater. I adore the color, but that pattern doesn’t seem to be upcoming any time soon, so . . . I think I’ll substitute that.

Still . . . all well and good, so long as I don’t run out of the blue. This is what swatching is for!

But now we come to the questions . . . things that I just don’t know enough about since I have never made a felted bag before.

1. Do I sew the pieces together before or after felting? I mean, I plan on needing as few pieces as possible, and heck, isn’t this the kind of thing circular knitting is for? But there will still be things like handles and pockets, even if the basic structure of the bag is done by knitting needle.
2. I’m going to need pockets for the satchel frame. Can I felt the bag with those pockets already there? Or will they felt closed, instead of remaining a tube?
3. Will shaping details like a purl-row to mark a direction change translate to the felted fabric? Or just disappear into the fabric like all the regular stitches?
4. Ideally, I’d like to knit as much of this bag in one piece as is possible, and then just felt the whole thing. But, without any real felting experience, I don’t know . . . is it better to assemble things at the end, say, with a sewing machine, than it is to mattress stitch seams with yarn and then felt everything together for added strength?

Anyway . . . things to ponder, right?

Elsewhere, thank you, to all of you who suggested Replacements.com and mentioned their matching service. I now know that my Grandmother’s dishes are Noritake pattern N898, discontinued approximately 1936. That’s very cool–thank you!

Also, today being Labor Day, the Summer of Stash is over. I’m proud to report that the only yarn I bought during the summer was a tiny bit of sock yarn, which really, was Liz’s fault. (I mean, it would have been RUDE of me not to buy yarn at her local shop, right??) There was the Sundara Petals Collection yarn, but since that was part of a club I’d joined well before SOS began, that didn’t count. Nor did the two skeins of Suede I bought to make baby booties, because, well, they were for a gift, I declared them upfront as possible exceptions, and anyway, I refuse to feel guilty about them. All of which means that I consider myself free to take advantage of my promised-reward: one of the many St*rmore kits I’ve been lusting after. I do love the Elizabeth I sweater that Cate got me longing for, and I have to say, that Grant Avenue vest has been calling my name for a long, long time. Of course, there’s also the thought of hand-dyed silk lace yarn from Sundara, which frankly, I’d also love to have….

We’ve been really lucky with the weather this weekend. Saturday was as wet and miserable as the forecasts had said, but yesterday and today? Really quite nice. We took Chappy out for a nice, long walk this morning and it was delightful. 70 degrees, mostly sunny, a nice breeze. Very nice, indeed. Especially since the forecasts had been predicting that the whole weekend would be like Saturday was. So much nicer this way! And Chappy has been able to enjoy that rarest of things, a GOOD Monday. Now, if only my teeth would stop hurting . . . stupid temporary crowns . . . grumble, grumble . .

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Stupid Felting Questions // 7 Comments »

This was ALL the yarn I had left in my skein.

Just barely enough to thread onto a needle to weave the ends in.

Granted, I have another, untouched skein (one in each color, in fact), but you understand . . . it’s the principle of the thing. Having to blend a new skein of yarn solely for the purposes of binding off the sleeve? That’s just wrong. Wrongwrongwrong. On so many levels.

But, you realize what this means, right?

Yep. My sweater is done.

You’ll have to forgive the mediocre picture, but this way you can see the nifty diamond shape the sleeves make when worn. They have a strange little “pouch” to them when lying flat . . . which, I admit, I would have avoided if I had known ahead of time. But I consider the downward diagonal to be a serendipitous occurence. I like the sleeves.

The colors look pretty accurate, too–the green looks green and not yellow, so that’s a plus.

I like the way this came out. I like the stripes (Shelley’s idea, originally), and I like that I staggered them in different thicknesses instead of doing regular stripes. I like the 5×2 rib that I opted to do the body in–it adds a little heft to the fabric, without making it too clingy. It was also interesting enough to knit that it didn’t feel as endless as stockinette stitch sometimes does. I shaped the shoulders and the sleeves with shortrows . . . I suppose I could have used a little more shaping at the shoulder, but, then, they mostly look odd in this picture because of the ribbing on the sleeves.

The reason the sleeves look so strange in when it’s unworn is that I knitted them in 2×2 ribbing, mostly because when I picked up all the stitches around the armhole, it wasn’t divisible by 7. It’s a tghter rib than 5×2, so the sleeves “gather in” more than the fabric of the body does, although worn, they fit and “match” just fine.

The specs again, such as they are: knitted in Karabella Aurora8/Aurora Melange yarn, in my very own design.

---

It’s been a lovely family day, here. Lots of silliness and laughter–and playing. Chappy’s toys were very popular (as was he). Even my sister got in on the game–a goal-scoring game where she tried to get the soft frisbee past my nephew into the dining room, and he tried to get it past her into the living room. Chappy mostly stayed on the outskirts of the game, but every now and again, he would jump in to grab the toy (it is HIS, after all). At one point, he saved the toy and pranced around with it in his mouth, head held high, tail going a mile a minute, just clearly so darn pleased with himself.

Really, they were all very entertaining.

The food was good, too. Mom broiled some chicken which came out nice and juicy and very tasty. I made potato salad, which is always a hit with my family. (Personally, I only like potato salad when it’s freshly made, and really only like my own, and once or twice a year is plenty. But even mine, once it’s passed 24 hours or so . . . blech.) I also made two desserts–an end-of-summer one and a beginning-of-fall one.

The summer dessert (illustrated here) is a frozen lemon pie. Now, the inspiration for this came from my 1999 trip to London, when my friend and I ate at one specific pub and had a dessert that tasted like–and had the texture of–a frozen lemon meringue pie. Delicious. (In fact, we made a point of eating at that pub twice, just so we could get the pie again.) I’ve wanted to recreatre it ever since, but had no idea how to get that meringue-like texture in an ice cream. But then, the cookbook I got last month had a recipe for lemon-curd ice cream AND one for a caramel semifreddo which got its texture from beaten eggs, rather than air churned into the mixture as it freezes. Hmmm . . . . So, I made a crust out of crushed ginger snaps, made the lemon curd ice cream, and then made the semifreddo with a couple of adjustments. (No caramel, and instead of using two eggs used the 4 egg whites left over from the lemon curd.) The result? Almost perfect. I poured the lemon curd ice cream base directly into the pie shell instead of churning it in the ice cream maker first, and so it ended up with big ice crystals–not as creamy as it should have been, but still . . . the flavor was great, the idea worked, and so far as my memory serves, it’s darn close to the original. (Granted, it’s 7 years since I tasted the original, but . . . maybe that’s not a bad thing, huh?)

Oh, and the other dessert was an applesauce cake–the recipe from the Joy of Cooking, and which has been a family favorite for about twenty years now. And which remains about the ONLY way I like raisins at all.

  Lastly, take a look at the picture they gave my mother. The drawing was done by my niece–that’s her in the front, and Ocean Park on Martha’s Vineyard in the background. The frame was assembled as kind of a family project. Isn’t it wonderful? I can knit and all just fine, but I cannot draw a jot . . . gotta admire this kind of talent . . .

Okay . . . very tired now. It’s been a full day (grin). And, oh, you should see poor Chappy . . . he’s doing his rug imitation–as flat out on the floor as a dog possibly can be. Happy, but exhausted!

• Tags: Baking, Family, Finished Knitting, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Photo Finish // 16 Comments »

This is as close to the sky as I’m going to get today. It’s been raining steadily all day and shows no signs of letting up. It’s gray. It’s damp. It’s blah. The only bright spot is that I don’t have to go out in it and that Chappy and I are together.

And, oh yes, it gave me a reason to put on a pair of my handknit wool socks for the first time in months.

Still, I’ve been productive. I’ve got the desserts for tomorrow finished and boiled the potatoes for salad. I cleaned my bathroom and dusted my bedroom. I did some filing. I even found time to finish my book (“Sense and Sensibility”)–which means that so far I’ve finished two books this month . . . already! (grin–I don’t expect that to keep up.)

Now–I’m going to go, make some tea, and sit with Chappy and my new, current book. Maybe pull my knitting out of the bag . . . or not. Maybe get some spinning done . . . but except for making some supper later, I don’t plan on doing any more WORK today.

It’s just too darn gray . . .

• Tags: General, Sky, Weather • Permalink:Rainy Saturday Sky // 3 Comments »

Here’s the start of my merino/mohair spinning. Fine little singles, in just beautiful colors. Coppery browns with medium blues . . . ahhhh.

