Goals Post – Forward to 2010!

Perhaps this post should be titled “Living in Dreamland.” It’s unquestionably the most ambitious list of goals I’ve ever set out at the beginning of the year, and I’ve not ever completed my shorter lists, but my philosophy of goals remains that having a higher target means I hit more, even if I don’t complete them all. The most important factor for me is to remain realistic in that I remember it IS an overly ambitious list, and that anything I do accomplish is a victory; it’s not a defeat to not do all of it. These are goals to help me stay on track, not requirements that identify whether I’m a worthwhile person!

That said, here are my goals for 2010:

My online miniatures group is doing a goals based project, and we were asked to spell out five mini goals, so I will start with those:

1. Finish the interior and/or exterior of Friendship Cabin, a Real Good Toys Adirondack Cabin that we started several years ago, but which has languished untouched since sometime before the beginning of 2009. Here’s the album where I chronicled our first days working on the project.
2. Finish my Gail Wilson Hitty, which was started with enthusiasm during the online class, worked on for three nights, and now has the rest of the girls giving me “the look” for not getting their sister done. I have a little glitch in the painting, and since this is a challenging project for me anyway, the moment I encountered a problem, I put her away for a time when I could really feel relaxed. ‘Nuff said? :S
3. Finish my Teresa Layman Cottage By the Sea project – actually barely started, and a massive project for someone who really doesn’t like embroidery or French knots. This will be a rug for Friendship Cabin.
4. Finish my Boat Sampler – stitched on silk gauze – lots to go on it, but most of the hardest part is completed. Like the Layman project, I started this on our last cruise. Unlike the Layman project, I loved working on this one, so I did quite a bit more of it. Also belongs in Friendship Cabin, and perhaps will be finished on another cruise…
5. Knit something tiny – size 4/0 needles or smaller – probably something for my future miniature yarn shop

Fiber Goals:

1. See #5 in the miniatures
2. Publish at least 4 knitting patterns – should actually be more than this, as I have 3 projects that just need the paperwork part of this goal in order to be ready. The paperwork is the hard part of course… I’m knitting my next shawl design right now, and I’ve promised another KAL for the spring, so I’m going to be busy with this!
3. Finish my spinning wheel – I can’t believe this sat untouched for an entire year. Where on earth did the time go??? The staining is about half done, but it’s an involved project. Once that’s done, I need to finish and assemble it.
4. Learn to use said wheel
5. Knit a project from wool I’ve cleaned and spun, using a pattern I’ve designed – I have a bit of a jumpstart on this, as I’ve cleaned a goodly pile and picked some of it already.
6. Stash all my yarn on Ravelry – yes, maybe I’ll get it completed this year… – Starting with 550
7. Get competent purling continental. I think I need to have a dedicated project for this… maybe a washcloth.
8. Make another 2 pairs of socks for myself (maybe I’ll get the next done before I wear holes in what I have?) This was one pair until a friend twisted my arm and said I should try for two – and one pair has to be top down, to boot! Bad thing here is that I also promised a pair to my daughter, so this means three pair this year, when I’ve never done more than one. Gulp!
9. Finish at least 3 of the projects currently languishing in my WIP/UFO tubs – items started before July 1, 2009. This one will also be a challenge. I love the stuff in my UFO tub, even though it’s all pretty good at inducing guilt. I’ve found that designing really slows down the knitting, though, especially on other people’s patterns!

Other Creative Goals:

1. Finish at least one of the remodeling projects… sigh… Acceptable candidates are the kitchen (which is in the impossible dream category), painting the door to my future studio (easy), or finishing the nook, laundry room, or my sewing room. Nook and laundry room both depend on hubby – most especially the nook – though I have a load of work to do in those two areas, too.
2. Organize my computer photos, then print and label as I think necessary. I’m rereading this and laughing at the thought of actually getting it done, but…
3. Spend at least a few minutes every week making music – LOVE doing this, but I’ve really ignored this part of my life for the last few years. Looking for a flute – like I need more instruments around here?
4. Learn my new camera – for starters, needing to know why I can’t take a decent close up with a camera that cost this much!
5. Make up a Gail Wilson kit – see mini goal #2
6. Finish Reba – poor thing! Her sisters were finished in 2006 (pix in this album) but my teacher suddenly stopped classes with Reba just one firing away from being done. Every attempt I’ve made to get her fired since then has ended in failure. Need to get a kiln up and going here so I don’t have to depend on anyone else.
7. Make a pair of socks on my CSM – This could be anything from amazingly easy to a terrible headache, based on things I’ve heard. First task is getting the new needles and such that I need.
8. Probably crazy, but I joined a Navajo style weaving Yahoo group, and now I have the bug to weave something, even if it’s small. I’m torn between tri-loom and Navajo style, but would adore trying both. One item is enough to qualify.
9. Move one of my dolls from hospital patient status to display status – maybe Aaron, so he can show off his adorable knitted romper? He is on this page.

Personal Goals – and these tend to have a very familiar ring to them:

1. End the year 25 pounds lighter than I started it. Why is this so hard?!
2. Read 100 books
3. End the year debt free – both money and promises made
4. Go somewhere new – state or country. I have a life goal of visiting all 50 states and all 7 continents, and I need to keep at it if I’m going to succeed!
5. Clean out one of my email accounts – frighteningly big project, but I’ve made a lot of progress already in the first two days of the year. It’s amazing how quickly this can fall behind again, though.
6. I have a challenge with a friend to blog at least once each week
7. Solidly memorize the scripture verses on my calendar
8. Get the treadmill inside – Sounds like no big deal, but it’s going to need cleaned up, and the area where it belongs is packed solid with things that don’t belong where they are – which aren’t where they belong because their spots are filled with stuff that doesn’t belong where it is, which… well… you get the idea!

