Whorled Peace

So, what have you been up to lately?

2009-11-07T04:38:00.002-05:00

just a few things I've completed lately. The shawl isn't really complete, I need to add a border when I spin a complimentary yarn. And don't look too closely at the hat! I took the picture before I realized there were some yarn ends that needed woven in!

October socks

2007-11-20T07:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is in fact the 20th day of November, so shoot me!

A Wool Gathering....gather'd up some goodies!

2007-09-18T18:36:00.001-05:00

yeah, yeah, two posts in one day- but I had a really busy and fun weekend! LD and I rode out to A Wool Gathering fiber festival at Young's Dairy near YellowSprings Ohio. It is the only fiber fest I've found so far that is close enough for a one day trip. And ya'll know I can't leave the pups alone to take a longer-than-one-day trip. So this is my once a year hands on fiber fix.

Llama mammas!

sheepies!

trying to subtly tell Mr Paparrazi that I'm done being photographed!

I got some yummy swag too! Finally got my hands on a card weaving book. I've had the cards for a year now and was chicken to try it. This book is fab, very clear and easy to read instructions. See that blue strap there- I made that within about a hour and a half of sitting down to read the book. Card Weaving is wicked cool. I picked up my pound of lovely merino top from the lovely folks with Ohio Valley Natural Fibers in Sardinia, Ohio. A gorgeous 8oz ball of Romney wool and mohair. The colors are to-die-for. I enjoy doing my own hand dying, but without a carder, I can't make roving as gorgeous as this. It is from a company called White Creek Wool in Deford, Michigan. I also picked up an ounce of dove grey cashmere. That was my last purchase of the day and I've lost the business card of the vendor that I bought it from. Cashmere! I've finally graduated to cashmere! I'm spinning it lace-weight on one of my drop spindles to try and stretch out the spinning love. It is heaven. And hey! I'm wearing my sweater again! see the end of my previous post for sweater details, if your interested.

be nice to the littles, you never know when a big is around the corner.....

2007-09-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

Um, Yeah, that is one big bug! Part of the 'Big Bugs' exhibit at our local Innis Woods Metro Park. My previous post showed a lovely smaller specimen that came to visit my garden.

and since I hadn't hassled her smaller cousin, this lovely creature left me alone.......

LD wasn't quite as lucky!

Sunday was our 7th wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd share a rare posed picture of the two of us.....

and the much more common picture of the two of us being silly. Silly, but very happy, relaxed and very much in love. And lest you think this blog has completely lost all knitting content....I spun the yarn for and knit the sweater that I'm wearing! brown merino with one skein of one strand of silk ply'd with one strand of the same merino. I did this when I realized I would run out of fiber before I got the yardage that I needed. Worked out nicely I think. The sweater pattern is one of the top down women's t-shirt patterns from Fiber Trends.

Visitor in my Lavendar...

2007-08-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

I spent about an hour cleaning up the flower beds this morning, deadheading flowers, pulling up poison oak and (my favorite chore ever) trimming the spent lavendar stems. The flowers are all dried and there is nothing left for the bees, so now I get to play. ....and I got an extra bonus today. I was just finishing up trimming stems, wondering how I missed this and that, got a buzz-by from a bee, when I looked up and noticed that I had company.....!

How gorgeous is s/he?! LD and I saw the babies in early spring and I was hoping that at least a couple had hung around.

yes darlin, I am looking at you! Breathtaking!

I sort of understand how the sheep feel.....

2007-07-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

.... and all I can say is "ahhhh"! Locks of Love will be receiving 12 inchs of red hair and I couldn't be happier to have it off my head!

Early Summer Garden

2007-06-28T07:29:00.001-05:00

Watermelons Lima Beans
the first of the Mr Stripey heirloom tomatos
white patty pan summer squash
cucumber flower

a view from the road

2007-06-28T07:23:00.000-05:00

life goes on...

2007-06-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

and the garden grows. I'm insanely proud of these cucumbers. We've been eating lettuce, chard and herbs for over a month, but these cukes feel like the first 'real' food. I was also overjoyed to see the zucchinis are coming along brilliantly. I know, I know, in another month or two I won't be able to give them away, but for now I'm just thrilled that everything is growing.
This is a picture of the Lima Bean plants. Can't wait to taste fresh Limas. I've been surprised to find many other lima lovers out there, and to a person, none of us has ever had fresh lima beans, only frozen or, God forbid, canned.
I'm already dreaming about next year and planning how much more of the back yard I can take over. Now if I could just find time to fit in some knitting and spinning!

