Woolgasm! SCA! And so much more.

Lofty Goals on a Zero Dollar Budget!

2011-08-21T20:27:00.002-04:00

Woo hoo! Go me! I am an expensive woman on a very tiny single income budget but go me!

The SCA and me is an odd affair. I am not involved as much as I would like to be, or should be. My first event was Pennsic, I am very at home at Pennsic but locally I tend to not be that involved. And I have been working on changing that. I just have an incredible shyness and tend to cling to people I know. It is not easy for me to just jump into these situations so I tend to avoid or fade in or out, quietly.

However.. I have a registered persona, she is Turkish and that was years ago and now I can't remember why I chose Turkish. The history of Turkey intrigued me but for me being a through the ages fashions fan, not expert, fan, I can't quite put my finger on why I would choose Turkish. I am a fashion 'ho, plain and simple. The last few years my shifting interest has been Italian Ren, Flemish and Spanish is what I would really like to play in! I have been thinking about changing my persona but I really don't want to bail on Safiye yet.

I do know I want to explore fashions of many area's and kid and tease that I am going to change Safiye bint Kara Sun'Allah to "Safiye of a Thousand Dresses"! But then again, maybe I will have a lot of fun with that many dresses! Woot.

I have had this idea for a couple of years now and then decided why not put it in a plan. I may not get to it or much of it but why not get it down on paper what I would like to do?

The Idea. Take one woman - middle class/lower noble class during the years 1550-1560 and create complete ensembles of different places. I already have a plan in mind for Florentine. I want to do Venetian, Spanish, Burgundian, Scottish (Only because that is my heritage) and maybe German. Flemish? Oh, and Turkish! My Turkish garb has been Pennsic serviceable, not any WOW! affair. Anyway, you see where I am going with this. And why am I so hung up on Smocks, Chemises and Camicia's? But guess what? I have kind of started. I have two very plain Camicia's that I made this winter for Pennsic and I didn't end up going. The Florentine dress I want to make has a Camicia much like what I made and so I will add the embellishments. The other might work for the Venetian, I have that half kind of planned.

I know what I like, not much of the history so this will be a challenge in sound documentation and research. I am a family Genealogist so it is not like I don't know how to cite my sources and pay attention to detail, still.. I am in unfamiliar territory.

Like I said, lofty. I don't know how to do things small I guess. I have the sewing skills for this at least, my weak area's being knowledge and period construction techniques. There are a wealth of blogs out there that I follow and websites and I am sure I will be able to do this project. Or at least as long as I stop looking at fabric that is over $200 a yard! :) I am not putting a time limit on this, it will be a long term project.

I had meant..

2010-09-03T19:22:00.000-04:00

... to be better about this blog as I made a lot of garb during May, June and July. I wanted to document some of my time spent in the fury of Pennsic prep. My winter list didn't end up touched and so it was down to the wire sewing for three people. For myself I didn't really need much garb wise but I had bought this beautiful fabric last year that I wanted to make an Entari out of it. My daughter decided on her persona (15th Century Florentine) and her boyfriend has been inducted into the SCA by becoming part of our family (he is 13th Century Celt migrated with the Romany to Italy). His very first event was... Pennsic. He is still grinning over the experience. Both he and my daughter registered names and devices while there, they were really productive.. he even has his persona's story, my Safiye has no story!). I had made him five very simple "starter" tunics and we will pinpoint his garb interests soon to start getting some things done for him. My daughter had four dresses made. I have the fabric to make a very nice ensemble for her, it is not every day were. What we did learn is she spent more time in one dress that had no sleeves to it, Pennsic was extremely hot this year so she will need a couple more dresses like that for next year. Next year I will be there two weeks being on Staff, if they can make the two weeks they will, it depends on their job/school. So that means being prepared clothing wise.

We are "half" period and I want to focus on being all period this winter. We have no cold weather wear. No nightwear. I want to pay a little more attention to detail, I seem to deal with time and quantity. At Pennsic we purchased trim to add to his tunics so they will be a bit more nice for him.

Me, Myself and I. Safiye, my persona is 16th Century Turkish. I have never pinpointed her time and place, her social status or anything and every time I see Italian, Tudor and Flemish art, well I want one of those, those and oh! those too!! This year I have been thinking about changing persona, Spanish intrigues me but then I still like every period bit of clothing I see. So I expect it is not the persona but my interests. I want to make garb, I want to get good at it. I want to be able to look at a painting and create. So, I am toying with Safiye being "Safiye of 1000 Dresses". Lol. What I would like to do is decide on a period of time and perhaps make garb from different places but stick to that time. Take advantage of the Silk Road. One idea I had was to pick three regions of Italy, say Rome, Florence and Venice and a 20 year range of time. Then research and create working class, middle class and upper class examples. That is 9 ensembles and that will take me a long time. But the idea is forming and being mulled over daily.

In the meantime, I am starting with Reconstructing History's Campi's Fruitseller pattern #508 for myself.

Pictures, not the best, but you can see the dresses I made my daughter, we really need to do the full garb/look and do some proper photographs.. I will put it on the winter project list.. ha ha ha:

Holy Moley, here comes Pennsic!

2010-05-15T10:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, last fall I started with this huge list of "winter projects" and come April I said... "wow, its April and I haven't even started on my list!". Pain issues slow me down so some days I do nothing. On a brighter note I got a lot of Genealogy done on my grandmothers side! Cleaned up a lot of clerical work for my family history so not a total wash.

However, here comes Pennsic at us like a freight train and I am the costumer for three of us. My daughter has decided on a persona place and time and her boyfriend wants to come along too so for him, this year, just some T tunics so he can have time to figure out his persona before we start sewing for him. But it still leaves a long list. I am glad I have plenty of garb for a week there. Next year I will be at Pennsic for two weeks and will need more gomlek's. Next winters project!

To Do List:
Chirka's for me: white/black, brown/tan stripe

Entari - red pattern, gold. I know I don't need anything but this was my fabric buy for last year and will be nice for Court and Khan's Court.

Turkish Embroidery - just 1 gomlek. I did get the simple design penciled on the gomlek the other day. I am starting very simple on this one and can add more embroidery if I am good at it and like it.

Hats!

One camicia to finish.

Two light weight camicia's to make.

4 Florentine gowns to make. After much research and anxiety over starting a bodice and the art of draping, I chickened out and bought the Period Patterns No. 41 pattern. Once I get the idea of construction then I will get more brave in her gown construction.

4 T tunics - pattern worked out, waiting for the fabric.

Three cloaks....

No pressure - this list is not, obviously, showing all the other things, paint the mirror box, sheet walls, a flag for our tent. Jewelry search and so on. Ugh, I am tired!

My daughter and I are going to War Practice this coming weekend. We have no cloaks, there is no wool to be found here in fabric stores, we are going to freeze our butts off!

I will try to remember pictures, I get very focused on sewing and crank it out once I sit down. Right now I am in the foraging stage.

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

A very Happy Thanksgiving is wished to you and yours.

Just some pictures to catch up with the last blog of no pictures. I finally took the time today to snap off a few photos.

Camicia:

I ended up deciding on the Ashland Bay Trading Co Mer/Angora blend for next on the wheel:

Bluefaced Leicester skeins finally photographed. The bottom pic is kind of blurry. I have a very hard time getting color out of this digital camera, next spring I intend on treating myself to a decent camera. When I do pick out the color, the photo is blurred so I try to grin and bear it. :)

Camicia's in Progress and Fiber

2009-11-20T15:52:00.004-05:00

The Blueface Leicester is done (and has been). It has been hanging on a chair from its bath for a few weeks now. I spun it 3-ply and when I was down to just one bobbin with fiber on it I navajo plied the remainder. I have to say that when I spin BFL again, I will opt to navajo ply it all. I really liked that small skein more than the three bobbin plied. It looks firm and more compact with a nice looking finish and I had forgotten just how much I like to navajo ply. I like the blend of color and I am not sure what I will do with this yarn.

Lately the spinning and knitting have been at the bottom of the attention ladder. I have been sewing. In order to get moving on my daughters 16th century Italian Ren SCA Court garb I had to get a camicia (chemise) done for her. So while I had the linen out, I cut out four and sewed them all with french seams and now I am working on one at a time to do the neckline gathering and hems. I have learned that with chemises and gomlek's (16th Century Ottomon Turkish type "chemise") if you make one, you may as well make a half dozen! Pennsic alone requires a few for weather and hand washing issues. Already I am aiming at Pennsic 2011 as I will be there the entire two weeks so need to start planning now. Back when I did primitive dolls for craft show selling, I was big into production sewing and would make 100 dolls at a time. I just finished the first camicia yesterday after dragging it to Pennsylvania with me this past weekend for a meeting. I used a 5.3 ounce linen. It is a nice weight for warm Italian Ren but I am not so sure about summer or Turkish Gomlek's so will order the lighter weight for those and more summer weight camicia's. I heavily rely on three websites to find my way though this new territory of Italian Garb, again I will say I have no recollection why I chose Turkish at the time. I think it was I liked the history more than cared about the garb. Which is probably how it should be however.... I love fashion, so why not embrace it! Thank goodness for dressmaker blogs and websites!

My favorites (and where I go most for help even if I haven't really produced anything but a camicia!! Lol.). I am heavily dependent on these blogs right now until I have a sense that I know what I am doing.