Goals Post – A Recap of 2009

What happened to 2009???!!! I remember it seems like just a few weeks ago that I posted my goals for the year, intending to blog monthly updates on my progress. When I found myself halfway through February having not done so, I decided that quarterly probably made more sense. By mid-May, I realized that semi-annually was clearly a more reasonable idea, and by September, I realized the end of the year was so close that it probably didn’t matter if I did an interim post.

Most of the year I thought I was doing a terrible job on completing my goals, but looking at them now, I realize that although I didn’t shine spectacularly, I didn’t do nearly as poorly as I’d thought. Here’s the final tally…

• Be Debt Free by the End of the Year – Okay, this was definitely a failure in every way – probably my worst, as I think I might be worse off than at the beginning of the year, due to a horrible bout of therapy shopping. That makes it totally my fault. On the other hand, I did take a few steps in the right direction – primarily in the opening of my Etsy store. I’ve been too busy the past 3 months or so, meaning I’ve not been able to get much stocked, but I’ve had a fair number of sales in relationship to how much I’ve listed.
• Get My Email Under Control – Another failure, though this one doesn’t rest as heavily on my shoulders. I’m also farther behind than at the start of the year, but the busyness and the computer problems were contributing factors.
• Make a Gail Wilson Kit – Well… Poor, dear little Hitty! I’m still painting pieces – as in first class. I have an oops to repair, and have had a problem finding the time for it. I’m not as comfortable with a paintbrush as I am with knitting needles, so I have to be at my best and have some spare time both. This seldom happened in 2009. I’m farther than I was at the start of the year, but no where near success.
• Finish Reba – This is a big zero again this year. With no kiln set up and DH not feeling driven to finish the floor in the laundry room… and then the play date that would have resulted in her completion being canceled by the other party involved… She’s no further ahead nor behind…
• Complete Sewing Room – Not completed by a long shot, but I did get all the shelves painted and loaded, and the mantle is done, plus some smaller bits and pieces. That’s solid forward progress, just not enough of it.
• Complete Laundry Room – Other than one section of floor tile laid, the windows scraped, and the bougainvillea hung, this went nowhere this year – extremely depressing. DH needs to have a tile cut, and he’s not overly motivated to do it. On the other hand, there are things I could have done in that room, but I didn’t do them either.
• Lose 25 Pounds – Lost 14 pounds quickly, then didn’t drop another the rest of the year. While that means I didn’t succeed, the really great thing is that I held steady at the lower number, so I’m ahead of where I was last year this time – so a partial triumph on an important goal.
• Learn to Do Entrelac and Knit Backwards – Since I didn’t say I had to finish the project, this would be a total success. I’ve knit far enough on my Autumn Entrelac Shawl to prove I’ve nailed the two techniques, and having learned to knit backwards paid off by making it easy to teach a lefty who showed up at the Knitogethers I hostess at the library. I get a nice star on this goal.
• Go Somewhere New – This is the first time in many years that I’ve failed this goal. I actually had 3 different cruises planned at various times, any one of which would have qualified this goal, but each time, the other party involved canceled. With no invites and a lean year financially, I had no place to travel, and other than a couple of visits to a friend in PA, I had a no travel year – rather abnormal for me.
• Become Comfortable Spinning – Hmmm… No qualifiers on this one either. I didn’t do what I’d pictured at the beginning of the year, but I’ve played with my spinning a fair bit, and I’m able to produce fairly consistent yarn on my supported spindles finally. I’m definitely pleased with my progress.
• Read 100 Books – Click here for current status. Total success, but just under the wire! I thought this was a shoo-in, but all the changes over Christmas week were nearly the death of this one! With hubby’s support, New Year’s Eve saw me listening to the last 4 disks of my 100th book, which I finished just before 10:00 pm – a bit too close for comfort, so far as I’m concerned!
• Knit Another Pair of Socks – Did it! I don’t think I’ve blogged them, but they are here on Ravelry, finished at the end of September, and I’m wearing them almost constantly.
• Stash All My Downstairs Yarn on Ravelry – Well… I didn’t get this one finished, but I did work on it. I had 244 at t he beginning of the year, and 550 now, so I nearly doubled what is done. Lots to go! It would help if yarn didn’t keep wandering into the house…
• Do a “Difficult” Lace Pattern – It wasn’t what I’d planned to do, but I did qualify to consider this done when I made my three little cobweb lace shawls. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I blogged them either. I’ve not done so well at blogging my knitting this year.
• Do Something/Anything with my CSM – Qualified this one, too! It wasn’t much, but I’ve knit tubes on my machine now, so I know it’s in working order. I need to spring for some parts and tools before I can do much more, but I’m thrilled to know my machine is functional.
• Take Steps Toward Designing Knitting Patterns – Laughing – succeeded on this and then some! I’d say I more than exceeded my expectations.

In my knitting this year, I tallied 12,660 yards of yarn knit – comfortably over 7 miles! This doesn’t count several projects, like Spitzbergen and Beauty’s Song, for instance, as they are difficult to total while in progress. It also doesn’t count the massive amounts of yarn knit into swatches for my design work. Once I started designing, I was startled to see how much my yarn consumption decreased. I never thought about how much longer it takes to knit when you aren’t using someone else’s finished pattern… but slower or not, it’s worth it.

Things that happened that took me totally by surprise this past year:

• Being the speaker for the Dayton Knitting Guild in March.
• Publishing two good knitting patterns and getting 3 more to the point of being just a few hours of work away from being ready to put out.
• Teaching knitting classes for hire.
• Hostessing a KAL – and with my own pattern to boot!
• Having new friendship blossom
• Having to reconstruct computer files, etc., after being offline 3 weeks due to a computer virus
• Discovering how difficult it can be to cope emotionally when one daughter experiences a fractured wrist, an earthquake, two armed burglaries, the kidnapping of a church member, and a political coup all within 6 months’ time, and all incurred at a distance that made it impossible for me to do much beyond pray

In the end, it wasn’t a bad year, though it was insanely busy. I’m looking forward to seeing what 2010 has in store for me and for those whose lives are a vital part of my own.

May you have a year filled with many blessings and the eyes to see them all!

Happy New Year!

Wuzzing Wonder!

I’ve been thinking about that Christmas song about the wonderful marvelous toy. My newest fiber tool reminded me of it for some reason…

What did I get?

Good question!

A wuzzer!

Whatza wuzzer?

Another good question!

Wuzzing is removing water from wool/fiber/etc. by centrifugal force.  Until now, I built up arm muscles swinging fiber in wild circles around my head, risking what little reputation I still have in this neighborhood, or sometimes I resorted to using the washer, which seems a vast waste of electricity and annoyed the cats, who tend to always be asleep in the laundry room at the wrong time.

F0r a quite a while, now, what I’ve really wanted was a salad spinner. I’d dropped broad hints to relatives who have them sitting unused in back corners of  their kitchens, but they are apparently all sentimentally attached to them – or perhaps they are thinking I will eventually become a fast sock knitter, and they’ll be getting hand knit socks?

I finally found a grand excuse to give up. My younger daughter asked for a Crate & Barrel lamp for Christmas, and that was my ticket! There were several special offers on the site, including a percentage off the total order and free shipping over a certain dollar amount. Though pricey enough, the lamp wasn’t over the magic number, and when I checked the shipping for it, I discovered that the heavy, bulky thing was going to cost close to $20 to ship! Surely I could find something  to bump the order up just enough to ship for free, as I was only about $20 away from that goal. May as well have something in exchange for money I was sending to them anyway, right?

Well, I looked and looked and looked. I have to say that Crate & Barrel has some really wow stuff. Only problem is that pretty much none of  it would look right in my house, and most of what I would was  – well, let’s just say “substantially” – beyond $20. Then I wandered into the kitchen offerings and found “it”… a gorgeous, high tech salad spinner. It was love at first site! Clear sides, pump action spin, stable grip base, smooth and compact storage, thanks to a lock that holds the pump down, and even a brake! Subtracting the free shipping and the order discount, I could own this wonder for less than $8! WOW!!! How long do you think I hesitated?

I used it for the first time last evening, and I’m seriously impressed! I was washing my only wearable pair of hand knit socks (trying not to think about how miserable my feet are in the Wally’s World coverings they were being forced to abide), and actually excited about the process of sock washing just because of the new wuzzer. I squeezed out the water the way I usually do, then put the contraption to the test. I couldn’t believe it! By the time I quit playing with using my new toy tool, there was a half cup of water in the bottom! I’m going to be wearing my socks SO much sooner! Yippee!!!

This will be perfect for dyeing, for spin drying small amounts of washed fiber, socks, scarves, lace, and other small hand wash knits, and would even work for (gasp) non-handknit fine washables – pantyhose and such…

Gotta remember to thank my daughter for requesting that lamp…

I Want a Fiber Studio for Christmas

This evening a friend introduced me to “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,“ and it took me about 10 seconds to know precisely what my own “hippopotamus” was. Consider this a little Christmas gift to all of you. Enjoy!

I Want a Fiber Studio for Christmas
© De-De Heeter 2009

I want a fiber studio for Christmas.
Only a fiber studio will do.
No diamond ring.
Nothing from Dior.
I want to card and spin and knit and weave and felt and more!

I want a fiber studio for Christmas.
Hubby surely won’t mind that at all.
He won’t have to fight
The noisy, crowded mall.
Just grab a hammer, nails, lumber, and his favorite saw.

I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping out the door.
Oh, what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes
To see a furnished studio standing there.

I want a fiber studio for Christmas.
Only a fiber studio will do.
Eight harness loom,
Kromski spinning wheel,
A tri-loom and a carder and a felt machine – surreal!
And a cupboard full of qiviut fiber, too!

All I’d need’s a bed, and dinner catered in,
And I’d walk in and never have to walk back out again!

There’s lots of room for one, if we fill in the pool.
I’d throw a shuttle, hook a rug, ply handspun made of wool!

I can see me now on Christmas morning, creeping out the door.
Oh what joy and what surprise when I open up my eyes
To see a furnished studio standing there.

I want a fiber studio for Christmas.
Only a fiber studio will do.
Schnact warping mill,
Walnut Woolee Winder,
English combs, an inkle loom, Tom’s spindles, and dye pot.
And a cupboard full of qiviut fiber, too!

Christmas Part 2

Laughing – no, you didn’t miss Part 1, and no, Ive not gone totally around the bend. Computer was in the hospital with a bad case of swine flu a virus when the first part happened, so I’ll have to catch up with it later.

