the Intrepid Fiberwizard

Rellocation

2007-03-10T15:49:00.000-08:00

I am FINALLY moving my blog - to a typepad account.
click here to go to the new, improved Intrepidfiberwizard.

Please be sure to update your bloglines - as this old blog will now be retired.

Farewell, dear blogger. It's been fun.

12 New Pencil Roving Colors

2007-03-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

I've been busy again; playing about with the colorways on our website (perhaps I have a tiny bit of the 'wild scientist' in me?)
This time, it is the Corriedale Pencil Roving colors that have changed. (picture heavy post ahead)
We've deleted some of the old colors and added 12 new ones! By popular demand, I've added these semi-solid colorways.
The colors are less "striped" and more flowing as they change throughout the hank of fiber.

Blue Skies

Chocolate Bar

Cranberry Sauce

Grape Jelly

Green Olives

Lemonade

Orchid Bouquet

Pesto

Primrose

Promise of Spring

Tangerine

Toffee Crunch

What do you think?

As the sweater grows

2007-03-03T11:02:00.000-08:00

There's been quite a bit of knitting going on here - Hervor, to be exact.

I finished the sleeves and the back, and will cast on for the front this afternoon.

I am enjoying the pattern quite a bit, watching the cables bloom above a sea of pebbled purls. After I knit my swatch, and the gauge matched exactly what the pattern requested, I selected the size and bravely knit on.
The question is: will it fit like I hope it will?
I was quite pleased with how effortless it has all seemed thus far; the pattern segments ending at precisely the 'right' moment (or so it appeared given the directions) 'when the work measures 13.5 inches, begin decrease for armhole, at the same time finish the outside panels... etc' The changes in shape were exactly at the end of a pattern. Thus I bravely concluded, that although no row gauge was listed, I was on target. (grin)

At the crucial moment after casting off the back, I held the sweater up to my chest, with that ever so proud feeling of success in the back of my mind....... and gasp... it was snug. Yeah, that kind of snug (as in form fitted, showing every single curve)

Err, ummm, what to do?
I came home and blocked the back, the dimensions are exactly what the pattern suggests they should be - yet still I ponder; will it look the way it does in the photo? (it's the one on the cover) Blocking helped a bit, and it no longer appears glued to my body, yet still.....

I opted to knit a size "large" (45 1/2" bust measurement) since I wanted it loose fitting. Now mind you, while I am not what one would call 'flat as a board', neither am I carrying a ginormous rack... and typically, when I buy clothes, I buy a size 'small'. Okie-dokie then, this should be fine eh? definitely not snug; or so we hope. Yet, then again, perhaps the model wearing the sweater is only 80 pounds, and is wearing an extra large size sweater? (let's hope not!)

And so, with blinders on, and wild hope that it will all unfold as I imagine, I knit on, repeating my newest mantra "it's the right size, gauge doesn't lie....."

A Day to Celebrate

2007-02-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a very special day here at Crown Mountain Farms.......
the handsome guy in the photo is Klaus ( my sweetheart) - and for the few of you who have had the pleasure of speaking with him on the phone, you would know that he is a native to Germany (that wonderful rich accent of his, gives him away every time - grin)
He's lived full time in the United States for many years, and made his home here with me...... AND, he is now an official US Citizen ! He was sworn in yesterday, so it is finally official.

Hurrah!

Much celebrating going on here. And although my dear pal Amanda suggested we celebrate with hot dogs and apple pie, (which was a great idea btw) we dined last night in a lovely local restaurant on a thick sirloin with gorgonzola crust and martinis. (apple pie to come this weekend when I have time to bake)
The ceremony was actually quite simple, yet given the magnitude of this event, very profound. At one point they showed a video that played the song "Proud to be an American" - with incredible photos of our America. I loved this song when it was written shortly after 911, and it is even more emotionally touching now.
Indeed, he is very proud - as am I. This is a great country that we live in, and so often I take for granted all the freedom we have.... not so today. Let's all send up a rowdy cheer of hurrah for Klaus - and remember that we were fortunate to be born here.

Amid all the splendor of these recent events, I have also been spinning and knitting. Here's a tiny bit of eye candy - (sorry about the blurry photos, the sun hasn't shown its face very often these past few days.... and they are even predicting snow for tonight. wow.)

I finished spinning up these two new colorways for our Sock Hop yarn -

Do you Wanna Dance (and to see even BETTER photos of this particular colorway, click on the link to Amanda's blog above.... she spun it up as well - and took way better photos of her work - grin)

Here's yet another new colorway - Glad All Over

I think that this is my most favorite yarn thus far. The rich greens and subtle tans are reminiscent of the moss on trees, deep in the forest. (and yes, I held back two skeins of this one to knit a pair of socks for my daughter who went gaa-gaa over this color :-)

Currently on my wheel tonight is some of the singles for the colorway "Happy Together" I am anxious to see how the brilliant yellow/blue/white and subtle greens look when plyed. I need to spin up the second 8 ounces before I will know..... I'll keep you posted.

February - 007 snapshot

2007-02-26T10:22:00.001-08:00

February:A time of birth and renewal. Beginnings. This is the month of my birth, and signifies the promise of spring yet to come. Pictured here are the buds of our magnolia trees, forming during the harsh cold reality of a February day. The sky is deep blue, yet the air is chilly. The rains pound down most days, and yet these blossoms are growing. Quietly, steadfast. They thrive beneath their protective outer coats.. and await the warming days of spring.

The socks are Bloomin'

2007-02-21T08:04:00.000-08:00

The sun has peeked out for the first time in what feels like weeks - so I thought that I would snap a quick photo of my Bloomin' Feet Sock in progress.
Guess what? yup - it's got cables (grin)
I'm using a pattern from the books Socks Socks Socks - called Tipsy Knitter,
The design was taken from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of knitting, a pattern called Tilting Ladder. It will most likely turn out to be a slouch sock, as the lace/cable combo doesn't make for a very tight fit.. This particular pattern holds great appeal because I have to pay attention for every single row. The combination of lace with alternating cables shows the yarn quite well - don't ya think?

I am heading out today to stock up at the grocery store - the weather forecasters are saying that the sun won't last, and that snow levels are dropping. We could be in for another storm (but then again... who knows) Yesterday was full of bizarre changes - from rain to sun, then rain to ice pellets. Temperatures dropping ten degrees in a matter of minutes. Not quite a typical February.
Friday I am going to spend a day of 'girl time' with my oldest daughter in Seattle. It's my birthday. What better way to celebrate than being with one of the very best parts of my life. Although you might think it's impossible, my love for my daughters grows every year. I watch them creating their lives, full of joy and excitement and I could not possibly be more proud. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, it was an easy answer.. just to spend time with her.

Enchanted by Cables

2007-02-19T08:00:00.000-08:00

I have long wished to knit a cabled sweater. Many moons ago, I purchased a copy of the book Viking Patterns for Knitting by Elsebeth Lavold. I would linger over the photos and dream about the day I would be able to understand the small hieroglyphics .
The day has arrived.
I have been knitting cables like a woman possessed! Here's a sock knit from Do You Wanna Dance Sock Hop Yarn - knit up in Rib and Cable pattern by Nancy Bush.
And I am working on a wild pattern that includes cables for my Bloomin Feet Sock swap ( that's a post all unto itself soon)

Perhaps I could back up for a moment here and share yet another class I took at the Madrona Fiber Arts Fair.... yes - another one (actually there is yet one more, after this, that I will share at some future date.. ahem) The class was titled "Morphing Cables" with Fiona Ellis.
What did I learn? (you mean aside from the fact that I can make very ugly class samples?) I learned that I have absolutely no desire to become a designer. The class was very free-form, and many students simply took off with their designs. Not so, this wizard. I just messed about a bit, moving one stitch over 3 (not so pretty) moving one stitch across row after row (also not too pretty) etc. Ultimately I came to appreciate and love my knitting books even more! You might also notice in the photo that the sample is off the needles, and momentarily going to be ripped out!

And here, I have evidence that I spent a bit of time in our fiber booth (hee hee) a blogging friend, Marisol, stopped by to say hello - and Klaus snapped this photo of us. It's one of my favorite parts of fiber fairs (to have people stop by and say hi) - me? I'm the red-head wearing the swallowtail shawl.

Once we got home from the show, I awaited a special order that I had placed ...... it arrived about a week ago (could you hear the loud applause all across the land?) - I ordered this dk weight merino to be hand dyed by Jessie (the queen of subtle dyeing!) The color has been difficult to photograph in its true likeness - I would call it a dusty rose, or maybe even a soft raspberry sherbet... whichever - it's glorious.

I quickly got out my ball winder, made cakes of four skeins, and cast on for the sweater that is featured on the book's cover. It is knit with size 4 and size 5 needles.
The more I knit with it, the more I love it. I wanted soft changes in the color, that would move throughout the sweater, adding depth to the eye. And Jessie gave me exactly what I had hoped for. Isn't it wonderful! Jessie has a great blog, and also an online store, A Piece of Vermont. Hop on over and check out her yarns.

In order to avoid becoming marooned on the fabled "Sleeve Island", I started the sleeves first! I've completed even more than this photo shows - and am only about 20 rows from finishing both sleeves. I'm hoping to begin the front of the sweater later on today.

Celtic cables have captured me with their charm.

On a final, yet unrelated note: SusannaHansson (who taught the Lapland Mittens class) has announced that she will be teaching this class at Webs (in Massachusetts) in Sept. 2007, and perhaps even at Stitches East. She will also be at the Nordic Knitting Conference in Seattle, as I mentioned on my earlier post. This is an amazing class - I highly recommend it!

A Beautiful Gift and Bloomin' Feet

2007-02-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, I was doing my typical late evening stroll through blogland... and I happened to make a comment on a friend's blog. Much to my great surprise, I was her 10,000 th commenter. Can you believe it, ten thousand comments.. now that deserves a big round of applause - way to go Carole! If you have never seen her blog, hop on over there - she's great!

Carole wrote me a wonderful note, and said that I could expect a gift in the near future...... well, it's arrived! Check it out - (and check out the little black ears and big green eyes looking all 'innocent' in the background... )
4 oz. Natural Colored Navajo-Churro roving
some adorable sweeties (seasonally apropos of course)
a fabulous smelling soap called "Happy Together" (which made me giggle, given my current infatuation with 60's songs!)
And a dramatic yarn made of 60/40 mohair-wool in a fabulous natural dye called Charcol.
Carole, thank you so very much. Your creativity and care in the selection of these luscious goodies has given me a big smile. 10,000 comments - you go girl!

And now - I begin to move my thoughts forward to a sweet new sock swap, run by Amanda - 2007 Bloomin' Feet. I have selected the yarn I will use, since my pal is a 'jewel-tone' kind of gal (so it appears from her blog).
Here it is, in all it's glory - lounging lazily on my window sill - it must be a summer sort of yarn, since it loves the sunlight (and photos so poorly in the shade). It definitely is not shy - as it shouts boldly.. "pick me" from the pile of choices. This nice springy yarn reminds me alot of the BlueMoonFiberArts line - it is a three ply sport weight, and almost springs out of my hand. It's a new line of sock yarns that we are carrying on our website, hand dyed by local artist Pat Fly of Angora Valley Fibers. The colorway is called Rainier.
I haven't yet chosen the pattern I will use. I'm considering "Monkey Socks" or a feather-type pattern, or maybe a cable/rib design... I'll keep you posted.

Madrona Fiber Arts: Modular Knitting

2007-02-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Ginger Luters taught a great class at Madrona Fiber Arts. Her designs are fabulous - her choice of color incredible. She made it look so easy. And she also communicated her skill in a simple, concise way.
I was motivated to take this class because of this:

Yup - left over bits of skeins that continue to grow in my basket - eventually I will have leftovers of all the Sock Hop Yarn colors after I have made all my socks.. (at least that is my hope). But what to do with them? Read along and you'll see.

Ginger's class was chock full of information. We learned many of the types of modular knits fabric. I shot photos of a few of her pieces. Aren't they lovely?

While I am not able to go into all the techniques (you'll need to take her class or perhaps buy her book) I can share a few of the really ugly things I made during class.... (I had already ripped apart most of them before I realized I should take a blog photo - oopps)
We made garter stitch squares that magically attached to each other, stockingette squares that seemed to bloom out in all directions, and even a few triangles. (yeah - I know, I probably could have chosen better colors to mix - but you get the idea. We learned a great technique to make stockingette squares really square - and learned when to use a cable cast on instead of long tail (and why). There was so much information that finally made sense to me. I had purchased the book awhile ago, but had not fully comprehended it.

So I came home, ripped out all the other really ugly squares I made in class and began to play.
In the back of my mind, a design for a Sock Hop Afghan was taking form. I've gotten a small start on it - and the jury is still out as to whether it will be one of those funky-ugly things that I hide whenever company comes over, or will it be an astoundingly creative show piece..??? I plan on continuing to add to it as I finish spinning all the colors. I'm rather amazed at how different this yarn looks when knit in mitered squares versus knit as socks. (note to self: write down the pattern I made up for this afghan - so that I will be able to keep adding to it in another month or two)
What's your vote? thumbs up or down?

Madrona Fiber Arts: Color Progression in Plying

2007-02-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

Back to the excitement of my classes at Madrona Fiber Arts.
I was fortunate enough to take a class with Judith MacKenzie-McCuinn. She is a master in fiber arts. If you ever have the opportunity to take any class with her at all - just take it :-)
This class taught us the effect of colors on each other when they are blended in different ratios. Judith had us select three colorways to work with, and encouraged us to choose at least one that made us a bit uncomfortable (as in out of our normal range of taste).
I selected a deep burgandy, a lilac, and a shocking electric pink (yes the pink was my discomfort place)
We spun fine singles of each colorway and then began to blend them according to her directions. We made various three ply yarns :

first three of the burgandy singles were plyed together,
then two burgandysingles were combined with one lilac single,
and then two lilac singles and one burgandy single.

As you can see, the color tonality of the yarn changes relative to the number of singles used of each colorway.

We then did the same with the second colorway (lilac in my case)

and then with the third colorway (shocking pink)

As a final step, I blended one strand of each - burgandy, lilac, and pink. I ended up liking this one best of all - and have had fun contemplating whether or not I might be able to dye up some fiber to create this colorway (so far it hasn't come to me...)

I've lined them all up here for you to see just how amazing the progression is.
It was a delightful class - filled with fun engaging people. I enjoyed myself immensely - and wish it could have gone on all day.**

There were some other fun tidbits of wisdom that I gathered during class (as is always the case when you take a class from Judith.
Judith showed us a technique for spinning from "top" so that we never have to "split" the roving again (or pre-draft). Judith described the fact that top is often difficult to spin fine because the fibers are not "compacted" enough. She demonstrated how to compress the top by rolling it between the palms of our hands - thus making a dense tube to spin from. This technique involved much laughter - licking on ones' palms to add moisture and then a tiny bit of disbelief... but try it. You will be totally amazed. (and you'll never have to do any of that splitting or pre-drafting again when you spin top.) It's amazing. (as Judith normally is)

here's the pre-compressed top (in it's normal state when we buy it:

here is me rolling it between my palms to compress it . I've spared you the licking-of-the-palms-photo - (smile)

and here is what it looks like with one end of the top "compacted".

Judith also mentioned to us that one end of "top" is easier to spin from than the other. You can discern this by gently tugging on one end of the top (before you compact it) and then the other. The fibers will pull out easier from one end. This should be the end we spin from.
So I encourage you to try your own little experiment. Take some top, and just spin from it (without splitting or pre-drafting).
Next take a small bit of top and compact it as I have shown here - and spin again (without changing any settings on your wheel) .Viola!

Last but not least, I picked up a cool new "toy" - Judith has come out with a line of dyes that have no known toxicity*. This is very important to us and our environment. Here is a picture of the kit:
It is called "Mother MacKenzie's Miracle Dyes". We hope to be selling them on our website soon.
From these nine colors, you can create a huge number of colorways by blending the powdered dyes in various ratios.
I also picked up a book that has been produced by Linda Jacobs (of Cedar Hill Fiber Farm in Suquamish WA) that is a guide for the blending ratios. I am keeping my fingers crossed for good luck that I might be able to persuade Linda to allow us to sell her marvelous book as well.
I haven't had a chance to try out these dyes yet, but I will - and I'll keep you posted.
All these colors were made with the nine dye pots pictured in the photo. amazing.

Last (but not least) there was someone special in a few of my
classes (including this one) and she even signed my copy of her book!
She is even more delightful and funny in person than she is in her books (can you believe it?!)

*edited to note: although there is no "known" toxicity in this type of dyes, please use common sense and caution. ALL dyes can be toxic in powdered format (even so-called natural ones) if they are inhaled into your lungs - wear rubber gloves, and wear a dust mask/respirator at all times when using any type of dyes.
** although I have given you quite a nice sample of what we did in Judith's class, there was alot more information that was taught than what I have presented here in this tiny post. Take this class. I learned so very much more than what I have shared here.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog post for..

2007-02-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

a CMF announcement !
Alright, all you superwash afficianados, there are ten new colorways that will be available for sale in a few hours. (in fiber form naturally)... all you wonderful Sock Hop Yarn friends will have to wait a little bit longer.
Here they are:
Chain of Fools - a brilliant mix of Chartreuse and orange

Do You Wanna Dance - this one we've seen a glimpse of before
and I have also spun some up, and am knitting with it. Here's my samples in progress..

Ebony and Ivory - this may look a bit like "do you believe in Magic" colorway; yet it's not dyed in the same manner at all. The proof will be in the spin and knit (and I've not had time to do it yet) - and there is a possibility this color will be soon be deleted from the line up. yet the way it is supposed to look is like a black and white version of Big Yellow Taxi - more striped, less tweedy. We shall see!

Glad All Over - this one was created at the request of Theresa.. she had asked me for one that is mostly greens - I was so excited about how this came out that I immediately began to spin it! I just began the second bobbin full, so there's been no plying yet- stay tuned. Thus far it is looking like rich earthy moss. (just what I wanted)

Happy Together - several shades of gold and light blue

Let's Hang On - just a wild and crazy mix of golden brown, pinks and blues.

