Wingsandstrings

2008 Black Sheep Gathering

2008-06-24T08:26:00.004-07:00

Here are some photos from the Black Sheep Gathering from this last weekend. Jen and I went and played with Sheila and Michael. It was a lovely weekend. Thanks for such a lovely weekend Sheila, Jen, and Michael.

Alive - Oh Yes!

2008-01-27T19:51:00.000-08:00

What happened? I stopped carrying my camera with me, and without photos it's not as fun to blog. I will slip that little camera back in my bag soon.

We are all doing well. I'm working a lot lately but hopefully that will lighten up some soon.

The Madrona Fiber Festival is coming up next month. I will see what mischief I can find to photograph for you.

Tri-Polly Crackerbite

2007-11-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

Wayne and I went to my parents for Thanksgiving and had a lovely visit and a wonderful meal with them and my sister, Sandy. Mom made this lovely Thanksgiving flower arraignment for us. She is sure talented.
I'm working in the garage/bird room area of our home until we get my office area setup. The birds really enjoy the extra visiting time, and of course sharing snacks with me.

Jojo loves crackers
Falco loves crackers
Kiwi loves crackers.

Looks like they all agree that every thing's better when you sit with a Ritz!

The baby shrubs got planted. Sorry to leave you hanging on that photo. Wayne really worked his tail off and got them planted right away. They are looking great.
The other big project that Wayne has been working on is completed as well. The trailer has new axles and is ready to travel once again. She sits a bit taller than before, since we put the springs over the axle rather than under it. It will give us more clearance for those 4 wheeling moments with the trailer. The axles are stronger than the other one's that bent.

Autumn Project

2007-10-31T06:10:00.000-07:00

The photos speak for themseves. We're not done yet, but it's a good start!

There has been a big lull in knitting, as I have taken up playing World of Warcraft for a while. This won't work well for those expecting knitted items this Christmas. The game is very captivating, even if I am only a level 20 Shauman. I have been gathering wool in the game, and someone turned my character into a sheep for a short while - does that count?

Diamond Fantasy Shawl Finished

2007-10-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

I finished knitting the Diamond Fantasy Shawl today. Here are some photos of it being blocked. I threw it on for a quick photo tonight so you can see how it fits. I apologize for choosing to wear green under green, since it doesn't show the lovely pattern as well like that. I've gotten a close up of the pattern while it was blocking so you can see it clearly.

I love this pattern and the Olive Tones colorway yarn I chose to knit with. I've linked to them before, but here's Sivia Harding's Diamond Fantasy site, Lisa Souza's Yarn, and Sheila Ernst circular needles. The combination was a real hit with me. I did 11 repeats on the shawl pattern, which is one extra from what it calls for.

Beauty of a Bead

2007-10-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Sheila Ernst created and sent me a fabulous glass bead. I was making stitch markers this weekend and found some green glass beads I had collected for that "someday" when I would see how they wanted to be made into a necklace. Check it out!

The past week has been busy with working on the Diamond Fantasy Shawl in my spare time. I was able to work from home a few days last week, but I went in to work a couple days as well. The ankle is fine, the boot is wonderful when I have to walk around a lot - it really helps. The doctor says I can have it off when I'm sitting still or resting, and that is a real blessing indeed.

I got my Hanne Falkenberg, Plisse kit last week! It's the pine green color. It will wait to be cast on for a little while as I have several project to finish up if I can first.

Keeping me Busy

2007-10-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

I took it easy this weekend and got to moving on the Sivia Harding, Diamond Fantasy Shawl in a big way. Yes, that IS Lisa Souza yarn. It's her Olive Tones colorway in Sock-Merino! Can you believe I've got 8-1/2 repeats of the pattern done with just one skein?! Okay, yes it does pack 560 yards into one skein, but I am still amazed.

I have another skein that I will start in on soon. I want to make a really large size shawl, so I'll probably go beyond the 10 repeat recommendation for the shawl size.

Here's a photo of my nurse, on duty.

