Thursday - This and That

Just thought I'd do a post about this and that....a few different things going on lately.

It's been a very hot summer here.  So, I've been staying in a lot to avoid the heat.  I haven't accomplished as much as I'd planned due to lack of motivation in this heat and being stuck inside.  But, I have done a few things...

I knitted up a washcloth and scrubbie with some pretty, tan, Sugar N Cream yarn I had.  I love the results of this washcloth pattern.  It's simple but so nice.  It lays very nicely with great edges and corners.  It's the "Copycat Dishcloth" pattern from Ravelry and it's free.  The scrubbie pattern is also free and it's called, "Tribble".  I have a big, glass jar on our master bathroom counter that I have several shades of off-white and beige, hand knit washcloths in along with cotton balls and q-tips.  It's handy and the washcloths look so good in there.  They're very nice to use too.  Soft and pretty!

We bought a long dining room table a while back and I collected some chairs to go with it.  I just finished up some custom cushions for four of them.  I used fabric I got years ago for almost nothing...a whole bolt of it!  I still have lots left.   There are two antique chairs that I need to create cushions for too.  All the chairs will be sanded down and painted black.  I think it's going to look great when it's all done.  We just need cooler weather so we can go out in the garage to work on them.

My dad had a couple doctor appointments yesterday.  One was a bit stressful because he was going to get the results on tests to see if he has lung cancer.  I wanted to be with him for something this big...just in case.  Although, we felt it probably wasn't and we were hoping for the best.  My mom was being her usual, difficult self (Alzheimer's) and wouldn't allow me into the room but we got her to go for letting my daughter in.  I hated for my daughter to be in that position, just in case it was bad news.  But, she wanted to do it to support grandpa and to hear what was going on for my brother and I.  She even recorded it for us.  She's awesome!  Anyway...it was good news...he doesn't have cancer.  He has fluid in his lungs but it's probably due to his heart condition and some of the meds he's on.  Whew!  Afterward, we went out to lunch.  We've been trying to do that about once a week or so.  It's been very nice.

When we got home in the early afternoon, the temp in my car said 113 degrees!  Ugh!  We had a nice surprise shortly after that when it started pouring rain.  It dumped hard and rained for at least half an hour.  It cooled things off and gave the plants nice cool shower that I bet they loved.  My daughter's kitty, Sonora, was a little scared by the rain because it was so loud.  When it calmed down a bit, she enjoyed looking out the window and watching it.  So cute!

I've been meaning to put together a picture-full post to introduce a new (last December) member of our family but I just haven't gotten around to it.  I wanted to put a lot of photos on the post and all my photos are all backed up and I literally have thousands and thousands of photos (not just her) that I'd have to go through to find the greatest ones of her, download them back to my laptop, and then upload to the blog.  A big job!  So, I'll just go ahead and introduce her now.  That way I can continue to post pics and not get further behind on what the intro post would have.  

Here she is...our adorable Siamese named, "Sky".  She's my hubby's kitty and she is awesome!  She's so sweet, loving, fun, funny, playful, and she loves being with us almost constantly.  She's adorable!  We love her so much!  Here she is laying next to me while I crocheted one time this week...

It's been a long and difficult adjustment for Penelope to have another cat but she's finally becoming herself again...almost.  Here she is rolling on a rug this morning.  She's actually playing, roaming around the house more, and being loving again.  It's been tough for her and for me to see her not being her wonderful self.  So, it's wonderful to be getting her back.

Sky came over to see what Penelope was up to.  She's not used to seeing Penelope play and be the cat she was.

Our cats are still separated from my daughter's cat as they get to know one another.  Although, my daughter's cat is a very confident cat who's not afraid of much of anything and can be aggressive. So, we're not sure when or if we'll ever let them be together.  For now, they're just getting to know one another through a screen door we put at the hall near my daughter's room.  We don't love having a door there but it keeps the cats safe.  We switch back and forth with who gets to run around the house.  We either let Sonora out for a while while our cats hang out together in our large master bedroom and bathroom.  Or, our cats come out while Sonora gets to stay in her part of the house where my daughter's room, bathroom, hall, and craft room are.  They're very happy wherever they are.  They're all wonderful cats in their own ways.  We love them all so much!

The screen door we used is one we finished up that we'd started when we lived at our old house and had llamas.  All it needed was some color, stain, varnish, assembly, and screen.  Hubby made a frame for it to fit in the arch and ta-da!...a solution for our cat conundrum.

I finished spinning up a ball of roving this week.  I'm letting it sit for a bit before I Navajo ply it.

I've wanted to play a musical instrument for a very long time.  I tried piano lessons a couple times but didn't stick with it.  It was difficult to memorize all the notes and play different things with each hand from the two different lines on the music.  I've been thinking that something with just one line of music would be more practical to start with.  In my search, the ukulele has been suggested several times.  I finally decided to go for it when I found this great ukulele that not only is cute but has a wonderful sound...not so shoe-box-like as so many are.  It even came with an adorable bag!  So far, it's going well and I'm even enjoying practicing.  There are challenges with learning the many chords and the different rhythms but I'm enjoying it.  I find myself wanting to practice.  Wow!  Maybe, hopefully, I'll have a different answer someday to a question I'm often asked when people see my daughter masterfully play the harp...  "where does she get her talent?...do you or your husband play anything?"  My answer is usually...."um...I play the radio".  My daughter and I have a goal to eventually play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" together (harp and ukulele).  We found a beautiful rendition of it on YouTube that gave me the last push I needed to buy my uke and go for it.

Maybe I should have made this post yesterday and called it "Wordy Wednesday".  lol  Now that it's all put together, I realize I could have made several posts.  Oh well.  It's done now.  I hope you enjoy it.  And, if you stuck it out to the end...thank you! :-)

Have a wonderful day!

My New Wheel

I've wanted a double treadle spinning wheel for a long time now.  And, I've wanted a wheel that is more portable than the Ashford Traditional and the Country Craftsman wheels that I have.  I just couldn't justify buying one since I had two wheels that worked just fine.  However, when my Traditional wheel broke a few months ago, I felt it was time.

I was loading it up in my car and heading to Tucson to see my daughter.  I was planning to take some private spinning lessons from someone I'd met there.  When I got to my Tucson and took it out of the car, a big section of it fell off...the part with the uprights, the bobbin, etc.  A piece of wood that attaches it all to the wheel had snapped in half along the grain line of the wood.  I have a feeling it's not meant to be transported a lot...even though I try to be very gentle with it.  However, most of the spinning I do is when I'm meeting up with other spinners somewhere other than home.

That was a perfect time for it to break though because there's a yarn shop in Tucson called Grandma's Spinning Wheel.  Which, as you might guess, sells spinning wheels.  I paid them a few visits to test out the many wheels they carry.  I'd dreamt for years about getting an Ashford Joy wheel.  I love the idea of how they fold up and fit into a handy carrying case.  However, when I had the opportunity to test it out, I really didn't like it.  I also couldn't justify the high price for a wheel that seemed so delicate.  I ended up falling in love with the Ashford Kiwi.  I had fallen in love with a Kiwi years ago when I tried one out but to like this wheel over all the other high dollar ones was surprising.  A very nice surprise!  The cost was about half.

I ordered one that was unfinished to save a little more money.  And, I thought it would be nice to personalize it.  I had grand ideas of painting beautiful things on it and lots of bright happy colors.  I decided against doing that when I imagined all of that flashing at me as the wheel spun round and round.  So, I went for a simpler design...I painted the wheel in my favorite color and gave the rest a subtle stain with a satin finish.  I'm very happy with the results.  I think it's beautiful!

I have to admit that there were many times I'd wished I'd splurged on a finished version.  I don't enjoy sanding and I was worried that the stain wouldn't work out or that the whole thing wouldn't turn out nice.  Luckily, my hubby loves to sand, stain, paint, and finish things like this and he was more than happy to help out.  In fact, he did a lot more work on it than I did.  But, it was a lot of fun working on it together with the stain and then putting it together.

