Knitting

Try To Relax, Willya?

August 23, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

SPIN

A couple of things: spinning is work, especially if you’re a newbie. My treadle leg is tired today. It also seems to have a steep learning curve. I’ve been practicing and just this morning felt like I might be getting a handle on it, at least the treadling part. If my hands are going correctly, I forget to treadle. If my treadling is working, I forget about my hands. But I think I’m improving….maybe…..just a little. I’d taken a pic of my first (presentable) yarn – all one yard of it, but Flickr apparently is having a snit and won’t let me upload. I’ll try again later. What a brat.

OK, Flickr is back in my good graces.

THE GRANDS

We have tickets for tomorrow morning for a Kindersong performance and I personally am pretty jacked up about it. I think it will be right up Babydiva and the Papoose’s alley, with lots of audience participation and familiar songs. One of the coolest things is that Kindersongs is a husband and wife team, they’re local and before they launched Kindersongs, Mr. Kinder was a teacher and taught music to both Bigmommy and Babydaddy. I think it’s really neat that my kids have a link to them and now, their kids will have one too. Of course, any time we spend with the grands is precious and they’re just now getting to the age where they like to actually do things, and love to take part in anything musical and/or silly. I hope we can get some pics.

PHOTOSHOOT

Our shoot at the beach turned out to be fabulous. As soon as I can get a DVD burned, I’ll be posting some vacay pics. What a difference a pro photog makes! The weather cooperated (yay) and in a couple, everyone is actually looking in the same direction. Do you know how hard it is to get three babies to look at the same thing? One was always throwing sand, one was always eating sand and one simply got sick and tired of having her picture taken. Kudos to the photographer! Oh, I almost forgot, all our clothing matched, thanks to Bigmommy and Babymama. I was a little skeptical about that, but it really turned out well. I’ll start listening to their suggestions more, maybe.

SUMPIN’S GOTTA GIVE

I decided today to put a lot of my projects on the backburner and concentrate on just one or two things. Today, especially, I’ve felt a little overwhelmed; I want to work on everything but end up frustrated because I can’t seem to concentrate long enough to anything but screw up, much less finish something. Knitting and reading – still in the game. Everything else – in time out for at least a few days, until I can get my feet back under me. Pinterest will be the death of me, I swear.

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other as if everything is. Albert Einstein

Knitting

Up and Running Once More

August 1, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

A BUMP IN MY BLOG

We lost our internet Tuesday evening and all day yesterday. Very frustrating. I’m way more invested in the internet than I thought. No e-mail, no google, no blog, no nothin’. I see if I ever decide to go ‘net free, I’ll need to be weaned off, no way I’m going cold turkey! It comforts me to know, though, that I’m in the same boat with probably a zillion others. 😉 Oh, I almost forget to tell you the reason. Our neighbor was having fax issues, ATT came out, fixed his fax feed and didn’t bother reconnecting what he had to disconnect. Jeez.

SOFT STUFF

The alpaca roving that I ordered from Dyeing for Color finally arrived and has exceeded all my expectations. It’s like spinning a cloud. I’ve knitted with alpaca yarn but have never actually seen and been able to fondle roving. I keep petting it.

These babies are staying in their bags until two seconds before I spin so I can continue to marvel at how soft and clean they are! I’m beginning to feel that their destiny is to be sock yarn.

ON THE NEEDLES

No knitting to post today. Oh yeah, it’s out there, lots of WIPs, very few FOs, just not quite camera ready and besides that, I’d have to go through the house, gathering up each room’s project. Yeah, I work on different projects in different rooms. Don’t judge me 🙂

POT PROJECT

When we had that little snafu with the internet, I was in the middle of posting a pottery WIP so I had to postpone until today. This is a molded bowl and I can’t wait to get it out of the damp box and get it out of the bowl mold.

It still needs some work, as you can tell. That may be a good project for tomorrow.

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem

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

DIY FYI DYE

July 9, 2013July 9, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN

Yep, that’s right. Arkansas’s summer has finally come and it looks like it’s planning to unpack its bags and stay awhile. This makes for a sweaty whatever you happen to be engaged in, whether it’s baking, knitting, walking or any other of the billions of things that make up a day. Thankful for my AC and fans and thank you, Mr. Iknead, for giving me the treat of sitting in one spot, never having to leave the comfort of my cool house, except for essential tasks. Essential = groceries and/or gasoline.

FIRST TRY AT DYE

I’ve been eyeballing DIY dyeing articles and blogs, so, equipped with Kool-Aid, trash bags and part of my recent experiment in handspinning, I gave Pink Lemonade a go.

Step One