Knitting

Sort of Bluesy

July 22, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

BLUE ROVING, BLUE ROVING

I know it’s red rover, but I have blue roving and am excited to share it. It’s from Three Waters Farm, who I found on Etsy. The colorway is Rainy Day and it’s 100% Blueface Leicester, a joy just to touch and even more to spin. I see now what all the excitement is about. I’m afraid that after this, anything less than BFL is going to be totally unacceptable. Look how beautiful it is –

I’ve been dropping broad hints for a couple of weeks that my life would be perfect (not that it’s not pretty darn close already) if I just had a spinning wheel. I’m not sure if Mr. Iknead has picked up on them or not, knitting, spinning and their accessories are not exactly what floats his boat, but since most of what makes me happy makes him happy, getting one is not completely out of the question. Anyone have one they’d like to donate??? Here’s a little bit on the niddy-noddy – I’m getting better with the spindle, the thickness is getting more consistent, but I have no idea about plying-can that even be done on a drop spindle? I’m calling what I spin artisanal yarn, which makes all its flaws sound really expensive and something I worked on for hours getting just right. 😉

MORE BLUE

Mr. Iknead found this little guy yesterday while he was working in the yard. I’ve never seen a blue tailed skink this small, I think it looks like a piece of jewelry and I’d wear it for sure!

Growth itself contains the germ of happiness. Pearl Buck

Spinning, Birds and Blessings

June 29, 2013June 29, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

OFF THE SPINDLE

Pulled my first ever handspun off my drop spindle yesterday afternoon, gave it a quick bath and laid it out to dry. I can only hope to improve, I suppose. Mr. Iknead’s drop spindle works like a charm and is easy to use. It turns so easily and spins for what seems like a long, long time. I invested in a small niddy-noddy and a yardage counter from Knitpicks today, they were on sale and if I stay as interested in spinning as I think I’m going to, I’ll need them. Here’s a look at my first ever handspun:

Very kinky and I’m sure horrendously overspun but it’s a start.

LET ME DRAW YOU A (BIRD) BATH

Mr. Iknead and I finally got back out to The Good Earth Garden Center today. We went out last Saturday but our shopping trip was cut short when my mother took a turn for the worse and had to be taken to the Emergency Room. More about that a little later. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours or so just wandering around, looking at different plants, coveting the largest and prettiest of whatever we happened to be looking at and browsing containers and pretty pots. We had decided a few weeks ago that we really needed (read wanted) a small birdbath for the front yard, so we spent a little extra time just checking different ones out. They were pretty expensive and we really just didn’t see one that turned over our engines and decided to wait for the perfect one, maybe pay a little more rather than just getting one that we thought was so-so and inexpensive. We had this agreement and were leaving when I saw the Birdbath That Called My Name. We both loved it, the price was right, so our front yard is now graced by the perfect birdbath. I hope the birds love it as much as we do!

I love the leaf shape!

Now, if only the ground cover would hurry up and fill in…..

WHERE WE STAND

Our meetings with hospice went very well, Mom was officially admitted to Arkansas Hospice and they’ll be coming to the nursing home at least five days a week, caring for her and providing support for us. A nice surprise was that Bigmommy’s best friend since babyhood is a social worker with Arkansas Hospice (we knew she worked for a hospice, just not which one) and has known my mom pretty much forever. She and her family are like family to us and that gives us reassurance and comfort during this time, when it feels like we’re always second guessing ourselves and the decisions we’ve had to make. A blessing.

THE GRANDS

The Stuttgart grands are at Grayton Beach, Florida even as I type. They’re enjoying the Vaughan side of the family tree, and I’m sure being totally and deliberately spoiled rotten by their Grandmary and Pops, aunts, uncles and cousins. Another blessing for sure. Waiting on some beach pics, will show off a few when (and if) they arrive.

Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Knitting

I’m Not Believin’ This ****, Trying Something New and A New Bowl

June 21, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

FROM THE I’M NOT BELIEVING THIS FILE

You know the feeling you get when you’re working on a project and honestly, the instructions just don’t seem to make any sense, the shape of the project is odd and the whole thing is just …..you know, wrong? You know how it feels to just continue knitting according to the pattern, because sometimes you just have to trust that it’s going to be OK and everyone will live happily ever after? Well, yesterday, I’m flying high with the Quick Shawl Collared Shrug, bulldozing on because, like I just said, sometimes you have to trust the designer, no matter how wonky it seems. My inner knitter kept repeating, “this just doesn’t seem right and this doesn’t make any sense” until I finally (for the umpteenth time) read back over the pattern, somehow noticing, this time, the page order. Yep, you guessed it. I knit the entire thing without noticing the pages were out of order. Page 3 was entirely missed, never noticed it, except that, again, I thought the whole thing was just odd. Nope, operator error. So, I sucked it up, frogged the entire thing and restarted, with the pages in the correct order. Dang, the whole thing makes sense now! Did I mention that I’m now so paranoid that I’m now obsessively checking page numbers? Live and learn and remember to check page numbers.

No photos of this debacle, it’s too fresh. 😦

SPIN

Over the last few months, I’ve been seeing a lot of posts about spinning and drooling over the beautiful yarn that’s produced. I watched a few YouTube videos and decided to give it a try. I went to Hobby Lobby and found a nice sized round wood thingy, a dowel and some cup hooks, brought it all home, had Mr. Iknead drill a hole in the wood thingy for the dowel and BAM, I have a drop spindle! I’d bought some roving a while ago with really no plans for it, I thought maybe about doing some felting, but nothing concrete. This was a good thing because I’m heavily into instant gratifications and always want to do things RIGHT NOW, if not sooner. Being the proud owner of a drop spindle AND roving, here is a photo of my very first attempt, I’m sure horrendously overspun and whatever else beginners tend to do, but I’m proud just the same.

First Ever Handspun!

I haven’t mentioned to Mr. Iknead (yet) that this is only the beginning of a new obsession, although I suspect he suspects and that my next acquisition may be a sheep, you know, for the wool and all. Besides, we love animals and it will keep the grass clipped, right? Oh, and the fertilizer! I almost forgot about the fertilizer!

LOOKY, LOOKY

I Made This, See My Initials??

Class starts again Monday morning and I’ll be so happy; I’ve really missed the studio and the friends made over the Spring Session. My head is full of ideas, can’t wait to get back into class and try them out! I love this stuff!

Kind words are short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa