Really?

Mmm

Tour de Fleece 2010

Fiber? Check.

Spindle and quills? Check.

For the next 3 weeks I'll be spinning like a mad thing as part of Team Suck Less. My goal? To see how much I can spin on a handspindle. I'm a fairly fast spinner on the wheel but I've not done a full project on the handspindle.

Stay tuned.

It's a go!

Rhinebeck, the informal name of the NY Sheep & Wool Festival held in mid-October, is one of the biggest festivals in the US for handspinners, weavers, knitters, and producers of fiber. It hasn't really been on my radar in past years, but a gentle nudge from the Knitting Curmudgeon encouraged me to look into going. A number of folks I'm acquainted with through the Web meet there on Saturday, plus there are folks I know who are vendors there. So this year my goal has been to save enough to go. I've been watching the flight prices and scored today with a flight with Delta to Albany NY. Squee!!

On the knitting front, I finished my second chameleon, this one in Abstract Fibers SuperSock in colorway Burnside Bridge. It's half the size of the first one I did. I like the blue.

Getting sheepish

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other men out there who give joy, security, and comfort to children. There are few things quite as tough as being a Dad. It's a job that once started has no ending but the rewards when you succeed are indescribable. There's no manual -- just the guidance of other dads if you're lucky. I didn't know my dad well but I treasure the moments in my childhood when we did connect. What he gave me was the confidence to move forward, compassion and respect for those in need, and an optimism that helps get me through the rough times. Thanks Dad.

Black Sheep Gathering

The annual Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene was this weekend and it did not disappoint. Mostly geared toward spinners and weavers, it had plenty of goodies for folks to choose from. This year I was focused on finding tools that I needed for my drum carder and looking for bargains. I came home with a doffer, a tool like a large awl used to remove batts from a drum carder, and a flat brush I can use to smooth the batt on the carder. Visits to my favorite vendors -- Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Dicentra Designs, Crown Mountain Farms -- came away with goodies.

When I hooked up with my friend Barb, she was busy selling handspindles for Steve and Connie of Spindlewood. I stayed with them but not without walking away with another handspindle which I promptly put to work. People came by and watched me spin away on this pretty little spindle.

I didn't go down alone. Cindy, who is in the process of starting up a shop in the Pearl, did the driving and was focused on finding sources of fiber and yarn. She was a BSG virgin, so she prepared beforehand with a printout of maps and vendor information. She did exercise restraint and came away with a fistful of cards. She knew that as a shop owner she could get the materials later to play with. [BEG]

This guy had been fed and was placidly chewing his cud. Such a picture of contentment.

I celebrated my birthday this week. Not a lot of hoopla but had many well-wishes. I went out to dinner and enjoyed a delicious steak at Sayler's Old Country Kitchen. When I came home I found my internet access was down, so the next morning I took my netbook to work to catch up on my email. It was a very pleasant surprise to find over 60 emails waiting for me, mostly birthday greetings sent to me via Facebook. It was very sweet. My friend Linda did leave a goody bag at the office for me. She's such a card. One of the sheep she gave me looked like he could be a pilot. What do you think?

My birthday wasn't the only birthday lately. Agent D had a birthday before mine and he was not feeling very good about it, claiming it was his entrance into fossilhood. During breaks and lunch I worked on that depression along with a special project. On his birthday, he received his surprise and the delight he expressed was worth all the crafting. He had seen the project in progress but he had no idea it was going to be for him. Tee hee! So folks, meet Walter the chameleon.

Tardy

It's been over a month since I wrote here. May was a very busy month so that by the weekend I was tired, but at the same time there wasn't much blogging fodder to put out. It's better to be silent than populate this with "I knitted on this and dealt with my health" every Sunday.

On the crafts front, I've been working on some crochet projects. I haven't been crocheting as long as I have been knitting, so these projects have been my means of gaining skill in that craft. My crochet hasn't been fancy -- washcloths and afghan squares -- but I'm getting better at keeping an even edge on the squares instead of coming out with trapezoids and quadrilaterals. Not much spinning. Still working on the Briar Rose BFL. (See? Blah blah blah.)

So what's been on my mind lately? Baseball. I've had an on-and-off affair with it since I was a kid. I couldn't play well -- there weren't many around in my neighborhood to play all the time in the summer -- but watched it with my dad. It was the one thing that the two of us enjoyed and connected with. Dad would tell me how wonderful Babe Ruth was to him when he was a kid and at one time was president of the local softball association. When Willie Stargell and the Pittsburgh Pirates came to Portland to play against their farm team, the Portland Beavers, Dad took me to see them play. I remember sitting in Civic Stadium with him, watching the game and being thrilled to see a major league team. We watched the 1975 World Series together, Red Sox vs Reds (I can still name most of the players for the Reds). He got me my own glove and I played in the street with my brothers' bat, the handle taped up with electrical tape because it was split. The big manhole cover was home plate and water meter covers on the left and right were third and first base. We figured out which stone in the street (the surface was a mix of rocks and cement) was second and we had a field. I never really played it at school because I was too conscientious of my lack of physical fitness. But it didn't stop me from loving it.

Now that I've grown I've reconnected with baseball. I didn't do so very much in the 80's but when Ken Burns produced his documentary "Baseball" I recognized something that I liked in childhood. My favorite players during my childhood were Pete Rose and Reggie Jackson, and I once did a book report on Lou Gehrig. With "Baseball" I learned about the other greats in baseball: Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, Walter Johnson, Joe DiMaggio. I learned about the Brooklyn Dodgers and their connection with that borough. The history of baseball and its many stories of heroes both regal and fallen opened to me. And I learned about the Boston Red Sox.

If you had asked me about the Red Sox a few years ago and how I felt about them I would have shrugged. Yes they were an old team with a history that could be the makings of a soap opera. At the time I had no team affiliation so could take it or leave it. But when I make a couple of trips back east and hooked up with a number of New England knitters who were also baseball fans, I discovered the Red Sox Nation. Their finally winning a World Series after nearly a century sealed it. Not only did I have a team but I had compadres. You can't truly enjoy a sport unless you have fellow fans to feed that enjoyment. Who else would understand your mania?

I have been to only one Major League park and game and that was the NY Yankees vs. the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium (that was a thrill, lemmetellya! Seattle won too. ICHIROOO!). But some day I will go to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox. It won't be this year -- by the time I go east it will be World Series time or it will be over. But I want to go to Fenway. I want to see Youk and Tek, Drew and Big Papi. Anyone game?

Squee factor 6

Get ready for it.

It's gonna make you want to coo and squeal. Especially if you're female. Somehow there's a program we're born with that when we see something this small and cute our voices go up several octaves. In some cases so high only dogs can hear them.

There are few things so adorable. Frank Habit's Incredibly Adorable Niece(tm) Abigail is way up there. Hello Kitty items. Twenty-four hour old infants.

Ready?

Baby Surprise Jacket for Baby Kipp

Laines du Nord Baby Star on size 2 needles

As you can see Buster had to inspect the work to make sure it was well done. I'm hoping that Baby Kipp isn't too large when he's born because the jacket is small. But he will come home from the hospital in style. I'm not one for baby cuteness but I can't help succumbing to that cute factor it exudes.

Making messes

Friday was the last day for a coworker so the office threw a breakfast potluck for her. I made hard boiled eggs for the occasion but rather than leave them plain I dug out the food coloring and vinegar and dyed the eggs. The leftover dye looked too fun to throw out so I experimented with some microwave dyeing on a skein of Pendleton wool I had lying around. Not all the colors took but those that did gave it a dusky rosy purplish cast with sections of blue and green. I can see this as the beginning of a very slippery slope if I want to go that direction. I have all the equipment except for a heat source in the basement. Hmm...

Creative juices

The completion of the Adult Surprise Jacket set my creative juices flowing the past couple of weeks. Out of the leftovers sprang a netbook bag. I made it so that it was padded well enough to protect the netbook yet look fun. This bag turned out to be a little small but it works.

With that completed, I turned to thinking about the year and what I need to get prepared for Rhinebeck. The Knit In Public Day event is in June. I'm thinking that I could sell some of my handspun there, so I'm working on spinning yarn for that event. Currently I have some Briar Rose Fibers BFL on the Joy that I'm spinning up into fingering weight.

My colleague in crime at the office is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave in the summer. So on the needles is a Baby Surprise Jacket, this in yarn I picked up at GLBT Knit Camp in 2007 when I walked out with my arms stuffed with yarn from WEBS' back room.

In the back of my mind there are also craft projects for selling at the employee craft fair in November (I'm thinking washcloths and baby things) and Christmas projects. My neighbors in particular are on my list for all the things they have done for me. So there may be times when I'm working on a project and I can't say anything because I don't know if they're reading this or not. Fun stuff!

FO - Adult Surprise Jacket

When my mom first taught me how to knit, she was your typical knitter of her generation. She didn't have many patterns but she had knitted for some time so had reached the point where she didn't need a pattern to make the basics. She had two books, Mary Thomas' Knitting Book and the Reader's Digest Book of Needlework. But she never did any knitting patterns from Elizabeth Zimmermann. I don't know if she ever watched her Knitting Workshop or other TV programs.

When I took up knitting later, I discovered Elizabeth's books and methods. Her writing encouraged me. My first lace shawl was her Pi Shawl. I tried the Baby Surprise and after a couple of attempts was able to complete it. I've looked at the Adult Surprise Jacket and wondered what I could do with it. The possibilities were endless.

When the February Lady sweater was popular last year, a number of my buddies knitted it. I tried it on but I didn't like how it looked on me. But as the months went by I wanted to make a sweater. Other projects were on the needles and wheel that required my attention. During the secret project time I revisited the Adult Surprise Jacket and looked through my stash to see what I could do with it. It naturally lent itself to being striped but the examples I had seen didn't appeal to me that much. However, the construction intrigued me so I went hunting in my stash to see what I could come up with. Several colors were in my Cascade 220 stash to do the job, so I gathered them up to hold until I could start the sweater.

The sweater took 2 skeins of 6 colors and one skein of ivory. It was knitted on size 7 needles and took me less than a month to complete. A friend of mine had said she had done it in one color and found herself growing bored. The color striping made my sweater fun to knit like self striping socks so in no time I had it completed.

What to wear

Oregon spring is fickle. Some days are warm and sunny with the promise of summer, then the weather turns to cold, rainy, and windy and you feel betrayed. This year has been no different than others. We had some really nice days during March where the temps got up to 70 degrees. Then some Pacific storms came in bringing in cold air from up north and socked us. The mountains got more snow and people grumbled about the rain and wind. I got sucked into Mother Nature's temptation of the warm weather and reprogrammed my thermostat, only to be rewarded with 30 degree nights that froze our collected keisters off. It's hard to roll over in bed when you're plastered with cats trying to suck the warmth out of you.

But the days are getting longer and the spring colors are making the neighborhoods bright and cheery. It's a good time for working on a colorful sweater. I mentioned in my last post I had started working on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Adult Surprise Jacket. It's coming along very well. I'm nearly done with the sleeve section. I try to get a stripe done each day but of course there are the longer stripes that sometimes take two days to complete. It will be a great spring and summer jacket.

Yesterday I went with Agent D to view "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers." For those of you who were either not in the US in the early '70's or not yet born, Daniel Ellsberg was an employee of the RAND Corporation who was active in the decisionmaking on Vietnam in the mid '60's. He and others compiled a history of US involvement in Vietnam that came to be known later as The Pentagon Papers. These documents were rated top secret and contained incriminating evidence showing how deception upon deception had been made to Congress and the American people. Ellsberg at the time (so he claims) was just doing his job but had a crisis of conscience. The story of his involvement and subsequent leak of the Pentagon Papers to the press is told in "The Most Dangerous Man In America".

I went to see the movie partly out of curiosity and a desire to fill what was a hole in my understanding of that time period. When the Pentagon Papers were released to the press, I was just a kid, ten or eleven years old, with no true understanding of the implications of his act. I had heard of Ellsberg and the papers. But the movie helped fill in holes in my understanding. My political beliefs had already been molded in some ways by the Watergate scandal. I feel more how important it is for Americans to not take everything we are told as the absolute truth. It is easy to be swept by idealism and jingoistic rhetoric. I'm still one for seeking out nonviolent methods of resolving conflicts but understand that this is a very difficult goal to achieve. It's important for those of us who live in this country to do what they can to find out as much as they can from different sources and work to preserve our fundamental right to know.

Spring is here, oh spring is here!

In some sections of the country there are faint whispers of spring being heard but here in Portland the yards are in full riot. The early blooming trees are finishing up, leaving their petals lining the gutter streams. Magnolias, camellias, and daffodils are all open and the bare branches are turning green with sprouting leaves. Saturday was to be clear so the air was filled with the hum and grumble of garden machinery.

It didn't surprise me when I went to my monthly Portland Spinnerati meeting that the turnout was sparse. Sunny days on the weekend are rare in the spring around here. If I was a gardener I'd be out cleaning up the debris of winter and preparing the garden beds. But I opted to be with my fellow spinners for we had a carder demonstration and I had a drum carder to share. It was just as well that I was indoors with all the pollen and grass flying about in the air.

I've been informed by a regular reader that I've been slacking on the blog. The last few weekends have been very busy with knitting up a sample for an upcoming book Judy Becker's publishing. I've watched plenty of movies and tv while knitting on this. I couldn't bring it to knit night so I worked on another special project there. The result of all this is that I have no pictures I can share of the goodies until they are released from their secrecy. Now that those projects are done I've started an Adult Surprise Jacket out of multiple bright colors of Cascade 220. They will be framed with ivory wool yarn from Pendleton which will set them off very nicely. It'll be a good project for mindless knitting as long as I remember to do my decreases and increases in all the right spots.

In the meantime I have some lovely handspun finished up. Black Bunny Fibers Border Leicester blended with mohair and silk in the Hailstorm colorway. I spun the singles from that and plied it with a coordinating strand of Jaggerspun Zephyr to stretch out the 4 ounces of fiber. I came up with 657 yards of nice fingering weight.

Give me a head of hair

One of the things that I tend to cast aside when money is short is having my hair cut. I did it when I made the career change from grocery to office work then cut it off when I had a steady job. My hair grows quickly -- 1/2 an inch a month -- and with its natural curl can look messy after a while, so I was having to have a hair cut every month when it was short. Last year a couple of things made me forego having my hair cut: losing my hairdresser to a fella in Texas and medical bills that took my extra money. By my measure I've been growing out my hair for over a year, cutting my bangs periodically. I had forgotten how much fun I had in the past with playing with my hair, putting it up in different ways. Now there are all sorts of hair gadgets that weren't available when I last grew out my hair and I'm having fun trying them out.

The Olympics ended last weekend with such a joyous bang for Canada. While my dad emigrated to the US when he was nine, he was proud of his Canadian roots and would sing the first line of "Oh Canada" periodically when it was mentioned. It was a tough call to pick which team to choose for the gold medal hockey game but I chose Canada for the Canadians' sake. I don't love my country any less but there's a point when all the gungho boosterism gets to me and I root for the other guys just to be spiteful. After having no golds for two previous Olympics hostings, the Canadians deserved to have an Olympics that really made their country shine. Their graciousness during the entire event added to it.

Knitting Olympics 2010

The last time I posted it was the beginning of the Olympics and the parallel events of Knitting Olympics and Ravelympics. In past years I've been an enthusiastic participant but this year I've had a few challenges. A deadline for a project kept me from pulling two weeks out of the knitting schedule and illness in various forms interfered in other ways. So consider me the knitting athlete whose medal dreams are sidelined by the vagaries of nature and time. There will be other opportunities.

This year's broadcast of the Olympics disappointed me. There were too many commercials, too many cuts from one sport to another, and too much commentary during the events. I was glad to be able to watch the curling but at one point I was so annoyed with the commentary I turned the sound off. There is word that ESPN is vying for the next contract for broadcasting the Olympics. I hope that if they succeed they do a better job of broadcasting. NBC was awful this year.

Last weekend the NorthWest Regional Spinners Association had their board meeting at the Aloha Grange so there were vendors and a spin-in. I had a good time meeting up with a number of my spinning buddies and partake of the wares of local vendors. I found some beautiful fiber for future batts; silk hankies and a bell; angelina fiber in copper, red, and purple; targhee and merino/silk blends in warm browns and gold.

Last weekend was also a time for getting together with friends. Saturday morning I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in a couple of years for coffee. He was dealing with the aftermath of an accident where he had been struck by a car while crossing the street. It was great to see him though I missed seeing his wife who was ill with the crud. We had spent many fun times together camping and partying so it will be great to be back in contact with them. Sunday was my monthly pinochle group which started with a potluck of nummy roast, root vegetables, salad, and fresh bread from Grand Central. While it was marred with a last minute catastrophe in the basement when a pipe clog forced our hosts to shoo us out of the house, the pinochle gods were in my and my partner's favor, granting us three sets won.