It’s the start of a long holiday weekend here in the U.S., and I got out of work at 2:30 today–which was particularly handy since I had some cooking to do. My sister, BIL, niece and nephew are coming down on Sunday, and I’m making dessert (which I always enjoy). And there was one part that needed to be done in advance, so that extra hour and a half this afternoon was really helpful, and I left the kitchen smelling of lemons.

There’ll be some baking tomorrow, which will be handy–it will fill the house with warm, cozy smells on a wet, rainy day. Because, yes, we’ve got another rainy weekend coming up. (See? This is why most of my favorite activities are indoor ones–the weather doesn’t matter nearly as much that way.) Chappy’s a little depressed about it, though–but having his four other favorite family members visiting on Sunday will definitely help take care of that!

I’m almost done with the second sleeve of my sweater. Just the last color stripe and the cast-off, and then weaving in a few ends, and we’re done.

Because, you know, I usually weave ends in as I go . . . or at least section by section . . . so there won’t be too many at the end. This is usually a helpful, wise, and efficient method.

Yes, I said “usually.” Because I have another problem with that sock. (You know, the one I showed a couple days ago, whose yarn got snarled in my purse’s zipper, so that I had to cut it loose, thereby becoming the first sock I’ve ever had to attach a new length to in the middle.) Well, this time, it was entirely my fault. This sock is unusual for me, because I started at the cuff rather than the toe . . . and I’ve done this before mind you . . . but when I tried to try the sock on last night, after knitting the heel . . . I couldn’t get it on. I cast-on too tightly. (Sigh). Now, I refuse to tear out the entire sock. I mean, for heaven’s sake, I knitted the heel with reinforcing thread and everything. So sometime this weekend, I’m going to unpick the cast-on, pick up the stitches, and cast it OFF with the EZ sew-off cast-off that I usually use on my toe-up socks.

The potential problems? Beyond the obvious? The fact that I’ve already woven in the yarn-end from the beginning AND I knit the cuff in a contrasting color, which means the end from the color change is woven in, too, and I’m not entirely sure that I haven’t woven that end into one of the stitches I’m going to need to unravel. And also that I’m going to need more yarn than unravelling one row will yield . . . which means I need to either attach fresh yarn for the cast-off, or I’ll need to unravel two rows . . . Silly. It’s entirely my own fault. I haven’t had this trouble with OTHER cuff-down socks I’ve made, but . . . stupid of me!

Okay, I want to get some spinning done before bed. And I’ve only got about 30 pages left of my book, and I’d like to get that done before I go to sleep, so . . . have a good night everyone!

• Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Pre-Weekend // 2 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday.This post of Judy’s over at Smatterings made me chuckle, because it’s exactly the way I feel about my Grandmother’s old dishes. Which, interestingly, is actually the exact same pattern my mother’s mother picked, too. Isn’t that funny?

Anyway, I went and pulled some of them out of the cupboard, and here they are, ready for their closeup. I have no idea what the pattern name is, which is a shame, as I would dearly love to have a matching teapot….

 

As always, I’ve enjoyed taking these pictures! This really was a brilliant idea of Sundara’s….

Brought to you by:

• Tags: Eye-Candy Friday • Permalink:Dishing // 11 Comments »

Here’s my reading list from last month. 32 books with a total of 13,444 pages. Wowzer! Even allowing for the fact that two of them were cookbooks, that’s an awful lot of reading, even for me. (Can you tell we had more than one dreary, rainy, stay-at-home weekend this month?)

1. BENEATH THE VAULTED HILLS by Sean Russell (488 p.) I love this man’s writing, too. (How often do I start off or end a review with that statement? This book is a fantasy which takes place in a world much like ours in the 18th century–with one exception. There has been magic in this world for centuries, but now, there is only one, dying mage left, the last of his kind, who is determined to see the “Arts” end with him. Erasmus Flattery is an accomplished young man who had spent a brief period of his childhood in Eldrich’s household (though never actually met the mage), and now is caught up in a puzzle about a riddle that may lie in caverns far underground . . . This “Duology” preceeds his the author’s other Farrland series , and I love both of them. He’s written two other series, but the ones that take place here in this world, are my favorites. Lest you think I’m exaggerating his skill as a wordsmith, here’s a quote from Amazon: “Sean Russell writes for people who prefer books to movies. No snappy
dialogue or nonstop action sequences, just a mesmerizing tale,
multifaceted characters, and lyrical descriptive prose.”