We had our family party (my parents and all of their descendants who could make it) last evening. In recent years, we’ve switched over to a single draw gift, and my parents now give us cash instead of shopping, so these gatherings no longer resemble the wrapping paper orgies of my youth. Opening gifts is now just a small part of the evening that starts with too much dinner and mounds of cookies baked by my talented sister, and ends with board games, which somehow manage to elicit a tremendous amount of shouting and laughter – and an occasional bellow or two.

This year, I drew my nephew’s name, and he had a terribly unexciting list… $25 cash. Only after he turned in his paper did he discover that the dollar limit was actually $40, a fact which produced a piteous plea from him for mercy from his potential gift buyer. Personally, sticking $40 in an envelope and handing it to him just didn’t inspire me. After some thought, I decided to have a bit of fun with him. I engaged my banker daughter to do a bit of shopping for me in the vault of her bank. A wrapped box of fed pennies made for a curious looking gift under the tree – and it weighed so much my 6-year-old niece insisted she couldn’t even lift it. I also found a great money card at Walmart, promising he was going to love his gift this year. When opened, it plays a rousing rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus. I tucked the extra $15 in there and stuck the card in my knitting bag. Frustratingly enough, much of my fun was spoiled. It’s finals week for him, and he couldn’t come home from school to attend the party. Perhaps my imaginings were more fun than the actual presentation would have been anyway…

So, my dad got my name, and he and my mom actually found their way to an alpaca farm local to them, and I have to say that I REALLY liked my gift this year a lot!

The brown is 90/10 Alpaca/Tencel, and unbelievably soft and squishy. It was donated by Rocky, a huacaya alpaca who lives at Cupola Alpaca Farm. The skein has 300 yards of 2 ply yarn, about worsted weight. My hour or so perusing Ravelry for patterns tonight didn’t give me a final decision, but I found a cabled pillow I really liked, and it’s definitely a front runner. Could also do a hat or scarf or bedsocks…

The green is dyed on the farm, and is a delightful gathering of minty shades, a definite pleaser for this lover of green. Artie and Oakie both contributed to this skein of 3 ply DK weight yarn, 128 yards long. It’s pure alpaca. I’m wavering between a quant type ear warmer, mitts, or a neckwarmer with this skein.

Last – and perhaps the most surprising to me, as I wasn’t sure my parents even knew I’ve been playing a bit at spinning – there was a “generous 2 oz” ball of Alpaca/Tencel blend roving. Soft and wonderful, but I wish I knew the right name for the color. It’s sort of blonde – or maybe like a half cup of tea with a half cup of milk stirred into it. It will make a wonderful pet until I’m ready to spin it!

I have to say that if this year’s Christmas gifts continue as fantastic as they’ve started, I’m going to feel like a spoiled brat by the end of the year!

Three Bags Full

If there were such a thing as scratch and sniff blog posts, I can assure you, you would only scratch today’s once!

For some reason, the photo just doesn’t do this justice – in fragrance OR in appearance. When I opened the bag this fleece was packed in, I was overwhelmed – and not in the best sense of the word – and it took less than 60 seconds for all six cats and the dog to find me and my new treasure, too! I’ve bought several fleeces over the past year, but so far, I’d had terribly cold feet in regard to actually washing them – in large part, I think, because not only had I never even seen the project done, but also because the fleeces I’d picked out were all really neat fleeces, and I was terrified I’d mess them up in some manner. In June, I cured that problem by purchasing a nice enough, but plain white, fleece. Opening the box sealed my fate; I HAD to wash it. There would be no living with my pets otherwise!

So, I made an emergency run to Walmart, where I purchased three mesh laundry bags, some Dawn dishwashing liquid, and a pleasant smelling bottle of hair conditioner. Once home, I started the washing machine filling with hot water, and holding my breath as long as I could, I started stuffing fleece into the mesh bags, determined not to wonder what I was actually touching. Being a fleece washing virgin, I chose to minimize my possible losses by not putting too much wool in the washer at one time.

Coming back 15 short minutes later, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like the Mississippi River had detoured through my washer, and I started wondering if I would ever really want to put my clothes in there again. I emptied the water and briefly spun the bags, and while the machine refilled, I examined my fleece. Amazingly enough, I really hadn’t damaged it, and in fact, I had to admit it already looked (and smelled) better. Now I was feeling braver!

Three soaks and spins, followed by a last balmy float in a hot lavender scented bath left me with wool I was no longer afraid to touch – and I have to confess, I was feeling pretty proud of myself as I hung the bags out on the clothesline, too! Of course, once it was dry, reality set in as I realized that it was still very full of VM (vegetable matter). At least it was clean VM, I reminded myself, as I started picking through a small bit of my now soft and pleasantly scented wool…

It took me 4 different days to complete, but I now have the entire fleece washed. I’ve not picked nearly as much as I’ve cleaned, due in large part to time being a rather finite commodity.  There is an entire pillow protector stuffed full of wool (and VM) teasing me into teasing it clean, a job which I’m oddly enough enjoying. What IS picked is such fun to squish on my way past it, though. As much as I’m looking forward to spinning this stuff, it really feels like a project unto itself just to have made something so pretty and lovable from something that smelled so hopeless not too long before. What a lovely adventure – and pleasure to think that it’s only the first chapter of the story!