Magic Carpet Ride - this color make me think of ancient persian carpets... all burgandy, deep green and tan

Secret Agent Man - dark smokey grey, a dash of rose - and some deep olive greens.

Spirit in the Sky - I made this colorway especially for Carole - a dramatic splash of reds (yay) brilliant yellow, and orange - (Carole and I both luvs us the reds!)

You Baby - vivid robin's egg blue and a rich earthy brown

So there you have it. Hop on over to our website - they are now ready for purchase :-)
We return you now to our regularly scheduled program... the classes at Madrona Fiber Arts Festival.

Madrona Fiber Arts; Lapland Hand Garments

2007-02-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

Madrona Fiber Arts Fair is one of the few shows that we do every year where I enroll in classes. This year I took a bunch -(yippee) and learned so much information, that my brain still feels stuffed full. I will share some of them with you during the next few posts.
My favorite of the knitting classes was taught by Susanna Hansson: Lapland Hand Garments: The Mittens of Rovaniemi.
Her class was described as being for "expert knitters" (which I am not yet) and suggested that we bring our patience (and sense of humor) due to the fact that it was teaching us how to knit mittens on size 000 dpn needles, using 11 balls of yarn. (that's right, I said eleven!) I think that my sense of humor is correctly in tact, since I did not even hesitate to sign up :-) Here are a few examples that Susanna shared which she purchased during a recent visit. These were knit for sale to foreigners - and are not knit up on tiny needles. Yet they are gorgeous still.

These photos are samples knit by Lene - all on size 000 needles with Satakeli yarn. They are even more incredible in person.
Soft - gorgeous color patterns - perfectly knit. Thank you to Lene for sharing.

And so, packing my humor in my knitting bag, with excitement and a good dose of humility - I went in..... fully prepared to gently excuse myself from the class if it went over my head.
I entered the classroom that first day (thursday) and my stomach filled with butterflies. Looking around, I saw half the room filled with teachers of knitting arts (Stephanie, Karen, Janet to name a few - oh be still my heart - ) .......then Susanna began, and she asked us to describe ourselves. Most listed how many years they had knit (20, 25..30+) Yikes, I thought. I better shrink as small as a mouse.. my measly 6 years seemed like a drop in the bucket - yet intrepid, as I am known to be, I sat willing myself to be glued to my chair (despite the frantically beating heart)

Susanna and Lene had spent years working out the technique and patterns that were being shared with us. Susanna began slowly, by having us knit up some wrist cuffs on size 4 needles with worsted weight yarn(kind soul that she is). We learned an amazing technique for controlling the 11 balls of yarn, by beginning with just five of them. I was astounded by this clever, productive way to knit. It involves holding the yarn on a long straight needle while you knit - and I cannot really say much more right now, as Susanna will be continuing to teach this class throughout the country.
What I CAN say, is that it is fantastic - easier than you can imagine, and it works.

If you have the opportunity to sign up for this class, run, don't walk (check Susanna's blog for her complete class schedule) .. and take it right away. wow. It is being taught in the Pacific Northwest again soon .. check it out here
We learned about the history of the Laplanders - and their colorful use of yarn. Lapland is the land of the reindeer - think really cold. I imagine that the brilliant colorways light their days through the long hard winters.

Susanna had us choose our own colors. She provided the yarn. It was great fun. She then had us color in our graphs to match the yarn we chose - so we could follow the pattern more easily. With many deep breaths, and pauses to stretch my hands - I found myself completely enchanted by this clever style of knitting. It is efficient, productive, and every single stitch is caught as you knit along - which leaves no loose floats on the back as in Fair Isle. Incredible. Susanna had us make small wristlettes in the class. Here's how I began:

and then after 3-4 hours here's where I was when I left:

Yes, that truly is all I accomplished in 3-4 hours. Size 000 needles, Satakeli yarn. I am in love. The magic of this technique keeps all your 11 balls of yarn untwisted - and easy to manage. It is a technique that reminds me alot of weaving....

Susanna is a kind a gentle teacher - who encouraged all of us. I will say it once again : take this class. There are now 19 people on the North American Continent who know how to do this technique... Susanna, plus the 18 students who were there last thursday. Let's make it hundreds of folks who learn how to do this. It's such fun.

At the end of class - and it was a very quiet class, full of "expert knitters" (and me.. sigh) - who were so focused that they were silent - knitting intently on their beautiful wristlettes, we were all jubilent. We pulled out a big table, and all layed out all our partially knit projects on the table. Here's the photo. It is amazing how one pattern blossoms into all of this. The colors were such fun.

And so I now leave you with one last photo.. it touched my heart. (sorry for how dark it is.. but I still had to share it with you all) These teensy little mitts were knit by a 79 year old man. To give you an idea of how big they are; these little sets of mittens are pins to wear on your lapel. .. with one of those tiny gold safety pins in the back ... think, just how tiny those little gold pins are - then realize that they barely show behind these mittens... AND, these teensy mitts all had THUMBS knit into them.... lets all have a moment of silence for this amazing knitting.

So what did I do after finishing this class? I went out and bought 5 skeins of Satakeli yarn, of course! I see some sort of complicated Lapland Mittens in my VERY near future.
Applause to Susanna - it was a great class. And if you don't believe me, check out Stephanie's blog as well.

Fiber Fair Photos

2007-01-30T17:05:00.000-08:00

say that title three times fast ! hah! This was the beginning of Madrona Fiber Arts Festival
We are still in 'recovery' mode, but I thought I'd start off with a few photos.. you know, the kind that shouts.."Wish you were here". (grin)

we went from this:

to this:

(and it only took about 6 1/2 hours to set up!)

After the set was done (and every evening after the classes and vendor market closed) we could be seen hanging out with friends in the hotel lobby. There were small groups of people like this everywhere. These photos were early on into one evening. By the time 11pm rolled around, there were about 30 of us hanging out in each small group. I wish I had gotten more photos of everyone together, but I was having too much fun playing to be serious with my camera :-) It was fabulous! Wish you'd been there too!

Happy and Weary

2007-01-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

We just got back from Madrona Fiber Arts Festival.
Is there a word for how wonderful it was?...... perhaps one: Wow.

More posts will follow in a few days - just as soon as my very full brain absorbs it all.

There is so much to share, I'll be doing a post on each class :-)

Okay, okay (big grins here)... if the suspense is too much, here are a couple of highlights: we played hard with friends - I got smarter (yay!) - we hired more hand spinners (double yay!) - we sold a bunch (and had lots less to schlep home) - we picked up several new product lines of goodies we think you'll love (I do) (think hand dyed sock yarn you've never seen and a new line of dyes that is amazing and some other cool stuff), we met an incredible number of wonderful spinners and knitters who shared their joy and enthusiasm for this wonderful art we do, I taught a few scazillion people to spin on turkish drop spindles.. there is just so much to tell. I promise, I will sort through all my class notes and the bits of paper that I've written incredible ideas on, and share it all with you...

Thoughts for the wise: if you can get to this fiber festival next February... do not stop, do not pass go, get on their mailing list now.

Stay tuned. Pictures and great stories - great tips to follow soon.
P>S> I'm turning off "comments" on purpose... we need a couple days to recouperate (smile)

Getting ready

2007-01-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

We're in the process of getting ready for our first show of the season; Madrona Fiber Arts. It is a fun show. For any of you who live in the Seattle area, please come by and see us. This show is held in Tacoma, and is definately worth attending.
One of the things I love about this show is the amazing classes - and I'm taking 5 of them this year (yes, perhaps I've gone a little around the bend, but we knew that anyway - right?) Klaus will be manning the booth, and I'll be off playing. Now doesn't that sound like a fabulous gift from him to me!
Here's the lineup of what I'm taking:

Lapland Hand Garments: The Mittens of Rovaniemi - by Susanna Hansson
This class suggests that we bring our patience, for it involves knitting mittens with 11 balls of yarn!

Morphing Cables by Fiona Ellis
I'm excited to meet her in person!

Modular Knitting by Ginger Luters
I have a couple of ideas about what I will do with this technique - but that's a surprise for the future.

Color Progression in Plying by Judith MacKenzie McCuin
I've taken spinning classes with Judith before, and they are without a doubt the absolute best. I would pretty much take any class that she's teaching. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class with her, just do it!

Two Colors, Two Hands by Sally Melville
I just bought myself the new Alice Starmore book and there are at least 4 sweaters in it that I want to knit. I'm hoping to learn an easier way to manage two colors at once while I'm in this class.

I've got all my supplies together, and done all my homework. I'm set (I think).. perhaps all except for the part where the "Mittens of Rovaniemi" calls for "expert" knitting ability ! I will be sure to bring along my humor.

We're taking along some wonderful new products to this show - many new fiber blends, and several items that have been hand made by local artists. For example... I was gifted with this cool handmade wristaff at Christmas time from my friend Beki (sadly blogless).
What's a wristaff, you ask?

It is a spinning tool used by drop spindlers. It hangs from your wrist, and holds the fiber out of your way when you spin on a drop spindle.
This particular one is very clever. Beki has made a bracelet of silver and spectacular glass beads, and then hand felted the bottom part that holds the fiber. like this.. see?

Now here's the cool part: the bracelet is detachable! So not only do you have a marvelous tool, you have a lovely piece of jewlery as well.
Beki makes these in sterling silver, brass and copper. The silver one sells for $35 and the brass and copper ones sell for $25. I'd be delighted to take orders if any of you would like one - just give me a shout at:
teyani AT crownmountainfarms DOT com

On the knitting front, after my epic shawl project (which I will be proudly wearing at the fair) I have been finishing up my sock "mates" from all the single socks I made last year out of the Sock Hop Yarn. (and yes, I'll be wearing all of those as well- cozy toes!) Two pairs complete, and a third 'second sock' is on the needles.
See you in a week or so! Tally ho!

Pictures

2007-01-16T12:03:00.000-08:00

They say that a picture's worth a thousand words.... well, how's about 8 pictures?

Although the nupps aren't quite perfect; I could have used a blocking wire but none was handy; the light outside was poor, and it was raining a bit as the goats looked on; it is my first ever completed lace shawl...... and I love it.
Swallowtail - pattern by Evelyn Clark - as seen in Interweave Knits.
Paprika Lace Weight Alpaca - by Dicentra Designs

And to think it all began here.... with this lovely gift from Lisa (the hand dyeing artist). You can get your own Paprika Lace Weight Alpaca. Colors will vary slightly in each batch- from a light golden to a deep rust. thank you, Lisa, for the inspiration :-)

Escape from Nupp

2007-01-13T17:30:00.000-08:00

Success! I've completed the nupp rows... and with MLK Day coming up, I feel like shouting (respectfully of course) FREE AT LAST!
Many thanks to all the blog friends who's handy comments on my previous post were of great help. (I get by with a little help from my friends)..... silly me, I'm thinking in movie titles, speech phrases and song. Can you tell that history is floating around in my mind today? !
No photos of nupp rows (yet) - I will wait until I have blocked it.

So a few thoughts about nupps:
first: if you are going to knit this shawl, I would highly recommend that you first practice nupps with the yarn and needles that you are planning to knit the shawl with. Learning to knit nupps (say that ten times fast, will ya!) when you arrive at them in the middle of the shawl is not wise. (hmm, wonder what that says about me. ho ho ho!)

second: With the suggestion of "knit loose, loose, loose" from Ann, I did just that. It helped alot. Then after a few more rows, I tried a slightly different thing... When knitting the nupp, I pinched the stitch just below the right hand needle, after I had wrapped, and while wrapping the next section. (does this make sense?) What it did was to keep the wrap and stitch from tightening while I did the next stitch and wrap. I found that this was ultimately the jazz - and I breezed through (quiet... no loud laughter) the remaining 16 nupp rows - with no additional hooks/needles required.

third: I wish that I had practiced before beginning the shawl, as the nupp size is varied throughout the rows. The last few rows are the best of all.. (refer to first suggestion) I am hoping that the magic of blocking saves the day...Silly me!

Will I rip it out? naaaaahhhh - I'll just wait and wash/block it and see what happens. You know, alot of floppi-ness comes out in the wash (so they tell me!) AND, I plan on making another one of these shawls right away. I just need to find the yarn for it. I want to try one with a heavier weight yarn, so the shawl will be larger. It's a fabulous pattern.

So, to make up for a lack of shawl-nupp-photos, I will entice you with this.............
It's been snowing and cold here (brrrrrr.. not above 32 for a long time)

So what's a wizard to do when it's cold outside?? Come up with new colorways, for sure!

This one's a sneak preview of just one color in the nine new superwash roving colors that will soon be available on our website.. it's called "Do You Wanna Dance" and I created it for my blog buddy Jane,
who had this request one day not too long ago...

I promise to have some decent 'daylight' photos soon - but I couldn't wait to share.

Have a lovely rest of the weekend all. I'm off to spin and finish knitting on Swallowtail. more pictures soon.

Lost in the land of Nupp

2007-01-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

I have noticed so many lovely lace shawls on the blogs of my buddies, I decided to take the plunge and try my own. Last seen, this little beauty was nothing but a scribble (as Margene puts it) - cute eh? !
The yarn was a gift from my friend Lisa - it's 100% lace alpaca that she has hand dyed in the colorway "Paprika". I love this color - it dances among various shades of copper red to burgandy to a few spots with a golden hue - and totally lives up to it's name.
The first 14 repeats went along pretty well. Although, I admit to talking out loud, saying the stitch pattern over and over as I knit along through all the odd numbered rows. The pattern? Swallowtail by Evelyn Clark (as recently featured in Interweave Knits.)
The pattern is so well written - even a beginner like me can tackle it, and follow along........... right up the part I have affectionately title .............
"The Land of Nupps".
Thus far, I've done 2 sets of "nupp" rows, and I had to quit for the day. Not because of lack of time, nor lack of desire, but I set it aside to beg for mercy. (Last time I took a peak, there were about 16 more nupp rows.. sigh)
Here's the little nupp itself (actually there are two of them on two different rows)- close to the pin in the middle of the photo. See those little bumps (right above the green lifeline)?
What's a nupp you ask? well (since this is a publically published pattern, I can refer to it here without breaking any rules.. I hope...thanks Evelyn) On the knit row, the nupp reads: K1,yo,K1,yo,K1 all in the same stitch. Then when you go back and purl the next row, you purl those 5 stitches together.
Now we enter the Land of Nupp - often followed by crossed eyes, tongue in cheek, holding one's breath and almost ripping the thread of those 5 little stitches.
Hmmm - why, you ask?
The knit part of the stitch seems to pull tighter and tighter as you try to put the needle back through it to purl. (insert some more frustrating noises here, along with evil laughter and the words " You'll not beat me you little nupp gremlin!")
I finally resorted to digging out my size 0 dpn, and lifting the 5 stitches off the shawl needle, with the hope that I could ease them gently together without any further massacre. It worked. (and also took over an hour to purl back on that one row.)
There were many deep sighs and walks around the house after that first row of Nupp Land.

Ever the intrepid fiberwizard, I pressed on..... (are you sensing disaster.. you can relax. All stitches are still safely on the needle, and nothing's been broken anywhere close by :-). I knit the second row of nupps, and this time made the stitch enormously loose ; reasoning in my little brain that I must have just pulled too durned tight the first time. Silly me. 90% of the little nupps again pulled too tight on themselves. Aarrggh.

So I send a small plea out to my blog friends who are lace pros....... am I making the stitch incorrectly? Is there a lace-knitter's-trick-book that I can buy right away?

I suspect that I may have fated myself to a few dilemmas when I set out to knit this little beauty up in less than a month - I am so wanting to wear it to this show that is coming up within a couple more weeks.....
So thanks - in advance - for all who jump in with ideas and help. I might not be able to write back (if I don't already have your email... blogger doesn't give it to me) But please know that I will be cheering and clapping on this end.

In the mean time, I think I'll go back to my true first lace shawl (which I began somewhere around early November) This is the Bird's Nest Shawl from the wonderful little book "Folk Shawls". I've almost finished the first of the three repeats. It's a 90% silk/ 10% cashmere yarn, in the most yummy shade of soft yellow.

Looking forward to hearing from all of you, as I stitch my way through the bog in the Land of Nupps.

January 007 Snap a dozen Days

2007-01-05T20:06:00.000-08:00

I have just joined Stephanie and Margene's newest brainstorm 007 Snap a Dozen Days. What a marvelous idea they have. Each of us shoots a photo , that represents that month, and then writes about what it means to them. Please join me now for:

January in the Pacific Northwest

The bleak mid-winter has settled over the Pacific Northwest – rather like a blanket of wet that shrouds the normally rich green foliage of the trees. We have been stripped bare of all we normally hide behind –left to show our bones to the sky.

The trees; maples, alders and birch, that normally hold their canopies of leaves enfolding each other’s limbs, are now standing solitary against the backdrop of endless grey. The wind blows through them, rain pummels their branches and trunks – leaving nothing untouched by the wet.

I often feel like this in winter – devoid of the rich greenery that hides my limbs. I am exposed, chilled by the soggy damp of the rain – yet beautiful in all my solitude. We stand alone mid-winter, yet surrounded by the beautiful solitude of others like us. Each vulnerable and singular in the cold. Winter is the time of setting our roots deep, and dreaming of spring.

Is this snow, you wonder as you drive briskly past in your car? No, indeed not. The subtle life that wraps each tree is delicate moss lichen, epiphytes to be exact; a non-harmful plant that is supported by the host tree, exposed to our view during the winter.

Beautiful unto itself, and normally hidden from view, it creates an eerie green light in the defoliated forest.

Life under life – this is winter in the northwest. Winter exposes us – strips us bare of our outer trappings, and exposes beauty that is normally hidden.

Holiday crunch complete

2006-12-30T09:43:00.000-08:00

Is everyone out there now breathing a huge collective sigh? :-) mission accomplished. gifts were complete. there were indeed happy feet all around on Christmas morning.
My daughter finally got her socks (she'd been patient for a year while other projects pushed these aside) and K got his socks out of Sock Hop colorway My Boyfriend's Back.
So - like a good little sock-obsessed-knitter that I am, what do you think I did the moment I finished all of these gifts on Christmas eve? why, of course, I cast on for another pair of socks. This time they're for me.
Featured here in all their loveliness are my Monkey Socks. Doesn't Cookie write a fabulous pattern! They are practically flying off my needles. I've turned the heels on both, and hope to be wearing them by tomorrow.

