Still recovering.....

I woke up Monday still a bit sore and lethargic from all of the physical labor in the backyard on Sunday. My knees feel bruised without any of the actual colors of a bruise. There's also the sore muscles that take a few minutes to limber up again after sitting for awhile.

I undid the ends for the Bows sock and redid the foot and toe so its the proper length. I have photos just not off the camera yet. I also started up the boy sock with the Liger yarn. I just have the ribbing done and haven't decided what pattern yet.

Taking the baby alpaca single off the bobbin was a challenge. While using the ball winder I had it pop off of the winder twice. The second time it wasn't going back on. So I had to start it all over again. I finally got that done and then took a couple of hours Monday night plying that while watching some saved shows after dinner. It's off resting and then I'll take it off and soak it, dry it and call it yarn.

I want to work and finish up the second Shur'tugal sock but I also would like to get the shop sample socks done for Friday when I go into work. I also have that other shop sample that I need to work on. While getting paid in fiber is nice, it really impacts the knitting that I'm trying to get done too! ;-)

I had bought a nice beige cotton yarn that I thought about sending down to my mother along with a pattern for Mother's day. I've since figured out that I have enough of it to make her a February Lady Sweater and since it will be longer/heavier I can do it and save it for holiday giving. Instead I'll send her the other yarn I had picked up for her and the Hey Teach cardigan pattern. That way I can help encourage her knitting. ;-)

I had gotten from Linda samples of Mesa's locks a couple weeks ago. Mesa is a Navajo-Churro that Linda raises on her farm in Pennsylvania. I showed them off to some of the spinning ladies last Wednesday. I think that they are similar to Icelandic in that you can separate out the tog and thel portion of the locks. Not a lot of lanolin to remove and I had planned to wash them yesterday afternoon but couldn't remember what 'safe place' I had put the envelope (it was in a stack of stuff on my desk - duh!). There is some possible interest in buying a fleece and going from there but Shelia had mentioned that there are a couple of farms near here on Bald Peak that have Icelandic and Navajo-Churro that we could do a field trip to visit.

Quieter week than last for me work wise. Just working on Friday and class on Wednesday. Some chance to get a lot of knitting done along with the spinning on Wednesday. Spinnerati is on Saturday but I had signed up for an afternoon tips and tricks class at Knit/Purl so don't want to be gone all day. I may change my mind and figure out something to do for an hour and a half. I could just knit in the store after spinning. Mother's day I have one of the Cultural Passes from the library to go see the Japanese Gardens. We're going to take Judy, Brandon's mom along with us to enjoy the visit with a lunch afterward.

The following weekend is TKGA and Tiggywinkleknits has invited me to go down with her for a few hours. We'll meet up with Kathleen after her class. Sunday also has a proposed excursion that is fiber related but those details are sketchy right now. We don't have anything currently planned for Memorial day weekend, but its early yet.

Cranes & yarn

I finally finished sewing up the cranes for the KnitNotWar 1000 crane project. Found that they folded better when still damp and stayed in place with a couple of straight pins. I then used some sewing thread to keep the folds where they were supposed to be. Just fussy and a few minutes of work but I procrastinated doing them. I had the incentive to get them finished up because of the Portland Spinnerati meeting downtown, just blocks from Knit-Purl and a spring sale there. Here they are:


Sandy said this brought their count up to 38 cranes - they were hoping for 300 by the end of the month. They only take about an hour to knit, have any scrap feltable yarn in your stash?

I picked up a second cone of some Habu Soft Merino Lace - 10% off. I had one already and planned to carry it with some of the Habu Bamboo Lace and make a shawl, possibly that Adamas Shawl.

In other stash acquisition I helped out KnitFemme with her destash by having some come live in my stash. I got some sport weight brown that I think will make a nice pair of socks for my BIL. There's also five skeins of cotton and enough I believe to make my mother a Hey Teach.



More spinning of the camel was accomplished this morning at Spinnerati, but it looks much like the previously posted stuff so nothing new there until it too is a complete single. I took pictures of Tammy's and Bobbie's wheels while we were there so that I can add them to the other Westside Spinners wheel pics to make a logo for the group. You don't need to see those though. ;^)

The rest of the weekend will involve more sock knitting, watching movies and a dinner over at the MIL's Sunday. Hope yours is just as lovely!