2. COMPASS OF THE SOUL by Sean Russell (407 p.) The sequel and the conclusion to the Last Mage duology. Erasmus and his friends have escaped the cave, but Eldrich is determined to find them, determined to keep them from somehow sustaining the magic that he and all the mages before him are determined to eradicate . . . and yet, time is growing short . . .

3. OWL AND MOON CAFE by Jo-Ann Mapson (352 p.) I’ve been a fan of Jo-Ann Mapson since her very first book, Hank and Chloe. She’s best known, though, for her most recent series “Bad Girl Creek” which, frankly, I found depressing–all the characters started off with bad, serious troubles, but they just seemed to get worse instead of better as the series went on. Well, not so in this one. Yes, there are serious troubles–of the four generations of the Moon family, one has just lost her job, one has just been diagnosed with Leukemia, one is having serious social troubles in school, and one is getting just plain old. But by the end of the book, there’s a sense of hope and accomplishment–they’ve struggled, and they’ve come up with something new, and life should be good from here . . . just the kind of ending I like! And, as always (even with the books I haven’t liked), Mapson is a good, strong writer. Enjoyable.

4. HISTORY OF LOVE by Nicole Krauss (255 p.) I read this unique little book last year and ended up sitting with a big, ol’ smile on my face for the last 50 pages, and this time wasn’t any different. I really just love the way she writes this book. There are two main narrators–Leo Gursky, an old Polish Jew war survivor, struggling with day to day life on his own, with only his friend Bruno and newspaper clippings about his famous-author son, who doesn’t know that he’s his father. The second narrator is Alma, named for the character in the book “A History of Love” which her father gave her mother. One day, they get a letter asking her to translate the book from Spanish to English, which she does, but Alma gets completely caught up–was the woman in the book a real person? What happened to her? And page by page of beautiful prose, the two of them tell this story of loves lost and found, of loneliness and misunderstanding, of heartache, of loss, of renewal. Honestly. Big, ol’ smile on my face.

5. JANE FAIRFAX by Joan Aiken (252 p.) One of the better Jane Austen “knock-offs,” this one tells the story of Jane Fairfax–the character from Emma that everyone (but Emma) admires and who returns to Highbury secretly engaged to Frank Churchill. It’s an enjoyable fancy about what her side of the story is, how she grew up, how she met Frank, how she felt about Emma . . . a nice, decent, enjoyable “sequel.” (Which, really, you can’t say about all of the “new” “Jane Austen” books!)

6. HOW TO BAKE by Nick Malgieri (480 p.) A nice, thorough book about baking, although I have to say that the one recipe I’ve tried so far (the banana cake) was rather disappointing . . .

7. LOCAL CUSTOM by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (296 p.) Since I seem to revisit these two authors about once a month . . . a Liaden story preceeding the “main” series by a generation, telling the story of how the parents of Shan yos’Galen met . . . so, while it’s technically science fiction, it’s got just as much romance and just as much drawing-room-manners about it as, say, space travel. It was the first book of theirs I read, in fact, and a good introduction to this very unique universe. (You know, really, I owe Anne McCaffrey thanks for introducing me to two of my favorite authors–other than her. She wrote a rave introduction to this book, which is part of the reason I picked it up. And there was a blurb from her on the cover of Sharon Shinn’s “Archangel,” which has become one of my very favorite books. It never hurts to find books that favorite authors of yours like to read for themselves!)

8. OVER HERE by David M. Kennedy (390 p.) A 25-year old book about live in the US during WWI, the social upheaval, the economic ramifications, and so on. Thorough, informative, a bit dry and textbook-y, but still, I can see why they’ve reprinted it.

9. SCOUT’S PROGRESS by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (304 p.) The “partner” of “Local Custom” mentioned above–this one telling the story of how Val Con’s parents met. Aellana is a brilliant mathematician, but abused by her older brother, when she wins a ship in a card game and decides to become a pilot . . . great space opera.

10. THE ART OF FAIR ISLE KNITTING by Ann Feitelson (179 p.) A VERY thorough book on the art of Fair Isle–the history of the craft, the traditional patterns, how to blend colors for different effects, how to design a sweater . . . Unlike most knitting books, this is dense in rich, informative text, not just one pattern after the next. Beautiful color photos, too.

11. THE SECRETS OF BAKING by Sherry Yard (416 p.) Another baking book, this one filled with great explanations about different methods. I haven’t yet tried any of these recipes, but the author’s breezy, friendly voice is a delight and the recipes (and photos) sure look good. Yum.

11. LONGITUDES AND ATTITUDES by Thomas L. Friedman (395 p.) A series of NYT columns written both before and after 9/11/01, which were fascinating . . . except that some of them refer to “current” events which I no longer remember. (What, exactly, was Israel doing in November 2002?) The essays were interesting, but I really enjoyed the “diary” section at the end of the book, which delineated his movements for the course of the book. That part was really interesting.

12. THE FOURTH BEAR by Jasper Fforde (377 p.) Second in his “Nursery Crime” series, with Detective Jack Spratt, this murder mystery examines the disappearance of a reporter (known as “Goldilocks” to her friends) after having visited three bears in the woods . . . yes, it’s supposed to be silly. I have to admit to preferring the Thursday Next series to this one, but still . . . his writing is certainly unique, and never boring!

13. MRS HUDSON AND THE SPIRIT’S CURSE by Martin Davies (310 p.) The first of the “Mrs. Hudson” mysteries, explaining how she became housekeeper for Sherlock Holmes, and took the young orphan Flotsam under her wing . . . it’s a fun idea, that Mrs. Hudson was actually more astute than the famous detective she worked for, and Davies does a fine job with it.

14. BY THE SWORD by Mercedes Lackey (492 p.) A stand-alone fantasy story in Lackey’s world of Valdemar. This tells the story of Kerowyn, a young girl who becomes a mercenary. One of the author’s better books, I think. Fun, lots of stuff going on, well written . . . it’s one of my favorites of hers.

15. PATRIOT GAMES by Tom Clancy (540 p.) The first Clancy book I ever read, where tourist/historian Jack Ryan stops a terrorist attack in the center of London, thus drawing the attention of the Irish terrorists to his family, and beginning his career in the CIA.

16. DEBT OF HONOR by Tom Clancy (990 p.) A few “Jack Ryan” books later . . . Japan (or at least its business men) has just declared an unspoken war on the U.S. and Jack is the President’s chief advisor for National Security . . . and at the very end, gets a sudden promotion, leaving this the only Tom Clancy book I’m aware of that has a cliff-hanger ending . . .

17. EXECUTIVE ORDERS by Tom Clancy (874 p.) Which is taken up in this book, with the Capital building, the President, the Supreme Court, and most of Congress dead and Jack suddenly President . . . and of course, his presidency does not start smoothly, for Islamic terrorists decide he must be weak and that it would be a good idea to attack . . .

18. THE DETONATORS by Chad Millman (286 p.) True story, telling of the terrorist attack on lower Manhattan in 1916, when German saboteurs blew up Black Tom island, used as an ammunition dump. And it blew up big. Amazing that ninety years later, I’d never even heard of this . . . fascinating. Of course, unlike the 9/11 attack, this one was at least comprehensible. The Germans were at war, we were selling ammunition to their enemies, and they blew up the depot in the middle of the night when it the island was mostly empty. There were only a handful of (official) deaths, and even though the damage was staggering . . . it’s the kind of attack I can understand. Really, though. I had no idea this had ever happened!

19. 78 REASONS WHY YOUR BOOK MAY NEVER BE PUBLISHED… by Pat Walsh (192 p.) Mine might still fall into the 78 reasons despite my best efforts, but this is still an informative, useful book filled with tips about what not to do and what TO do when trying to get a manuscript accepted. Pretty entertaining, too, really….

20. DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST by Juliett Marillier (544 p.) A really excellent fantasy book, beautifully written, inspired by celtic legends of six brothers turned into swans, saved by their sister, who spun and wove thorns into shirts to break the spell. Really, wonderful book.

21. SON OF THE SHADOWS by Juliet Marillier (580 p.) The second of the trilogy, focusing on Sorcha’s daughter, Liadan, who’s trying to help her sister . . .

22. CHILD OF THE PROPHECY by Juliet Marillier (555 p.) The third of the trilogy–very good, but a little disturbing. Faine is coerced by her evil grandmother (she who placed the swan spell in the first book) to try to bring down the Sevenwaters family–despite her basic decency and unwillingness to harm them. Watching her being forced to do things she abhorred bothered me, but still–excellent.

23. BUSMAN’S HONEYMOON by Dorothy Sayers (403 p.) Mystery writer Harriet Vane finally marries amateur detective Lord Peter Wimsey, but their married life is off to a rough start, when they find a dead body in the basement of their honeymoon cottage.

24. GRUB-AND-STAKERS MOVE A MOUNTAIN by Alisa Craig (183 p) The first of a light, fluffy, “cozy” mystery series. (And one which, ironically, took me four days to read, even though it’s one of the shortest of the month. Go figure.) Anyway, it’s a Canadian mystery, written under the nom de plume of Charlotte MacLeod, and features Dittany Henbit, a young woman who stumbles into a nefarious plot to take over the town’s mountain and turn it into a (gasp) housing development. So she and her friends simultaneously start a campaign for town council, start cutting paths up the mountain to make it obvious that it’s wanted in its natural state, and throw a 50th wedding anniversary party for one of the in-laws–all of which events end up centered at Dittany’s house. It’s silly and cute and entertaining.

25. UNCLE MAME by Eric Myers (304 p.) The biography of Edward (Pat) Tanner, the man who wrote “Auntie Mame.” Yes, that book was published by “Patrick Dennis,” but that was a nom de plume, too. Pat Tanner was an interesting man, “camp” before camp ever became popular. A best-selling author under more than one pen-name, married with children, but also gay, and who ended up as a butler, which I just find unspeakably entertaining for some reason. The book isn’t the best written book I’ve ever read (though much better than one of the participant’s unpublished “memoirs” quoted in the book), but it wasn’t exactly a chore, either

26. SON OF AVONAR by Carol Berg (476 p.) The first of  four-book “Bridge of D’Arnath” fantasy series. It starts with Seri, an exiled noblewoman finding a deranged man near her cottage . . . a man who turns out to be a sorceror in a country that visciously outlaws all sorcery, as she knows all too well, having had her husband burned at the stake 10 years ago. She can’t let that happen to D’Nathiel, and so, she comes out of hiding…. excellent fantasy. Well-developed, believeable world, great characters.

27. GUARDIANS OF THE KEEP by Carol Berg (583 p.) Second book. Seri’s nephew is kidnapped into an adjacent world (where D’Nathiel, now restored to his memory, is prince), and she is determined to rescue him . . . especially once she realizes that he is her son, who she believed was killed at birth.

28. THE SOUL-WEAVER by Carol Berg (469 p.) Third. Gerrick, Seri’s son, tries to find a place for himself in “the Bounds,” since he is not accepted in his own world anymore, being considered corrupted by the upbringing he got in book 2.

29. DAUGHTER OF THE ANCIENTS by Carol Berg (531 p.) The last book of the series, which begins with a young woman stumbling out of the forest, claiming to be the daughter of D’Arnath, the hero-king dead these 1000 years . . . This entire series is excellent, but I have to say, the first book is still my favorite. Well worth the read, though, if you like fantasy at all.

30. GRUB AND STAKERS QUILT A BEE by Alisa Craig (179 p.) The second book in this little series. Dittany (now married) become a trustee for a new town museum, when the curator is found dead, leaving a bossy widow who assumes she’ll be in charge now…

31. GRUB AND STAKERS PINCH A POKE by Alisa Craig (197 p.) Dittany’s friends put on a play, telling the story of Dan McGrew, but it seems that someone is trying to kill the lead actor….

32. GRUB AND STAKERS SPIN A YARN by Alisa Craig (215 p.) Dittany is now pregant with twins, causing all her friends and loved ones to swarm to the yarn shop in order to make her baby gifts. Meanwhile, someone is trying to steal the secret recipe of the local mincemeat factory…

• Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading • Permalink:Books Read in August 2006 // 6 Comments »