Princess Abigail

2007-05-24T17:07:00.000-05:00

I'll never forget you, sweet girl. Your paw prints are tatoo'd onto my heart. I will love you and miss you for the rest of my life, and I'll always be greatful for the few short years that we had together. With your kindhearted trusting soul, you taught me to trust myself and with your unconditional love and dedication, you taught me to love myself. I'm a better person because of you.

....now if someone could just explain to me how I live the rest of my life without hearing her 'tail thump' on the floor upon waking every morning. Without the opportunity to laugh hysterically as she 'bites' at the other cars on the road (this is a dog that wouldn't intentionally harm anything that wasn't threating her, but put her in the back seat of a car and those other cars better watch out! You had to see it-hysterical! my description cannot do it justice.) Without tripping over constantly her because she insited on sitting directly in front of whichever chair I chose. I have 2 other canine companions- the boys- and I am continually grateful for their company. But I've lost an irreplacable freind. I tell myself that she deserves for me to mourn for her- this painful grief is a small price to pay for the wonderful 9 years she gave me. And that is true. But it sucks.

no time to knit...

2007-05-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

Yep. The neighbors thought we had finally gone completely round the bend, rather than just skating the edge like we usually do. 13 cubic yards of dirt... delivered to the front yard.

We needed it! We really did. Both the front and back yards were horribly pitted and bumpy. Both needed to be 'filled in' in spots.

Some 'spots' being rather larger than others!

And I needed enough dirt to fill in a raised garden bed. I'm very excited about my first garden here at the house. I only planted what I thought LD and I would really enjoy eating, I can't even tell you how excited we are about trying fresh lima beans. I've loved limas my whole life but I don't think I've ever tasted a fresh one. We also have zucchini, cucumbers, Brandywine and Mr Stripey heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, brussell sprouts, white scallop squash, radishes, mixed lettuces, swiss chard and various herbs. Fairly safe and slightly predictable, but this is our first year. I honesly thought about putting in a row of flax, try my hand at growing, processing and spinning up my own linen yarn. Thank goodness I came to my senses on that one- I barely have time to pick up my knitting needles these days. Maybe next year!

Pre planting:

All planted in, watered, mulched and ready to grow!

no you didn't-

2007-04-28T07:01:00.000-05:00

Oh, but I did. I knit LD a pair of motorcycle gloves! And he likes them. I kind of like them too. I tweaked the "Knucks" pattern from Knitty.com just a tiny bit. I added a few vertical rows of purl stitches on the hand part, kinda looks like stitched seams.

Knitting motorcycle wear......makes me giggle every time I think about it!

I've also been spinning away on my Minstrel spinning wheel. I'm so happy with the double drive, I find I have much more control over the amount of twist and speed of uptake- I can actually get the size/type of yarn I want rather than going with what the wheel wants to do. A Kiwi is a wonderful first wheel, but you really can outgrow it's capabilities.

I have no idea what the yardage is, but I love the color, and it is Rambouilette wool, very soft and fluffy. No idea what it will become, but I'm sure it will be lovely.

I've been knitting also! Still working on a "corset tee" by Annie Modisett, I'm about 2/3 done with the miles and miles of k2p2 that makes up the body. I'm going to try to add sleeves of my own design, and I think with sleeve I might actually wear this sweater in public. The yarn is a cotton/silk blend, loverly stuff. Between k2p2's, I made this cotton "Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Sweater" from Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardiner & Shayne and superwash wool baby socks for a new baby on the way for a lovely woman at work. She has a 2 year old daughter, equally lovely, and I made Miss E a pair of socks as well. I'm planning on making myself a pair of argyle socks using the same yarn/colors. Love the pink and green!

And finally, I've been drop spindling some handcombed Rambouilette/Alpaca blend, having scoured the wool and washed the Alpaca myself. I love the idea of doing the whole process from raw fiber to finished item- just really love the idea of it.......but the reality is that it just takes too durn long! I have nothing but awe and admiration for the hundred of generations of folk who had no choice but to shear, wash, card or comb and spin their fibers. I'm just not planning on losing my link to KnitPicks.com any time soon. Too many projects, too little time!

and sometimes, I knit...