And I don’t often do this, but… I chose the title for this posting with more than my fleece in mind. I just finished reading Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, and I have to say that it was such a delight! The premise of the book is that a shepherd is found murdered, and his sheep take it upon themselves to solve the murder. Though this might sound somewhat far fetched, the sheep really don’t act out of character for being sheep – assuming you can, for the time being, accept that sheep converse on a much more logical plane than you have believed in the past. What makes this book such a fun read is the author’s incredible sense of humor as she leads us through the thought patterns of the various members of the flock. Sheep without a shepherd can truly develop some interesting theological viewpoints! I frequently found myself laughing aloud at the conclusions they drew from the evidence at hand. Subtle comments about such things as the human flock that visited the meadow or the human mothers bleating at their children are sprinkled delicately through the story and keep the reader thinking from the sheep’s point of view. It’s been a good while since I had such outright fun with a read, and I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves sheep, wool, yarn, or just a good and entertaining book.

The Thanks That Made Me Cry

Whew! The week before this past week was wild and wooly – SO much happening that I could have posted a good entry twice a day if I’d had time to breathe… and this week has been all about trying to do some catching up. Woke up Monday in an odd sort of mood, and the entire week has been very productive for me. Actually, I’ve invented a new game for myself, and since it’s still working, I’m hanging onto it. I pulled out my slightly dusty chore box and one die.

Rules are roll the die, count back the number of cards matching the roll, and do the job without grumbling. Extra large jobs (like finishing the sewing room) require 15 minutes of concerted effort. I also have cards for reading, knitting, spinning, etc., which means every so often I get a very nice surprise. ) Among other things, this week has seen me writing my last Christmas thank you note and sending two goody packages to friends – stuff that was meant to go out last year sometime! Feels really great to have the weight of so many old tasks off my shoulders and to see so many other things progressing after languishing for such a long time, and the approach is great for an ADD brain. But this wasn’t what I set off to post today, so I guess I better get back to the topic intended…

My wild and wooly week was actually 8-9 days long, and most of what happened was good stuff – enough to last me for months instead of days! I’m just going to share the first thing tonight so this doesn’t take me two hours to write. Besides, it was so special to me that it deserves its own post.

Remember the Cyber Fiber Retreat I mentioned a while back? Well, unbeknownst to me, the fun wasn’t entirely over. I received a mysterious package in the mail two Saturdays ago, return address being that of one of the participants. What was inside absolutely knocked my socks off! The retreaters got together off group and gathered up the most incredible bundle of fiber for me as a thank you surprise… I was doing the guppy thing – totally speechless! I’ve done a lot of stuff like this retreat – organized activities online and off, taught classes gratis for years, given away patterns and designs, and in all that time I’ve learned that a few people will remember to say thanks, and once in a great while, someone goes so far as to drop a handwritten note in the mail. This fantastic bunch of gals, none of whom I’ve ever met in person or even spoken with on the phone, went all out go put together a gift that reduced me to tears! My most “intangible” friends gave me the most tangible thank you I’ve ever received.  It looked like someone had secretly followed me around at a fiberfest and bought everything I fondled! Even more incredible to me is that I now own the world’s coolest knitting bag. ) What’s so fantastic about it? Well, it was custom made just for me! It has the names of all the women at the retreat embroidered on the back of it, and when I sit with it beside me while knitting, I feel like they are all close by. I love it!

And check out Granny on the front; is she something or what?

Besides my wonderful bag, the contents of my box included:

• a big ball of targhee/mohair roving from one of the retreaters’ flock
• a ball of Tofutsies sock yarn in a lively green print – too fun!
• a skein of Heritage HandPaint Oxford 2 Sock Yarn in the Wood Violets colorway – and wild violets are one of my very favorite flowers
• a generously fat skein of hand painted sock yarn in wonderfully earthy shades from Wendy, the Yarn Fairy
• a ball of sock yarn suspected to be from Interlacements in delicious peacock shades
• a cone of Colourmart’s always marvelous cashmere laceweight yarn in caramel
• a skein of DyeForMe baby alpaca lace yarn so the next time I’m dying to dye, I won’t have to sacrifice Kidsilk Haze
• 2 ounces of tussah silk roving, handpainted in luscious shades of pink, purple, and blue
• a sweet little nosegay which will be wonderful adorning a shelf in my new sewing room
• and all sorts of sweet cards and notes of appreciation

Now, do I have a great bunch of friends, or what? All I can say is that if you ever have the opportunity to bless someone the way I was blessed by these incredible ladies, please do so! And if someone has done something nice for you recently, please take a moment to say thank you in a meaningful way. It’s too easy to take people for granted and realize too late that we have. ‘Nuff said…

Thanks again, my dear friends!

Looking Forward; Looking Back

I think I’m officially the last person in the entire blogging world to do this, but it’s been percolating so long that I can’t quite bring myself to not do it. Besides, I feel like I need to, if only for myself, so here goes – my New Year’s Day post!

I never was real keen on making New Year’s resolutions, as it just seems like the perfect way to start off the year with a resounding dose of failure. Sometime around the end of January you eat that piece of turtle cheesecake, miss 3 consecutive days of exercising, or realize you are already a week behind in your read the Bible in a year program, and you promptly brand yourself a loser, throw hopeless hands up into the air, and say, “Maybe next year…” I just don’t need that sort of thing in my life. I’ve fought hard to get where I am emotionally, so I have no intent to shoot myself in the foot by setting myself up to 334 days of each year thinking uncharitably about myself. However, like most of the people I know, I do feel that fresh start excitement that comes with the scent of a January calendar page, and a couple years back, I came up with an idea that is working much better for me – New Year’s Goals.

