Knitting

Phestival Phun, Phorget The Photos, If I Were a Knitpicks Cable

October 6, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

WHAT I DID AND WHAT I DIDN’T DO

Remember all the photos I promised of the Fiber Festival? Didn’t.Take.One. As a matter of fact, my camera didn’t even make it to the festival. That’s right, after being obsessive about making sure I had the camera, it never even made it to the festivities. I remembered it about the time we pulled into the parking lot. I suppose I could have pressed Mr. Iknead into going back and getting it, but the festival and the camera were about 20 miles apart and I just didn’t have the heart to ask him to go back and get on that cold and rainy morning. But……..

MY PHESTIVAL TAKE AWAY

Prepare to be awed:

This, my friends, is a bag of beautiful baby alpaca. It feels like buttah.

It’s from Whirlwind Ranch in Lebanon, Missouri and cries out to be fondled.

Here we have “Raspberry Ice”, domestic wool top from

Diamond B Sheep Farm of Greenwood Arkansas

More from the Diamond B – 100% merino, just waiting to become someone’s favorite socks.

More Diamond B merino, which hasn’t decided yet what it should be, given the amazing possibilities.

A wool, Angelina, silk noil and faux cashmere batt from you know where.

Can you see the little sparklies? I learned that those are called Angelina.

A wool, Tussah silk and bamboo batt, from my favorite Arkansas sheep farm.

All this fiber and I stayed within my budget (give or take about five bucks). This should keep Violet and me spinning for a while!

IF I WERE A KNITPICKS INTERCHANGEABLE CABLE

Where would I be? All I know is that all my lovely interchangeable cables are missing and I’ve pretty much exhausted all possible hiding places. I’ve looked in every bag, basket and drawer in the knitting room, I’ve called my housekeeper, I’ve called Bigmommy and even enlisted St. Anthony. No cables. They may have been abducted by aliens, since I’ve ruled out someone breaking into my house, sneaking into the knitting room and taking off with a ziplock bag of cables. Sigh. They’re sure to turn up now, since I ordered a new set last night. Sigh.

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James Baldwin

Knitting

I Brake for Fiber

October 4, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

MY PHIRST PHIBER PHESTIVAL

Yeah, yeah. I know that that’s lame, but I couldn’t resist. As I tell Mr. Iknead all the time, “Just humor me, OK?” The first ever Diamond State Fiber Festival starts today and runs through Saturday and I’m soooo excited. I’m taking a beginning spinning class and hopefully I won’t have to unlearn many bad habits from being self and YouTube taught. This will be Violet’s first road trip, hopefully the first of many. I’ll have to remember to take lots of pictures, though what usually happens is that I get so involved in whatever it is I want to photograph that I completely forget to take pics. I’ll do better this time, I’ll keep the camera around my neck as a reminder.

SPINNING OUT

I ordered four Knitpicks Bare Wool of the Andes and I have to say, it’s been a pleasure to spin. As I get better and better at it (and I am, even I can tell), I’m spinning finer and finer yarn. Think sock or fingering yarn. From someone who a year ago never had any desire to spin, I’m now the proud owner of Violet, my Ashford Traveller wheel and spin some everyday. I find the whole process very calming and centering. I’m planning on coming back from the festival with loads and loads of roving and maybe some fleeces too. Here’s a look at the Knitpicks Bare Roving after spinning.

Now, should I dye it or let it alone? Decisions, decisions.

When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open, and love steps forth to heal everything in sight. Michael Bridge

Knitting

Shutdown, Spirals and Festival

October 1, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

YOU CAN DO THAT? REALLY?

Mr. Iknead and I woke up this morning still wondering about the predicted government shutdown, even though we pretty much knew from last night that nothing had changed or had been agreed upon. This hits pretty close to home for us – Mr. Iknead works for the State of Arkansas, which in turn is contracted by the Feds, so we’re sort of up in the air. I feel very, very fortunate that at this point in our lives we don’t have to worry about our finances and if Mr. Iknead is furloughed for a bit, it’s not a crisis situation. I know others who are not so fortunate. Thank you, Mr. Iknead, for the austerity program, even though I gripe about it sometimes.