Here's a closeup photo that shows the color more accurately. It's a deep purple and crimson, with a bit of subtle shading that blends them together. I know that it's hard to tell the difference between a lot of sock yarn colors when you're looking through a computer monitor, but this color really is different from American Pie (promise).
Yarn: Sock Hop Yarn in colorway Crazy Love
pattern : Monkey
needles: size 1

And "what's that in the photo under the socks?" you ask. Why yes, it snowed. And even better yet, it's remained cold. All the lovely glittering essence of winter is staying (at least for a little while) It is so pretty. Want a peek at the view that greets us in the morning? Of course you do.

Even the goats are loving it. Goats are such interesting creatures - they don't like the rain at all (which can be a dilemma if you live in Washington State) but they seem to love to prance about in the snow. I wonder if they are pretending to be in the Alps?

Thanks to the few folks who tagged me to play the 'six weird things' meme..... but alas, I am going to decline. I pondered and searched for a list of six weird things that I wanted to publish in blogland, and found myself feeling like the oddball at a highschool dance. (not a pretty picture) Finally arriving at the conclusion that ages 11-16 were enough torture for anyone to have survived, I decided to not put myself through any more of that (grin). After all, this is my little corner of the world... why repeat history! indeed not.

With only one day left in 2006, some of us are winding up all the projects that we can. Me? Since my deadlines were all about Christmas, and I finished all of those (except for the smooshy catbed which we are all politely ignoring) I've been starting new things. Want to take a guess as to what this is? No.. it's not a messy ball that the cats have created. Shall I tell you? Errr, ummm.. I think that I will keep you dangling for awhile (or at least until I've done a bit more - this is only about 40 rows) The hint is that the yarn was a gift from my friend Lisa. Nice eh! lucky me!

So let's recap - I've got another pair of socks almost done, have begun the mystery project above, and my brain is whirling about, looking for a marvelous sweater to begin. Cables anyone?

Oopps

2006-12-23T10:06:00.000-08:00

"No problem, I can do that - it's easy" (have you ever heard yourself say this?)
Hmmm - ever hear the phrase 'famous last words' - of course you have.
Let me put it this way - ahem ....(feel free to laugh loudly while you read on)

Christmas gifts have been flying off my needles (hurray). I only had two more little things that I wanted to make; gifts for my kitties and my oldest daughter's kitties. I figured that cat beds would be perfect.
I had some pencil roving knit up in a partially finished poncho that had been lying on the floor for a few months (who me?!) and the cats just loved curling up on it. pencil roving = easy cat beds... right? raaawwwrriight.
Hey, I said to myself, I had knit felted bags, hats, slippers, purses, " what's a cat bed but a bigger circle with sides on it?" (laughter can get a little bit harder now)

I knit and I knit (size 19 needles are alot like holding broomsticks). I increased alot, then I knit some more. I added sides, did my i-cord cast off and viola... errr, perhaps I should have noticed something wasn't quite right here at this point, but determined I kept on going)
It'll come out fine when it felts, I told myself in my most confident voice.I shaped it in what I imagined it could be, and pushed, pulled... err, perhaps I could have reconsidered at this point, yet no. I pressed on.

I tossed the blob into the washing machine with an old pair of jeans, and went merrily along with my day. A couple of hours later we had this:

looks rather like a warped mexican sombrero you say?
hmmm
The cats sniffed and turned tail and left.
I placed it lovingly on the floor by the Christmas tree, and for a second (with me laughing so hard my sides hurt) one of the cats actually sat in the blob. I grabbed the camera, yet couldn't stop laughing. (thus all the blurry photos)

And so, I leave you with a wish for a very Merry Christmas - blurry photos and all. They aren't going to get any more clear, because every time I see the blob I laugh.

And so I proceed, humbled and laughing back to the drawing board. You know, I hear that there's a pattern for cat beds in Wendy's book Wendy Knits. I think I'll add that to my wish list. Ya think?!

Counting our Blessings

2006-12-16T10:35:00.000-08:00

We're in day three with no power here in Washington State; the power company is predicting that it could take up until next week to get it back on line - and yet we are counting all our blessings (in no particular order)
*all our animals are fine and so are we
*all our 30 foot cedars are still standing
* we had an amazingly glorious sunrise this chilly morning
*We have a generator (and it works really well) - we have heat and some power
* the gas stove top works - so we can cook
* four electrical outlets work in the kitchen/living room area (which means that I can keep dyeing fiber)
* and one outlet in each bedroom works (which means that we have telephone service and internet as well)
there are many others that I could go on and on about... but rather than doing that, I ask you to focus a bit of attention towards thanking all the power crews who are working hard to restore power. Their job is enormous. Trees and main power conduits are destroyed all over the northwest. The winds here at our house were above 75mph. Almost all the major towns, and all the small townships (including ours) have been without power since thursday. The temperatures are still below freezing as I write this. there are so many people who do not have generators. Please send your thoughts out to them.

Darkness comes early around this part of the country right now - it is totally dark by 4:30pm. Yesterday the highs were about 40 degrees. I went in to my office, to see a few "hardy" clients (I say hardy because it was only 46 degrees inside the building.) We lit candles and wore our coats and gloves. Somehow the people of the northwest have a wonderful inner strength. The rain, snow and cold do not deter them when they want to be somewhere. It is marvelous, and inspiring.

During the daylight hours I have been able to knit a bit more on my holiday gifts. They are in various stages of completion (yay!) I'm thinking that I might actually be able to finish by Christmas - double yay !

Wanna see up closer?
sorry about the blurry photos - the lighting isn't very good on this overcast, chilly day.

Cable back fingerless gloves - in Lousia Harding Cashmere-merino. I just love the little kisses and hugs pattern on this one. These are for a dear friend who deserves all the smooches she can imagine!

another pair of fingerless gloves - in Debbie Bliss cashmere-merino. The blue is so deep and vivid - it looks closer to the color shown in the photo above. I used the cable pattern from the Viking Knits book that I have pictured in previous posts. These are for a 20-something man who has quite large hands (he's over 6'4" tall) I opted not to make him socks this year (hmmm, I wonder why?)

and yet another pair of fingerless gloves, just begun. This is made from alpaca. It's odd, yet after knitting with the cashmere-merino, the alpaca actually feels scratchy. I'm sure that they will be fine when I am done, but it is certainly odd right now.
The gloves take about a day for me to knit up - and make a great gift for people whose shoe size you don't know.

Wondering about this pattern? Well, it is written by Karen Alfke. It is called "Cableback Fingerless Gloves". I took a class from her last January that was marvelous. She is a delightful, humorous, easy-going instructor. If you're interested in finding out where you can buy a copy, give her a shout at her email : karen@2ndesign.com

And yes, there are indeed socks in progress. These are for my patient daughter, Erin. She's seen them on the needles for a few months now (and so have many of you all... are we bored yet?(giggle)) and hopefully they will be on her feet Christmas Day. I am knitting them with Dicentra Designs superwash merino, colorway Pelennor. The pattern is the baby cable from Sensational Knitted Socks. As you can see, I have finally turned the heel on sock numero duo. I just know I'll finish these now!
Speaking of socks; did anyone else notice that there is another socks book coming out in March 2007 by Charlene Schurch More Sensational Knitted Socks. Oh man - I'm placing my pre-order right now! I have used her sock books more than any other that I own.

Klaus is already out driving around this morning - in search of an open post office. We are hoping that he can find one, so that we may mail out the orders from people on our website. We are told that there has been no mail coming in or going out of the Pacific Northwest since Wednesday, because none of the way-stations have had power. We appreciate all the patience from our customers as we attempt to solve this interesting challenge.

So keep your fingers crossed that the crews out working can finish up soon. Meanwhile, I am down to rather "unique" methods of drying the fiber that I am able to dye.... picture the damp towels dangling from all vertical surfaces in the house, stacks of dye pots lined up on the stove-top....... and me hoping that I can try out "Otto" soon :-)

Ssshhh, genius at work

2006-12-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

It has been hectic here at Fiberwizard central. Rather like a duck... it all looks calm and serene on the surface, but we're paddling like hell underneath !
Knitting for the holidays continues, fiber dyeing goes on every single day almost, I continue to see clients at my office, K keeps the fiber orders shipping out each day, and delightful guests have come and gone (more about that sometime soon)... all in all, it has been a fabulous month.

Once again tonight , as we did on thanksgiving weekend, we are running on generator power. (as in, the wind has knocked down power lines all over our area, and we'll be lucky if we have power within a few days)...
The winds are whipping around at about 70 mph, it sounds like a freight train roaring by - and the great cedars (30 feet plus) are holding on for dear life. so far, so good. The weather forecasters are saying that the worst of the storm will hit in about 6 hours...... worse than this? yikes. I figured that I had best do a post now, and be safe.
Perhaps now is a good time to slip back in time a couple of weeks, and show you some of what went on in the thanksgiving weekend here at wizard central.......
I was fortunate to have my genius brother Peter visit with us over the long thanksgiving weekend. And he had been working for three months on a design for a fiber-drying system for our wet wool. It all began with him puzzling over how amazingly long it took to dry the superwash that I hand dye. (we're talking 3-5 days depending on the humidity out here)

Tah dah!!! may I present, "otto" (so dubbed by K, after much contemplation...it needed a name after all !) Oh... you wanted to see the whole thing?.. nah, you have to scroll to the end to see that, this is just my "power button" (cool eh - I feel totally in control here :-)

So here is the pictoral view.. I just cannot resist showing you, as it is brilliant. My brother Peter designed the entire thing. It is a fiber drying system for my hand dyed fiber. It has eight racks, and can hold about 16 pounds of wet fiber.
I simply cannot wait to try it out - but alas, out garage is not yet quite finished, and the weather (well, some of you have read about what we 've been having here) the weather currently stinks. I must wait until it gets above about 50 degrees to give "Otto" a whirl - and hopefully that will be soon!

Here's the beginning - notice the gorgeous weather
the design was perfect - the weather was holding... yet suddenly it began to get dark and look like this:
it quickly became darker and darker outside....
do you think that deterred the genius (my brother Pete ?nayh.. 'course not. he kept on working through the dark and the rain..

and eventually he worked thru the snow as well.....

BUT... "otto" was finished...... tah dah!!
So the fans blown the air up through the holes, thru the shelves, and out the top ducts, thus drying the fiber in record time- prettty clever, eh?!

I cannot wait to try him out. K kept on walking around that monday calling my brother "otto-man" .. heh heh, I know, it's silly, yet true. We have a rather goofy sense of humor here, but it works for us.

Three cheers to my brother Peter - designer extrodinaire - persevering through rain and sleet and snow. (I guess it's a good thing that I fed him well that weekend eh? ! :-)

All that hard work has me totally tuckered out - phew..... time to rest now. - Emily

It's beginning to look alot like...

2006-12-07T07:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas at our house.

My blogging buddy Carole collects snowmen - so do I. :-) These guys are part of my favorite Christmas things that only make an appearence this time of year. They grace the windows around the kitchen and living room (and surprisingly enough, the cats leave them alone)
Each year when I unpack them, I ooh and ahhh like a little kid - silly, yet true.

Another holiday tradition that my daughters and I began many years ago, is to hang snowflakes in the windows. We cut them out around thanksgiving, and they linger until February sometime. Each year we add a few to replace the ones that were torn or faded from the previous year. The really gorgeous ones were made by my oldest daughter, Erin (yeah, she's the artist). Everything that she touches seems to turn to magic. You can see some of the snowflake collection adorning the windows behind my snowmen.
Do you have little traditions like this in your family?
Please share.

And, since you came for a bit of knitting content - here's a couple more completed projects for holiday gifts:

Socks made from Satisfaction Sock Hop Yarn

and I finished the cabled fingerless gloves made from Louisa Harding silk-merino yarn. oo-la-la
A few of you have emailed me, asking for this pattern.......... alas, I am unable to share it. It is published pattern, written by Karen Alfke. (I only modify which cable design I am using) I took a class from Karen last January while attending Madrona Fiber Arts Festival, and it was fabulous. It is possible that your local yarn store could find a copy of it for you.

We finally got our Christmas tree inside last night - and hope to get it decorated later on today. And in the name of the holiday season, I will share with you one more thing.....I have one other little tiny tradition (that caused complete embarassment and giggles from my daughters when they were young...) I have a small collection of these:

and I can frequently be seen wearing them to the grocery store, post office and while shopping for gifts this time of year. jingle jingle.

Got myself a treat

2006-12-02T13:12:00.000-08:00

I finally gave in and bought myself a special little treat: Sock Blockers - Leggy Creations.
Becky made these especially for me.

Didn't she do a nice job? !

Want to see the back? - yeah, I know you do :-)

Hop on over and give her a shout of praise - better yet, order some up for yourself! I had her make these nice and long in the leg part for me............... there might just be some knee socks in my future.

And on the Christmas knitting front, I finished another pair of socks. These are being modeled (ever so briefly) by K, and now are off into the wash, and being blocked. (He wasn't so sure he wanted to take them off, but I convinced him)
Colorway: Ain't No Mountain High Enough
size 1 needles
2 skeins
Pattern: Madder Rib by Nancy Bush

and now it's back off to more knitting and fiber dyeing for me. Have a lovely weekend.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor sleet...

2006-11-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

Our postmaster gets big props today. She drove through snow and an inch of ice packed solid on our back country roads in order to deliver my Yarn Aboard box ! Yipppeeee..

Ferdinand Magellan has landed - and has now become ice bound. He will be delayed a few days from continuing his 'round the world' expedition, while we pick the ice off his rudder - and then hopefully be on his way to his next stop. It's been 20 degrees outside here lately - with a wind chill factor that makes it below zero.... (very unusual for this area) and they are predicting yet another huge winter storm tonight..... so this wizard is home spinning :-)
The kitties are enjoying their very first glimpse of snow - and are begging to go out and play (the answer's no)

So here's my goodies.
despite the box having seen better days, everything inside arrived in tact!

Jackie sent such a lovely assortment of goodies - and she gave incredible attention to detail. It began with a lovely note card and part of a book that she copied for me called Burd that was written by Stewart Mclean. Apparently, there is a reference in the book to "Cosmic Mother Fu...." that is quite hilarious, since our business is often referred to as CMF - Jackie has translated that now to "Cosmic Mother Fibre".. cute eh?! Even her note to me was a work of art - notice the hand sewn top and the perfect paper crane at the bottom. just lovely.

There was, of course, chocolate (yay) from Canada - Denman Island chocolate. That will be promptly eaten, now that it has been photographed (*grin*)

And just look at these hand made ornaments -the ball is handmade by Jackie - it is called temari. She made it with some left over yarns from silk scarves that she wove. I wonder how she knew that my husband and I love stars! (particularly the 8 pointed ones for me) It is almost too incredible to even photograph. And the origami ornaments are also so dear; a horse and a crane. Truly they will be good luck on our tree.
She also included a "lobster pen" - it's one of those eewwie-goowie rubbery things.. made me laugh. She said "what's a box from the maritimes without a lobster" tee hee.

Okay - now for the fiber.............. tah dah!

Luscious pink and fuschia alpaca roving (8 whole ounces!). I can't wait until my bobbins are empty so that I may spin that into a yarn for a scarf, or maybe even a shawl if I can make it thin enough. I haven't spun much alpaca, so I am totally in awe of this gift.. can't wait. Isn't the color vivid and wonderful?! It is totally me.
Beside the alpaca in the photo is a bag smashed full of silk rags. I have played with these a tiny bit before - flicking them into a dark yarn as I spin. Now I have a whole humongo bunch that I can mess with. wow. they are really fun guys.

And last - but by far NOT least, there is ..... (drum roll please) Quiviet ! whoa - this stuff is amazing! (and also is one of the very few fibers that we do not (yet) sell. Jackie must have read through every page on our website to find this out (and that's alot of reading!) Not only is it soft, delightful and begging to be spun, but Jackie took the time and care to pick through the entire bundle, removing all the guard hairs - This fiber was scraped from the hide of a musk ox. I think that I shall just sit and gaze at it for a long time before it is spun. My mind is already filled with glorious images of a lacey scarf (once I get brave enough to spin this stuff)

thank you, Jackie. Your attention to detail, the care in fiber selection and your handmade goodies have made my heart sing. Please hop on over to her blog and give her a big round of applause for this wonderful gift to me!

...the goose is getting fat...

2006-11-19T15:14:00.000-08:00

As we fast approach my most favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, I am also quite mindful that Christmas is coming just as fast. You'll find me humming christmas songs as I prepare this week.
Did you ever wonder why there are no "songs" we really sing for thanksgiving ? It seems to me that there should be. I just plain love this particular day. .. yeah, before you all write and chastise me, I know there's 'we gather together'.. but that song always feels more like church to me, and not so much thanksgiving... but I digress. Perhaps the thing I love most about this day is that nothing is expected of anyone, except to show up, eat and enjoy each other, while giving thanks for all our many blessings. That's just about perfect in my book.

I have been cleaning like the energizer bunny, and the house is ready for company. I even washed the windows. It looks glorious, and I am well pleased. Now all that needs to be done is to enjoy my family - that is truly the best part of this holiday.

Between dyeing new batches of fiber, and sending out packages (that's K's job) I've been doing a bit of knitting - hurrah!
Here's some completed Christmas gifts :-) and definately no hints as to who they are for! You never know who might peek into blogland!

First up, Socks:
Twist and Shout -
this is a pattern written by Heartstrings. It has hearts all around the ankle and top of the foot, and it definately fits this recipient (whom I dearly love) I'd model them to show you the hearts, but they're already washed and ready to go. You'll just have to imagine.

Ain't No Mountain High Enoug h -
these are in progress. I've begun the heel on one sock, and am about 1/2 inch from the top of the heel on the second. Please forgive the color being "off" in this photo - they are much lighter than they appear here. for accurate color, look here.
The pattern I am using for these is the Madder Rib, from Nancy Bush.
soft and yummy.

Fingerless Gloves-
I knit this up with Debbie Bliss, cashmerino. absolutely divine. The pattern is from Karen Alfke, I got it in a class that I took last year (where I knit my very first cables.. don't faint Carole, they are easier than they look :-) I just wish that I could figure out a better place to hold my cable needle than in my mouth (tee hee)
and yes, there is already a pair of these!
I made them a bit longer than normal, since the recipient has elegant long fingers (longer than mine *grin*) and I think that she'll enjoy them.
I have to hide them from my cats until they are wrapped. The cats seem to love all things goat - they continue to steal them, and prance all around the house with the glove in their mouth, like they have stalked some kind of prey. very silly.

And finally, I just began these fingerless gloves:
I am using some silk-merino by Louisa Harding to knit these. Can everyone say oooooooh-aaaaahh... yes, they feel like heaven. I will edge them around the cuff and the top with the multicolor green mohair-silk just to add a tiny touch of 'bling'. The recipient of these is certainly special enough to me to merit this divine yarn.
I am knitting with another cable design - which I am totally enjoying - this is one that I modified from a sweater pattern in the Viking Knits book that is also pictured.
The gloves are so satisfying to knit. They only take a couple of days, and there is no worry about whether or not I know what size someone's foot is. this is good.

How are all of you doing on your knitting for the holidays? I still have a bunch to do, and I'd better get it in gear, since almost all of my gifts have to fly their way to remote locations :-)

Happy thanksgiving to all of you - may you be blessed throughout the holiday season.

Oh my my

2006-11-15T16:23:00.000-08:00

This blog is being brought to you via generator power... and it looks like it'll be that way for a few days at least.

It's been an exciting day here at Crown Mountain Farms in more ways than one.
We're experiencing gale force winds (and have been since about 7:00 am.) What I mean is winds that are peaking out above 60 mph. now that's windy!
The power has been out all day - and was also out all day on Monday. Trees and power lines are toppled - trees have crashed into our fence line (luckily it was a fence in the middle of the pastures and no animals have escaped) The rain is pelting the windows with a force that feels like the hurricane photos look. Several 10 foot high photinia shrubs have been broken off at their roots from my garden. It is a mess. The 30 foot cedars bend over almost in half it seems with each gust of wind that flies by, and our house on the hill is doin' the "Shake, Rattle and Roll".
Wow.
This isn't supposed to happen in the Pacific Northwest.
They say it will continue through today, then we get a break and it begins again on sunday.
wow again.
All the power in our small city is out, every single business, gas stations, grocery stores, post offices, etc. is closed. It's like a ghost town in there according to reports. I wasn't able to go in to work today because live power lines lay across the major intersections en route.
Truly amazing.

In the middle of the storm this morning, we put our Sock Hop Yarn up for sale again. (great planning eh? :-) Now that was a hurricane in and of itself - yet it was the good kind ! Our spinners had been working like crazy for the past three months, and we sent out the emails to our wish list folks. We were ready.
At 5:50 a.m. the telephone began to ring... and hardly stopped, at 6:00 am, the website went live and it was off to the races. We could only sit and watch hundreds of emails flooding in with orders. Giggling and hooting with joy, we cheered each one.Smack dab in the middle of the flurry of sales, we lost power... whoa nellie! My husband raced out, hauled the generator out of the shed, and gave a mighty yank or two to kick it into gear. back in business.
We have about 1/3 of our lights working in the house, and are able to cook on the gas stovetop. It looks like we'll be "roughing it" for a few days. Hopefully the post office will be reopened tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone for making this another rousing, successful day ! We had to turn off the sales on line at 8:15 am, because we were once again sold out. Hard to believe, yet true.

I am completely grateful for everyone's enthusiastic response to our handspun sock yarn. You have brought joy to a huge number of handspinners.

If you missed out on this round of sales, and would like to be added to the early notification email list, hop on over to our website and go to the Sock Hop Yarn page (see the link above) . You'll be placed on a wish list, and we'll be contacting you soon.
thank you to everyone for your patience, your support and encouragement.

It's been a wild ride today - hold onto your hat, 'cause it ain't over yet!

Sit and Spin a bit with me

2006-11-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Over the past 5 1/2 years that I have been spinning, I've been blessed with many friends who have taught me some of the "tricks of the trade". One of my favorite aspects to this creative art is how freely spinners share their knowledge. While I am by no means an expert, I'd love to share with you something I have learned. Will you spin a bit with me?
Our Sock Hop spinning has greatly enhanced my skills. (perhaps it's the gazillion pounds I've spun?) and Cheryl - of New Hue Handspun has taught me alot. (Cheryl has been our highest volume spinner of Sock Hop Yarn since we began last spring - alas, she has no blog..) While there is no "perfect" way to spin, there are indeed a few wonderful techniques that have made my life easier.
Many of you have written and asked me questions about how tight to ply, and how to add on to plyed yarn - so here's a small pictoral view of what I've been talking about:

When we spin for the Sock Hop, we add a bit of "overtwist" when plying - instead of having a completely 'balanced' yarn while you are plying, you'll want to have it twist a bit more snuggly on itself. The result, after you have washed your yarn will be a springy, snug sock yarn. How much overtwist, you ask? well - here's what I'm doing... this is what it looks like if I relax the tension on my newly plyed yarn:

I've been a tad bit fussy about certain aspects of the Sock Hop (*grin*) - One of my requirements is that the skeins have no knots in them. (it's a pet peeve of mine - to buy commercial yarn that has knots - ). Anyway, here we are, spinning along.. a pound at a time, wanting six skeins/pound with no knots.

I don't know about any of the rest of you, but my bobbins do not hold a pound of plyed yarn :-) So what do we do about adding on new singles to the plyed yarn remnants that are left on the bobbin? The following is the cool technique that Cheryl taught me.

Step One: Pull about 6 inches of plyed yarn back out through your orafice -
Untwist the yarn into two singles once again... about 4 inches worth.
Break one of the singles off so that it is about 3-4" shorter than the other end. Hang onto your two seperate ends, for they will want to twist back together..

Step Two:
Split the short end that you've just broken -
opening it up into two pieces, so it looks like this:

Step three:
Pick up the end from one of your full bobbins of singles that you want to attach, and lay it between these two split ends (from step two) Gently wrap the two split ends around the new single, and roll a tiny bit with your fingers (all the while holding onto it a bit firmly. (yes, it feels as though one needs six hands at this very moment! - I've been known to use my knees to hold one end of the loose singles.. but feel free to use your mouth, toes, husband's hands.. whatever) You'll get the hang of this - trust me.. it gets easier with practice.

Step four:
Next, you want to advance your wheel a few turns, allowing the twist to move down over the previously wrapped section of the yarn... all the while, holding tightly onto the second single end that you are going to be working with next... don't let go of this second end, or you'll have to start all over again.

Step five:
Split the second part of the yarn from your wheel, exactly like you did with the first half. Lay the end from your other full bobbin of singles between the split, and again roll a bit with your fingers so they stay together. (a little mositure helps now and then)

Step six - the finale !
Advance your wheel a little bit more, and you have now completed the invisible join onto the plyed yarn that was left on your wheel , and you're ready to continue plying along :-) No knots!!!!
At this point - I usually take a large exhaling breath, get up from the wheel, stretch my legs and grin like a cheshire cat for a few mintues. I love it when it works.
If you end up with a tangled mess, (as I still do at times - despite the hours of practice) - you can always go back to step one and try again. Isn't it great?
Let's all take a moment to send out a cheer to Cheryl.

And on the local scene, it stopped raining enough this morning for me to catch a snapshot of a few of our critters. We've added two young girls cashgora goats to our flock. (I think that my shepherd was missing his enormous flock of goats) These two lovelies came from our flock a couple of years ago, and the new owners have graciously allowed us to "borrow" them. We're noticing that our billy goats have been a bit randy as of late, and we're hoping for some babies in the spring!

Almost Sock Hop Yarn

2006-11-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

It has been a grand adventure to create the hand spun Sock Hop Yarn. Over the past 5 months we have been working to add more spinners - and have been successful with quite a few (yay!) Five new spinners have joined our team, and our feet and fingers are racing along to create yarn for you. Each pound of yarn takes the average handspinner (me) about 14 hours to spin the singles - and then another few hours to ply it/wash it/ and dry it. Every pound has about 1300 yards total. It's alot of mileage that is running through our wheels. :-)

While in process, some yarn has been handspun that doesn't quite fit the specifications for our Sock Hop Yarn...... and thus I present to you at a reduced price of $13/skein....
Almost Sock Hop Yarn

Here are some photos of what is for sale - We won't be selling this through our website, since it is non-repeatable - and so I offer it here. Please email me at the address you'll find at the bottom of this post. When it's gone, it's gone. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do...Beautiful hand dyed, hand spun yarn.
Each skein is approximately 200 yards - and they are $13 / skein + shipping

Number One: a lovely reddish brown yarn. It is perfectly spun - but was washed in hot water, and thus the colors bled into something that isn't quite the usual colorway. Total of 5 skeins available.
5 skeins sold
SOLD OUT

Number two: a version of Pink Cadillac. It is plyed a bit looser than we'd normally hope for. There are a total of six skeins for sale.
6 Sold

Sold Out

Number three: a version of Say a Little Prayer - again this is a very soft ply - and a tad bit thicker than normal for sock yarn. It would make a fabulous shawl. please note that some of the skeins have a knot in them where the yarn was joined. Seven skeins available
7 sold
SOLD OUT

Number four: a version of Wild Thing - this also is a softer yarn, plyed loosely and a bit thicker than sock yarn. Like the yarn above, some skeins have a knot in them. Six skeins available

6 sold
SOLD OUT

Number five: A version of Twist and Shout. This yarn is a bit too thick - it knits up on a size 2 needle (instead of our normal size 1) . We have three skeins available - a pair of knee socks anyone?
All sold out

So there you have it - Please email me at : teyani AT crownmountainfarms DOT com and I will let you know how to purchase these. (The softer yarns are very suitable for a shawl perhaps?) I'm delighted to be able to offer this sweet handspun to you at a discount. As we continue to have 'spinners-in-training', we might be able to offer more yarn like this in the future - but for now this is the full "stash".

Ordinary

2006-11-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've been back from my jaunt to Florida for a week and a half - and it seems like only yesterday. A good friend called me the other day, and asked what I had been doing...... I actually had to pause and think - nothing really came to mind that was big enough to share.. life is ordinary.
So I began to truly contemplate what 'ordinary' is....... here is an average day for the fiberwizard here in the rainy Autumn of the Pacific Northwest.

6 am: awake, make coffee, feed kitties (and of course play a bit)
answer some emails, read a few blogs

7am: wash the dye pots, refill them with a new batch of fiber

8am: skein off yesterdays dyed fiber, label the fiber from the day before

9am: shower, get ready for work and head out

10am office time: prepare billing for insurance companies, see clients, answer a gazillion phone calls, and hopefully spin and knit a bit between the clients. I also chat with the landlord and neighbors about felling the dead tree that is threatening to land on my garage, return calls from a local doctor's office about potential clients, water office plants, dust and vaccum the office..

7 pm: stop at the grocery store for odds and ends that we need, cook and eat dinner (fortunately K does the cooking during the week - hurray-)

9pm til bed: spin a bit more, talk on the phone with spinners-in-training for Sock Hop, play with the kitties, and read a bit before falling sound asleep.

Somewhere in those average days, I also talk with my daughters, parents and friends; K and I discuss new products, restocking of hand dyed fiber, and make the plans for what we need to order up and prepare (dyes, fiber, trips to the processing mill, post office trips, etc etc)

Every now and then there are a few 'glitches' thrown in - perhaps it is the fairies just keeping me on my toes:
* Yesterday on the way to work, I drove down our hill and spyed a sheep stuck halfway out of a fence. Her head and one leg were sticking thru - as she danced back and forth. The cell phones don't work out where we live, so back up the hill I drove - rounded up K to come down and rescue her. By the time we got back down (in the rain) she had freed herself :-) Back off to work I went.

* earlier in the week, I left the office around 7pm, and began driving home.. a flat tire. sigh. I did pretty well in the changing of it -jacked the car up, freed the never-before-used-spare tire from under the car, and began... well,sort of, all except for the fact that the lug nuts were on too tight for me to loosen, (despite jumping on the arm of the tire iron). makes a funny picture in your mind doesn't it?.. me all dressed up in skirt and heels, jumping on a tire iron.. a few choice words were spoken. I ended up calling K and he came to help. thank you!

* three of my clients yesterday called to cancel or reschedule.. sick kids, work conflicts etc. I didn't mind at all, since I have lots of Sock Hop Yarn to spin, and it meant more time with my Rick Reeves wheel at work :-) I happily began my spinning and plying with the three hours I now had free - oooppppsss, the drive band on the wheel broke.. sigh... it broke once, twice, three times, four times, and finally FIVE times. I ran out of cotton drive bands, and then resigned myself to no spinning today...I sighed again, and picked up my knitting with a smile. It seems that what I had time for was holiday knitting instead!

So when my friend asked... "whatcha' been doin'?" I answered........ "Oh, not much - a bit of this and that."
The days roll by, the leaves are still sitting in the lawn at the office. It has been raining here this week. I love it when it rains - because it means more time for me to sit and spin / knit without the tug at my heart from the garden work that needs to be done before winter.

Today the wind is strong. The weather forecasters are predicting a power outage. I put the dye pots in early, and hope that the power stays on for a couple of hours so they can finish cooking.
this is ordinary time.
Ordinary is good.

Halloween Surprises

2006-10-31T07:29:00.000-08:00

It is always great fun to get packages - especially when they are hand knit gifts.
Today brought a perfect gift - Toasty Toes socks from Gracie.
Even my kitties were excited when I opened this box of goodies - they were trying to figure out how to get the wrappers off those sweet tarts. hee hee

The weather turned gnarly last night here, dropping from a previous day's high of 70 degrees, to the mid teens last night. Frost on the windows and all the plants outside makes it the perfect Halloween - and the perfect scene for showing off my new warm tootsies!

Thank you Gracie, for these gorgeous socks. They fit perfectly. And the color is divine. They are beautifully knit as well. I am one lucky sock pal. I am not sure how she got these knit up so fast, given all the other excitment in her life... the baby on the way ! - but I am delighted that she did. Thank you.
She included a bunch of Halloween goodies, and even a teensy Frankenstein finger puppet (which is going to my office for the kids to play with. hah!)

What a wonderful sock swap. I had a great time - thank you, once again Amanda, for hosting all this fun! I luvs me my new socks!! Yippeee...

Oom Pa Pa

2006-10-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

I got back home from Tampa, Florida a day or so ago - at 2 am. My head and body are still a tad bit jet lagged - yet I'm here in one piece. The good news is that my luggage finally made it home too - yay! (two days after me)
I decided to wait to post, since my "road trip" knitting was in the suitcase (along with my entire set of dpns.... about $400 worth of needles) I wondered to myself, when they lost my luggage - what on earth possessed me to take ALL my dpn's with me..... (never did get an answer on that one)
I think that I had been more concerned about losing them than I was about my clothing, jewlery etc. It's a sure sign that you're addicted to the knit when you care more about losing your needles than you do about valuable jewlery..

Moving right along, here's the Socktoberfest Socks.. a completed pair (no laughing out there)- whoo hoo, and a big oom-pa-pa.
They are made from Sock Hop Yarn colorway "Respect"
size 1 needles
pattern Bluebell Rib
The best news is that they are actually for me. yumm. (and there are TWO of them ! (I know, I know, silly, yet true. Most of my knitting is either for the booth displays or gifts.) Can you hear the Oom-pa band playing those wonderful dance tunes as I twirl about in them? no? well, err, umm... maybe it's just me singing.

There was some other knitting that happened on the road as well:
I began these for my oldest daughter (it was a very long flight, with a couple hour layover)- They are a Christmas gift for this year (we hope) I have only one more repeat of the pattern (4 rows) and then I begin the toe decreases. I just love this yarn - the way the color dances around the sock never ceases to delight me. There will be a second sock for sure.

I wonder if anyone else out there has begun their holiday gift knitting?

It was a good trip to Tampa - and no, dear friends.. I didn't get to have a "cuban and a cigar" (I hear this is the "Tampa" thing to do.. ho ho...) All my hours were spent digging into a gazillion packing boxes, smooshing packing paper flat, and finding space for things to go inside various cupboards and closets. Cuban sandwiches will be the next trip. I must also confess, that the only sights of Tampa I saw were through the car window as we drove to my parent's new home. I have a feeling that there is another trip to visit them in my very near future.
We had a delightful time (believe it or not) and we got them about 90% unpacked; and we were hanging pictures right up until 5 minutes before my departure. If you're ever planning to visit Tampa, now is the right time of year. It is a glorious 70 degrees, with nights dipping down into the 50's. I loved seeing my parents - and their new home is beautiful (all except for the black widow spiders my brother discovered had moved into their encolsed lanai. yuck - and absolutely true.)

A few days before I flew out to the east coast, I began waking up at 4 am (excitment? or was my body just trying to change time zones ahead of me?) Truthfully, I didn't mind at all, for I figured that the extra 3 waking hours were totally MINE, to do whatever I felt like. Yipeeeee... so, now I can imagine, you are asking yourself - whatever did she do? spin (of course)
And here's the results:
This is the superwash merino that my friend Lisa gave me at OFFF this September. My fingers had been itching to spin it, but I hadn't been able to tear myself away from all the Sock Hop spinning. Now, finally I could. I am totally enjoying these vivid colors!. I spun it up in a similar manner to the way I normally spin our Sock Hop Yarn - so I can knit it up on size 1 needles. Look for socks to be sprouting from this skein right after my holiday gift knitting.

And back on the home front now, fall has truly arrived. It is my favorite of all the seasons - my flowers are in their final hurrah for the year - and there is a tad bit of work to be done at my office - do you see some jumping in piles of leaves in my near future? !. (*grin*)

Circle

2006-10-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

Just one more thought.. couldn't resist. It speaks for itself. It has always been one of my favorite songs..
Circle - written by Joel Friedmann, sung by Barbra Streisand on her album Higher Ground.

"Some say the walls between us stand so tall, they don't see there's just one sun shining on us all.
I say we each choose roads to call our own but none of us is traveling through this universe alone.."

"and this circle just goes on and on
it began before us, it will be here when we're gone.
and this circle just goes on and on
connecting our humanity, joining me to you and you to me."