New Year’s Goals have very few rules, though last year they did need a few more than they had. They have to actually be possible. I’m not allowed to beat myself up if I don’t accomplish them. They have to be well defined. Two of those three rules were added this year. Having goals instead of resolutions gives me an entire year to succeed, and they help focus my ecclectic brain on a little bit narrower range of possibilities. Another benefit is that it sets some things before me that I have heard myself say, “I always wanted to” so many times I’m sick of hearing it, but without a steady reminder, I find drifting out of my mind when I have the time.

Last year’s goals were not too many:

• Knit a Pair of Socks – This one was accomplished with my Coriolis Socks, which I absolutely adore!
• Master Lace Knitting – This goal would show you just how little I knew about lace knitting December a year ago. It’s also totally undefinable in reality. Just how does one know they’ve “mastered” lace knitting? Should have been “Become Very Comfortable Knitting Lace.” That I definitely accomplished.
• Go Somewhere New – I didn’t think I was going to get this, but when I ended up with a nearly last minute trip to Honduras, which included a side trip through Guatemala into Belize, I found I’d accomplished it well beyond my original dream.
• Read 100 Books – Somewhere around June, I added this, which has now been classed as an illegal move on New Year’s Goals. I didn’t succeed, but I might well have made it had I not read th e entire Outlander series. Books with 48 CD’s take a good bit longer to read than your run of the mill 6-10 CD offering.
• Make a Gail Wilson Kit – Considering the collection I have of the kits, I thought it was time to put my money where my mouth is – or my hands where my money is, or some such thing. Thinking is as far as I got with this one. Oops!
• Finish the Laundry Room Remodeling – Well… Perhaps this would have happened if my dear daughter hadn’t offered to help get the sewing room started, then hubby hadn’t suddenly revived his nook project and added allowing me a studio door. I was spread too thin with those four projects to complete even one of them, though I don’t regret the progress that was made on all.
• Be out of Debt by the End of the Year – Total flop. ‘Nough said?

My list for 2009 is much longer and definitely more ambitious, but I’m doing some things differently, and I’m feeling quite positive about a lot of them. The biggest change is that this year, I’m not settling back in January and thinking that I have a whole year to do this stuff after all, so why rush? There have been a fair number of serendipitous occurrences to help me move in the right direction, too, so I’m off to a great start! I don’t really think I’ll be able to get them all done, but I’d sure like to surprise myself, and I’m not going to aim low!

• Be Debt Free by the End of the Year – I hate having to have this goal. This also includes non-financial IOU’s. I’m going to have to have a miracle to pull this one off. I need to sell an awful lot of books if this is going to happen – and my knitting pattern needs to be a smashing success! I also have several projects, including a quilt to finish for this.
• Get My Email Under Control – This is another one in the miracle category, but who knows?
• Make a Gail Wilson Kit – Sound familiar? Serendipity is that Gail is currently running a Hitty class, I have the kit, and the fee wasn’t very high. I’m far behind the front runners, but I HAVE actually started my girl.
• Finish Reba – The most attainable of the miracle class of goals. There is little to do for her to be complete, but it involves a kiln, learning to fire bisque, renewing my acquaintance with bisque painting, and getting up the nerve to put my beautiful, nearly done head in for a last firing.
• Complete Sewing Room – Mid-range in terms of difficulty. I’ve done an awful lot in there, but I still have oodles of sorting and organizing, along with quite a bit of trim painting to do – like the bookcase and two casement windows. This isn’t a gimme!
• Complete Laundry Room – Another mid-range sort of project. As much as is done in there, the floor tile is a bothersome, time consuming project, and I have some trim painting to do. Really challenging would be that I have to stop knitting long enough to crochet the curtains!
• Lose 25 Pounds – This is going to be easier than I thought. I’m already half the way there!
• Learn to Do Entrelac and Knit Backwards – I’m really looking forward to this one. I have the pattern and yarn to do Autumn, and a week or so back, I finally found a tutorial that made knitting backwards suddenly easy. I’m still slightly awkward at it, but a little bit of practice and it’s going to be second nature. Biggest challenge here is just to actually break away from the temptation of so many interesting KAL’s and do this piece.
• Go Somewhere New – Looking very challenging at this point in time. I had two cruises planned for this year, both to new places,  both depending on other people, and both fell through already. So much for this goal being a gimme. All the states within decent driving distance I already have, and I don’t currently have any good set up for a low cost visit in a new state or country – and there ’s that “out of debt” business… Stay tuned!
• Become Comfortable Spinning – Easy? Well… First I have to finish building my wheel. Then all that remains is finding time!
• Read 100 Books – I’m really cooking on this one already! I think I just listed book 15 – or was it 16?
• Knit Another Pair of Socks - This is more desperation than goal. I adore my socks and I hate it when I have to take them off to wash them! I need more hand knit socks!!! This is a “just do it!” sort of project, and I’m sort of hoping that the SHP KAL is enough to jumpstart the process.
• Stash All My Downstairs Yarn on Ravelry – This would be much easier if the stash would quit multiplying! That said, I’ve already been working hard on this. I’m currently at 244 in my regular stash, so ignoring minor fluctuations due to usage, it will be interesting to see where I am on Dec. 31.
• Do a “Difficult” Lace Pattern – Challenge here is just focusing on doing it – ignoring some of the other rabbits dashing across my path constantly. It’s tough to do that with something like 7 shawls on my  needles and two KAL’s imminent…
• Do Something/Anything with my CSM – I’m not even aiming so high as a pair of socks at this point. I just want to sit down with someone and find out for sure my machine actually works! Socks would be a nice side benefit to the process, though. ;o) A circular sock machine is too valuable to just hold down the floor, in my opinion, and that’s all my lazy contraption has done for about 3 years now.

Now that I type this all out, I’m thinking it’s a very good thing I have a solid start on so much of it. This is quite a list!!! I think I’m going to make a separate page listing the goals in the sidebar here on the blog, then update as things happen…

Be it ever so humble…

It’s mine – lumps, bumps, and knots notwithstanding – and I love it!

I’ve been working as I can on getting my spinning wheel stained and finished, but it’s been a slow process. Eventually you will see why. The last couple of weeks, despite the fact that I know it will be worth it in the end, it’s been a bit of a trial. I was invited to attend a spinning workshop last weekend, but with no wheel, I wasn’t sure it was worth the investment. I met the teacher at the Wool Gathering, though, and she quite firmly insisted that I must come, wheel or not, and if I couldn’t even manage a drop spindle, then I should at least sit in on the class. That clinched it for me, and I spent the first part of the week semi-permanently adhered to sandpaper and stain, but by Wednesday it was pretty clear that it just wasn’t going to happen. Sooooo… drop spindle it was.

By design, I only worked late at night without witnesses. Otherwise, I could have ended up on YouTube in the humor section. Although I’d had marvelous success almost instantly with a drop spindle about 20 years ago, current reality showed a marked disconnect had occurred between my brain and hands in the ensuing years, and I found myself seriously considering the possibility of fingerspinning instead. It didn’t make it any easier that the first spindle I pulled out was a top whorl. I don’t care what anyone says, that’s not the best option for someone determined to demonstrate the the miserable truth about why it’s really called a “drop” spindle. Every time the thing hit the floor (which was ridiculously often) the tiny cone of lumps yarn wrapped around the spindle, slid down faster than a fireman down a pole, and sliding it back up again never quite restored it to the original, tidy cone. Instead, it just got longer and longer, and soon I was discovering it was also finding a way to tangle in the trips up and down the polished wood. It didn’t help, either, that the center of the whorl was raised in a smooth budge, which ultimately led to yarn slipping under the the rest while I was wrapping the freshly spun into place. After about 2 hours of irritation, I crammed the whole mess back into the box and determined to call the shop the next day to cancel my reservation for the class. A little sleep took away just enough frustration to allow me to try again, and this time I found a bottom whorl spindle. I’m not going to say it was pretty, but at least two of my problems were resolved, and I could focus more on spinning and drafting and less on keeping my temper. After an hour of work, I did have a small wad of what could loosely be considered yarn, and Friday night, I added to it somewhat. With this pitifully small offering, I headed to class early Saturday morning.

I’m going to confess quite openly that it was extremely difficult for me to sit in that room with everyone else treadling merrily, when all I could do was clumsily twirl, but I have this little problem of not being able to just sit and do nothing, so with the only alternative to utter boredom being my drop spindle, I used it. By the middle of the afternoon, not only had I learned some new tricks beyond those I’d picked up reading over the past few months, but I’d also spun the entire two ounces of roving I’d brought along into singles, best described as total lack of control punctuated by moments of pure brilliance. I did notice early in the afternoon that I’d reached a point where I was no longer having to think a lot about what I was doing, and I could see that I was doing a much better job of spinning evenly for long periods of time. It would probably be a good thing if I could learn to stick to one particular gauge per single, though. ;o) The most hateful job was actually trying to wind the yarn from my spindle onto my ball winder alone, and I was practically in tears before another student came to my rescue and held the spindle for me. That challenge, along with having spent 6 hours watching everyone else zip through their assignments with ease on their wheels, opened the door for the green-eyed monster, and I suddenly copped a seriously bad attitude, deciding I was not under any circumstances going to try to ply the stuff on a spindle. Considering that the workshop was actually a plying workshop, this was a serious, but silent, temper tantrum on my part.

At this point, I will refer you back to the part where I said I can’t sit still doing nothing for very long… After about 15 minutes of pouting to myself, my hands won out, and I pulled the ball of yarn and my spindle back out of my bag, took a deep breath, and went for it. I had to finish the project at home, but…

I’m now the proud, first time birth mother of a bouncing baby skein of real yarn! Weight: 52 grams/1.9 ounces, Length: 90 yards/82.3 meters, Gauge: mostly sport weight, but with unplanned samples of everything from fine laceweight to bulky. The best stuff is plied against the worst, as I plied it from the two ends of the cake. There are knots where one or the other strand broke during the plying process. It’s clearly extremely inconsistent. I have no idea what sort of wool it is, as it came with the spindle 5 years ago. But despite everything, it’s mine – all mine! And I love it! It’s laying out where I can see it, and every time I walk past, I pet it or give it a loving squeeze. I marvel at its beauty – which I suppose is mostly a mother love thing. And I’m terribly impressed with myself for having produced something so wonderful! Someday – probably sooner than later – this will be a run of the mill sort of activity. (If not, I’ve got an awful lot of roving and fleece that’s going to go to waste…) However, right now, it’s my own little miracle. I made yarn for the very first time in my life, and I couldn’t be happier!

Wool Gathering

I’ve been trying to figure out how to start this post, and it’s taken me several days to admit I have no idea! It seems ever so trite to say “Wow!” but… well… it rather fits! I know that many of you reading this will either be shaking your head in amazement over my naivete or nodding in passionate agreement, but for the rest of you, I’ll give just a dabble of background before I do show and tell.

Some years ago, DH and I took the girls to Young’s Jersey Dairy for ice cream, and while there, we noticed a tent set up near the building. It looked like some sort of special animal display or something, so we went over to investigate. Inside, we found sheep, alpacas, rabbits, and I believe there was a llama or two, and then there were a few people sitting at spinning wheels and tables displaying some various merchandise, much of which made little or no sense to me. Since we were homeschoolers, though, we took advantage of the opportunity to explore, watch the animals, and such. I honestly think that day might have been when the seed was planted for me to think I needed a spinning wheel, too. However, to be quite honest, I had absolutely no idea why! Fast forward a “few” years – and to give this a little perspective, my younger daughter has been married for over two years now and is well past trying to climb up the side of the pen to pet the alpacas. Somewhere in that time, I fell in love with knitting and fiber, and for the last couple of years, I’d thought back to that serendipitous visit to Young’s and wondered more than once if they’d ever done something like that again. Then this spring, I discovered Fiberworks (oddly enough, because I bought a spinning wheel…), and Arlene told me about the Dayton Knitting Guild – and through the DKG, I found out that yes, there IS an event at Young’s, and it happens every year! Ever since last April, I’ve been practically counting the days until this past weekend.

It was worth the wait! I was hot and had a horrible headache nearly the entire time I was there on Saturday. I could barely move on Sunday. I was dreadfully stiff and sore from the unaccustomed amount of walking and wool toting. But to be quite honest, I had an utterly fantastic time, and am already counting the days until next year!

The real surprise came when I got out of my car and saw not one small tent, but two extremely large tents set in a field liberally sprinkled with single booths and tents, which reminded me a bit of the courtiers lining the throne rooms in historical movies. Obviously, the event had grown a bit since I was last there. Another change is that this time I knew what things were when I saw them, and I had a very good idea (I thought) of just what I wanted to buy. Of course, imagination and list-writing didn’t hold out very long, as the vendors were way ahead of me. There was ever so much more than I’d ever dreamed. Even though I tried to be good many sellers closed booths before I was able to get back to buy what I’d decided to get from them, I had so many big plastic bags in hand as I left that I looked like I was hauling out the week’s trash for a family of five!

Here’s what followed me home (Think I’m kidding? I’m sure I have at least one complete alpaca here!) and a few other sights and delights of the day.

I think the alpacas were probably the star of the day for me. Every time I found myself petting something and thinking I might need to own it purely based on touch, it was, of course, formerly the property of an alpaca. Doesn’t hurt that they are one of the cutest things on four feet, either.

Alpaca with a princess complex

Alpaca totally bored with people-watching

Alpaca with a secret

I narrowed all the delightful alpaca fiber options down to just this, regretfully leaving the adoptables for someone else :

Alpaca roving - the Creamsicle fluff is baby alpaca

One gorgeous pound of Buttercup's fleece

This fleece from Buttercup was unquestionably the most enticing alpaca fleece I saw the entire day. I couldn’t keep my hands off it while talking to the delightful couple who owns her. If you’d like to see her, she’s the second animal down on this page at the Tri-Valley Alpaca website.

Just plain overwhelming alpaca!

And this display from Frontier Fiber Mill was nearly the death of me! My head was screaming by the time I reached the booth, and the stuff was all intensely gorgeous. I just absolutely could not decide what I wanted, so I ended up taking a photo and a business card instead.

The other fiber producers that were there in the flesh were angora bunnies. No two ways about it. There is just nothing softer in this entire world!

Ready to spin angora ambrosia - and yes, I bought all three colors. You never know just what you'll want...

This is the little guy who donated the fawn angora fiber I brought home

Some other wonderful rovings that are now stashed and waiting for my spinning wheel to be completed…

Hand-dyed merino from Chamomile Connection

Icelandic sheep's wool times 6 ounces...

Fluffy buff stuff - brown mostly buffalo, and the green is a buff/llama/bunny blend

Unidentified sheep's wool in colors too good to resist

And then there was this sudden craving to own a fleece… or two… and in addition to being an absolutely lovely lady, Jackie from Amazing Grace Farm is an expert enabler. It was worth going to the show just to meet her! A picture of Elaine (see fleece below) and loads of info on Shetlands as well as lots of other neat stuff is on her website. And regarding the two fleeces, I have to add in my defense that at least they are small fleeces… ;o)

From Zacchaeus - a Shetland sheep and producer of fine wool. In person, what appears white here is actually a gorgeous champagne color.

And from Elaine - another of Jackie's Shetlands. This is just so very soft and fine, I couldn't leave it behind!

And then I got all sorts of little odds and ends, like a hand-spindling book, sheepy soaps in luscious flavors like pumpkin spice, peppermint, and lavendar (also from Jackie), and the cutest little one yard niddynoddy from The Knit Store…

Some little odds and ends - yarn is for an exchange, and I'm terribly sad there was only one skein, as it means I don't get any.

Aren't these the cutest things? The shuttle is just 2" (5cm) long, and the lucet is a minute 1.5" !

After the show was over for the day, I headed into Young’s for supper. I couldn’t believe how exhausted I was! One of their great burgers followed by my favorite hot apple dumpling with cinnamon ice cream proved to be somewhat restorative, though. “Somehow” I managed to end up sitting at the next table over from a knitter (imagine that!) who was making an afghan with a technique I’d not seen before. Suffice it to say, dinner was stretched out over a rather lengthy period of time while she shared what she was doing with me.

Magical Mosaic Knitting

Even having watched her, this almost looks like a magic trick, and I’ve already ordered Barbara Walker’s mosaic knitting book so I can play with it some more myself. ) Perfect ending to a perfect day of… well… Dare I? Wool Gathering!