There were a lot of parts!  And, this picture doesn't even show the bag of hardware for putting it all together!

Since my new wheel is my favorite color, it made sense to have my first bit of spinning on it be in that color as well!

I'll post a pic of the yarn when I get some done.  I've had a crazy, vertigo, sinus thing going on for most of the week that's prevented me from doing much of anything.  I'm hoping to get back at it now that I'm starting to feel a bit more normal.

Tour de Fleece Finish Line

Here's my Tour de Fleece yarn...

I finished it up yesterday...on the final day of the tour.

It's 100% Merino and it's super soft and fairly even in thickness.

It's somewhere between a fingering and DK.  The color is Sandalwood.

I had hoped to spin up and ply at least 600 yards and get started on a project during the tour.

But, life got busy and I only spun and plied four ounces for a total of 213 yards.

But, for me and how little I usually spin...this is an accomplishment to be proud of.

I was even more proud when I took it off of my niddy noddy and held it up...

there was not even the slightest bit of twist in the skein!  Wow!

I've been told that is a good thing.  I guess it means my yarn is well balanced?

I'm so excited about it that I plan to spin up at least eight ounces more.

I can't wait to get started on a project with it!  

I've already started searching for the perfect pattern.

 Woo hooo...handspun yarn by me! 

Here's a question for other hand spinners...

When you're finished spinning and plying yarn do you wash it?

Do you let it sit for a while?  Do you just start right into a project with it?

Or....I just heard of this a few years ago and I don't quite get it...

do you wash it and beat it and how?  I'd love to hear what you do and why.

I was told years ago that it's best to wash it and hang it to dry to set the twist.

So, that's what I've always done.  I'm wondering if that's necessary or the best way.

Your stories, experiences and advice would be great to hear.  Please share.  :-)

Tour de Fleece 2013

I've been hearing about "Tour de Fleece" for years but not until it's already underway.

By the next year, I forget until I hear about it half way through the event...again.

But...this year...I heard about it in time and got started today...the very first day.  Yay!

Here's the roving I decided to spin.  It's from my stash and the color is "Sandalwood".

I love all the pretty colors in it...

I'm trying hard to keep my spinning even and thin so I can use this to crochet a lacy shawl.

It's going pretty well so far.  Although, I know that what I spin a few days from now will 

be much nicer than what I spun today.  Practice should make a big difference.

Especially since I've done so little spinning over the past few years.

It's exciting to spin with an actual project in mind.

Up until now, I've only spun just to make yarn or hats.  That was rewarding.

I can only imagine how great it will feel to spin the yarn and make a beautiful, lacy shawl with it.

If you haven't heard of Tour de Fleece...it coincides with the Tour de France and 

participants choose fiber to spin or a project to work on over the three weeks

that has some sort of challenge for them.  There are groups on Ravelry and other 

places online to participate with others.  It's fun to participate in and a great way to de-stash!

Are you participating in Tour de Fleece?  Are you spinning yarn?

Or did you choose to knit or crochet a project that challenges you?

I'd love to hear about it!

Fiber Fiesta

I love living in Southern California and I love fiber arts. However, fiber events seem to be scarce here. In the rare event that we do have a fiber event and I find out about it, I try to go. One of those rare fiber events occurred about a week ago at the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum in Vista, California. It was called the Vista Fiber Arts Fiesta and admission and parking were free.

The event was small but there was a variety of things available for sale...fiber and roving, yarn, tools, jewelry, clothing, bags, etc.


The weather was sunny and quite warm. It was a good thing most of the vendors had shade covers.


Unfortunately, this vendor didn't have a shade cover and they got pretty hot and sun burned. But, the yarns did look pretty in the sun.


These caught my eye. They hold scraps of yarn that birds can use to build their nests.


