Fiber Surprise!

On Monday I delved into my Box of Surprise Spinning and pulled out one of the Big Bags. What can I say? After a weekend of completed spinning projects, I was feeling cocky.

Remember me from Monday? I knew you would.

Even though I packed the bags myself, and even though I thought I had an idea of what could be in it, I still jumped up and down a little and squealed "Ooooooo! Yay!" when I opened it.

It feels like sheepy clouds.

I should hide things from myself more often if I'm that easily delighted, is what I'm saying.

Consolidation not Consolation

My Knitting Deadlines list is getting out of hand. There are upcoming babies, weddings, celebrations of various kinds, and all between now and January. Yikes! Last week I was looking through my stash on Ravelry - because why would I look at the ACTUAL stash when I can just browse through pictures?!? - and realized that a lot of what I know I have wasn't listed. This prompted a 2-day Stash Toss that involved my laptop, a camera set-up, and two huge uploads to Flickr of yarn that I knew on some level that I had but didn't know where it was.

I managed to catalog everything I could find; now it's a matter of inputting the yarn and images into Ravelry. And then the fiber stash needs to be done, because that's never been put into Ravelry. Lazy Raveler, no cookie!

And at the end of the day, the results appear depressingly minimal:

I emptied out the box on the left and 3/4-filled the box on the right. Argh.

But by heck, I know where all my yarn is and I have pictures of all of it! Now to just work through enough that I don't need overflow bins at all...

Chipping Away

Despite not participating in the annual Tour de Fleece this year, I have been reading many blog and forum posts about the progress of other people's Tour de Fleece goals, and it's been causing me to give my poor neglected Matchless the side eye.

Those of you with long memories for my personal spinning goals will remember my leap onto Spindlicity's Stashdown 2011 bandwagon. (For those of you who don't, here is a link. I won't judge you if you click it.) I must have done something wrong since it took me less than a month to tumble off of that particular vehicle, and the Matchless has sat in a corner of my living room with 1/2 of January's project on it for 7 months. I admit that every time I considered the Tour de Fleece I made myself look at that bobbin full of singles and cringed a little inside.

But on Wednesday I decided to (literally) dust off my wheel, give it a coat of lemon oil, and do some spinning. Halfway through the second bobbin of singles I remembered that my derby friend Bite Size had a birthday this weekend, and I decided to give the finished yarn to her. This is not as random as it seems; she is an avid crocheter. Yesterday I plied and this morning after derby practice I skeined, soaked, and set the final project out to dry:

Copperpot Woolies "Chantilly Lace," 220 yards.

It came out squishy and soft and more the purple-ish of the first picture. She was THRILLED and couldn't believe that I'd made it myself, which I found a little hilarious considering that she's an artist! But I'm pleased as punch that this yarn went to someone who will make something out of it relatively soon; I tend to hoard my handspun much like I hoard my yarn and fiber, despite knowing in my head that even if I ruin it, there is always more wool in the world.

But don't cheer too loudly for my stashdown progress yet; back in April I fell down and ordered some Polwarth from Fat Cat Knits, but I made a deal with myself that I couldn't open the package until the current project was off of my bobbins. Well, that day is today, so I opened it! (See? Sometimes I have self-control. Just don't get used to it.)

It was worth the wait.

"Curry," 4 oz.

"Magnolia," 6 oz.

I fell in love with the Magnolia colorway after perusing thing4string's truly amazing Flickr stream. That woman is not only an excellent spinner, but she's also prolific! I wonder if those two things go hand-in-hand? Hmmm.....
Although I'm certain that I've missed the Stashdown 2011 bandwagon entirely by this time, I did go and pull out another brown paper bag with a mystery fiber in it. Inside was a pleasant, cheerful surprise:

Girl on the Rocks "Bright Fig" merino,  4.3 oz

I bought this at Color: A Fiber Festival back in 2008(!!!). I wonder how long it'll take me to spin it up? Maybe I should go start now. After all, between the Chantilly Lace (5.5 oz) and this, I'd be very close to net zero fiber input for 2011, which I'm fairly certain hasn't happened since I discovered spinning back in 2007.

That's what I call Progress.

I Have Had this Congress

Last Thursday I set off for Philadelphia, PA, to watch the Sacred City Sacrificers play in the 5th annual East Coast Derby Extravaganza.

It. Was. Awesome.