"Seasons keep changing on the wheel of time.
We stand, we fall, we struggle up the mountains we must climb.
Different dreams may color what we see ahead, but our lives are bound together on a common thread
and this circle just goes on and on.
it began before us, it will be here when we're gone.
and this circle just goes on and on; connecting our humanity, joining me to you and you to me."

" 'round and 'round and 'round and 'round we go.
around and 'round and 'round and 'round we go...
love and learn and change and grow;
'round and 'round and 'round we go."

"and this circle touches everyone, as it crosses every boundary underneath the sun.
And this circle, just goes on and on and on.....
it began before us, it will be here when we're gone.
Someday we will come to see.....
I'm joined to you and you to me."

and now the wizard has left the building
see you in a week or so....

Just a note

2006-10-14T13:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have written asking about the shawl pin that I sent to Amanda...
It is every bit as lovely in person as it is in the photo.
Follow this link, and you can get one for yourself in either brass or silver.

And I have made the decision to withdraw from the Amish Shawl project. After reading the comment from Rosi on Diana's blog, and much thought, it seems that the most respectful thing is to let the Amish mourn in their own way. Diana and Shelly had a lovely idea - yet, the Amish customs are so different from our own.

The Allure of Lace

2006-10-13T16:28:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been contemplating lace. It's magic, the absolute airy, light, yet strong quality of lace. Rather like a spider web, it calls to me.
I figure that if this one, and this one and this one and this one and this one... can do it...... so can I. (at least that is the hope) - I know that many other blogging buddies out there have also heeded the call of lace..... many cheers. and wish me luck.

I begin. The search for a pattern was the first order of business. I hoped to begin that very day, so ordering a pattern was not a choice (you know how it is when you just have to begin something... the soul calls to you, and you press on).
I searched high and low through my gazillion books, and came across the lovely Folk Shawls. As I leafed through the book, I noticed that the rectangular stoles held more appeal to me. They held the possibility of me actually wearing the shawl.
After hours of enjoyable pondering, I selected the Bird's Nest Shawl. It is modeled after shawls made in the Himalaya's - this also appeals to me.
I dug through my stash, and found a yummy golden yarn that I had purchased years ago - definately a lace weight - 90% silk and 10% cashmere. It is a four ply yarn and down right teensy. yikes... yet I forged ahead. I knit a small 'sample' (as we are told that we should) and washed it, and set it aside. Bravely I decided that it must be alright, since the stitches looked fine, and so I cast on and began (naturally without waiting for the sample to dry)
Now here's the funny thing - our two black cats Miss Em and Lady Di; well, they have a 'thing' for goat fiber (any ol' goat will do). The second that I sat down to knit, Lady Di came racing over to my chair and edged her paws up closer and closer to the yarn. Who would have thought that her sense of smell was soooo keen as to awaken from a deep slumber all because of 10% cashmere!
Well - I knit on, and here's where I have gotten so far. four and a half hours, and I just began the actual lace portion of the shawl. sigh. I have discovered a few things..... I knit faster than I purl. It takes me about 15 minutes to purl an entire row of all these 346 stitches on size 6 needles. And it takes me 10 minutes to just knit the garter stitch rows. If my math is correct, that means that it will be about 38 hours of knitting that goes into this lovely garment. K asked if I had lost my mind - I assured him definately not :-)
Oh and what about the sample you might ask? Well, it seems that the cats found it, and have now hidden it somewhere special. So I am just going to assume that this yarn will bloom and be gorgeous. If not, we can always blame it on the kitties!

So what else am I knitting? Definately socks. Socktoberfest is going on you know -(how could you not know when it is everywhere!) Here's what is finished so far on that front. I promise that I am going to finish BOTH of these socks, and be wearing them before the end of the month. Thanks for all the good natured ribbing that I have received from all my blogging buddies, I am also going to begin knitting the mates to all my single socks.
The spec on this sock is that it is Sock Hop Yarn, colorway "Respect" - pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks. I am really enjoying this colorway.

Last but not least, I am still spinning. every day. Right now, the spinning is black - all black. It is for the Amish Shawl project that Diana and Shelly are hosting. I am almost half way through the pound of wool that I dyed and promised I'd finish for them It is Corriedale Pencil Roving, hand dyed without about a gazillion packets of dye to get it truly black.
On my wheel at the office is some more Sock Hop spinning.
If anyone out there knows of folks who would like to earn some money while spinning, we're still looking to add another 3-4 spinners for Sock Hop Yarn. The demand for this is high, and we need some more full time spinners (2-4 pounds / week) Any takers?

I am going to be taking a week or so off from posting, as I will be heading out to sunny Tampa Florida. My parents are moving into their new home, and I am going to help them unpack and get settled. There will definately be knitting on the plane and in the evenings. I'm really looking forward to getting to see them again and also their new home.
Have a joyous week all of you -

Calling all spinners

2006-10-08T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Amish community suffered an enormous loss this week - as many of you have read in the news. It is a mother's worst nightmare to lose a child.
Diana has made a plan to respond to this horrific tragedy with a gift of handspun handknit shawls to the women who have lost children. Read her post here.
I just got an email from Diana, and she is in need of more spinners.
She needs handspun black yarn. about a pound of it.
Diana and Shelley will pair a spinner with a knitter, and then a gift of their jointly made shawl will be sent to one of the women who lost a child this week in the Amish community.
Please hop on over and tell Diana that you will spin a bit for this wonderful project.
Women sharing kindness with women.
Isn't that we're all about?

Toasty Toes "Sehr Gut"

2006-10-07T16:59:00.000-07:00

That translates to ToastyToes - very good !... and all done !
I totally enjoyed knitting this lovely pattern; and despite the tiny nature of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, it was a fairly fast knit.

Here are the specs:

Pattern : Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Sock written by Evelyn Clark
I love the way Evelyn writes her patterns. They are completely clear, and never ever contain mistakes. The lace is a delight to make - and might have even inspired me to knit a lace shawl.. now that's an accomplishment.
needles: size 1 dpn
yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport - color powder blue
Modifications: I decided that since my Toasty Toes pal is a totally lacey-kind-of-gal, that these socks needed a bit of a more fancy heel. I used the eye of partridge pattern, and followed the directions from Sensational Knitted Socks to pick up the slipped stitches along the side of the heel flap - it involves picking up the inside of the stitch, and knitting through the back. It gives you a delightful twisted edge along the heel.
And of course I couldn't resist trying them on - don't ya know... especially after my initial fiasco yarn that I tried. I just had to make sure that they would hold up to being taken on and off :-)

They are all washed up now, and awaiting a complete dry, then I will pack up the box and add a few goodies. It's hard to wait until the end of the month to send them on their way .
Crossing my fingers in hopes that they fit !
thanks again go out to Amanda for sponsoring yet another totally fun swap. You're the best girl!

Socktoberfest !

2006-10-06T08:24:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind this week in my posts... but am finally getting around to answering Lolly's questions for this month's Socktoberfest.

*When did you start making socks? did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class?
My very first socks were knit back in fall of 2001. not a pretty sight -they were big and floppy (no photos to show) - knit with a worsted weight yarn. I gave them to my daughter who loves to lounge around in them. I was first taught by the elderly German woman who also gave me spinning lessons. She did not use a pattern, but rather told us what to do as we went along.
My sock knitting stopped copmpletely with this pair, and I didn't try again until thanksgiving 2005. The second time around, I picked up some of the wonderful Dicentra Designs yarn and came up with this amazing pair. I love the smaller yarn - and the actual fit of the sock.
Finally, I took a class last February from Charlene Schurch - and I was definately hooked. Let me tell you, she's wonderful in person !

*What was your first pair? How have they held up over time?
That original pair was such a disaster - but the actual second pair (shown above) has been amazing. durable, soft, cozy. I wear them all the time.

*What would you have done differently?
With my initial pair: Used a better quality yarn ~ and a pattern :-)

*What yarns have you particularly enjoyed?
Fleece Artist, STR, Lorna's Laces semi solid, Dicentra Designs and Sock Hop (of course!)

*Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on Dpn's, 2 circulars, or using the magic loop method?
I am totally a 4 dpn kind of gal. One pattern (that I really love) called for 5 dpns.. it was a little tricky with all those teensy points, but it worked in the end. My preference is definately only 4 dpns.

*Which kind of heel do you prefer? flap, short row?
I'm a top-down-flapper-girl.

*How many pairs have you made?
Now this is the "true confessions" question - if there ever was one! I have "completed" 5 pairs of socks - of which only 1 pair was for me...... yet, that being siad, I have also knit all of these :-) and I have 4 in partial completion on the needles as we speak. My goal for this winter is to make all the matching feet for these Sock Hop socks - then I'll have warm toes for the winter. It's just hard to resist trying out a new colorway once I have it spun. hah!

Quark!

2006-10-01T16:46:00.000-07:00

Quark ~.... kerle, kerle, kerle ~ ...Mensch ! You know, I swear that I'd lose my heard if it weren't attached... I meant to post pictures of my stash enhancements yesterday.. but I forgot.

Yet first - let me explain the unusual beginning of the post; When I first was dating K in 2001, I focused on learning to speak some German. If any of you have spoken to him on the telephone, you'll have heard his wonderful accent (being from Germany and all).
Anyway... I am fairly good at languages, and so I began to repeat some of his favorite expressions:
Quark.........
Kerle, kerle, kerle........
Mensch......

Mostly these sayings were used when he was frustrated with something, or a tad bit ticked off shall we say? I assumed that he was cussin' in German..... I thought that I was doing fairly well, yet whenever I'd speak them, K would burst into hilarious bouts of laughter. (and still does to this day)
Finally I figured out why ( see the end of the post for an explanation and translation of these words.)

Without further ado - here's the stash enhancement from the weekend:

Gorgeous deep golden Wenslydale, raised and hand dyed by our friends Linda and Lois who own The Bellwether Wool Company. Hop on over to their site and say hi - they are fabulous folks, and have a great product!
Sorry about the ripped label - and the messy skein. It looked alot prettier when I first bought it. Who would have known that black cats love the smell of this fiber? I set it down in the RV, and left to load more stuff; when I returned with the next load, this lovely fiber was ripped to bits, and strewn from one end of the RV to the other. sigh. good thing it wasn't yet yarn! kerle, kerle, kerle!!

Beside this loveliness, you will see yet another brand of rosewood dpn's. I got these from Morgaine at Carolina Homespun. She thinks that they'll work a bit better for me, since they are only 5" long. fingers crossed, I try yet again :-)

And then as I was getting ready to leave, Lisa Milliman (of Dicentra Designs fame) stopped by with this gift! woo hoo ! It is about 2 ounces each of her new superwash hand dyed roving! What a sweetie! I can't wait to spin it up and test knit a sock with it. (notice the lurking kitty paws... look out kiddo - Mensch!)

Check out our website, and you'll see that we are offering an introductory special on this fiber. (as well as other new fiber and some close out sales on yarn)

And yes, there was a bit of knitting going on over the weekend - here's the sock I finished from Twist and Shout. (notice the single context of that word... yes, only one so far.. in fact, I confess, there is only one so far of all the Sock Hop socks I've knit up...) quark!

last but not least, a major gift to K (the birthday boy) was some hand made Porter beer - think rich and dark, and our friend Will even printed up custom labels for K. umm, gee... do you think he likes it? YUP!
thanks so much Will and Cheryl for this wonderful beer. You guys are amazing!

So now, for the conclusion of the lost-in-translation German words. As you recall, at the beginning of all this, I thought I was swearing up a storm. no such thing! Here is the closest translation K can make....
quark... sour cream (sort of, but it's also sort of yogurt)
Kerle ... adolescent boy
Mensch... human

So sour cream to everyone! hah!

It was a grand weekend at OFFF

2006-09-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival was a fabulous weekend. If you have never been....... well, all I can say is "get yourself there!"
We left on thursday Sept 21 and returned home on sunday Sept 24th. So much occured during these few days... I will give you a pictoral view of some of it.
We arrived late on thursday, after a typical drive down.
Traffic was nasty thru Portland, but never fear, the sock knitting kept me very happy.. (thanks to K for driving (again)) I was wearing my lovely socks made from Dicentra designs yarn, and was knitting a new sock for Socktoberfest - made from Respect ! (naturally)
We arrived at our campsite and hung out - after a quick 'dump and leave' of all our booth items in the hall - awaiting the next day's set-up... . *talk about postponing until tomorrow whatever you can!)

We set up on friday morning/afternoon (this normally takes about 6 hours) - after that we collapsed and then that night we played with our friends. Sillyness at the campsite was the order of the day. Especially because it was K's birthday! (happy b-day my love)

Here are a few party shots:
Diane McKinnon showing her stuff..... "did I tell you about this shawl?" (it's the infamous shawl that she won from last year's fleece to shawl competition at BSG - Diane was the weaver in the group..... isn't it lovely? ! )
and then there was amazing culinary skill at our camp site.... We dined like kings and queens - it was the chef Doug, and his wife Celeste and son, Daniel .... thank you Doug for all your amazing royal treatment last weekend.Enough lamb to float a battleship was eaten..

there was the hilarious 'moving of the tent event.... a new friend who had stationed herself too close to the goats and was sung to "sleep" by goats who baaaed all night long.. tee hee.. we warned her, but she tried it out the first evening. (yes, we'd had a few glasses of wine that night. what a laugh! before we did this, she asked.. 'who's drunk enough to move my tent/' many hands went up!)

The festival actually began on saturday - photos from our booth pre-show are on my other camera.. and will have to wait a bit. Here's a couple typical shots from that day; people EVERYWHERE ! (this is a good thing!)

Here's my buddy Tina from Blue Moon Fiber Arts (yes, Socks that Rock fame) It was great to see you again girl!

And here's Lan from Carolina Homespun - gottcha good girl!

and then this is Morgaine (the tall goddess in the middle of the photo) Lan's partner and co-owner of Carolina Homepsun. They are the best - and we buy from them all the time. I only wish that we lived closer to San Francisco so we could see them more!

There were 140 vendors in total - that makes this the biggest fiber fair in the Pacific Northwest. Please try to attend next year, if you've never been. There are tons of classes, vendors, outside events, lamb cook-offs, music, kid-events and fleece sales. All-in-all an amazing weekend.

our friends showed up all over the place.(my favorite part of these events....) here's a few photos to share:

Chris brought her sweater to show - handknit from our pencil roving - isn't it amazing?! She let me display it in the booth that day and it was enjoyed by many.

Cheryl (yes that one from my earlier post on the Sock Hop spinning) spun even at night with me by the Rv - talk about dedicated! .. and they brought birthday beer for my honey - Will (Cheryls' husband and cheescake guru) brought home brewed porter beer with a custom CMF label) as well as three cheesecakes (yummmmm.. sweet potato, pinapple and marionberry) We were in heaven!

and many others hung out and played thru the wee hours of the night.. Loyce, Tim, Cynthia, Rebekka, Elda, Sandoval and many more. (if I didn't show a photo of you, you may now thank me.. some weren't so very pretty)

Oh and yes, we sold a bunch. Thank you to all our wonderful customers and friends. We had a blast. and we can't wait until next year. (It's my favorite show.. can you tell?!)

Eye Candy

2006-09-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

It's eye candy friday... and this is a photo I took on Sept 19th, 2006 around 5:45 am. What a glorious shadow the mountain makes sometimes. This one was so amazing that I woke my husband to see it.
The mountain is actually closer than it looks in this photo (I had to zoom out to get the full effect of this amazing sunrise.)
more knitting content coming up soon.

We've got a winner!

2006-09-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Wow. thanks for the amazingly wonderful response to my High Fiber Diet contest. I had alot of fun with this one. The total number of skeins that I dyed (in pencil roving and superwash merino) is 1079 within the first 8 months of this year. That translates to 539.5 pounds. whoa.

and the winner is........................
Amanda ! Her guess was 535 pounds. Come on down girl, and claim your prize. You have your choice of any colorway in the Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks superwash sock yarn.

We just got back from a fabulous weekend in Canby Oregon, at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. (I'll post photos soon). It has grown to be the largest fiber fair in the Pacific Northwest. While we were there, I delivered a few huge boxes of superwash (Sock Hop) to our main spinner (Cheryl - god bless you!). She sent me the following photo that I thought you all might enjoy... she titled it "the trouble with tribbles" - seems appropriate eh? ! Now that's some kind of "stash" ~ and no, none of these skeins were dyed in the first 8 months - I did them in September. One more amazing thing to share is that from the end of April to mid September, Cheryl spun 73,080 yards of 2 ply Sock Hop yarn.. that's almost 42 miles. Woot woot!
I'm off now to help unload the RV, and to recouperate from all the fun.
Thanks again for playing in my little contest!

High Fiber Diet

2006-09-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

There are many doctors who recommend a "high fiber diet" for us all~ especially as we age; but somehow I don't quite think that this is what they had in mind:

Recently it feels as though I have been eating, sleeping and dreaming about fiber- in all its forms! We even spent time cleaning out the garage a couple weeks ago and came across a bunch of shetland fleeces that need processing. Yee gaads!

The result of all this fiber, is that I have decided to hold another contest!! I think it might be fun to have you all take a guess at how much fiber (pencil roving and superwash) that I have dyed in the first 8 months of this year...

The winner will be the one closest to the correct number (and in case of a tie I'll pull the name from a hat).
Here's a few facts to consider when you guess:
1) I work a full time day job that has nothing to do with fiber - the dyeing is done in my "spare" time.
2) each skein (of either type of fiber) is individually dyed in it's own pot (and nope.. I'm not tellin' how many pots I have:-)
3) the pencil roving has to "cook" for about 2 hours, then sits for around 10 hours in the dyepot
4) the superwash roving cooks for about 1 hour, then sits for about 4 hours in the pot.
5) we receive the fiber in humongo batches, then we take it to a friend's mill to be processed down the way we want, then Klaus rolls it all off into the 8 ounces batches for me.. all this is prior to my dyeing... and takes quite alot of time.
6) I also skein off and label each hank myself.
7) a batch of fiber takes anywhere from 2-4 days to completely dry.
8) this summer has been filled with a lot of garden watering since we had absolutely no rain for almost three months - this took about 2 hours from every day.
8) I also do other things like spin and knit.....