Busted

2007-09-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

A week ago I was showing Wayne's and my farm land to Tina, and during the tour I slipped and fell, twisting my left ankle. Later that weekend, I went to the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival and hobbled around and had a wonderful time. I was taking Tylenol and thinking it would get better soon. Well a week later it was still swelling a lot and throbbed with pain, so I heeded Wayne's advice and went to the doctor. It turns out I fractured my ankle.

I will be getting another xray in a couple weeks to see how the healing is progressing. Meanwhile I am wearing a walking boot so my ankle is not able to flex when I walk. I notice it feels a lot better when I elevate it and don't walk around so much, so I think I'll do that at least for this weekend. I got clearance to work from home next week as well, so I can stay off of it for the most part a while longer.

It's a very good thing I bought that Kromski Polonaise wheel from Tina a while ago. It's a single treadle wheel that my right foot can happily spin on it's own.

I was invited to the Ravelry website and have setup my user name there as "Barbs" since Mom sometimes calls me that, I figured it was fitting. It's short and easy to remember for anyone looking for me. If you are a knitter, crocheter, or spinner - (I think any of the fiber arts would do well there), think about joining. I've found a lot of great ideas since I joined yesterday. There is a waiting list to join since they are just getting the site setup, but they say all fiber artists are welcome. I signed up in July and just now got my invite, so be patient if you add your name to the list. It's interesting as it's a place to keep track of your projects, stash of yarn or needles, and to research how others have done working on the same pattern(s) that you are thinking about working on. I am planning on knitting the Hanne Falkenburg sweater called Plisse, and I was very interested in seeing "real" women, rather than models, wearing it. I also wanted to hear how they liked using the pattern. While I had found some information on the web, I found a lot of great information in Ravelry about this pattern.

I've pulled out the Diamond Fantasy Shawl I started last year and have begun to knit on it again. I sure love this pattern. I was beading the edges, but have decided to stop and just knit without the beads for the remainder of the shawl. I think it will look nice with just having the beads on the bottom anyway. Those are Sheila Ernst glass circulars in the shawl. I can't wait to get it done and try out the new blocking wires I got from OFFF!

Fingerless Mitts

2007-09-27T15:27:00.000-07:00

I finished the fingerless mittens I mentioned in my last post. These were just done out of my head (not following a pattern) and are very simple, but I love them. The yarn is from Fly Dyed yarn in the colorway called, "Seattle". It's too bad I needed a hand to take the photo since you can't tell, but I did have both of them on at the same time. I found that the fingerless part worked well for taking photos.

On OFFF

2007-09-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

My friends, Sam, Jen, Tina, Lori, Sheila, and I went to the 2007 Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (OFFF) last weekend. Tina and I left on Thursday and spent the evening at my parents. We went to my brother and sister in law's home and Tina got to milk their cow, Lilly. It was a memorable and fun evening. The next day I gave Tina a tour of Wayne's and my property and we headed out for Oregon.

The show was great, with more vendors and people there than I remember before. There were also Yak and Camels there to see. How fun to get up close to these lovely creatures. As you can see the camel was a big baby.

I didn't do a lot of shopping this year, and that felt good. What I came home with makes me really happy and will be very fun to work with. I got some wool from the Soft Wool lady, in shades of grey and blue. Some mohair/shetland fiber in aqua, blue, and green colors that looks like glass found it's way into my arms. It will go lovely with the new Sheila Ernst button I came home with. A pair of glass circular needles - size 4 in Ruby color came home with me. I am hooked on those needles. I got a set of blocking wires from Handworks Northwest. They have a very nice tip on the ends of the wires that is smooth and shouldn't snag my knitting when I use them. Now to get some shawls or something done to test them out with! Oh, and one skein of Pat Fly's yarn in the colorway called Seattle. That will become fingerless mitts for me.

Saturday evening Sheila and I played with the camp stove and dye pot in the dark and she dyed up some of her handspun yarn. It turned out beautiful! She's a very talented lady.

