One person's treasure is another person's yarn ball...

(I will see if I can convince the phone to put up a picture on the blog tomorrow of my gloves, but don't hold your breath...)

I had some fiber I bought from a lovely lady, since retired, (WAAAAHHHH!!!), ahem, anyway, she had put white, blue, green, red, yellow, and some sort of burnt orange color in the batt.  And there was quite a lot of it, 8 ounces or so.  I finally managed to spin it all, I would just grab hanks and spin, not separating the colors, just seeing what came up.  And it came up looking blended, with random stripes.  Now this was so funny, I fell in love with it because... The wool, and the color blending just reminded me of my Great Grandma's wool rug.  She was the bane of the family for a while, from what I understand, if she even SUSPECTED something was made of wool, she wanted it for her rug.  Now, this was a rug that covered her entire living room.  I was a small kid at the time, but even now, I seem to remember that it had to be about 10 to 12 feet on the long end, and... 7 or so feet the other way?  (It was a flattened oval.)  I can't remember for sure what happened to it, I seem to remember it became someone's 'junk' in a garage and was eventually tossed for being a mess, but I remember all the colors, and how tremendously large it seemed to little me... A big colorful island, of sorts. 

So I finished the spinning, and unlike some of my spinner friends, I don't plan, oh, I need this fiber for this project.  Which could be why I don't get picky about most fiber, I just enjoy the spinning, I will figure out what to do with it...

Eventually.  a-HEM...

I went to the doctor, (hang in there, this IS leading somewhere), and I was talking about my Rosacea.  I have given up chocolate, not fun, but it helps, a lot.  But I told him, please don't think I am crazy, but when I go outside, and it's cold and windy, I get terrible flare ups.  He laughed, and said, not only are you NOT crazy, that's actually a pretty common cause.

It is?  Huh... So, after getting a cleanish bill of health, I remembered to ask about the wind.  Would some kind of barrier to the wind work?  He said sure, as long as it wasn't a latex or polyester, which won't breathe, causing the problem to worsen... (Too bad, that means I can't get this. =:) ), so he recommended a balaclava, or scarf.  He mentioned a few places to buy them, and I said, I knit, would that work?  He grinned, and said, absolutely, you would know what bothers you and such, make yourself something nice!

So, I have the doctor's permission to knit. : D

But what?  My eyes fell on the "Grandma's Rug" yarn I'd made.  I had a pair of gloves and a skinny scarf I had knit a while ago for myself, but, with time, and my less than careful handling, on occasion, they were getting a bit scruffy.  So, I have commenced to knit a pair of gloves, now finished, and a scarf, which I have just cast on for.  I am still working out what pattern I want to use, but it will be a fairly basic, maybe more open looking scarf, so it will keep me warm, but I can breathe, without a wool filter blocking each nostril... (Ewww...)

So, January's 'selfish' knitting continues.  I need to work on some leaves, too... But, I want to make the scarf first.  Please ignore the socks, and at least two other "portables" I have going in the front room.  And no, I have no idea what all those projects are in my craft room.

Cough...

Quick, while the internet is working!

Things are going okay here… We did lose a chick, unfortunately, Mama Bird got in some fights with the other birds, I think she stepped on the one.  Sad.  But the others are thriving, and I have some nice up and coming birds for either selling, or possibly dinner, eventually.  I know we have a few boys, there are some hackle raising and bravado going on…

Ding has decided my Lucky Bamboo plant is a lovely garnish.  She’s killed one, and well on her way to seeing if she can ‘trim’ the other 2 plants…  When she isn’t trying to eat the rubber bands holding my computer’s power supply. (I keep it bound to a tile, so it doesn’t get hot.)  She doesn’t like getting sprayed, so the second she hears me get up, zing, she’s somewhere else, looking innocent.

Yeah. Right. Innocent.

I have been hand spinning some yarn, and hand plying it.  I hope to make socks.  It is taking a while, I forgot how long it takes when you strictly use your hands, no “help” like a wheel, or better yet, an electric spinner…  But it will be fun to see how it comes out.

Husband bought me a dishwasher.

The other, well. Um.

It was time.

It wasn’t cleaning any more, and things were getting worse, and more and more tinkery.  Husband actually took a look at the inner workings, and then got up and started checking around for a new one. (This says something, because he normally fixes things, and only buys new as a last resort.) So, now I have this little wonder that looks like it’s out of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it twingles and dings, making various sounds to let me know it’s on duty.  I will be getting nervous if it says hello…  Although, who knows, maybe that IS hello!