I listened to 1776 the Musical in the airport both going and coming home; after all, it seemed only appropriate. The other passengers may have looked a bit askance while I bopped and mouthed the words, but as I'll never see most of them again (Rose City Rollers A-Team, the Wheels of Justice, were on my plane so I'll probably see THEM again), I didn't care at all.

Then I spent a glorious 24 hours with my dear friend Brie. We went to high school together and she is one of the few people from Juneau that I keep in touch with.

Old friends are the best friends!

We went to her local(ish) yarn store, The Tangled Web, where I couldn't resist this particular yarn:

Silky Wool XL in pink and burgundy. WOOT!

I also bought the most aDORable buttons for my Sacred Tempest Sweater (still not finished but much closer!!):

I also rescued a bunch of unloved sock yarn from Brie, who has an aversion to my beloved Lorna's Laces (the horror!). She was going to donate it to charity, but instead she donated it to ME. Hooray!

Then I left Brie and joined up with Sacred. I didn't get many photos of the actual skating, but if you check out Photography by D.E.sign on Facebook, there are lots of great photos. Donalee is the BEST. One photo I definitely stole from her is this one:

Rhymes with "Jones."

My derby name was accepted on June 23, the same day I left for Philly! It didn't take long to break out the glitter paint and get to work. Yea, I said glitter paint; it turns out derby requires more sparkles than a Madonna video from the 1980's. On Monday a bunch of us toured around in downtown Philly. We saw the Liberty Bell:

The crack is on the other side. Oh well! 

And a derby rules sign in the wild:

and generally had a boatload of fun. Then it was time to come home, and I was SO READY. Derby weekends are not known for their restfulness, y'all. Or their healthy effect on vocal cords; I currently sound like a frog, which is a definite improvement over Monday! I managed to get bumped off my flight in Denver despite the text messages from my bed and my kitty about how much they missed me. It got me $400 in United Airlines credit, which will be used to off-set the price of my ticket to go to Puerto Vallarta with the family this Thanksgiving! I got home at noon on Tuesday and it was totally worth every sleepless moment.

On Tuesday night I went to practice and worked out a bit, then on my way home I remembered that my milk had expired and stopped at Safeway, where I wandered around for 45 minutes putting random things in my cart, including the ingredients for the first Caprese Salad of the summer:

Best salad of all time. Final.

I can't wait for my own tomatoes to ripen! I also made creme fraiche using the recipe Brie posted on her blog, but with the addition of 1.5 tablespoons of sugar since I use it exclusively on top of fresh fruit, which for the next few days will be the FOUR POUNDS of strawberries I got at the store. Yeesh. I was a bit dubious about leaving dairy products on the counter for 24 hours, but it worked and now I have 2 cups of deliciousness in my fridge with only 3 ingredients! Science is fun. Next up might be my own mozzarella so that my 6-ingredient Caprese can be 1/2 homegrown!

No Cookie, But Plenty of Yarn

The mailman has been busy knocking on my door for the last few days, dropping off packages from my recent knitting supplies ordering spree. I am now the fascinated owner of Heirloom Knitting, which is more knitting bang for my book buck than I anticipated. I grabbed a used copy for around $40 on Amazon and it is worth every penny!

I've also put my new blocking wires to work today:

Blueblood Island Shawl, Jade Sapphire Silk/Cashmere

I'm quite pleased with them! They're a little thinner than the wires I had previously, but that doesn't seem to have any bearing on how well they work. Really, this invention makes my life SO MUCH easier. Between the wires and the mats, I am thoroughly happy.

I've also been fiddling around with my Sacred Tempest Sweater, hoping to get it to fit right so I can have it off my UFO list and also have something to wear in the chilly summer California evenings.

Which is good, because the postman has been bringing more than just accoutrements. 

3.3 miles in the door. I have no self control. 

The first 6 photos are of Madelinetosh merino light, which I fell in love with when I knitted this up for my master teacher, Rachel. The next 2 are Regia Silk 4-Ply (obvs.) and were bought together because they are burgundy and pink (also obvs.). The last 3 are super-fine yarns from Fleegle at The Gossamer Web - first Tribble, then Sheherazade, then an orphan yarn that Fleegle allowed me to adopt on account of my unparalleled ability to take wayward yarn into my home. Yes, I realize I just brought in more yardage than I've finished knitting this year, and no, I don't feel (very) guilty. After all, that Blueblood Shawl can't take much longer to dry and I've a fingering-weight sweater nearly seamed. I wonder if I can get it done before I land in Philly on Thursday...