GONE TO POT

Pottery class is going well. Teach told me yesterday that I definitely had gotten the hang of using the wheel and with practice, I’ll get better at it. Still have nothing post worthy, but I’m planning on going in to work on the wheel more this week and hopefully, I have something at least minimally postable.

Here’s the spiral bowl I glazed this weekend with shiny black. Can you tell that I totally didn’t check the background when I whipped out my phone to take a pic? This one cracks me up. It looks like it’s drinking out of the bowl –

LOOKING AHEAD

The first Diamond State Fiber Festival is this weekend. I’m really looking forward to it and I’ve already got some extra money budgeted for whatever strikes my fancy (up to a point, of course). Hoping to come home with enough fiber to keep me spinning for a little while, at least. Violet, yeah, that’s my wheel’s name, is making the trip and hopefully, I’m going to learn a lot in the beginning spinning class I’m taking. I’ll take lots of pictures.

The goal of life is living in agreement with nature. Zeno

Knitting

FO Friday 09/13/13, Face The Facts Friday, Whaaaaa…..

September 13, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

I’m again hooking up with Tami’s FO Friday blog and Frontier Dreams KCCO.

FACT FACING

If you’ve been sort of keeping up with my sock project the last week or so, you’ll know I started a pair of Blue Day socks last week, knowing full well that I didn’t have enough yarn to complete them. Even with my little feet, I just couldn’t shake that feeling that I was going to come up short. No problem, I can always get more yarn. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I started these using Fiesta Yarns Baby Boom, in the color Sweet Pea. Yeah, I saw that I’d paid a LOT for this one skein, especially when you’re talking just one sock of a pair, but still, sacrifices can be made. The ONLY skein I found after hours of internet searching was $47.00!!! As much as this Sweet Pea stuff floats my boat, $47.00 for a sock??? Not even in loonyhoot’s world can that be justified. So, I gritted my teeth and completely frogged Blue Day and plan to use – thanks to better judgement and a deeper stash dive – some great sock yarn I remember buying on Etsy. I even remember the color name – Civil Disobedience and, I have a lot of it. Plenty for Blue Day and maybe then some. No decision on different sock pattern, but it’ll happen.

OFF THE NEEDLES

I finished the Diagnonal Lace Cowl from Classic Elite Yarns, just in time for today’s post. It took just under one ball of Mini Mochi, color number 113 (no name, just number). I probably could have squeezed a few more rounds in, but being paranoid because of the abovementioned sock thing, I decided to give myself a little wiggle room. My fingernails thanked me.

I think its official name is Lacy Rib Cowl.

HEAD SPINS

Here’s what I learned today spinning: cotton spins up differently than wool. Duh. It felt completely different, it took a different “hand” I suppose you’d call it and seemed to be a little more nubby; that could have been, really, that I’m a newbie spinner and nothing I’ve spun up yet is what you’d call smooth. It’s getting better, but smooth? Nope. Luckily, the person I bought my wheel from threw in a couple of bags of raw fiber – one of wool and one of cotton, giving me a lot of chances to practice and try out different things. I’ve spun my way though them both, glad that she was generous enough to include them. I see a serious roving/fleece stash building – especially after the festival in Greenwood in October.

Spun cotton

Spinning wheel Violet and I are becoming better acquainted all the time, I’m learning her quirks and she, mine.

IN THE OVEN

It’s a few degrees cooler this morning and I’m revved up and ready to do some baking, hopefully Cinnamon and Sugar Pull Apart Bread and/or Snickerdoodle Bread. Unhappily, I can’t seem to be able to buy cinnamon chips here in LR. I found a package once, at the Stuttgart Wal-Mart. I suppose I could order a couple of packs online and the recipe I have includes a recipe for the chips, but I think the store bought ones are better (for once).

MAMA

She continues her decline with her dementia. I miss her and would love to occasionally be met with a smile and an I’m happy to see you instead of the now normal vacant stare. I do know that this is the disease and all that, but a little bit of responsiveness can keep me going for quite a while. There are some days I terribly dread visiting and I wonder how long – for her and for me. What do I pray for??

Sorry for the Debbie Downer….

For success, attitude is equally as important as ability. Harry F. Banks