The weather is finally getting cooler here, I made applesauce, it was okay, but the apples are not very juicy, I had to keep adding water so I didn’t scorch the sauce.  Husband suggested apple juice.  Um, good idea, but I don’t have any.  Guess I should put that on the list for the next time I am in town.

Well, I am writing this right before the “Blood Moon Eclipse”.  I want to go out and see it, it will actually be doing its thing before I turn in for the evening…  I keep reading that this is an “event” eclipse, that it will be a portent of major events and life forces, catastrophes and wonders.

I guess we shall see about all the whatis that will occur later…

I just think it sounds like it will be pretty.

Racial profiling? This is a real reach...

I went to my spinning group today.  It's held in a local senior center.  This is not a problem, I love (most of the time) to hear the thoughts and stories of some of the folks there, and they seem to enjoy the wheel and finding out about what I am doing.  I even know exactly how we should solve all the government's problems, thanks to a trio of exceedingly opinionated gents that commandeer the snack table in the morning.

I have been asked many different questions about my wheel, my shirts, (I wear t-shirts with slogans and pictures, it's good for a bit of a conversation some days), and the ever present, what are you doing/spinning/making? 

The conversation took a... really weird turn today, however.

A lady walked by me, then turned quickly, and asked, "Are you American Indian?"

Now, any one who has seen me, would not realize that I am part Blackfoot.  In fact, I think I look like I am part Casper the Ghost, but I digress.  I quickly registered what she'd asked, and answered her, asking why.

"Oh, because you have long hair, I ask all people with long hair if they are Native.  I'm Cherokee."

Uh... Sure.  This woman has asked me if I am Native, because of my HAIR?  Would she have thought I was of African decent if I had corn rows, or German if I had those cute little side braids??? 

So, before I could escape go to my wheel, she asked if I had ever been to a pow wow.  I told her I had not.  She then told me that she'd been to a few, and that it would be good for my spirit to go to hear the drums.  I nodded politely, wondering if Steve Ferrone counted...  I managed to politely extricate myself from the conversation, and sat to spin. 

She then came over and asked if I enjoyed spinning.  I said yes, I found it relaxing, and fun.  She then said, oh, do you dream about it?  I told her possibly not that fun.  She then asked if I liked doing puzzles, (there was a group nearby working on one of those 5000 bit ones).  I said they were all right, but I was busy spinning and knitting most of the time.  She looked annoyed, and sniffed, "They make me want to whistle brass..." and walked away. 

I have no idea what whistling brass is, but from her expression, I figure it's not good.  But, she did finally decide she'd had enough of me.  I try to be respectful of my elders, but man, when you slide down that rabbit hole, you don't have a CLUE what's going to come by next!

(And if I cut my hair, does my nationality change?)

And since I had that goofy morning, I decided to share.  I had one of those strange, strange thoughts that you get at 2 am...  Can Santa Claus sue The Jolly Green Giant  for copyright infringement? 

***

Prompt: Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn't go for it?

I think we've covered this.  I have already talked about playing the guitar, and my book, so I won't bore you with a repeat.

I suppose, trying to win the lottery.  How about that for trying something.  I have this little problem with winning the lottery, however. 

I rarely buy tickets! 

In fact, I think the last time I bought any tickets was a couple years ago, and I don't think that counts, since I gave them out as Christmas gifts.  (Sadly, no winners in the bunch, as I recall.) 

So, I guess, I will have to continue to live the beleaguered life of the un-enriched...  ; )

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

I have a moment. Breathe... Blog... Ahhhh. Ok...

I don't know why everything has decided to happen at once. I was out doing stuff the last few days. Dad and I worked on a bike race, making sure those who left, and those who returned were the same number. (Thank goodness, they were...)

Then, later that day, Husband and I went to a... Well, for lack of a better term, a Memorial Wake. The body wasn't present, but the spirit was. So were spirits, for that matter, everyone was commenting on the deceased's penchant for brewing, and sampling brews, and more sampling, and MOOORE sampling, etc..

It was kind of funny, because most of the folks there know my husband, but didn't know me all that well. So I sat around, sort of bored, until I asked the bartender for a Shirley Temple. (I know, how can I drink the hard stuff like that, but we do what we must...) Just incidentally, he put it in a cocktail glass. People started talking to me! Isn't that odd?

Then we went to visit my Mom's cousin on Sunday. They had visited New Zealand, oh, the pictures! WOOOW! I really hadn't ever thought much about New Zealand, and that made me want to see what it would take to go! (But I still want to go to Alaska, first.) We had dinner together, and I found a new knitting friend, so all is well in the W. Valley.

I am working on a baby layette-y thing, will post pics later, it's a sweater, hat and shoes set, I knit for the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society.