Spinning, shearing, spring

One of the things I hadn't reported earlier was the home shearing that was done. I had decided that we were close enough to 'spring' that the dogs could go back to their non-winter coats. So trimming Norbert back into a more Scottie cut and Nessa into a modified Schnauzer cut. Nessa ended up a little shorter than planned but is looking good, well she's showing that we both need to get our butts out on the walking plan. ;^)

Norbert:

Norbert showing he doesn't like getting photographed with a tongue flick, but if you didn't know that you'd think he's dissing the camera:


Nessa:


If you've ever looked for a ball that you're dogs will love, look for a Cuz ball. They have feet and look odd but they have a tough rubber exterior and squeak.

I finished up on Wednesday spinning the first four ounce single of camel. It's deliciously soft and I've already started the second four ounces. There's more spinning on Saturday with the Portland Spinnerati at the Central Library. The camel:


In other shearing news I've been working the white alpaca and have 3.5 ounces. I'm going for a little more than one more ounce so that I can possibly ply it together with the apricot. Not fully decided on that plan of action though.

I've found out that my Icelandic fleece has something called 'scurf' - the dandruff that some may have noticed on the fleece. I've washed some of it and it cleans well and I think that a little work with the cat flicker and I can get it out and still let the fleece be usable. That's the hope anyway.

The bit of spring, my crocuses when they are shivering from the snow:

Couldn't resist taking pictures of the camel with them. ;^)

Tree Bark Sock & Spinnerati! and more......

Saturday was another full day of fibery fun. I was zipping along finishing up Cindy/Susan's Tree Bark Sock test knit as well as planning to spend a few hours spinning. Spinning was a blast! While I didn't try the long draw spinning with cotton, I did take pics. I put them into a collage, determined by Picassa, so don't complain if your pic is small and someone else's is big!

They were using cotton poonis or cotton supima sections to try out this new spinning skill. I think there was a lot of success and frustration. I only had the one bobbin so didn't try my hand.

After Spinnerati I met Brandon at Tosis Restaurant for dinner before heading to Cosmic Monkey Comics for the Boo Yaa Awards. Tosis had lots of older people as mentioned in the article I linked to, but don't let that stop you from going there. I ordered the beef tips and was unpleasantly surprised to find green peppers in them. So I set the plate aside and was nibbling on Brandon's french fries. I'd had a cup of soup and a slice of bread so was going to make do. The manager/owner, older Greek sounding woman, spotted the plate and came over to check on what was up. I explained that it had peppers in it and that I couldn't eat them and that I was just going to take it home for the dogs. She insisted on having a cheeseburger made for me at no charge. The proceeded to watch over the cook hurrying him along and then finishing it up and presenting it to me herself. In general I don't eat cheeseburgers (I know how unAmerican of me!) but this was pretty good. I think it really makes a difference if real cheese rather than the cheesefood crap that others use is why. I'm impressed that there are still places like this around!

We found close parking to Cosmic Monkey Comics and then spent the next half an hour waiting for things to start. They were supposed to start at 7pm but didn't get rolling until 7:30pm. As promised Brandon had no problem with me finding a corner to call my own and start knitting. There I was on the floor (no seating for this event apparently) knitting away on my Holding Hands Scarf and I had one lady ask me the name of the stitch I was using - star. Then an older male couple asked me "is everything ok?" Puzzled look, "yes, is there a reason why they wouldn't be?" I replied back. "Well you're sitting over here knitting on the floor." I replied, but the deal was that the DH got to come and I got to knit, "I'm knitting, so I'm happy." Couple wanders off with confused looks on their faces.

Then during one of the breaks the photographer on hand spots me and checks that it is okay that he takes my photograph. Sure, why not? DH has also, so what's one more? ;^) (Not sure if it will make the light of day somewhere.)Then I spot Rick Emerson with his wife. So my hand slips into the coat pocket for the camera phone so that I can kinnear him. I send the photo to Brandon who later shows it to Rick. Rick doesn't know what 'kinnearing' is but tells me that he's 'honored' to be in with the likes of Greg Kinnear. Also throws out the word - creepy, but then is horrified that he may have offended me. (It will take a bit more than that to offend!) Brandon listens to Rick's podcasts every day or live when he gets the chance.



I ended up having my headache (started earlier in the loud echoing meeting room during spinning) come back with a vengeance and so I take myself and my knitting home so I can finish the sock. This is where it turns out to be serendipitous for us to have two cars. I could leave and Brandon could stay.

Back home to finish up the Tree Bark Sock test knit. I had found a few things in the pattern for Cindy to clarify and I got to learn a new heel flap - eye of partridge. This is a nice fast knit and the yarn is yummy to knit and wear. Okay, it's hard to get the total feel out of one sock, but you know what I mean. Yarn is Abstract Fiber Super Sock in the Burnside Bridge colorway. The sock!
Delivered to Cindy Sunday morning for more photos and such.