Philly?

Yes. This weekend I got derby-drunk (and maybe a little actual-drunk) and bought a ticket for the East Coast Extravaganza in Philadelphia! I can't wait. I show up on Thursday and get to spend a whole day with Brie - including meeting her kiddos and a tour of the local yarn shops - then meet up with the Sacred Sacrificers on Friday evening for a weekend of derby insanity. It's going to be epic. I'm taking the Tempest to finish (hopefully) and the Rosebud Shawl to work on, plus loading up my iPod with a few more classics. In addition to derby madness, I might even crank through some solid knitting yardage while I'm away!

I Drank All the Tea

Internetlings, it is DECEMBER. Did you know? The weather in California certainly doesn't, although it has been ever-so-slightly colder lately. In fact, it was a grand 36 degrees (Farenheit, natch) when I sauntered off the plane from Chicago on Monday night.

Thanksgiving with the family was lovely. My Grandmother had her final chemotherapy on Monday and managed to stay relatively upright until Friday, which meant she made it down to dinner on Thursday, for which we were all thankful. She did try to direct the Making of the Dinner from her bedroom on the other side of the house (including calling my aunt and uncle on their cell phones from upstairs), and my Uncle Frank worried all day at work that we would forget to put the turkey in the oven, but otherwise everything went swimmingly.

Uncle Tony, Uncle Jim, and Tia Maria

Tia made an apple pie!

At table

On Friday I took a train to Chicago

on which I worked on my mitts, the second Primvera sock being finished already!

to visit two dear friends whom I have known just about an equal amount of time - give or take a few months back in 1999 - but who had never met one another. We rectified that on Michigan Avenue in the middle of Black Friday.

A handsome pair

It was fun and we bought not a single thing (although I did veer a little toward the H&M after we passed it for the 3rd time. The display was shiny!).

Me, Katie, Scott, Jessie, and Brandon, pre-Tangled in Chicago

Then on Saturday I took the train out to Geneva,

The mitts! They are done!

where Meghan and I spent a truly fabulous weekend immersed in fiber, yarn, and amazing food.

We carded batts

And met a certain hooligan in a red suit

We scored a mint green polar fleece blanket for 5 bucks at the thrift store, then took it home to wash and discovered we had bought...

Earlier in the trip, the fmaily took a trip to Michaels where I may or may not have bought some Patons Kroy stretch yarn to make summer socks (I did). I justified this to myself by saying that I had finished the major project I'd brought (the Primavera socks and mitts) and that I could potentially finish a whole 'nother pair of socks before I landed in CA.

Oh yes. It was an awesome weekend. Now if only I could find my scale so I could weigh all the things I knitted!

Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival

On Friday, I got up at 6, grabbed coffee, set up the GPS, and headed to St. Charles to meet up with the adorable Meghan and her precious son, Owen. It was delightful to meet someone I’ve corresponded with for so long, and we all 3 got along like peas in a pod.

Our first stop was at Meghan’s favorite coffee shop, The Four Beans in Batavia, IL.

This little place is not just a coffee shop, but also a coffee roaster, and I was thrilled that Meghan’s taste for Good Coffee was so amazingly, well, good! Smooth, fragrant Americanos (and a pound of Tanzanian peaberry coffee for home) in hand, we headed to Libertyville for the Fair. According to Meghan, last year the fair was both indoors and out, with some animals and such. This year it was both bigger and scaled back; the animals were gone, but the entire thing except for the food tents was in an air-conditioned convention hall, for which we were exceedingly grateful given the 90+ degree heat!

We strolled up and down the aisles, recognizing popular Midwest shops like The Fold, and Knitting Notions (from whom I purchased my swift a few years ago) but also some favorites from Stitches Past!

Diane was, as always, charming and talented. When she saw us she came rushing out for hugs and hellos, and showed off her new colors. I’ve been a fan of Diane’s since I first met her at Stitches ’08, right at the beginning of my Fiber Career, as it were. In the intervening 2 years, her color sense has evolved in a way that’s difficult to explain, but plain to see. Her work is one of those that can be recognized at 50 paces, or across a crowded convention hall, and she’s walked away with a chunk of my money every time we encounter one another. And yet somehow, I never seem to mind...

I actually didn’t buy from anyone else at the fair, which is just as well considering how much I’ve blown my yarn budget - or rather, my ENTIRE budget by buying yarn - since I’ve been here! But I did stop by Trader Joe’s to pick up some lavender sachets for the surfeit of wool in my possession.