I almost made it home without buying a fleece this year. I went to the parking lot fleece sale, but nothing caught my eye there. So I went back to the sheep barn to watch the judging and on the way out I noticed a large bag of silver grey fleece. I asked the lady if she had gotten it at the parking lot sale, and she said, "no, this bag is for sale". Of course since it had already called to me, the rest is history. The Romeldale fleece is from a 3 year old fellow, named Romeo, who lives on The Little Orchard Farm in Bow, WA. I don't know the weight of the fleece, but I'm guessing 8 to 10 pounds skirted. His owner said he got new clippers and was trying them out on Romeo, so there were a lot of 2nd cuts. Knowing that up front and they gave me a great price on the coated fleece, it was an awesome deal. Tina and I pulled out the fleece and went through it pulling out 2nd cuts and those nasty bits that you really don't want to spin. It looked really good, and since Superior Fibers was at OFFF, I just dropped it by their booth and they will call me when it's ready to be picked up. How handy is that?! They are in Edmonds WA, so it's close by and they do a great job.

I'm spinning away on the Romney and hopefully will have it all spun for the sweater by the time the Romeldale is ready to be picked up. Below is a photo of Romeo - without his fleece obviously. I didn't think to take a photo of the fleece before it got sent out. I'm excited to see how it comes back. There were quite a few lighter and darker parts, so it should be a nice heathery yarn when it is spun up.

Babies, Buddies, Berries, and Birdies

2007-09-16T18:07:00.001-07:00

Aren't the babies cute! They grow so fast and soon will be large steers roaming the pasture, but for now they bounce around and try and suck your fingers. It's not so cute when they are full grown and running and bucking around you (they do that when they feel like having fun and you are walking through their pasture).

Sandy went for a walk with Wayne and I to see how the fence line is coming. We found a beautiful feather out in the woods, I think it's from a Steller's Jay. The fence line is coming along nicely thanks to Dad's help with the bulldozer and tractor.

There are quite a few blackberries along the fence, and they are mighty tasty berries. The red seed pods that were mixed in with them just made too pretty a combination not to photograph. There's snowberry bushes with lots of white berries to admire on the place too.

Laptop is Home!

2007-09-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

We had to send off the computer for repair and she came home today! How nice to have her working and being able to properly check email and whatnot again.

I've been busy knitting with some short skeins of yarn that Lisa Souza calls HEAT (Heals, Embellishments, and Toes). I just combined a couple of these skeins and made these socks. The pair match, although I just took the photo of this one sock. The sock in the background is the Bird of Paradise socks that I knit a while ago. I think the main colorway in this new pair is Painted Desert. The tops, heals, and toes are denimn color.

I've been busy spinning the brown Romney for my next sweater. I think I will make it a 2 ply after all. I like the way it's turning out, although it was very active coming off the bobbin, once washed it all settled down and hangs like it should in the skein. I was surprised how much it relaxed with a little washing. I think Missy was surprised that she looked so fetching in the new doo!

Fair Days

2007-09-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the Monroe (Evergreen State) Fair. Tina and I did some demonstration spinning in the sheep barn on Saturday evening. It was a lot of fun with lots of people being very excited to get to see how yarn is made. Tina and I had a tough time not fondling the prize fleeces, but we managed to keep our hands to ourselves. Check out my new wheel! Yep, Tina sold me her Kromski Polonaise! Isn't it beautiful? Tina added some 18k gold leaf paint to the spokes and around the wheel. It really shines and spins like a dream.

The spin-in was today at the fair, and there was a great turn out. My new friend, "Rammy" filled in for me a little today. He's a got a microwave heating pad in his tummy. He sits up really nice and he will keep me toasty warm when I get a chill.

The sheep at the fair were as beautiful as ever. Tina and I had a great time Saturday evening listening to them at supper time and watching them. They were throwing their buckets around when other sheep were receiving their supper. A couple of them were climbing up and looking over at the other sheep to see what they had, and EVERY sheep was talking. It was a very noisy night until the last sheep got his/her hay and was content.