2007-04-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

hand spun, hand dyed corriedale. Motified version of Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch from 'Knitting Vintage Socks' by Nancy Bush. LD is particulary fond of these socks, to the point of showing them off to friends. seriously!

You never call, you never write......

2007-03-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

sorry.
Let me explain.
First of all, I am a complete, self admitted inconstant blogger. My life has 2 phases, either NOTHING is going on and I'm swallowed up in depression and self pity and, well, who in the world would want to read anything that someone in that conditions would write!? The other phase is when EVERYTHING happens at once and though I have a billion things I'd like to blog about, well, I'm so durn busy that I think about blogging, want to blog, but can't pull myself away from whatever else is going on. Occasionally I have actually even forgotten that I have a blog.
I've seriously kicked around the idea of only posting pictures and not even making an attempt to be witty (hey, I said "attempt", I didn't say I was sucessful!) and I really think I may start doing that. So here are the first two pics, and anyone who know either myself or LD will at once understand why I haven't posted recently:

and:

2007-02-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Your IQ Is 105

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average

Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

hee hee hee..... I just love these blogger tests. They are like crack to me. I tend to 'test' well, and sometime have to fight myself to actually answer the test honestly rather than pick what I know is the 'right' answer. This one surprised me a bit. I expected math to be horrid- obviously I stumbled on the correct answers for the math questions, and I've never been mislabeled as a genius in anything, but the thing that cracks me up and keeps me coming back for more are answers like- logical intelligence: below normal -that is just too funny. Even more so because I don't really know what 'logical intelligence' means! ......'scuse me while I go peruse a dictionary!

First FO of 2007

2007-01-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

Handspun silk, slightly altered "Christmas Angel" pattern from the 2006 Daily Knitting calendar. I'm going to continue to tweak this pattern to see if I can make her look more like a fairy. The head is a needle felted bead, I think on my next try I'll add a couple of pointy ears and make the skirt less bell shaped. I have just enough silk yarn left for one more. After being left alone all night on New Years Eve (the dogs were only alone over night- the same amount of time they are on their own Monday thru Friday during the day!) this is how Bailey and I spent most of our New Years Day. The little prince looks so happy/relived/comfy I just want to make a sandwich out of him and eat him up!

Gatherin' Wool

2006-09-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

Attended The Wool Gathering fiber festival in Yellow Springs yesterday. I took my Tour De Fleece bag and told LD when it was full, I'd be done. There was literally nothing of interest for him at the festival, but he kept me company and held my bag when needed like a champ.

Happy Day!

I scored some cool stuff:

a pound of merino top, half a pound of textile grade hemp sliver, a couple of ounces of very pretty mohair curls, 4 oz of a gorgeous Alpaca roving colourway (I have had NO luck dyeing muted colors like this) with just the slightest amount of angelina blended in for a tiny amount of sparkle. Gorgeous! and a couple of cute little finger puppets. I was very proud of the shopping restraint that I showed. Even saved enough money to pay for dinner out of my fiberfest fund.

This guy had so much character:

His owner said he was annoyed at being kept inside the tent, so he kept humming and sort of stomping back and forth- very comical. You could see it in his eyes that he is quite the character. What can I say, I've always had a thing for 'bad boys'!

I wore my homemade spindle pin:

but didn't run into anyone else from the Yahoo Spindlers group.

Never been to Yellow Springs, so after filling up my goodie bag, LD and I went into town to check it out. Wicked, wicked cool. What an artist's haven. If I were independently wealthy and/or a bit more talented, I would make Yellow Springs my new home.

Now THAT is what silk should look like!

2006-08-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

This:

not this:

In trying to poke around at the cocoons to avoid touching the icky stuff, I ended up matting them together into a sad mess. Done. Stick a fork in them. I've enough pride to know I'm beat.
-but I couldn't stay sad for long, because just look again at what arrived from the marvelously talent Carol of http://www.silkworker.com !

