Anxiety and Depression bite...

I hate feeling like this. I am not sure where I fell down, but the feeling is back and it's a bummer.

Lots of knitting. A cashmerino ballet sweater top for daughter, needs blocking and a button.


Two cashmere slouch hats... one in a soft green and the other a purple tone. They have been knit and reknit, but I can't seem to get the fit I want. It is a good thing that I love the yarn.


And a cashmere mobias scarf in a nice sage/olive green fingering wt. I am using a fir cone pattern on that one.


Right now I am working on a show of students' work, and we a great floral fiber sculpture--say that 5x fast! As soon as I get the backing on that I will post a picture. We'll hang at Sevigny Studio for the month of January beginning with the opening on the 2nd. Hopefully to some live music (the students' string quartet or some duets)!

So Santa thought I was nice this year... either that or he was trying to make me feel better. Me thinks it might be the latter :) But my rig now is sporting a yamaha top sport carrier to hide all those skis and ice skates. And the back has a top of the line bike rack. Santa thought it was highly unlikely that my weakling arms could get a bike on the top of the van. I think that he might of been right on that one. Anyhoo... I also got a new (second) knitting needle carrier.

This is good because my other is exploding and it doesn't even have 1/2 of my needles in there. I also keep losing my crochet hooks. I might go get the crochet case to match it up.... or I could make one. I guess :)


So I don't know about the rest of the country, but we're having a great winter. Nice and crisp. It has only warmed up (knock knock) once or twice making things nasty. We got about 10-12" in the last 2 days. Lots of powder. A great white Christmas! The skiers are in heaven. If I could get out of my funk I would definately join them. I may need a readjustment on the program if this goes on more than another week. I think that I might have taken on too much and just need to step back. But I am considering trying some light therapy on top of the current treatment and see if that helps a bit. By the way... if you are feeling a bit funkish... I do not recomment seeing Me & Marley. You definately need a hanky for that one :)

Until then... I'll keep trying to knit the blues away.

Make Peace, Spin Fleece

Summer Spinning!

Well, as previously mentioned we are having a damp cool summer. I am not really minding it so much... fiber helps. The mosquitoes seemed to have calmed way down and I don't have to dope up or shower in Citronella oil to go outside. I have been gardening like crazy. The only real dissapointment in the gardening department is that I bought 5 huge hanging baskets and 3 smaller ones. Most of which were fushias. One of them turned up to have an aphid infection within the first day or so :P and of course it spread. My attempts to control with natural soap/pepper/water spray was semi-successful in the buggy dept, but the damage to the plants is so ugly. Bumms me out to pay premium for ready to enjoy plants only to have to deal with an aphid problem :(

That said, knock on wood, they haven't spread to the yard. My delphiniums are great with just daily checks for leaf caterpillars. And with all the dampness, I have expected more problems with leaf mildew, but it hasn't been too bad. Here is my favorite annual (for this zone anyhow). My son's color pick, I love it!


Anyhooooo... I have counted a dozen peonies in the ground now. And I have added a few more poppies. I reworked the pond area, pruning out some bushes that were overgrown, and the tree way back so that there was less shade. I also added about 10 hosta of differing variety in the pond garden. In the front gardens I have put in dozens of annuals for color, another bleeding heart in a shaded area. And moved existing perrenials around for better show. Fun, fun, fun :)


I have also been spinning like crazy... I suppose it has been to cope with being inside so much... or maybe to deal with the kids' squabbling. That is probably more like it! :)

This is a hand dyed faulkland wool, spun up and double plied. Perfectly balanced! yippee! I'll work on figuring out twist, weight and blah blah blah later ;)



And this is about 2 oz of natural corridale. An ounce of fingering single ply. And another ounce of fingering 2 ply. Then I worked up about 3 or so ounces of merino/angora blend from Susan.

And this is the knitting on hand :) I am playing with a single skein of Noro that I just love the colorway in. It reminds me of sherbet. This will be a hat, and I am doing a pattern stitch that is called something like floral rib or something (book in car).


Make peace, spin fleece! :)

It's all beachy!

Our flight arrived at SeaTac 2 am last Thurs. the 12th. We picked up our bags, taxied to an old family friends' house to pick up camper/truck and drive straight to Ocean Shores on the SW coast of Washington State. I'm sure that there is an emoticon for a very tired person (or 5), but... just use yer imagination and throw in some fine gritty sand for good measure! :)

We then spent 4 lovely days with our parents (my inlaws) who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. All 6 of their children (including my hubby) and all 18 of their children including one serving in Iraq here on R&R! Every spouse was able to come and one soon to be fiance'. Can you imagine all the fun when you put all the above into 2 large beach houses, add 2 hot tubs, good weather, lots of food, good conversation and tons of love? :) *sigh* On the next to last day many, many other family & friends arrived to help celebrate. All of my MIL's siblings were able to come with their spouses. And each and every one of them was representing a marriage that had celebrated 50+ years!