Fair and Fungus

2007-08-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Whatever we call ourselves (we haven't quite figured that out - could be the Bothell Bee's but not all of us are Bothellites) we managed to do all right with the fair ribbons this year. I think we got about all the colors they had between three of us. Thanks my friends for putting your work out there for someone you don't really know to judge. It takes courage, and the ability to not take one's work too seriously. There are other entries I haven't posted photos of, but I thought this wall o'ribbons was a nice photo. The spinning department in the Pacific Northwest is alive and well. There are some great spinners in this region, and the competition is very close. There are red ribbons given to spinners with over 95 out of 100 points, due to the closeness of this competition.

Speaking of fun, Wayne and I went to the farm land we own and worked on getting some brush cleared so we could see what we had under all that brush. It was rough going by hand, but my Dad got the bulldozer running and cleared some trails through the brush. Here's a couple photos. I really enjoyed the fungus on the old log that we found. I think it is just beautiful.

The birds planted some sun flower seeds and started their own garden in the back yard.

Oh, in upcoming news! I will be demo spinning at the fair this weekend, so you should see more sheepy photos soon. I also think I may be getting another spinning wheel very soon. You'll have to cross your fingers that I can work it out. I'm very excited about it!

Google This

2007-08-20T07:03:00.001-07:00

Have you tried this? I guess it's made the rounds on the Internet, but it was new to me and fun.

Google the phrase "(Your name) looks like" and find the best one from the first page of results. Don't forget to put it in quotes, otherwise it won't work.

Mine came up with: Barb looks like she swallowed a bug.
Okay the first one was "Barb looks like something out of a medieval torture chamber" . I thought they saw me in something I'd washed in hot water unintentionally!, but then I realized there was a "The" in front of Barb.

Let me know what you find when you try it!

No Photos for You!

2007-08-19T18:29:00.000-07:00

I really appreciate the nice comments you've left, so leaving you photo less with this post is not about that. Let's face it, my blog has been photo heavy lately, so I'm giving you a break!

Work has been busier than I anticipated coming back from vacation. Silly me, I thought I had things sort of wrapped up and could anticipate a mild amount of work backed up. Sheesh! Well, after catching up on the last of the urgent matters today, I think I can face next week without the stress that having unfinished business looming over my head causes. Oh there's still several things on the list, but they don't effect somebodies paycheck, so I don't put those things in the same basket as the other. On another work topic; I've been with the same employer for 5 years now. The 19th was my 5 year anniversary there. This means that I will be given 1 share of company stock in recognition of my time there. It's really fun because they actually give you the paper stock in a frame - call me weird, but I think that's sort of cool. I spent 14 years with my employer just prior to this one, so this still feels somewhat like I'm just starting there.

I am focused on a circular shawl right now and it's moving along nicely. I entered a few skeins of yarn in the Monroe Fair, as well as a little handspun Shetland headband I spun and knit. I suppose I should knit myself some more things out of handspun to keep, but I enjoy giving those things away as gifts . I guess that explains why I don't have other recent handspun objects to enter. Well, I do have the sweater I knit for Wayne I could have entered, but I didn't figure they'd have the wires (cables) and pulleys (block and tackle) to hoist it up to display Haha! I think next year I'll try and have my Romney spun and knit into a sweater. In fact, as soon as I clear some bobbins, I think I'll start in. I've been loving the natural deep brown colored Romney for a long time, and it's time it got spun up!

Alaska Photos from the Golden Princess Cruise

2007-08-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

These were taken on the Alaska Cruise between 8/4/07 and 8/9/07. The yarn shop is in Ketchikan, but I also found a really nice one in Skagway. The puppy is a week old.
The gold is from my purchased opportunity to strike it rich. The beautiful green lake is called Emerald Lake. Wayne and I are showing our Baked Alaska dessert from formal night.

Alaska Trip

2007-08-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

We got home from our trip to Alaska today. Here I am with the qiviut head band I knit just before the trip. Boy did I enjoy wearing it! It was cold on several days and it really kept me warm.