Update: I finished the pattern write up I needed to do including the charts just before the closing ceremony began. It hasn't been tested but that it's completely written and charted was one goal I wanted to meet during the Knitting Olympics. Ooorah!!

Catching up

It's been a while since I've last posted. Two weeks ago I was busy tying up the loose ends of the project I had been working on at the office and coming home exhausted. When all the processing for the month was done I took some time off and went to the beach. It was the break I needed.

The beach trip centered around the Newport Spin In hosted by the Northwest Regional Spinners Association(NWRSA). It's an annual event sponsored by the chapter that had vendors from around Oregon as well as a gathering space for spinners. I had my money from my scarf commission to play with so I could indulge and help support local wool farmers.

I left work early on Friday so I could meet up with Shelia at her farm outside of Newberg. I had never been out on her farm before so it was a real treat to get to meet her in her milieu, replete with spinning wheels, fiber, and animals. She raises sheep, cows, chickens, and yaks on her farm set on the side of one of the hills of Chehalem Valley and surrounded by vintners.

Adam, her husband, was out and about doing farm chores so I got to meet him while I was there. He resembles Tim Gunn from Project Runway with that Nordic appearance. I saw most of the animals but kept my distance from the yaks, not knowing their temperament around strangers and not being very nimble to avoid their horns.

We headed west then south to Lincoln Beach where we were to meet up with our friends Tammy K, Tami H, and Sara at Tami H's aunt's beach house. On the way, Shelia and I stopped at Nestucca Bay Yarns while we waited for the others to catch up. While there we got to chat with the local knitting/spinning group that meets on Friday evenings there. They have a very nice selection of yarn so if you're in the neighborhood, swing on by. Finally, we hooked up with the others and reached the house. It was very comfortable and spacious, and soon we settled down to eating dinner then sitting around to knit and spin. As with all beach trips there were snacks and lots of great conversation. We even have an Finished Object!

The next day we headed out to the high school where the Spin In was being held and settled down in one of the circles. Other NWRSA members who were familiar faces came and joined us with their various wheels. There were many Lendrum folding wheels and a fair number of Ashford Travelers, Ashford Traditionals, and Schacht Matchlesses.

There were other wheels, though, that one rarely sees. One vendor had her Ashford Country wheel, which is mostly used for spinning up bulky yarns. There were a number of antique wheels as well. One of our circle had a Louet S45 "Hatbox". Two owners found that they had similar wheels and one conferred with the other as to how to correct an issue with her wheel. A few folks had their handspindles too. There were also door prizes and trivia contests. Tami H came away with a seat cushion and Sara won a sweater pattern from Norsk Needleworks. A fun filled day.

There was a variety of vendors there ranging from a couple of the larger commercial merchants I've seen at OFFF to smaller merchants and local breeders. Norsk Needleworks has patterns for Norwegian style garments (I purchased this one from her). Another vendor was selling the fleeces from sheep raised as 4H projects. Another sold batts done up to create self-striping yarn with long color changes. All surrounding the center which held about 100 spinners all chatting and producing yarn. I found a couple of fleeces and some Ashland Bay roving the same color as roving I had received at Sock Summit.

Knitting Olympics

The Winter Olympics are in full gear up in Vancouver BC and so are the Knitting Olympics and Ravelympics. For those of you not familiar with those, the Knitting Olympics (hosted by the Yarn Harlot) and Ravelympics (hosted by various folks on Ravelry.com) are challenges to crafters to set a goal (such as knit a sweater or spin a particular amount of fiber) to be completed during the Winter Olympics. The project is to be started at the time of the lighting of the Olympic Flame and completed when the Flame goes out at the end of the Games. In 2006 I knitted a sweater. This year I have a commitment that I have to work on in private but I do have a project for my public knitting: a pair of socks. If I am able to complete one project I'll be pleased. If I'm able to complete two, even better.

Gray days filled with color

There's something about finishing up a huge project that makes one sink back in one's chair and let out a sigh of relief. I did that at the office and came out with tired limbs and a kinked back from all the computer work. I'm looking forward to doing ordinary things which allows for a variety of movement and work methods. In the meantime I'm giving myself a fair bit of tender loving care this weekend. As part of that therapy, this entry will be mostly pictures.

I finished the commission. Now to remove the white souvenirs my cats left.

Sammy decided Maisie needed a bath. It was on the inaccessable part of the nape of the neck, so it worked out very well.

"Do you mind? We're having a PRIVATE moment here."