Meghan and I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the lawn chatting and  watching Owen play. It was a fabulous day, and I enjoyed myself immensely - not the least of which because Meghan was even more fun in person than from a distance. I didn’t get a picture of us all together, but as we have firm plans to get together a few more times before I leave, I’m not too worried.

A Distinct Lack of Humor

 Note: Since there's no internet at the house, I've been writing blogs and will upload them as I get to  the coffee shop, backdated for the appropriate time. So no, your reader isn't messed up!


There’s not a huge amount to do here in Coal City. My grandmother isn’t really very self-sufficient, but she does sleep most of the time, so I’m on my own a lot. I’ve been running just shy of 2 miles in the mornings, getting my homework done quickly, and then have most of the day to do whatever. It’s nice, but I keep waiting for some observant family member to call me and tell me what I’m supposed to be doing. It’s a very strange feeling.

I’ve noticed that my sense of humor is absent, and I’d like it back, please. Usually I get my entertainment and amusement from various corners of the internet, but this sleepy little house is still living in about 1976. Grandma watches Wheel of Fortune, the Catholic Rosary channel, and Dr. Oz while I hide upstairs and watch The Tudors and Dr. Who on my shiny new laptop. Maybe I need a funny show instead of dramas...

On Monday I caved and ordered yarn from KnitPicks because despite the fact that I carefully printed patterns, chose appropriate yarns, and packed them all to come with me, I’ve found a project I’d much rather for which I didn’t have the necessary yarn, either here or in my stash back home. Isn’t that always the way? I ordered two shawls-worth of Shadow lace yarn, one in Forest Heather and one in Nocturne Heather. (Both of these pictures are from the KnitPicks site because I couldn't photograph them properly. Argh!) I also picked up one of their tote bags on sale for $7, and I’m quite pleased with it! It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be, and will make a great beach bag for the summer.

 I’m not going to start my new shawl until I’m finished with my Seraphim - or I run out of yarn for the Seraphim, which is a distinct and annoying possibility. I’ve got slightly over 40 rows to go and the yarn is starting to look pretty skimpy. I haven’t decided what I’ll do should the worst happen, but it probably involves tears and wine.

I’ve also been reading a lot, and I’m pleased to say that since I’ve been here I’ve finished three print novels - Inkheart, Inkspell, and The Big Over Easy - and almost two audio ones - Gone with the Wind and Rebecca. It’s amazing how much novel reading I do when there aren’t blogs around!

Really, that’s about it. Grandma heads in for her second (of 8) chemotherapy treatments on Tuesday, so think good thoughts for us when you get the chance.

Guesswork and SHHH!

You'll never guess what's inside this box:

Okay, maybe you will.

1.69 more miles to the "IN" total...

I couldn't help it! Omly wrote about how awesome Trekking XXL is, and I discovered that I don't have any for socks in my stash (shhh - those 3 balls are for a Tempest!). And then there was a sale going on at WEBS, which is kind of redundant as there's ALWAYS a sale at WEBS, but again, shhh! And the purple Williamstown I've been ogling for over a year was on sale, and I love my Ribbi Cardi out of the same - it's the best house cardigan! And the Araucania was pretty and cheap, and did I mention it was 1:30 in the morning at this point? Don't tell me you've never succumbed to the late night siren call of Yarn via Internet. And if you haven't? Shhh!

There has been progress on multiple fronts lately. I got halfway through a massive stash reorganization this weekend.

Those empty, lidless bins on the right were labeled with a big letter on the front, and THB acted as secretary while I called out which yarns I was putting into each bin. He also managed to lay claim to two skeins of Very Nice yarn - one for his hands, and one for his feet. Thankfully he hasn't asked for a sweater (yet...)! So now I've gotten another good look at my stash - or at least, the sock and lace yarn that make up the bulk of the stash - AND there's an actual catalogue of what is in which bin. I am thrilled about this, because the bins are all tucked into my tiny room and hauling them out one at a time is kind of a pain.

The next step is to get some space bags for the (many) bins of roving to compress the stash a bit, and then finish the overhaul.

There has also been knitting progress! I'm up through row 82 (of 180) of my cousin's Lyra wedding shawl:

Herbert Niebling's Lyra, Knit Picks Merino Lace "Bare"

I've been pretty diligent about working on this, despite the fact that I can't take it anywhere. The pattern strictly an audiobook one, so it sits next to my desk and glowers at me when I spend my time playing video games instead of knitting!