We went on the Golden Princess from Seattle 8/4/07 and returned today. We saw lots of breathtaking scenery and whales along with other critters. We had a fabulous time. I did a lot of knitting while watching the scenery or waiting for ship events to begin. More to follow on the trip, but here are a few photos!

We saw the Aleutian Ballad which was an Alaskan Crab boat. If you've seen "The Deadliest Catch", on the Discovery channel, this was the boat that got hit by a rogue wave and was rolled on its side. They have remodeled the ship to meet code and to take passengers out to see how a crab boat works. They have a agreement with one of the Alaskan Tribes to do a catch and release in their waters year round. It was so cool to get to see the ship, and we were invited on board to check it out. We were not in Ketchikan long enough to go out to see her in action, but we definitely will plan on it the next trip we make to Ketchikan.

This photo taken in the Tracy Arms Fjord. On the right is a photo of Sawyer Glacier.

Out of the Woods

2007-07-30T22:20:00.000-07:00

As promised, here's the video of Dad using the tractor to pull the dead tree out of the road we're making. I wish I had taken some still photos.

Farming Weekend

2007-07-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

We went to the farm this weekend and worked on our acreage. We got a visitor as we took a break. She came right up to check out our setup. We were sitting quietly and didn't have any dogs with us at the time. She wasn't upset when we moved around and just hung out with us awhile.

There was a big tree that blew over quite a while ago, and it's roots were right in the path of our road going back onto our property. Dad worked on getting the root system cut off and cut off the top of the downed tree. I'm loading a You Tube clip of the tractor pulling it out. I'll put a link on here tomorrow so you can see the action.

In fiber news, we harvested a small grocery bag of fiber from Muffin. She's a pomaranian with that rust colored fur. I have some lovely shetland to blend Muffin's fur into that will just about match her color. Does that make for Shetaranian fiber, or Pomaland? I think it will turn out nice. I'll have to decide what it wants to be knit into when I'm done blending and spinning it.

Good girl Muffin!

Knitting and Baseball

2007-07-27T00:31:00.000-07:00

The Mariner's took on the Athletics tonight and Jen and I were there! It was a very fun evening of friends, fiber, and yes - a little shopping too. This is a nice needle case for knitting or crochet needles that they gave us at the game. Debbie Macomber was there signing her books for us. She even threw out the first pitch of the game. I overheard her grandchild asking her why she stood so close to the plate when she was throwing the ball. She did a great job and made us knitters look great!

There was a good turnout with lots of people I knew and some new yarn shops I hadn't met yet! What a fun combination. I found some skull knitting needles, and some eye of newt colored yarn (no animals were harmed in the coloring of this wool). I also found some fiber to spin in the colorway called, "burning bush". It's red and black.

Yes! The lovely and talented Jessica is captured in this photo. What a treat to get to visit a while with our friend.

Caught in Action

2007-07-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Here I am, working on Le Tour de Fleece project! Notice the new scarf? It's a Fiber Trends pattern called Versatile Scarves designed by Evelyn A. Clark. Thanks Jen for taking my photo!

I have plied some of the spinning I've been working on. I will post photos soon. I'll be at the Mariner's game tomorrow for the Stitch and Pitch game. Woo Hoo!

Wet and Wooly

2007-07-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

We've had some needed rain the last few days. It's warm outside and the air smells clean and fresh. I have a couple photos to share.

Below is Sam with a Le Tour De Fleece bobbin that she's working on. I too have been spinning for Le Tour De Fleece, however I haven't taken photos of myself spinning. I should be plying soon and will get you a photo of some sock yarn made out Great Balls of Fiber by Sarah Anderson of Snohomish WA. It's in a colorway called Midnight River. I got my V neck T-shirt the other day! It makes spinning go that much better. Perhaps it's the white shirt making a nice background for the dark black, navy, and light blue fiber; but I think it's the knowledge that others across the world are wearing their T-shirts and the vibes of spinning wheels and drop spindles is emitting a sonic energy that drives my feet to tap out a speedy spinning rhythm in harmony with them all. That's just my take on it.