I did lots of knitting! This is because I knit and talk really well :) I am nearly 1/2 done with a stole from Noro sock yarn (?-I'll explain later) in a flower bud pattern on size 6 needle).

On Sunday eve we said our goodbyes and drove 13 miles up the coast to Pacific Beach State Park where I had vacationed every summer as a child. We rendevous with my sister and her family of 7. There was lots more cousin time in the sand :) not to mention around the bon fire with s'mores and good stories!

After this I snuck back down to Ocean Shores to visit Fusions and do some very luxurious & satisfying shopping. Hi Kelly---> super sweet owner of said luxury destination :)

Well.... now we are back to the metro area and will do out and backs from Auburn to Seattle, letting the kiddos experience the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, Seattle Underground, Pacific Science Center, Puget Sound Ferry ride, Spaghetti Factory Downtown, Sculpture Park, walk Montlake Cut, Ballard Locks to watch boats/ships pass, Greenlake Park, Woodland Park Zoo... and MORE if time allows. I think that I might show them where I went to gradeschool and where their daddy and I got engaged. We'll see. :) I'm tired just looking at the list and knowing that it is only a partial!

knit on!

gaaaack the light!

June 3, 2008
Sunrise: 6:31am
Sunset: 10:58pm
Moonrise: 6:54am
Moonset: 12:02am

it's killing me, blinding me, withering my wee eyes, causing a strange dream life, my weeds are taking over the planet with all the extra grow time, roses bud-bloom-fade all in the period of a single day.... and it is only going to get worse, much worse.

June 18 2008
Sunrise: 6:26am
Sunset: 11:08pm
Moonrise: none
Moonset: 5:55am
Full Moon: 7:31am

now this looks as though we'll have 7 1/2 hrs of normal darkness to catch some zzzz's, but that is a trick. "sunset" just means that the sun hits the horizon. the problem is that it doesn't go far enough beyond so it is perpetual dusk and really only "dark," and even that is relative, from about 1-2am.


sleeping when the birdies are still chirping is just. not. right.

sigh...

i am nearly finito with my periwinkle mohair stole. need only to cast off and then apply a knotted fringe, possibly with beading. and i have an entire bobbin spun of very thin singles from the autum sunset tencel/merino blend. spinning it is a dream (see post below, it looks the same, only bobbin much fuller and with thinner singles).

i am packing (and moving) my classroom and it is much more work than i'd planned. of course it is, you always have more stuff than you think. so doing this is very cleansing, an opportunity to organize, purge and better the space.... right? :)

of course it is!

pictures of mohair wonder to follow... soon!

make peace, spin fleece (preferably tencel/merino!)

It must be the daylight...

We are at exactly 19 hours of daylight as of today! It makes people manic I tell you. Kids go bonkers, drivers go nuts, motorcycles start doing wheelies down the freeways, dogs want to play fetch and be walked at 10pm, cats are freaking out with the dustbunnies at 3 am... and fiber freaks well they spin and knit like mad :)

My car knitting.... the stuff I do at red lights and traffic jams (please don't try and tell me that you don't do it too, at least I set it down when my foot is on the gas pedal), is a sampler stole out of a blue mohair, my recipe.


And then I am spinning up some superwash merino/tencel blend hand-dyed by Susan. This yummilicious fiber is in the Autumn Sunset colorway, and I just love how the tencel adds that silky feel and shine.

This is the top, and fine singles...


This is about 3 oz spun up thick/thin and 2 ply. There is about 180 yards. I could have spun the singles tighter, but was more focused on trying to get the rhythm of the thick/thin thing. It balanced pretty well, but has not yet been dunked. In natural light.


With a flash.


I have about 4 oz of the top left and am planning to spin it all in fine singles and navajo ply it.