So there you have it. I've been told that I have "hard" contests... ho ho ho... wouldn't be too much fun if it was a cakewalk, now would it? So take a guess.. take a wild guess... and the final hint is that I was really surprised when I finally counted how much I had done.
So make a comment and guess...... How many skeins of fiber (including pencil roving and superwash roving) have I dyed in the first 8 months of this year???

The winner will receive a skein of Chasing Rainbows Superwash Sock yarn - your choice of colorway. contest runs from Sept 17th to Sept 24th. so get your entries in :-)

Speaking of spinning ~ I have some fun news to share: Amanda (yes that one!) has joined our team of spinners for the Sock HopYarn. Woot ~Woot! I am so totally pleased. Her spinning skills are fabulous, and she's been a huge help in our business. Hop over and give her a big rah rah! We are working at adding a couple more spinners in order to increase our production - yet it takes a bit of time. Amanda's an incredible person, and was exactly what I was hoping for! (now maybe I can clone her.. tee hee)

I've been spinning up a storm recently... Here's My Boyfriend's Back.

and here's the sock I knit for K this past week. (I keep telling him that maybe he'll get the second sock for Christmas - but then again his birthday is coming up next week... we shall see!)
I am completely pleased with the way this new colorway came out - it's very "tweeedy" looking.
A couple of you have asked me how this is different from Heat Wave...... well, My Boyfriend's Back is a deep rust and burgandy (sometimes looking almost black) and the Heat Wave is a combo of Scarlet red and Black with hints of yellow and plum. I think this is a very masculine looking colorway - and so socks for K were born :-)
By the way - just in case you were wondering, he has a 10 3/4 inch long foot... and I had this much left over from one skein of yarn. Yay!
My daughter's boyfriend (who is 6' 4" and has a size 13 men's shoe) has asked for socks. whoa.

We are busy this week, preparing for the last fair of this season. (Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival) If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon on Sept 23-24. please stop by and see us. It's actually being held in Canby Oregon, but that's only a hop, skip, and a jump from Portland. It is, by far, my favorite of our fairs. It's held on a country fairgrounds that is full of huge trees and grassy lawns. (no blacktop) There are buildings upon buildings filled with vendors,activities for the wee ones, and fun classes. Come on down!

I'll most likely not have time to post again until we get back. The contest winner will be announced at that time.

I leave you with a couple photos of our evening last thursday. I got home from work around 7 pm, and we had been having some blessed rain here (finally) The rainbow spanned across the hills - a complete arch. It was so enormous that I could only capture a portion.
The clouds turned an incredible color as the sun began to set. My garden (and I) are very grateful for this repreieve from the heat.
Have a lovely week all!

A Sea of Grass

2006-09-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Henry the Navigator has braved hills and valleys, crossing the plains , mountains and deserts until finally he sailed in today on a sea of grass !

Immediately upon his arrival, he disembarked and strolled our deck (must have felt familiar to him to have his feet on the wooden planks)... where he promptly stood stunned by the beauty of Mount Rainier..... at this point, our amazing wanderer dropped to the ground and said glory be, I'm glad I arrived! (ooppsss, actually I think that was me who said that... tee hee)
It's Yarn Aboard... and it's HERE!

Without further ado, may I present.... the stash! Thanks to Ramona, I'm doin' a fine happy dance here! She has treated me to a gorgeous yarn that I have never used before... way to go Ramona!!! Did I mention that I absolutely love it? ! "Appletini" colorway, hand dyed by Scout.
My dear swap pal has given me so many lovely things that I am speechless (well... almost... I can still gush on a little more if you insist!)

Here's a few closeups of some of the goodies that were hidden in the box along with this fabulous yarn:

Organic Gourmet Cocoa - YUMMMM! (I'm going to make some as soon as I finish this post)

Gardener's Handcare lotion - that is being used as we speak

Taos Sauna - a fabulous smelling hand made soap that I think I'm taking to my office, so I can use it everyday.

Hand felted button.. wonder what I'm going to sew that on.. don't know, but it'll be special.

Project Cards for spinning and knitting - these are handy little things.. totally clever, on which you can track all the info you wish you would have written down, but forgot to.. no more excuses now :-)

Eco Diary - a sweet journal, with a lovely hand painted tree on the cover; filled with blank pages. oh, it inspires me to return to my writing..

It is completely clear to me that Ramona took an enormous amount of care with all these delightful gifts. Thank you for this. I love them all.. it's just perfect

And now, since K is heading back out to the post office..... Henry the Navigator has already set sail for deeper seas..... safe journeys!

Toasty Toes Update and a lovely long weekend

2006-09-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Know what this means??? YUP ! Half way through, and no mishaps ~ Hurrah! I have scoured my Toasty Toes swap pal's blog, and come to the determination that she's a "lace" kind of pal, so I decided that a lace sock was in order. I'll reveal the pattern and body of the sock in due time :-)

Want one more peek? Here's the side of the gusset. I'm particularly pleased with this part. I used a technique from Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks. It worked exactly as she described. Yay!

It's been a wonderfully busy weekend ~ my oldest brother came in for a visit from Los Angeles, my daughter Erin had an Art Show in Issaquah, WA , and I finished plying the Twist and Shout Sock Hop Colorwa y. We are spinning like crazy to re-build our stock and eventually put the yarn up for sale another time.

Here's a few photos from the art show (yes, my daughter Erin is the one with fairy wings!). The town of Issaquah WA had an evening Art Walk, with about 20 artists participating. Many business' opened their shops to show the art. Erin's showing was in the hall of a Kung Fu studio (you might notice some of the martial arts paraphanalia in the background.) The evening was a smashing success - hoards of people came by - and everyone oohed and aahed alot. It was such fun. The contact juggler is Erin's wonderful boyfriend, Sean.

We'll be updating the website soon with all the new sock colorways. Oh and here's some exciting news... as we speak, our webmaster is working on adding a new line of Dicentra Designs Sock yarn in a 50% alpaca - 50% merino. It's gorgeous. (check back in a few days to see all the colorways) Also there will soon be added several Dicentra Designs superwash merino roving to spin. Life is good.

And for those of you who have written and asked me, I still have a few of the knitting/sewing bags that my Mom handmade, for sale. (see the end of my previous post for more information)

Autumn

2006-09-02T09:02:00.000-07:00

It's been such a long dry summer here - and autumn is finally beginning to arrive. I could not be happier! The days are still hot (80-90 degrees) yet the nights get cool (in the 50's). My garden is still blooming, albeit a bit less quickly. I am ready to slow down.

Autumn marks the ending of the year for me. The time when the last of the veggies are picked, and the flowers set their seed for next year's blooms. It is a time to go inward and snuggle down for the winter. I find this so much more appealing than a mid-winter-new-year.

Lately I've been reflecting over the past year and my accomplishments. It has been a very good year. As I ponder it all, I consider what has touched my life. There is far too much to mention in this blog without boring you all to sleep - so I will share just one for now ... my parents.

Following a week where two different blog buddies each lost a parent/parent-in-law, my awareness of love for my own is in the forefront of my mind. Please take a moment and pop over to Amanda and Carole and give them a cyber hug of understanding for their grief and the exhausting hours of to-do's following a death in the family.
Despite living 3500 miles away from me, my parents (and their wisdom) touch my life almost every day. And although they will potentially blush, I'd like to tell you a bit about them....

Dad: Throughout my life my Dad has inspired me. To this day, I often use him as an example with friends and clients of an intrepid spirit. Dad has always believed in himself and his ability - and is one of the few men I know who was brave enough to begin an entire new profession in his mid-fifties. When we were kids, Dad was a self employed family medical doctor. The number of babies he delivered is astounding (and they still all send him Christmas cards!)

Never one to settle for just one accomplishment, he went back to school (in his 50's) and completed a full second medical residency, and obtained yet another medical doctorate, this time as an anesthesiologist... not stopping there, he later went on to teach at Tulane University, then began a company that taught other doctors how to pass the anesthesia certification boards, and then did "locums tenans"(flying all over the country being a doctor in many hospitals) for many years... only to finally 'retire' a couple years ago. Although saying he has retired is a bit of a fib, for he is still teaching (an AARP safe driving course) and volutneering at his church and helping his neighbors. I won't tell you how old either of them is (cause that seems a bit tacky) - but to give you a guess, he worked almost 20 years past when most folks quit. I am delighted to see him finally doing some things for "play". His strength and belief in himself inspired me to go back to college when I was 40 and know I could succeed. Dad always told me that I could do anything. thanks Dad.

Mom: hmmmm - how does one describe one's Mother ~ this is a tough one, yet I will try. She is the absolute personification of kindness. Mom is a "giver" - and like the energizer bunny, she never quits. She loves making gifts for people, and she gets so excited about what's in the package that she'll sweetly write a descriptive gift tag with bold hints as to what's inside :-) and the many ways she pictures you enjoying it. As a child I recall my Mom selling real estate and keeping a beautiful home. I used to think that we had magical fairies who did the laundry and cleaned and cooked (for I never actually witnessed her doing all that work!) We had the most beautiful home in Massachusetts; a glorious garden, and wonderful meals every single night. How she accomplished all of it (keeping up with my three brothers and me) while working, I will never know. She's a genie!

Mom sews, knits, crochets, beads, paints pottery and many other crafts as well. She has written and published multiple children's stories. She volunteers (still) at many charitable places. She knits baby blankets for hospitals, was recently president of her women's church league for more than 10 years, organized and ran their small boutique for gently worn clothing, put on yearly fashion shows, and still maintains a lovely home and garden. Phew. way to go Mom!
When things happen in my life, my Mom is still the one that I want to call and talk to. Her kindness and understanding are worth more than she will ever know. thanks Mom.
In keeping with my parents years of courageous acts, they are now going to be moving. They have built a new home (near Tampa FL ) and are leaving hurricane alley (yay !) While I know that their friends and church will miss them both, they will make new friends in Tampa. They are indeed a valuable example of well-lived-lives.

So... segue now to the other part of this blog.
The knitting/sewing bags that my Mom has made.
Many of you commented on these sweet bags and asked if you could buy one~ so I convinced my Mom to make a few. Here they are! (thanks for whipping them up so fast Mom)
There are six of them for sale right now. Two with stripes, two with batik dots, one black/grey and one rust/golden.
They were originally designed for as a helper for those who sew.
See???

The little bean bag is a pin cushion and the bag holds your scraps while you are sewing. very handy!

Now me, I of course use it for knitting! This sweet little bag will rest on the arm of your chair or on your leg, perfectly holding your yarn while you knit. see... like this(here's a pic of Mom using it at the lake this summer):

I'm selling these for my Mom at $24 each + $6 shipping. This is all there is until after the first of the year (due to their moving). If you'd like one let me know. I will update this post at the bottom and tell you when they are sold. Please also email me (teyani AT crownmountainfarms DOT com) with your address and I will write back with where to send the check etc.
So let's support my sweet Mom and give her a little bit of Christmas spending money eh? (*grin*) thanks Mom - you're the best!

Parents are a gift ~ and interestingly enough seem to get "smarter" as I grow older (now how did that happen! :-) Give a hug to someone that you love and remember that life is too short.
bags:
One - yellow/rust: SOLD
two - polka dots:
two - striped:
one - black & grey batik: SOLD

Encouragement

2006-08-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Let me say it right up front........
I am a fiber enabler !
(and durned proud of it!) I believe that honesty is always the best policy :-) And yes, for all you observant ones.. I gave in, and am spinning one of the newest colorways: Twist and Shout. photos will come soon.

I come home from work, get into my "comfy" clothes and sit down to spin. Sometimes there is a glass of wine at this hour... but one thing is for certain...... there is always a kitty cat "helping". Here's Miss Em giving the assist tonight.

Speaking of cats: it has been a long time since I have updated anyone on our indoor beauties: here they are, sprawled across my favorite white chair (of course). definately no longer "kittens". We got them one year ago, and our lives have been so enriched by their presence.

I've been spinning for 5 years now, and I can definately say that I'm loving every minute of it. Spinning is one of those hobbies that relaxes me. My mind becomes quiet - and the space where new creations can begin opens up. I do my best thinking while I'm spinning.
Sometimes I will listen to music, but mostly I just spin - watching the colors glide through my fingers, twisting into a beautiful yarn.

This is a post to encourage all you beginning spinners out there - Spin On! Don't worry if your yarn is lumpy, bumpy, loose and floppy, overspun or too flat - spin. and save everything. One day you will find the perfect project for the wonderful yarn you are making.
Do I hear some disbelief? Do I hear.. "oh, my spinning is so bad, I'll never use that..."?
Not true

This is a table scarf that I created in a beginning weaving class through the Northwest Regional Spinners Association. It is entirely made up from handspun yarn. (specifically... the first handspun yarns)

My husband began spinning in 2002 - and while he hasn't spun much in recent months, he can spin ! (His is the reddish-blue yarn in the woven scarf) I had some pale green handspun "flicked" cashgora yarn (see closeup photo above of that yarn). I made it from our goat's fiber - and the texture was so wild! I set off for class, and I took my husbands very first spinning and combined it with my very first flicking - it came out pretty great (if I do say so myself)

The lumps and extra twists add a dimension that a 'perfect' yarn could never have. It is exactly
what I was hoping for!

We sell a wonderful handmade turkish drop spindle on our website - and we are adding a beautifully written booklet on how to spin with a turkish drop spindle. (scroll down to the bottom of this page to see the booklet) This sweet little booklet was written by Wanda Jenkins - and the photos throughout the booklet are of her spinning. It is just about all you'll need to learn on your own! (well, of course you'll want a bit of fiber too!)

So spin if you're busy; spin if you're alone, spin with pets and without... just spin. It is truly a delight to knit and weave with handspun fiber.
You can do it.... give it a try :-)
(even the kittens approve.)

What's a girl to do?

2006-08-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

Spin~spin~spin... and not much knitting lately.
Now, don't get me wrong.... I love to spin! and this superwash that we are using for the Sock Hop Yarn is delightful........ yet.... we're still spinning on what seemed like a humongo list of backorders from our one day of selling handspun yarn (back in the end of July). Slowly but surely we are getting done.

Thanks again to all of you for your patience! We've added one new spinner (who might be willing to go public with her name *grin* - I'll let her decide!) and we are delighted with her work! I am currently testing out more people who can spin to the standards we want.... but in the meantime, from dawn to dark on the weekends (and in between seeing clients) I've been a spinnin' queen!

So I ask you, what's a girl to do???.... the pile of fiber that is waiting to be spun looks huge- my fingers and feet can only go just soooo fast...so, what did I do? Created five new colorways! Yup.. I know. don't laugh. (not too hard anyway)
Guess that I just can't get enough of this stuff :-)
Want to see them up close?

"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (designed for Amanda!) all light pinks and orchid

"Crazy Love" - a sweet combo of deep violet with a few hints of crimson

"Do you believe in Magic" - a wild smash of subtle colors: silver grey and tan

"My Boyfriend's Back" - perhaps the guy in your life will enjoy this combo of deep maroon and burgandy

"Twist and Shout" - and just because I couldn't resist another blue... here's a vivid royal blue and soft green

The pile of fiber to spin is calling my name - so I'm off to do a bit of plying now. And the promise of spinning those new colors keeps me inspired!

P>S> our webmaster just finished adding them to the website click here to see.

On the Street where you live...

2006-08-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

With kind regards to Lerner and Loewe for the title of this post, I have a small interesting thing to share.
Many of you have seen the photos from last March of the view from our back yard. We live on a rocky hill, surrounded by about 200 acres of pasture where a neighbor grazes his cows. We're approximately 30 minutes (as the crow flies) from Mount Rainier. It is truly beautiful - and very country! Despite the urban sprawl that is creeping our way from nearby Tacoma, we have continued to enjoy our view of the gorgeous "Bald Hills" that are owned by Weyerhauser.

Last weekend, I was sitting outside on our front porch, enjoying the cool evening breeze, and I heard a low growl from under the deck. Thinking it was the raccoon who normally drops by in the evening to swipe some of out outdoor cat's food, I didn't think much of it, and sat awhile longer. Next time, perhaps I'll reconsider; for yesterday our farming neighbor told us that he had seen a brown bear on his property over the weekend. whoa.
Definately country living!
A couple of years ago, another neighbor shot a cougar that was hanging out in a tree by their front door - and now here come the bears (for where there is one, there are more.)
Needless-to-say, I'll be cautious when sitting outside in the evenings now. (silly K said that he wants to see it too! I said, no thanks.)
and to think that my oldest daughter said that there's nothing to do here but watch the grass grow! hah!
And now, in keeping with the bear-theme, may I present:Baby Bobbi Bear (yes, I'm actually squeezing in a bit of knitting amidst the spinning)

A blogging 'friend' is having her first baby ~ and this calls for celebration ! May I present to you... Baby Bobbi Bear.
Made from Blue Sky organic cotton
Pattern and yarn were purchased here.

thank you so much Emily for sharing the source of this wonderful pattern.
It was a delight to create.
and it's the most wonderful cotton I have ever knit with.

P>S> nope, I'm not tellin' who this is going to... it's a suprise! (but a few of you already know for certain that it's not for you.. tee-hee)

What have I been up to?

2006-08-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Spinnin' up a bit of "R.E.S.P.E.C.T." (Sock Hop style, of course) - and rockin' out with Aretha again:-)

Friday Eye Candy 2

2006-08-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ahhh - one of the few hardy survivors of this year's garden neglect.
I am truly grateful for gladiolas. :-)

I begin again.

2006-08-16T19:06:00.000-07:00

Now there have been good days in knitting, and there have been not so good days. My fellow bloggers, you have read the recent tales of both on this "intrepid" blog. Yet even this brave knitter knows when to throw it away and begin anew.
I came, I saw, I conquered, I tossed it.

Yup - Toasty Toes sock in colorway Ivory by Fleece Artist is now pushin' up daisies in the town dump. May it bring beautiful blooms.
Let me set the scene prior to last nights firm decision to dump it (yes it truly is gone, so no gnashing of teeth nor begging from any of you sweet friends out there ): I had been knitting between seeing clients in my office - normally I have about 10 minutes to either return phone calls or sit and knit if nothing else beckons....... I was knitting. in fact, comin' down the finish line on the first sock. Toe decreases had begun; counting of stitches had commenced; it was allllllllmost complete... the excitment was growing..... pride filled the air (was that my first clue?) Finally I got very busy at work and had to set it aside until I got home around 8:00 pm.