Gorgeous incredible handpainted silk top! The colourway is Trumpet Solo, and when I saw it on the website, my heart dang near skipped a beat. Complete lovely silky goodness. I'm spinning it on my favorite drop spindle, my Lambsy Divey All Day Lollipop, spinning it fairly fine, hoping that when I Navajo ply, it will be lace weight-ish, and will then be knit into a shawl/wrap. Don't know what pattern yet, I'm just enjoying the spinning. Happy happy spinning!

Bombyx Mori project ends with a splat

2006-08-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

EEEEWWWWW! Lord in Heaven! I am trying very hard to process my silkworm cocoons so that I can be done with the whole "silkworm saga" and we never need speak of it again, but, seriously, YUCK! What the heck?! I thought that by letting the moths emerge from their cocoons I would be left with fairly clean, empty cocoons. Yes, allowing the moths to emerge damages some of the silk, but I'm planning to spin it, not reel a continuous strand, so that was fine. Plus, added bonus of no bad karma-stifling issues. Yea! ........dude.
What was left behind in each cocoon --and let me pause here to say that not every worm that spun actually made it to the pupa stage, a few died off and left me with nasty dead wormies-- but the ones that did pupate into moths and emerged, well, they thoughtfully left me with a pupa shell (?) in each cocoon. <'scuse me while I get a breath mint, I just vomited in my mouth a little bit>
So Gross! I have to pull each cocoon apart and try to 'pop' out the pupa shell, but some of them don't want to pop, they want to get tangled. And once their tangled I've discovered that if I keep trying to get the buggy part out, it gets all smooshed in the blob of silk. Lord have mercy, I don't think I have the strength to finish this. I'm touching dead bug guts and stuff! And NO! I am NOT taking pictures of this part of the process!!! Once finished, we will never speak of it again, and I will deny any knowledge. I'll take pictures of the 'de-bug gutty' silk blobs, if I get that far. Dear readers, I'm going back in.......give me strength!

and the moths emerge....

2006-08-16T18:54:00.000-05:00

Wicked cool- bombyx mori moths! Sorry for the crappy photos- semi cheap camera combined with moron photographer= blurry pics. I'll see if LD can't get some better pictures when more moth emerge. They are fabulous looking creatures! I really wish I could have zoomed in on this little moths face. She is beautiful and fierce looking.
Now that the silkworm experiment is coming to a close, I've decided that bombyx mori silkworms are not something I will try to raise again. If I get any viable eggs, I'll find someone who wants to give it a go and gift them the eggs. I am amazed and awed at the amount of work that goes into producing silk, but I am also a bit saddened by the process and what has been done to these creatures over centuries of domestication. *and please remember, this is just a blog- only my opinions and thoughts. I certainly do not look down on or judge anyone for anything* It is fascinating, but sad that once they emerge from their cocoons, the rest of their life cycle consists of mating, laying eggs and dying of dehydration. They still have rudimentary wings, but can no longer use them to fly. sad. At some point, I may try to raise one of the wild native to North America breeds of silkworms, but for now I'll stick to spinning soy or bamboo silk, renewable resources.

and while I couldn't get a decent picture of the moths, Draco, our bearded dragon did a fab job of posing for this picture. He is beautiful and fierce too.

Pretty posies and pierced nosies

2006-08-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Check it out! After many many years of wanting to have it done, I finally sucked it up and did it! Well, no, I didn't do it myself, so I guess that should have said 'had it done'. And I like it! I've been told many times that I didn't have the right 'nose' for a piercing and was asked if I was sure I wanted to draw more attention to it, and now I can tell those peeps to put a sock in it. I think it is kind of cute, and trust me, it is very rare for me to think that anything about myself is any kind of cute. But my nose stud is. :) and if nothing else, it does draw attention away from my Dumbo ears!
Not much fibery goodness going on. I'm still stalling on the gauge swatch for LD's sweater. I hate gauge swatches. Really really hate them. But a finished object (sweater/hat/socks, whatever) that doesn't fit, well that just sucks. Far worse than the suckiness of knitting a gauge swatch. So, I will get to it. eventually.
But for now, I'll share a pretty picture of some of the flowers in my backyard. I tried growing nasturtiums in pots for years, w/o any sucess at all. Threw some in the ground this spring, and, viola! They are growing like crazy. And the clematis blossom surprised me, we just planted that vine this year. I thought it would take a year to establish.