Make peace, spin fleece!

just a restfull day...

can you say lazy? slept in till noonish (not that late when you are up until sundown, which is somewhere around midnight) ate soup and read the paper.... in bed! read my latest novel-- middlesex. so far i haven't been pulled into the story, and i'm 1/2 way through. i don't much care for books written in the first person, or at least it is not my first choice. went for a family bike ride, this is something impressive. i always feel a bit like a freak show, there is just so much of us. maybe someday i'll have a picture taken. we went about 5-6 miles??? maybe. we rode from where we live around hood lake which is a seaplane "airport." kiska our 8 year old chow/collie/husky mix began limping about 1/2 way into the run. this is hard to see, she was a runner with a capital r. a few years ago, she'd easily pull you 10 miles, rest 1/2 hr and be wanting more. it is looking more and more like she has arthritis :-( next run to the supply store, and she will be starting condroitin for canines. hopefully that will help.

fibery stuff
i decided it is time... time for a new knitting bag. i have a huge tote that i put bolsters in to divide it into 3 compartments. it is made from brown sheep loden which did not felt down well so the bag is pretty big. it is looking... well... used. i also have a smaller tote from a pumpkin colored lamb's pride with fushia and a handpaint in jewel tones for trim. it bit the dust last year. so really what is left is my felted backpack, one that my dd returned when she decided to go for a nylon backpack (the traitor!). i can easily use another knitting bag.

i'm going to be using the lamb's pride in the kiwi color for the bottom, and then mixing a few other colors---a lot of them from lopi. pix soon as there is more than a seed stitch bottom to show for.

i didn't spin much today... unless reading about wheels and how to play on a spindle (need to work on that). i am stalled on buying a wheel---can not decide which. i really love the look of the ladybug that is coming out this fall. but i really want only a single treadle, and from the looks of it there are no plans for that to be. :-( what to do, what to do, what to do???

back in the groove...

that is if you consider lazing around listening to talk radio while surfing, knitting, spinning being "in the groove"... i am! actually what is tying me to a stationary place is my lovable golden/newfie that has some hot spots that she is chewing. she's getting worse and has added a new spot while we were camping on the beach. we've started tyroid replacement to rule out skin issues from that deficiency. and after having gone through many naturopatics we're resorting to some highpowered steriod topically. the point? someone must be with her tuned into her at all times, or the muzzle must be on. i don't even talk about those bell hoods... have spent $$$$ over the years on those and she's quite capable of reaching what she wants with those on. and she's very good at ramming me with it when she wants something

fibery stuff

finished my sampler stole while out on the beach! i have to say that was one of the most challenging things that i have ever knitted. not because it was technical, but because of the ever changing pattern and the 400 stitch length (read a lot of frogging when you find a stitch count off starting a few rows back) ugh, but i love the finished stole! pictures to come after blocking

i have been spinning the tour de fleece!
here is the angora/wool blend from Susan in the anshuns biscotti. i have spun lace weight and then navajo plied it on the spindle- that was a first! i need lots more practice that is for sure. i spun some singles that vary from dk to sport weight. lovely fiber=yummilicious!


i am almost finished with sock #2 of my green koigu in a basic sock pattern, sock #1 was done over a year ago!


non fibery stuff

we came home to lots of new flowers and lots of bloomed out flowers in the gardens. it is amazing how much changes daily when it is light most all of the night. you can have a tight rose bud in the evening all the way open by morning. here are some of the new pretties!


i came across a screaming deal on some keen winter boots! i was going to replace my sheepskin boots, but i adore my other keens, and when there is only 1 size on the table, it is your size, and it is a shoe that fits like a glove... plans change!


i also found some groovy rain boots. i have never splurged on rain boots before... we call them "break up boots" around here, but my dd is the same size as me now so i can justify them now.


this was a picture that i took on my way out of kachemak bay while up on the bluff. i know it is hard to see in the pic, but that is st. augustine spewing steam in the distance. it is not currently doing ash and lava, but lots of steam.


keep peace spin fleece, do the tour de fleece!

love knows no boundaries...

this is not knitting related, but in thinking about being gone from home for the next 5 days, i am feeling badly about leaving my kitties at home. yes i know they have each other, and they are so loving to each other. the rescue foster mom that we adopted them from even said they were "married" because they are so bonded. turns out it is true. but in the bonding to our family... the wifey of the pair has formed an unusually affectionate bond with one of our 2 dogs. is this so sweet or what? the dogs come with us camping. kitties will be home with someone stopping in to love them up.


we will be camping on the beach here over the 4th of july. there will be much celebrating as we have two family member birthdays (we have our first official teenager!), along with independence day usa. i will also be haunting the art galleries. homer alaska is known for it's large per capita of fabulous local artists. my absolute downfall is the pottery (hold me back). this year i am going prepared with boxes with padding/wrapping instead of being in denial and having to figure transportation of goods after my visa starts smoking!

knitting???? oh yeah baby! there is about 3 hours each way of straight knitting time, and then all those lovely hours sitting on the beach with a campfire to keep the toes toasty. sneak a peek at the "on the needles" selections plus a few that i haven't yet posted to the blog---they'll all be coming with! yippee!