I also finally pulled out my ill-fated Mingus socks and started instead on some 56-stitch No-Purl Monkeys:

No-Purl Monkey Socks, Lisa Souza Hardtwist Petite "South Pacific"

This would appear to be my favorite pattern, as this will be the fourth pair I've made. I really do like the way the pattern fits my feet, and it's easy and elegant without being fussy. It's a good thing I pulled these out, as I start my third round of grad classes today and will definitely need something to keep my hands occupied while I learn more of the semantics of teaching!

One of these days I'll have a finished piece to show you, I swear!

Stitches 2010 - Continuing the Exercise

Well, THAT was a whirlwind of fun! I think my credit card caught fire at least twice. Oy.

AVFKW - 50/50 yak/silk in "Le Cirque"

You know how the other day I said I'm going to try to maintain stash equilibrium this year? I put a serious dent in that resolution this weekend, but based on last year's yardage totals, it's still easily do-able.

Pigeonroof Studios - Siren Too "Autumn Cherry"

Then again, the year is only two whole months old at the moment!

Stitches West 2010 started with Mom and I carefully marking our market floor maps so we could easily find the shops we wanted to visit. One of the challenges of Stitches is that the location of the entire thing is the same, but every year the booth numbers change, so one cannot rely on one's excellent sense of direction as a guide. But no matter - I did just fine on my own, thank you very much!

I hit Lisa Souza at the beginning. Her Hardtwist Merino Petite is one of my favorite yarns both to ogle and to knit with.

Lisa Souza Hardtwist Merino Petite - "Deep Sea"

Please don't be distracted by the fact that I haven't finished anything with her yarn; I am a process person! But of all the handdyers I have whose yarns I have used, I like the combination of the thinness and the spring factor in the HMP. I find them especially good for Cookie A's sock patterns. Because I like my socks to be snug, I have been experimenting with triming my stitch count back to 60 or even 56 stitches. But Cookie's patterns don't lend themselves well to adjustment in that way, so using the HMP and tiny-ass needles does the trick nicely.

Lisa Souza Hardtwist Merino Petite - "Printempo"

The above picture might look familiar. Ahem. (On another note, I'm looking at my pictures from last year and this, and last year is MUCH more interesting and better-lit. I need a new place to take pictures, but the light isn't super-cooperative in this house. Hmmm. Time to get creative!) I also decided to try out a new-to-me yarn base from Lisa mainly because the colorway looked better in it than in the HMP:

Timaru Sock Yarn - "Delft"

This is white yarn with flecks of Delft blue. The HPM base yarn is more off-white, so Timaru it was! I also picked up a couple (only two!) bumps of 50/50 merino/silk for spinning. I figured that 10 oz total of spinning fiber isn't completely unreasonable for someone who isn't spinning at all lately. Holla if you hear me!

Cynthia, Colleen and I all hit Tess's Designer Yarns at the same time and I walked away with this:

It's this really nice semi-solid SW merino that is destined for some kind of Hot-for-Teacher Sweater. I also bought a green version, but I misread the labels and instead of 3 skeins of 570 yards each for a CPH, I have 3 skeins of only 285 yards each. ARGH. I'll be calling the Maine store to see if I can arrange an exchange. But in the mean time, I have Creatively Dyed Yarn to console me!

Creatively Dyed Steele Sock Yarn - "Protea"Creatively Dyed Calypso Sock Yarn - "Roots"Creatively Dyed Calypso Sock Yarn - "South"Creatively Dyed Calypso Sock Yarn - "Dahomean"Creatively Dyed Calypso Sock Yarn - "Parade"

Oh yes. And lastly, here's a little Wool Candy for your enjoyment. I bought this along with the Pigeonroof Studios yarn at the Bobbin's Nest Afterparty, which was (as usual) super classy and a lot of fun.

Wool Candy Marzipan Sock - "Fresh Fig"Wool Candy Marzipan Sock - "Ice Cream"Wool Candy Marzipan Sock - "Cerise"Wool Candy Marzipan Sock - "Peaches"

I see many, many socks in my future. But that's fine because I'm still angling for a student teaching position up in Portland, where warm socks will be absolutely necessary most of the year, especially if I can realize my vision of being the teacher who wears cute skirts, knee-highs and kicky shoes. A girl can dream, right?