This was my favorite booth. They had wood tools and triangle looms. I've been fascinated with triangle looms for a while and it was a lot of fun to finally see how they work. I just couldn't justify spending a couple hundred dollars on one though because I reallllly don't need more shawls and I'm not sure I'd like to wear or even give away the style you make with these. But, they sure look fun to weave!


This booth would have been hard to miss. The vibrant color of these silk cocoons really stood out.


Aren't they gorgeous?! I think the vendor said she dyes them herself.


She even showed me some silk worms. I thought this was fascinating. She was so nice to answer my questions...like...what do they eat? She said they like mulberry leaves but since she doesn't have any, she gets them "mulberry chow". Who knew there was such a thing?!


Here they are a little closer.


There were a few alpacas. So cute!


There is a "Weavers Barn" on the property with over 50 looms that weavers use on a regular basis.


It was interesting to see the many kinds of looms they have.


This sure is a long loop of pattern bars on this dobby loom!


Here's a peek, looking up and inside the same dobby loom.


I was amazed at how many looms they have. This is looking from the back of the barn looking toward the front.


They even have a collection of spinning wheels perched above some colorful handwoven items on display.


Many of the looms were warped and had projects on them. I really like this one...


They even had looms outside!


There was an area to gather for spinning. I even brought my wheel. Unfortunately, the spinning area was mostly in the sun and it was quite hot. So, I passed on that.

I'm not sure if they had any food or drinks available but it sure would have been nice. They had live music...


It was pretty hot that day and I didn't stay very long. But, I did wander around a bit to see some of the other things at the museum before I left. They have a lot of old and interesting steam engines...


Tractors...




Buildings and little gardens...


Old signs...


A big windmill...so pretty against the blue sky.


There was even a gem and rock event going on in another building. It was also free.

Of course, since this was a fiber event, I had to wear my sheep shoes!

Junk Makes Junk

When someone wants to make something of quality and have some assurance that they will be happy with the outcome it's always good to start out with quality materials. That's true for woodworking, painting, quilting, knitting, and many, many other things...including spinning. Here's a perfect example of why...

A friend in my stitching group is interested in spinning yarn. So, she went online, found a beautiful color of wool, and made a purchase. But, when it arrived, it looked like this...


A matted mess! I'm not sure what the seller showed in the picture or what they described, but this didn't seem like a good deal and I wasn't sure if it could be spun. I think it's definitely not what my friend was expecting. She was going to throw it away but I told her I'd see if I could save it. It seemed like a fun challenge.

There were a couple of pieces that looked like this...cute little crimps...nice for spinning...


But, most of it was matted or felted. It had a few surprises in it, like a dead beetle, dried poop (or something brown??) and small white hairs (like dog hair or something). But, it was fairly clean, with very little vegetation, and it smelled perfumy, like laundry soap. There were several shades and colors in the bag...ranging from a peachy-coral to cranberry to dark crimson red.

I carded it to get it back from matt to fluff...


When I did that I found out that most of the fibers were very short, around 2-2 1/2". There were a lot of little bits too...like it was a homestyle haircut, not a professional shearing. I wanted to see what I could do with it so I kept carding and ended up with two big bowls full of cranberry colored fluff...


As I spun it, I found even more surprises. Much more of it was short than I'd thought and it had a lot of little bits that were like sweater pills. It was greasy and dirt and color were coming off onto my hands. The short bits and pills made for lumpy, bumpy, not so great singles. I'm wondering if the wool was left overs from the mill floor or ???

I filled a bobbin and Navajo plied it but I'm not impressed with the results.

I did get to use my new niddy noddy though...


It's fuzzy, in a not-so-pretty way and it's not very soft.


Maybe it'll work for a felting project or something. Here's a close-up...It actually looks a little better in the picture than it does in person...and, the color in this photo is a little off...


I'm not planning to card and spin any more of it. This will be it. But, I'm happy that I tried it. It was a good learning experience, more spinning practice, and it was fun.

Now, back to my Hollyberry yarn...made with good quality wool roving...I have two bobbins ready to ply. More spinning fun!!! :-)