With tremendous excitment in the air, I slipped it onto my foot to brag about (I mean model) it for my husband.......... oooohhh and aaaahhh's were appropriately voiced (he's a really good enabler and encourager for this knitter!)
then..... I loooked down...... about 1 inch down from the cuff (yes, I knit that part first) was a hole.... the dreaded hole...the quarter-size gap that seemed to laugh and mock me with it's absurdity.. It did NOT belong there. I did not put it there (yet I needed to reassure myself). sigh. I began to tear back the sock.
it wasn't pretty.
my beautiful "invisible join" rent asunder.
I kept on pulling the yarn for what felt like hours.
the yarn coiled in wrinkles at my feet.
I got back to the durned 'hole' and examined carefully...... and what did I see????? yarn damage in a big way.... grease rubbed into the yarn (I must not have been looking at my fingers for a few rows while I was knitting.) durn it all.
I had missed this flaw - and it jumped out and bit me! (so glad that it happened to me and not my giftee~ how embarassing that would have been!)

So I then proceeded to turn the remaining ball over and over in my hands. Were there more of the pesky little frayed spots in the ball? un huh... yup... multiple ones.
Looks like this lovely yarn must have gotten snared in an electric skein winder, and gotten chewed. poop.
An executive decision was made. Not wanting to risk sock holes in a sock that is to be a gift, I decided that rather than 'repair' all the breaks, I would take the hint and:
begin again.
and so tonight, I did just that :-) Here's a lovely sock start in Lorna's Laces Powder Blue.
P>S> see the nifty little bag? It has made it's appearence in a few earlier photos. My clever Mom handmade this. the little pillow rests on your knee (or the arm of your chair) while you knit, and the bag part holds the ball, extra needles and what have you. It was perfect for knitting while sitting outside on vacation. I just love it! thank you Mom!!! I was trying to convince her to make them and sell them through my blog..... anyone interested?? I might still be able to encourage her to do it... but ssssshhhh, don't tell her I told you! (hee hee, Ilove you Mom)

Mishap Managed

2006-08-13T11:18:00.000-07:00

We left our Intrepid Fiberwizard in the midst of a dilemma a few days ago... the gorgeous Fleece Artist yarn was damaged (and upon closer inspection, it had been caught in some sort of machine~ the telltale signs of grease in that spot gave away the source of the problemo)
Waiting for the right moment of calm, the wizard courageously cut the precious yarn....
would she have to reknit the whole sock?
could she repair the yarn, allowing her to continue?
would the newly formed join hold across the instep of the foot?

Ta Dah !
behold - a rescued sock!!

I'm doin' a little happy dance right about now :-) If you look very very closely in the center of this first photo, you will see two teensey stray ends that need to be snipped.... but it will hold (yes, blogging buddies... I tried it on to make sure *grin*)
So, my Toasty Toes secret pal can breathe easy - her sock won't fall apart (this is good) and I can knit on!!!
Okay - wanna see one more sneak preview? We're celebrating in wizard-land so here you go!
thanks for all the encouragement - the sock has now left time out - and I return to the joy of knitting... It's a good day.

Friday Eye Candy

2006-08-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

The view from our dining room deck last week ~around 7:30pm.

Bummer ~ not again !

2006-08-10T19:00:00.000-07:00

At Black Sheep Gathering,last June, I went over to a friend's booth and "treated" myself to some new Lantern Moon ebony double pointed size one knitting needles. joy.... not.
I took them on vacation, and the very first time I knit with them, they broke.. 3 out of five... within moments of using them.
luckily I had several other pairs of needles along with me.
When I returned home, I called this company, and they cheerfully switched out my order for a set of rosewood Lantern Moon double pointed size 1 needles. I was delighted with their customer service, and ever since they arrived I have been anxious to take them out for a spin. :-)

Today was the big day - I was testing out a pattern for a pair of socks that I am designing. JOY>! they felt like heaven, gliding through my fingers. My mind wandered about the post I would make, extoling the virtues of rosewood dpns........... not... here's what happened, again first time out of the box, and within a few rounds of knitting... sigh.... cursed... dumb, dumb, dumb. Wanna see even closer?

Now, mind you, I love my Lantern Moon needles in size 7 and size 9 - I use them with great delight - but never again for their dpns. no more. nada. zippo. zilch. I don't need another experience to tell me what I know..... these are not for me. $21.00 down the drain.... yet I am not a slow learner - It doesn't take three times to learn. these small Lantern Moon needles - well, to say it clearly, they stink. don't buy 'em..... "just sayin"...

So, then I went back to my wonderful Fleece Artist handpainted "Ivory" socks for Toasty Toes. I knit a few rows, did all the decreases for the heel to instep - and THEN..... THIS......
sigh... I think that it wasn't my day..... I am soooooooooo disappointed.
Perhaps it is because we try to be so careful when we make the Sock Hop Yarn - perhaps it is because I know that this is a hand-painted yarn, and the artist's handle every inch of the fiber...... perhaps I expect too much....
These socks have gone to the time-out bin. I'll resume when I have the wear-with-all to repair the yarn, and do some sort of "join" to hide this yucky blooper in the yarn.
disappointed ?
yup.
Who knows how long the "time out" will last.... I have until the end of October to finish the socks for Toasty Toes. We shall see.
Is anyone else out there experiencing this? or did I just have an exceptionally bad sock knitting day?

A funny Thing Happened...

2006-08-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

.. on the way to the sock drawer...
Remember these? From last February? They were my second ever pair of hand knit socks - and my second ever lace knitting. I made them for the Knitting Olympics.
sigh.

On the way to the sock drawer via the washing machine...... (note: we're playing a sad tune here... bum,bum,ba,bum; bum bum bummmm da bum da bum..) this happened:

Now this might not be a problem if I still knew someone with size 4 feet. But being as how my girls and I all wear an average size 8, these shall now find their way to the trash. I thought about donating them to some charity... but I figure they might still shrink - and I wouldn't give that experience to anyone on purpose!

Me? I'm still laughing hysterically at my own silliness. I am always soooo careful with my laundry; ~ wash on cold ~ line dry the expensive stuff ~ it's just been forever that I had anything that was handwash only........ I missed that step!

My resolution? superwash only. I solemnly vow. (grin)

So leaping forward to today, and in keeping with my Bloomin' Feet tradition of not unveiling everything all at once - We now have a peek at the sock I'm making for Toasty Toes.

Thanks for all the wonderful input on choosing this yarn. I decided to go with the Fleece Aritist in colorway Ivory. It won by a landslide.

Blog-iversary Contest Winners

2006-08-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

First off, thank you for all the fun responses to my contest!
According to Karen 'it was a "freakin' hard contest" - true enough (*grins*) but then I never promised easy ! hah! Acutally, with all the hysterical fun around here, I am laughing very hard, because the last two questions were very very easy :-) So, two hard, two easy : works out okay, eh?

And now a brief word from our sponsors.... yes, another Sock Hop sock in American Pie! (my Mom just finished this one) yay Mom!
Okay, back to our regularly scheduled blog:

Here's the contest answers:
1. How many years have I been spinning and knitting (not counting back when I was 10 and fiddled around) I've been knitting and spinning again for 5 years. (see my March 22, 2006 post)

2. What's my favorite wheel? hands down, my Schacht. Now the confusing part to many of you was that on our website, I am pictured with a Majacraft, ...... this is true..... I have indeed spun with these wheels. We sell them, they are wonderful. but I love my Schacht. I also own an original Rick Reeves Wheel (pictured on our home page on the left) yet it is currently in a time out for bad behavior (and no, we won't go there today) I love my Schacht. I can make it dance to any tune I play. It is a delight. (AND - it is pictured all over my blog whenever I show my spinning : see posts from 11/1, 4/7, 5/17, 5/22, 6/29 to name a few.

3. colorways in pencil roving..... 41 (natural is not a colorway .tee hee)

4. Sock Hop colorways.... currently is 24. more will be added someday.

And now for the big moment........... the drawing of the winners.............. drum roll please........... bbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm.....
Grand Prize Winner:
Carole Julius!!! come on down and collect your prize! (that translates to email me your address and I'll mail the 2 skeins of "I Feel Good" to you. )Yay Carole!!!

Second Prize Winner:
Siew Sim : you are entitled to a 10% discount on the majority of items we sell on our website

******Congratulations******

thanks all for playing along. and thanks for the comments and support. It has been a fabulous year. I am loving the blogging community, and I am excited about the years to come.
Spin on! (and for those who are curious.. here's a close up of the Sock Hop color Satisfaction that I am plying )
edited to note: bad blogger bad blogger.... it's got the WRONG date on this post. sigh. dumb, dumb, dumb... I actually posted this just a few hours ago, on today, August 4th.... it took me about 4 hours just to load the photos..... dumb dumb dumb... I'm going to take the advice of a sweet friend and switch ot WordPress..... just as soon as I figure it out!

One Year Blog-iversary Contest

2006-07-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

In a few days time, I will be celebrating my one year blog-iversary and I've decided to have a contest to thank all the people who read!
Contest Prize will be two skeins of Sock Hop Yarn in the colorway I Feel Good (but of course)

Contest Questions:
1.How many years have I been knitting and spinning? (and I don't count what I did as a child.. I mean how many years since I began for real)
2.What's my favorite spinning wheel?
3.How many colorways are there in pencil roving?
4.How many colorways are there in Sock Hop Yarn?

There's a few folks who know all the answers to these questions... so, just to make it fair - don't post your answers here... (I'll erase them so as not to give anyone else any hints:-) Send your answers to me in an email to teyani AT crownmountainfarms DOT com.
I will collect all the names of people who answer correctly and then draw the winners from a hat.

*Grand prize will be 2 skeins "I Feel Good" Sock Hop Yarn
*runner up will receive a 10% discount off selected products from our website

Contest runs from July 30th to August 3th - just 5 days to send in your answers.

Does this sound like fun? Please join in!

I have totally enjoyed this year of blogging. It began on a whim, suggested by our webmaster. She said to me " You know, Teyani, you might enjoy writing a blog." I laughed and said... who would read it?! I had no idea......
below are the stats from my blog (and note that I didn't even add a stat counter for the first few months) who would have thought!
thank you all - I look forward to chatting with you for many more years.

695484.United States

87210.Canada

820.United Kingdom

710.Australia

530.Belgium

340.Germany

310.France

210.Netherlands

210.Japan

120.Denmark

110.Finland

100.Ireland

80.Sweden

80.Norway

80.Unknown-

70.Taiwan

70.Italy

60.New Zealand

50.Turkey

50.Costa Rica

50.Argentina

40.Switzerland

40.Portugal

30.Austria

30.Latvia

20.Korea, Republic Of

20.Mexico

20.Hong Kong

20.United Arab Emirates

20.Romania

20.South Africa

20.Iceland

10.Singapore

10.Malaysia

10.Solomon Islands

10.India

10.Malaysia

The Return of Sock Hop Yarn

2006-07-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

And alas, already sold out (again) in the first couple of hours.... It's been a busy few months at Crown Mountain Farms! (despite our vacation) All our spinners have been busy, the wheels have been whirling, the needles click-clackin'.. and now we present : Sock Hop Yarn ~ officially unveiled on our website! (if it doesn't show up for you, please hit refresh on your browser)
I dyed an enormous amount of fiber, we spun and spun, we washed, we dried and sorted~ and still it has sold out.
wow, and thank you for this overwhelmingly wonderful response !

If you are interested in waiting a couple of months, we'll be glad to spin for you - you'll be able to place an order today, but after that we are closing the order process once again. You can send us an email (go to our website and you'll find it under contact us) and let us know which colorway you'd like, and an email to contact you when it is once again back in stock.

Lest you think that there's been no knitting going on, I share here for your blogging enjoyment a few socks (of course knit from Sock Hop Yarn.) Here are the new colorways I've finished samples of since the last post I made about this yarn (May 2 and May 20).

Even my Mom is getting into the Sock Hop dance :-)
Way to go Mom! She's knitting on some American Pie Colorway.

Big Yellow Taxi

Midnight Hour

Good Vibrations (in progress still)

Great Balls of Fire (showing the accurate color)

Satifaction

Wild Thing

the website sales will be open until it is sold out; then we'll be taking a few back orders. if, for some reason we are totally swamped and sell out before you get some Sock Hop Yarn,and if even the back orders are full, then please send us an email, and specify your wish list. We'll work on spinning it and let you know when it's completed :-)
BTW, we're currently testing out two more spinners to add to our already wonderful team - so we're hoping that we can actually keep some in stock for a few days.. hah!
Next up on my list (after Toasty Toes that is) is to make all the second socks to the ones I've sampled above (grins)

Toasty Toes Temptations

2006-07-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Toasty Toes is calling - and my answer is hmmmmm, I dunno!
what to pick?
what to choose ?
what's a gal to do?

I am looking for input - options - ideas - votes... and all will be considered :-)

My pal is a lady who doesn't really like striped yarn (so she says mwwaaahaha) thus no Sock Hop for her this time.. While my personal tastes tend to run a bit wilder than my secret swap buddy, I still aim to please. I've gotten a bunch of patterns together, so that's not the dilemma..... but alas, which yarn?

Here's a couple of my recent purchases,(thank you Alison) made with my pal in mind...
on the left is Jaegger, middle is Lorna's Laces, and the right is Fleece Artist. (the fleece artist has some color variations, but it's subtle, more of a tone-on-tone). All my other purchases were wild, bold and brightly striped.... silly, yet true.... and you all already know that my Sock Hop Yarn is definately stripe- stripe-stripe!

So what do ya say???
votes please. Which one do you like? Which one will please my pal?? If these socks were coming to you, which one would YOU like? (Hah.. thought you fooled me eh, nope I'm not giving ANY clues as to who my pal is!)

Meanwhile, back here on the farm, the heat is definately ON ! It's been over 100 degrees all week long since we got home - and geeee, last night, it cooled down to 90 degrees around 10:00pm. I think I miss the lake :-)

Vacation Memories

2006-07-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Vacation with my family comes once a year if all goes well. For the past few, we have been able to return to my family's cottage on Keuka Lake. It is difficult to precisely describe the thrill in my heart when we board the plane to "The Lake" (as we have called it since we were children). It is rather like Christmas arriving in July. I took almost 300 photos over the week we were gone -
here are a few of them, so that you may enjoy the beauty of Upstate New York.

I grew up here. The old cottage is "home". In the world of rapid changes, multiple rellocations around the U.S., divorces and new marriages, serious illnesses, uncertainty over jobs and the world in general, this place has remained our constant. Although my daughters and I have lived on the other side of the country, they too feel the pull of 'belonging' here.

The ancient willow still stands, gnarly and tall by the kitchen door, and still holds the hammock.

The dock goes into the water in June and is taken out in September after the Labor Day Fireworks. We awoke each morning to amazing views such as this. Although it was indeed hot (about 101) there was lots of splashing in the lake.

my feet have walked this same path of stones to the kitchen door since I was a small child- my toes know every indentation in the old shale stones.

there have been campfires and roasting marshmellows every year.

the sumac trees along our small glen bring memories from childhood of brewing "sumac tea" to feed the fairies in our glen.

A small stash of treasures collects on the table through the week -

My daughters and I went often to "The Lake" when they were small, and now we return with Kaus as well. This year, almost my entire extended family was there... I'll share a few photos of them here. We're a diverse bunch, yet we share a similar sense of humor. We would often stay up late at night playing the new card game Kate taught us, 'Mao'. (This is a goofy card game that her friends are all playing at school.)
Mealtimes found us seating 10-12 p

Slippery Stuff

2006-07-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

Summer comes, and my thoughts turn to alternative fibers (meaning anything not wool) This morning I was digging around in my stash, and found this yummy fiber.

It's going to be a cabled tank top - made from a micro fiber hand dyed ribbon yarn, that I picked up from Tess Designs at Stitches West. Beautiful, simple - and a rather no-brainer type of knit (perfect for relaxing)

Yet, I have one dilemma for all you knitting pros out there; I find that when I go from a knit stitch to a purl stitch I end up with a small "ladder" looking blurp in the middle of the two stitches. uck. I have pulled, yanked, said a few choice things, and then pulled and yanked again... all to no avail. The ladderettes remain.
If you take a close look in the photo, to the left of the cables, you'll see what I mean.
Let me know if you have any ideas.... otherwise, I'll be crossing my fingers that it will "even out in the blocking" (didn't some famous blogger that we all know say that blocking solves a miriad of knitting dilemmas?)

Meanwhile, on the fiber section of the farm, dyeing continues in it's various stages. (grins)
and it goes on and on ! (good thing that I enjoy it, eh?)

We're getting ready to leave for vacation tomorrow - heading off to Upstate New York, to lounge around by the lake. It's a dandy old cottage; the kind of place where you can toss a t-shirt on over your wet bathing suit and head right on in to eat dinner - nothing formal, we all take off our wrist watches, and generally chill. (thanks to my baby brother for these great photos)
This marvelous old cottage has been in our family for more than 100 years. Every year some things need "tweeking": roof repairs, paint, new steps... oh yes, and the clean up from the mice and squirrels who lived there during the winter :-)
A big thank you to my parents and my brothers (who all arrived earlier than us this year, and have done all the work)
Another thank you goes out to our lovely house-and-goat/sheep sitters... thanks for minding the farm! We'll be raising our glasses of Bully Hill in a toast to all our knitting and spinning friends.

Still here

2006-07-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

I've been settling back in after our hectic week towards the end of June, and honestly, avoiding the computer altogether. - not such a good blogging story, but it's honest.
The fiber dyeing continues, the spinning wheel is turning along, the socks samples are being knit, and the clients are getting seen at the office. That pretty much fills most my hours these days.

I'm counting the days until our once-a-year vacation... only 4 more to go.

Here's something beautio-mous to enjoy with your eyes. - a recent sunset view from our deck. sorry about the scratch on the film, the processor kinda blew it - but you still get the idea.
there will be knitting content soon.