Went spinning, and have decided the spinning I am doing will not be for a shawl after all, it will be socks. Now I just have to wash and hang the yarn, so I will have it for said socks...

Kept the animals in water during the hot spell, it is amazing how fast we can all go through liquid when it's 90+. Especially when it was 60ish the day before. And now it's 60ish again. Mom Nature is having a nervous breakdown again... Or a hot flash. Or both...

I have some whatsits growing in the flower gardens. I am impatiently waiting to see what they are. They look like little green blobs right now. I have some that I do know, I planted Peacock Orchids (which is really strange, as it's NOT an orchid...), Daliahs, and Cosmos. Those, and in the front, I have a Hosta. I think I buried planted some phlox, too. Uh, there should be some Daylilies and... Er. Lily lillies? Anyway, I have a bunch of stuff in the ground, and the majority seem to have survived my ministrations on them. Oh, and some fir trees, a holly thingy, and I will be planting a Golden Chain tree or two. Am I a crazy plant woman, or what?

To that end, two funnies. A church sign. "May is God's apology for February." and a bumper sticker, "Another Gardener for Peas."

Peas to all...

Ewwww...

I have been working on my carder...

Here we have a belt. Belts are flexible. They make things turn. This belt is flexible like a rock. New belt.


This is the teeth for my carder. The OLD teeth. YUCK! Someone left fiber in, and it took in moisture. I will need new teeth for it, too. On the bright side, the teeth come in 8 inch wide rolls now, so it won't be such a challenge as this was to take off, being about one or two inches wide, and on a diagonal...


This is the front of the carder, I don't think I will have to replace any of the front, but boy, do I need to clean it!!! More WD 40 on the turning points wouldn't hurt, either.

And, just so the whole blog isn't pictures of carder roadkill, I am working on a "house sweater". (For you non-Muggles, I mean a sweater for 'round the house, not Griffindor. I intend to make one of those later, from Spun Yarn... WOO!)

I am making this from stash, and each color is a different stitch. Yarn Harlot might not approve, since I believe it's all acrylic, but since I am using it for such glamorous things as feeding llamas and cleaning the chicken house, I am not too worried. (Besides, if I made it in acrylic, and tore it on a gate or something, I would be upset. If I tore a wool sweater, there probably wouldn't BE a gate, as I would be finding out how to crush it to bits with Husband's backhoe.)

So, I have been busy, and it's been something besides cleaning the chicken house!

Projects... for Halloween. And WAY beyond...

Here is a project that I have been putting off. It is a carder. Really, it IS supposed to take fiber, and "mix" it for spinning. I checked. The main crank turns. The lesser cranks no. Nor does the belt, what makes the lesser cranks move. (But even with just my hand, no go.)


However, the worst part is this. The teeth are rusted. With wool... Or some fiber, stuck in a permenant strangle hold. I have decided this part isn't worth fixing. I know a shop where I can get replacements. 'Cuz this ain't gonna do poo...


So, having decided that other than lubing, which I can't do, as I am out of WD-40, and I don't feel like trying to take each and every bit apart until I know I can GET parts, I decided to make this little guy. (He actually is little, he is only up to my shoulder.)



I was going to put a light in his head, but found out I made a hybrid, the pumpkin I planted mixed with the crookneck squash. It is big, sort of triangular, and has flesh the WHOLE WAY THROUGH THE SQUASH!!! I wasn't of a mind to dig it all out, so I painted a face on him, and stuck it on. (Thank G*d for Sharpie pens.)

The way he looks makes me think of the opening to 'Laverne and Shirley'.

Ok everybody, "Schlemiel, schlimazel, hasenpfeffer incorporated!"

Either that or the Sound of Music... "The hills are alive..."

Great, now THAT'S going to be stuck in my head all afternoon...

Roadkill 'r us...

Spun yesterday. Now have a full bobbin of grey.

Plied yesterday. Now have 2 full bobbins of "mystery batt". (Quite pretty, too.)

Walked Rudee yesterday. Now feel like I was a victim of assault and battery.

Other than that, just a laid back day. Except I could really use some more Tylenol. And maybe a leg rub. A soak in the tub?

Neh. I still should walk the dog again. Possibly not two miles today, however.

That is all...

A sweater. Eventually...

Sooo, I was spinning this "mystery batt" from Fantasy Fibers. I thought it was gorgeous, and thought, what should I do with it? (No, I am not organized. I get the stuff, then figure out what to do with it later. SABLE- Stash Allotment Beyond Life Expectancy. Me- Stash Allotment Beyond Human Existence...)