Here's a Victorian Shoulderette shawl I finished out of Blue Moon yarn. Jen and I started an impromptu knit-along with this pattern. I can't wait to see Jen's version. She's using handspun and it's looking beautiful so far. Funny how starting this project at Sheila's home caught me without the right size circular needle. Sheila and Michael were able to fix me up with a gorgeous pair of clover green glass circulars. They are awesome. I'll be having fun with them for years to come. The T-shirt I've got on with the shawl is a gift from my sister, Sandy. See, it fits! Thanks Sandy!

Sheila sent me a present! She and her daughter, Kate, took photos at the Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon and Sheila made some cards for me. She even made the envelops. Imagine my surprise when I realized that those spinning photos are of me.Her and Kate just made me look really good. What can I say? We had such a fun time at the BSG, and these cards are a wonderful reminder. I will have fun using them and sending them to special people. The blue scarf in the background is made from some handspun I dyed a while ago. It's just a small scarf that is very soft. The fiber I used is called "soft wool" and it is a blend of Targhee, Rambouillet, and Merino fibers. The darker blue has some of Lisa Souza's Starry Nights Tencel plied in. I got some of the "Old Gold" color of Tencel at Stitches West from her. I am looking forward to finding the perfect project for it.

New Neighbors and Tour de Fleece

2007-07-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

We have a new family living next to us, but I expect they will fly the coop soon. They have had babies and are busy tending them. It's fun to watch the parents running to and fro taking care of their brood. Wayne took these photos with our big Cannon digital camera and a telephoto zoom lens. We're going to be using it later this year, so we're getting it out and blowing the dust off it.

Our humming bird feeder is a hit with some hummers in the area. We've tried a couple of different feeders this year, and so far this one is the one they like the best.

I've been very busy with work the last couple weeks. It's been a blur working various weird hours, and the traveling always takes the wind out of my sails. I flew to Atlanta on Sunday, but my luggage went to St Paul. It didn't find me until Tuesday night. This was a first for me, and I learned a lot from it. It was an adventure gathering things to get by; not knowing if the bag would turn up in a few hours or a few days. Always check your luggage ticket to see if it's going to the same location that you are. Never pack your true necessities in the checked baggage. I agree I wouldn't check a bag if I could help it, but alas it was not and probably won't be possible in my travel situation with what I need to carry on already. On a good note, I'm getting pretty good about tossing out the laptop and bagged liquids, other electronics and shoes off to get through the inspection line.

It's good that there is a spinning guild meeting tomorrow and Jen and Sam will be there. I'm really looking forward to it. I love this guild because #1 they are very outgoing and friendly and #2 their spinning day of the month falls on a weekend, and #3 there is ample time to get into the spinning and visiting before it's time to go home.

I've got a spinning project underway for the Tour de Fleece! It's fun to set yourself a goal and work towards it. Photos will follow in the next few posts! I've got the T-Shirt ordered, and I'm spinning away.

I celebrated the kickoff of the client I am working on at work, going into production this week. Celebrating being, purchasing a new tea pot. I love the clear glass tea pots and this one jumped out at me. I made a batch of Fairy Nectar tea in it today and poured it over ice. Yum! I got a couple nice mugs that are clear glass to go with it, but they weren't ready to have ice and then warm tea poured over it. I didn't want to chance it.

Quick Update

2007-06-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

I'm headed out for a week in Alpharetta GA tomorrow. I must admit I spent some time on the deck spinning and enjoying myself in preparation. Here's the South Pacific silk/merino from Lisa Souza that I finished spinning. 390 yards there. I have some silk/merino in the Elecktra colorway that will go well in a shawl with this yarn. Now to spin it!

See the new rocker that Wayne bought and put together for me! I just love it.

I will leave you with the joint power of the minds. You see Missy and Emma do combine their powers when it comes to opening doors. Never mind the dirty window -this is about the only time I'll get a photo of them doing something collaboratively.