Back home from BSG

2006-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Fiber fairs are always fun - they take a bit of work (from the vendor side of things) but once the set up is done, the FUN begins! I thought that you might enjoy this pictoral review (there's alot of them) of last weekend's events at Black Sheep Gathering:

There was some sock knitting on the way there - I had 5 wonderful hours to just sit and knit - grins -
I finished up my 'Wild Thing' sock in the Chevron pattern, and got started on the sock knit with Midnight Hour colorway - I'm just loving this one.

It's amazing to know that 3 entire buildings go from this:

to this (and there will soon be more photos of our booth posted on our website):

Nancy Finn (of Chasing Rainbows fame) graciously stopped by to help us. Set up took about 6 hours from start to finish. Thank you Nancy - especially for your patience for how long it took to finally have dinner that night (grins)

Throughout the 3 buildings,and also outside, there was fiber/yarn/books/wheels and in a fourth building the animals baa and bleat. Here's a few pictures of some other vendor booths and their clever displays.

A delightful time was had every evening, after the show. Friends from all over gathered by the RV's, sharing drinks and food. It was a weekend-long-potluck! Spinning and laughing until the wee hours of the morning.

I was able to snag a photo of Cheryl (our main spinner for the Sock Hop Yarn) . She's the one behind the sunglasses! We were toasting the fun of finally meeting in person! (imagine that !) Her wheel was flying all weekend long, (as was mine) creating some new Sock Hop Yarn to sell.

It seems that it was a weekend of many gifts - one of the lovelies that I received was this set of over-sized hand blown knitting needles, from our friends Sheila and Michael Ernst. Thank you - I just love them!!
We sell their glass knitting needles and buttons, and they also have their own website. They make some amazing orafice hooks, buttons, and lots of other gorgeous glass items. Hop on over and check them out!
Beki (pictured spinning by the RV on a drop spindle) gifted me with some sweet hand made sock knitting needle protectors - sorry, no photo yet - thank you so much Beki! They saved the day on the ride home.

At the end of the weekend, most of the booths looked like this (almost empty!!)

We took the booth down in 104 degree heat (phew) - it took a bit longer than usual, since we had to stop for water breaks - we arrived home around 12:30 am, and flopped our happy weary bones into bed. The dye pots are already cookin' up some new batches of fiber, here at Crown Mountain Farms, and the wheel is spinnin' along with Sock Hop yarn.
Thank you to all our wonderful customers and friends - we had a blast!!

Gettin' this show on the Road

2006-06-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

We're preparing for a road trip - and I've also included a sneak preview of a new Sock Hop colorway !

Well, yet another weekend was spent dyeing fiber like mad. We're heading out this week to a fabulous fiber show in Eugene Oregon: Black Sheep Gathering .
This is one great show, my friends. (yes, I'll take my camera along and get some photos I hope)
Not only do we get to see many of our friends from the south west coast, but there are lots of animals, classes, tons of vendors, and some fun "hanging out" time in the evenings. If you've never been to this fiber fair, you might want to check it out.

Between batches of dyeing, I spun some on a brand new colorway for Sock Hop: Midnight Hour. I couldn't resist plying a bit of it (you know that I need a road-trip project) Here's the results: (sorry about the blurry photo, I haven't quite figured out the macro on this digital camera yet.)
We are spinning and spinning as much as we can, and working on getting a big batch of yarn ready to sell on the website. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you're needing a "yarn fix", hop on over and check out this new line of sock yarns! It is Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks - and I love it. It knits up on size 3 needles, and is available in two different kinds one yarn; one is a blend of mohair/merino and the other is superwash. You'll only need one skein to knit an average pair of socks.
edit: if all the new Chasing Rainbows Sock Yarns do not show on your screen, please be sure to hit your "refresh" button.

We head out in a couple of days - and there's still much to do to prepare. Obviously, there's not much "sittin' around" going' on at Crown Mountain Farms !(grins)
Adios for about a week.

Sock Hop - Wild Thing

2006-06-15T09:24:00.000-07:00

After my successful spinning last week, I just couldn't help myself... I had to knit.
There was some "leftover" yarn from skeining off the Wild Thing colorway into 6 hanks of yummy-ness, and it just hopped right into my sock yarn bag! There wasn't enough for two more full skeins, but just enough to make a short sock. All's I can say is that it certainly lives up to it's name.

To all who are patiently waiting for the yarn to be back in stock... thank you ! As of Monday, we will have sent out all the backorders from the first go around - and we are spinning as fast as we can to generate stock. We'll be opening it up on our website in a few weeks. In the meantime, if you're interested to know what the 24 colorways look like, you can go here. (and for all you spinners, don't hesitate to spin your own. It spins like a dream!)

Have you ever wondered where all the fiber-dyeing folks find their inspiration? Well, here's a small tale for you. I have a great affection for the displaced people of Tibet. Their beautiful faces, their kind hearts touch me deeply. About two years ago, I dyed up this colorway in our corriedale pencil roving, and named it "Tibetan Dreams" in honor of this nation of people.

My daughter, Erin, had once attended a great summer camp, that taught leadership skills to highschool students. One of the instructors was a buddhist monk named Yusan (who was about 30 yrs old). I will never forget the absolute delight in my daughter's eyes when she came home and told me stories of watching him break dance ! "Imagine, a monk break dancing !!", she said. We had such a good chuckle about the possibilities of how monks truly might live (grins)
Then, a few months ago, I found this greeting card and sent it off to her, all the while remembering our friend, Yusan.

And the new colorway called "Wild Thing" was born. (It is partly Tibetan Dreams colors and there are a few new variations thrown in)
Can you tell that I'm having some fun with this whole dyeing fiber thing?? Yup.

Okay, and I admit, once I got started on the knitting thing again, I couldn't stop. Here's the newest completed project. I bought 8 balls of "Glam" by Cyrstal Palace, and 2 balls of Cotton Classic made by Tahki. The pattern is from my friend Lauren who owns So Much Yarn in Seattle. She will send you the pattern free, with the purchase of the yarn. Please hop on over and say hi to her from me. She's working on setting up her web-sales page, and it should be 'live' very very soon. In the meantime, feel free to give her a call.
The shrug is one that totally compliments us older women - (read that hides the love handles). It is one of the best fitting, most comfortable garments I have ever made. Thank you Lauren!
As you can see from the background, I wasn't joking in my earlier posts about the wild nature of our hillside right now. The first photo is one of me about to crack up - sometimes it's hard to post a photo of yourself that is zooming all over the world.. Perhaps one day it'll stop drizzling, and we can get out to mow (ha ha... like I'd stop dyeing fiber in order to mow... go figure)

Last, but by far not least - if you haven't been to Cara's blog lately, it's time. She's organized a huge Spin Out fundraiser for Heifer International. This is a great business that gives animals to families, so that they can make a living for years and years. Go ahead, make a donation.. you will be doing a good thing. (We donated towards a goat - of course) AND, there are fabulous prizes that you can win. thanks for listening to this plug.. :-)
P.S> be sure to send Cara an email about your donation, so that she can add you to the prize drawing.

Unexpected Treasures

2006-06-11T21:20:00.001-07:00

It was a day of small treasures.

Our hillside, which has grown wild around the house, is filled with wildflowers - normally we have clipped the long grass around our gardens by this time of year, yet due to a busy fiber season, it grows and grows. At this moment, there are actually more flowers than grass. this is good.

california poppies in orange, - yellow - red, wild daisies, bachelor buttons, dandelions, and a few as yet unknown species. It is beautiful.

My garden, despite it's lack of attention is growing. thank you.

Sock Hop Yarn "Wild Thing" has been spun thin enough (by me) to sell - 1300 yards out of a pound. Life is good. (note to all, our other spinner consistently spins this thin.. I'm improving! :-)

All 45 skeins of superwash merino that I dyed this weekend in Sock Hop colorways came out perfectly - no "oopps" in the batches this time !

And a glorious sunset to complete the day.

What more could a fiberwizard ask ?
absolutely nothing.

Auction Day

2006-06-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

Life on the Farm, at times, involves difficult choices.

Last December (due to the antics of one male goat we named Houdini), we had an amazing number of baby goats born. Now, the lore amongst the farmers is that animals do not mate in the summer, as they are wise enough to know that birth in mid-winter is rugged. Or, so the stories go ....

We have a relatively small farm, about 5 acres. Suitable for a handful of goats and some sheep. Until Houdini made his mark, we had the perfect number.

Many hours of long talks, pensive times. We sold several animals to neighboring farms. Yet now, as the summer comes close, we had to decide. Out of kindness to these beings, we knew they must leave us. Some will go to new homes, some will be butchered.

Today was the day. Auction Day.

32 goats and 2 sheep have left our home.

I told myself that I wasn't going to cry - I took some final photos of these wonderful friends - I moved fences, while K encouraged them into the trailer. Dear neighbor friends came to help. and the tears streamed down my cheeks, unashamed.

My thoughts dift back to the 2 degree temperatures of last December, when a first time Mama goat had twins, and one was left in the middle of the field. We gathered up that small being, I held her under my coat and we rubbed her back to life with towels and blankets. This job was repeated a few times that month, as we had so many first time mama goats. We hung tarps on the barn, gave extra grain and tried to keep them warm. It was a successful month, and almost all lived through that startling birth time.

January came in with torrential rains here. One frantic morning, the river was flooding. The guards at the dam up river were opening the gates, and the river rose 12 feet within the twinkling of an eye. We quickly rellocated our animals from the pasture by the river where they had many acres, back to our farm on the hill.

Last February, one of our original flock, Una, had twins. She was a dear mama goat. Early in the morning, when she gave birth, we knew there was trouble. One of the twins didn't make it, and the other was struggling. We coaxed Una into the small shelter, trimmed back the long fiber around her teet and encouraged the baby to nurse. The little one survived and flourished.

This morning came, and it was time. We have kept only 3 of our goats. The originals of the flock who left today have been with us for six years. They have names - they have character, and we will miss them.

We promise ourselves that we can begin again, should we ever be able to aquire more acerage.

In three week's time, we will send off 10 of the shetland sheep, keeping only our original flock of 1 ram and 4 ewes. Today they all stood and watched as their friends left.

Fare-thee-well dear ones.

What a Weekend!

2006-06-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

We have returned, and are reorganizing from a fabulous long weekend at the Northwest Regional Spinners Conference. These folks are what one might call "serious" spinners! We arrived each day at 8:30am and normally left around 10 :30 pm - believe it or not, there were people who got there before us and stayed longer than we did.
We had the good fortune to see many "old" (and that's a relative term) friends, and to make many new ones. I saw so many of my blogging friends it was amazing! How totally cool to put faces to all the blog names (grins)
(Warning to all , this is a photo-heavy post - but then again, how can one not show pictures of a fabulous fiber-fest?)

The nicest part of this fiber fair is that it is laid back, easy-going, lots of fun kind of fair. We were able to take our time setting up, (and pause to visit while working of course). Knitting tips and tricks were shared with joy, many lessons occurred throughout the weekend, as people took a spin on the turkish drop spindles. everyone was smiling. life is good.

Remember the wonderful cabled hat I made for the fiber exchange? Well, the recipient loved it, and yes, she wears hats. (phew!)
I received back the most amazing knit gift.... my fiber-exchange pal was Alana (pictured here hugging our yarn)- I had donated 8 ounces of black Alpaca roving to the exchange.... lookey what I got - a gorgeous mobius with a bit of flash..!!!!!
Aren't I just the most fortunate wizard ever? !!! Thank you again, dear Alana - what a lovely gift.

I took a great little class on toe-up Turkish Socks... (and what, might you ask is that?) Well, turkish socks are the kind that lay flat when you fold them (no, not on your feet silly). The foot looks rather like a boat (a vee on both ends) and they fit incredibly well. (despite the fact that my toes and heels aren't pointy.) I did it - I made a toe-up sock! Here's the the proof of the beginning:
The class was very laid back (har har) here is a photo of a couple other classmates. I think that no matter how long I knit and spin, I will take classes - there is always more to know.
We all had fun, and actually mastered a rather complex cast-on. (it makes regular cast-ons seem like child's play) The heel is done after the fact, and thus can be easily replaced if it wears out. I'm truly amazed by this little sock.(and I hope to have more photos soon)

Meanwhile, dear K was running our fiber booth. He did a fabulous job. I am always grateful that I have a partner that knows how to "speak fiber". I get to play, and he works... how sweet is that!

Many wonderful customers from previous years stopped by to say a quick hi and a few brought their own 'show 'n tell'. This pretty shawl was the first spinning that Pat S. (from Kent) ever did. She made it from some of our pencil roving. Isn't it grand ? ! Many congrats and sounds of loud clapping going on here.

We are weary, but content. We sold out of lots of stuff, and are now dyeing fiber like crazy to prepare for BSG in two weeks.

Spinning continues on the sock hop yarn... and for all you patient wonderful folks who are waiting...... it's coming, we promise! If you are a spinner and would like to make your own, we now are offering the hand dyed fiber in the Sock Hop colorways. Go ahead, try it, you know you'd love it :-)

Meanwhile, back at the farm.......................... the grass is about hip-high now. there are "raised beds" hiding in this photo - so it is rumored.... I suspect that I might have to beg some tomatoes from my dear friend Lisa this year ( yah think?!)

Finished just Under the Wire

2006-05-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

There's always lots to do just before a show - it seems that almost everything happens at once~despite hours of careful planning.
Every year I try to make new samples for our booth displays that show off the yarns. I work on these from October until June it seems :-) (and then start all over for the next year !)
For this year, I made a gazillion socks, a bamboo jacket, my magic sweater (from handspun Chasing Rainbows merino bombyx) a silk belt and now finally.... a Melody summer top:

This little lovely (and I do mean little... but we'll get to that in a minute) was knit from Southwest Trading's Melody yarn. It's a railroad-type yarn. Softer than many of its competitors with about 4 times the yardage in a ball - this is a fun novelty item. If you like it, hop on over and grab some (we were just informed by the wholesaler that it is being discontinued)

I used a pattern from Plymouth Yarn called "Drifters Shell" ~ knit up on size 6 and 7 needles. It took about 1 1/2 balls of Melody yarn... and miles and miles of stockingette stitch. The BEST news of all, is that I finished it just before this weekend's upcoming fiber fair. wooppieeeeeeee

Now to the "little" part - I made up the woman's medium size. I knit both the front and back at once. I thought I was clever, I giggled at my wise self... (that will teach me ! hah) Anyway, I was careful to count my stitches every few rows (since it's easy to add a stitch with this yarn) My measurements matched the pattern exactly...... BUT... the crucial trying-it-on moment came... gasp.... it was skin tight ! yee-gaadds (do people still say that?) It was tight enough that it might fit a small child of 11. Be forewarned... if you want it to 'drape' like the lovely model in the picture on the pattern, knit it at least 2 sizes bigger... sigh... it'll make a great booth display, and then maybe a gift for the young daughter of another blogger I know whose wee princess loves pink and purple (grins) but then again, she might not like it... we shall see!

So now, without further ado, we pack and load for our upcoming show. Anyone within driving distance of Gig Harbor Washington, please pop in and say hi. We'll be spending thursday-sunday at the Northwest Regional Spinners Association annual conference. It's long hours (we're there from around 8:30 am to 10 pm) There are classes, a formal dinner, fashion shows and open spin-ins on saturday. Come on down! (it's at UPS - no, not the men in brown, but the college)

The wizard has left the building.
See you next week !

A Lovely day off

2006-05-28T11:49:00.000-07:00

It was close to the end of the week - and I was ready.... it was time for a day off! Yippee !
I drove up to Seattle (about 1 hour & 45 minutes from our farm). I got pampered, I treated myself to a gift, and had a fabulous pizza. Nothing quite beats a fabulous pizza.

The spinning continues, and Cheryl & I wonder how we can squeeze another 10 hours in a day :-) All knitting had ceased, sleep barely happened, the fiber dyeing pots have been cooking up pounds of fiber every day. The garden is jammed full with weeds that threaten to squish my lovely flowers, laundry isn't getting done, and the dust... well, let's not go there. I had seen a full quota of clients this week. Our preparations for the two big upcoming fiber fairs were in progress. A rest was in order.

Before my couple of hours being pampered as my daughter did my hair (thank you Erin !), I wandered over to my favorite little yarn shop in Seattle (So Much Yarn). This is a shop that just makes you want to sigh with delight as you enter. The sales staff is cheerful, fun and knowledgable (yahoo) All the yarn is amazing. I walk around grinning, touching, ooohhing and aaahhing for hours. I never fail to find some grand new project to play with when I visit there.
Here's what I came home with this time :
Lauren (shop owner) designed a fabulous shrug that has ruffles around the edges. I couldn't help myself - I dove in. (and needless-to-say, I cast on this morning)

Now here's my thought for all you blog knitters around the world : Support your local yarn shops ! Yes, it's true that you might find an amazing bargin on line from one of the humongo cut throat discounters, yes it's true that you might save a few dollars .... BUT (and that's a big but) whatever would we do without a place to go "touch and see" the yarn of our dreams? Who would be there to talk to if we need help with a complicated pattern?.... just sayin'..... How about we all make a little promise to ourselves, to buy at least 1 skein of yarn a month from a small local shop. Who's in with me?

Meanwhile, back at the farm... it's raining here. Now, some of you might moan over a week's worth of rain, not I, says the fiberwizard. There's weeding to be done (and afterall you can't weed in the rain, all that mud you know) there's grass to be cut (same as before) and there's watering to be done (normally.. ha ha). So instead, I celebrate, doing a small happy dance when I wake and see that it's still raining.. now I can knit! (she giggles in glee)
The flowers are popping open here - and it's truly spring.

On Friday a lovely gift came in my mailbow, from my blogging buddy Leah.... handmade sock yarn bags ! She must have heard me say that I could never have enough (grins). Aren't they lovely ! and yup, I just had to cast on a new sock to jump right into it's lovely bag. Doesn't the pelennor sock coordinate nicely with the bag? (tee-hee) So now I am the proud owner of three sock bags hand made by Leah and Trek (see earlier post). wander over to their blogs and tell them how fabulous you think they are okay?
I sure am one fortunate fiberwizard. :-)