But then I thought about the two books I'd gotten some time ago, and this idea came into my head, wouldn't that make a neat part of a sweater?



(No, this is not a close up of internal organs...) I had bought some grey to spin, and noticed the two go nicely...



Spins not too badly, either...



Then I thought, I have this white(ish) fluff I have been spinning. Would it go? It does! Now I have to look and see what other fluff and nonsense I have to combine, and then I have a sweater!



After spinning it, of course. And plying it. Well, and knitting it.

Yeah. That stash is going to just evaporate...

I think I'll go finish my sock.

Handspun and Handfed.

First, proof that I have actually been using the wheel...


The first two seemed to take forever, and have big mushy spots, little bitty spots, and are about as even and straight as a drunkard's walk home, but they will knit well enough, I guess...

The color on my camera makes this look intensely day-glo, but it is a red, lipstick red, not burn your eyes out red. This took a bit to work with my wheel to get it to spin. I am still in the learning stage, you have to use the brake and the tensioner to make things work. I found this out when I tried to mangle the crap out of spin alpaca, and found that I was tearing it, not spinning it. WAAAAAAAAAAAY too much tension, so I will have to go back and try it again, now that I know what the tension and the brake are supposed to do.

The last two were... different. I know what I am supposed to be doing now, mostly, but this had lots of little noils, second cuttings, something that wasn't supposed to be there. I had a lovely long fiber that would just be ready to go through and be spun, and "snap" a little tiny coil of fiber just shy of a pencil eraser would show up and cause it to break. Since I am now getting comfortable enough with this process to have something of a rhythm, this really annoyed me, and led to some less than ladylike words to the person or persons that put that particular bit of wool together. I did get through it, then tried plying.

This was also not really a big happy. I found that where I had the breaks, it was weak, so I would be plying along, and realize one of the plys suddenly was not there. Plus a bit of it tangled on the bobbin, so all in all, I am glad I am not doing this for any but the process of learning right now, since it would be a sad, sad thing to do to give to someone else! I still am going to make something of it, probably market bags. Should be OK, because the pattern calls for the yarn to be doubled, so I shouldn't have to much problems, even if there is weak spots in the yarn. I hope. News as events warrant.

In other things, I have now been able to hand feed all the llamas. Lorenzo, the low llama on the totem pole, is still incredibly shy around me, and will bolt if food isn't involved, but he is getting a bit better. Ding Dong is still not having much to do with me touching her face, so that &*(@# halter is still on. Lama is getting downright friendly with me, food or no food, once she found out that I will scratch her itchy spots. Rama, my little diva, will choose when she feels like having me touch or not, and is a bit sensitive on her face, too. But so far NONE will let me touch the feet. But I was up at the gate, watching them, and I got an all over sniff from both Ding Dong and Lama, which I gather is llama for "Hi, nice to meet you, I am not scared of you particularly..." Which for me, is GREAT! Poor Lorenzo, though, he was doing pretty well, and then I tried giving them all carrots. I don't know what happened, but he was terrified of the carrot, and hasn't let me near him with anything but his feed cup. So. Step forward, step back. Step forward, step back. I have time.

I might be getting the hang of spinning!

Spinning on Monday.

Well, I went to a Spinning Group on Monday, to see if I could do this thing with my wheel.

Did I manage to spin? Yep.

Did I make lots of mistakes? Yep.

Does my ply look like rotten baling twine? Yep.

Am I still pleased as anything that I managed to make that? YEP!

Boats, and Elizabeth the First

Husband and I went to the Sportsman's Expo in Albany, and it was not too bad. We were sort of surprised on how little there was of some things, and how much of others. Lots of ski type boats, we expected a lot more fishing boats. Gazillions of RV's, and only one dealer we saw of ATV's. NO fishing gear, sport safety gear, guns, hunting equipment, tents. Huh. There was a lady selling waterless cookware, though. (And she must have powerful vocal cords, she talked for almost two hours straight without a break, and still sounded fresh. No, I didn't stop in... Just passing by her stall several times.) Harley was represented. And the one taxidermist there told me the critter I saw in the back was a Wolverine. Doesn't look a bit like the Marvel character... I think there should have been a knitting booth somewhere. After all, there is a knitting olympics, so it's a sport!

And on that minor seigway, I present Her Grace, Elizabeth the First:


I have wanted a spinning wheel for some time, but funds and cooperation with sellers never co-incided. This time it did. Now I have practiced the foot part, that actually is kind of fun. I now have to find out how to get the fluff to come out yarn... Fortunantly, I found out there is a group of spinners near that have meetings on Mondays. I will invade tomorrow.