Oh, and the silkworm caterpillars! Well, we have a few straggler caterpillars, but most of them look like this:

post in two parts.......Part 2

2006-08-02T18:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we celebrate the birthday of a wonderful man. The love of my life, my husband (known here as Lead Dog, or LD for short). In honor of LD, I'm posting 25 things I love about Doug. I could have gone to 50(and beyond), but felt that might be a bit boastful. :)

25 things I love about Doug

1. He is hot. Sorry, but he is. He is so good looking that even after more than 10 years, it still gives me butterflies to look at him.

1. He is kind. I have never heard him say anything mean spirited to anyone- myself included.

3. He loves animals, and they love him back. Any questions that I had in the beginning of our relationship about his character were stifled when my monster of a cat- who in 8 years had never gone to a stranger and would barely allow me to pet and love on her, immediately went to Doug, purring. I've never seen a dog or cat that didn't immediately warm to this man. He has a good soul, and animals can sense that.

4. He cooks. Most of the time, he cooks better than I do.

5. He knows how to operate the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer. Knows how to operate, and frequently does!

6. After our first 'hook up', he said he would call the next day.....and he did! He is very dependable- if he says he will do something, it is done. He has never let me down.

7. He loves his Mom and Dad. He does not try to blame any mistakes or disappointments in his life on his parents. He calls them regularly. He introduced me to his folks on our third date.

8. He has integrity. He is willing to work for the things he wants, never trying to cheat the system or look for a handout.

9. He has close male friends that he has known for 30+ years and is not afraid or embarrassed to tell them that he loves them.

10. He told me that he loved me for the first time on the phone. And when I called him back to clarify what he had just said, he did not make a big deal out of it. He loved me and told me. Like breathing. No drama or strings attached.

11. He is unbelievably good looking, and he is completely unaware. He is concerned about his appearance only to the point of good personal hygiene and wanting to make sure his clothing is clean and appropriate for the occasion, but has no idea that he makes women weak in the knees.

12. He has a strong mechanical aptitude, but doesn't mind asking for help or looking up instructions when he needs to.

13. He respects his elders. He recognizes that a lifetime of experience deserves respect/

14. He sees me with eyes wide open, warts, wrinkles, selfishness and all, and loves me anyway.

15. He holds doors open for people.

16. He lives life without fear or reservation. He is open to trying new things, without worrying about looking foolish.

17. He quit his job, sold his home and moved 150 miles away from his family and friends because he understood that I couldn't move my children away from their family and friends. It was not even up for discussion. And he has never once made me feel guilty about it.

18. He stops to ask for directions when needed.

19. He has never met a stranger. He makes friends more easily than anyone I've ever met.

20. He is non-judgmental. Open minded to all cultures, religions and lifestyles.

21. He cried at our wedding. And was not embarrassed or ashamed.

22. He is very self-assured, without an ounce of conceit.

23. He offers help to anyone, friend or acquaintance, without expecting anything in return.

24. He would go to the ends of the earth and do anything within his power to make me happy. the sound of my laughter makes him smile.

25. He is a wonderful man, with a beautiful soul. And I am the luckiest woman on earth.

A post in two parts.....Part 1

2006-08-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

I have spinning caterpillars!

This is my first completed cocoon! -yeah, I said 'my' first cocoon. Like I did any of the work!

and this is the second cat, starting his/her cocoon basework.

All in all, this has been a fascinating experience. (and they say I'm the 'normal amount of normal' Ha! shows what those blog tests know!!)

the inconstant blogger strikes again

2006-07-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry friends, but of late I have not been feeling very witty, amusing or even conversational. No funny stories to tell, nothing inspirational, just feeling very blah and sorry for myself. I can at least share some pictures of the silkworms, and my Tour de Fleece yarn being dyed. I am hoping that the silkworms start spinning soon, the Mulberry tree is feeling rather harvested!

And here is the 'pre dye' soak:

the dyeing:

and the final rinse:

What is up with these tests?

2006-07-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.
You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

I really pride myself on being a weirdo-scifi geek-freak, off the radar, but in a totally harmless and interesting way. What is the deal with all these tests answers coming out completely normal? My funky inner hair color is Orange? Um, no- that is what color my normal outside haircolor is. I was looking for electric blue or burgundy with gold streaks or something cool like that. Orange. I've had orange hair my whole life. drat.