Daze of Laur
Dress Diary of a Novice Renaissance Seamstress
Festive Attyre Chemise
Realm of Venus

I do have a confession, I have no clue what Steam Punk is but I love seeing the very cool garments out there in blog world. Very super cool and creative costumes that simply will amaze you. Google and find out!

And now to decide what to spin next. I had to dust my spinning wheel. That is not a good sign. So I will be deciding on my next bag/box of fiber to spin. On my 101 in 1000 list I have an entry to spin 8 bags of fiber out of my stash before I purchase anymore. I am 2/8! I have a beautiful merino angora blend, maybe that will be it or...... I have about a pound and a half of corriedale roving sitting in a bump.... or..... well with my stash my choices are many!

And a favorite thing. While I was in the kitchen making sauce and meatballs today, I was listening to the Scarlet Letter. Heather Ordover does one of my favorite podcasts but I kind of got on re-listening to every Diana Gabaldon book BEFORE I crack open her new book which is beside me on my desk. I am to book 4 but waiting for it to be available at the library. I have all the actual books but I like to listen to audio books during my 10 hour work day at a desk. Anyway, by reading the Outlander series, I got distracted from Craftlit. What I like about Heather is she does a chapter per week depending and she really teaches what the book is about too. I know I read the Scarlet Letter in high school (ages ago) and back then I just didn't care about it. But now I am enjoying it and have pointed my college age daughter to the podcast too. Check it out! It is fabulous! And thank you, Heather! I love your podcast!

Craftlit

Sunrise and Blueface Leicester

2009-10-18T00:38:00.003-04:00

I finally finished Sunrise! And this updates my 101 in 1001, number 44, 1 bag of 8 bags of fiber spun up and finished before I can buy more! I have a few more skeins in a basket and need to measure to see what I have in total yardage and weight.

(Edit: I ended up with 2,304 yards and 8 wpi.)

Next up and half done is a beautiful roving of Blueface Leicester that I purchased from Three Waters Farm. It is a 4 ounce tip that I split into three lengths and spinning to 3-ply. I just started the third bobbin and will be plying soon.

Next is a bag of Corriedale top that I got with my Kromski wheel when I purchased it. It was a 2 pound bag and I have spun one skein of yarn from it.

The hard part - Getting started.

2009-10-05T11:37:00.002-04:00

So.. it is time to think about getting to some serious seamstressing. So I was mulling over starting this Florentine dress for my daughter and I realize this is not going to be all that easy. Turkish garb is not all that difficult. I pour over dress making logs, have collected a ton of links and have found I am a picture looker and skim sites more than I read them and that is a tsk tsk on me. So, I have to settle down and do some serious research and I am making a list of starting questions to help me keep focused.

If you have looked at any of my posts, you might get that I am a "list" sort of person. You should see the post-it notes I stick everywhere with lists on them.

Preliminary Questions to get myself started:

Just what did a 1500's woman wear under that gorgeous dress we "see" and oooo and ahhh over?

What are and what are the proper names of garment pieces a woman would have worn.

Study each garment piece (once I know them): ie. what is it made out of. How will I duplicate it. Decide what they will be made of and produce a plan.

How do I drape. Read up more on garment construction.

There, that is enough to get me started. I do have 20 yards of linen to start a chemise for her (the Italian name eludes me at the moment). We did find the Florentine gown fabrics. I will post pictures soon. The sleeves we bought black velvet and the body is a very pretty rusty red color. I am one of these people that likes 100 percent natural fibers for any garb work. In this instance I didn't follow that.

101 in 1001 list update. - I did #100. We bought the Zelda game for the Wii. I used to play Zelda games so many years ago that the Wii is a new learning curve. I talk with my hands, I am not sure how many things I threw Link off of with that motion remote, haha. However, does this clash with "Learn to say no to self" and "Be frugal"? I did by a preowned copy if that puts me in the good column. :)

I am adding one to the Genealogy column. Go to 1 or 2 conferences. I do see my list is full of things that require big money. I guess it is time to stop thinking about a 2nd job and just doing it. :( Which cuts into my hobby time! Good grief.

101 in 1001

2009-10-01T22:28:00.000-04:00

101 in 1001
October 1, 2009 - June 28, 2012

Personal
1 Blog more - - -
2 Cable bill - lets learn the due date.
3 Clean out PSP folders, tons of duplicates and this will be a big job
4 Dentist - start some needed repairs
5 Find a second job - plan to work 8 months.
6 Go to the Rochester Art Museum
7 Go to the Rochester Museum and Science Center
8 Go to the Strasenburg Planetarium
9 Learn more of the folklore of Scotland
10 Learn some Gaelic
11 Learn to say no to yourself.
12 Letterbox more
13 Lose thirty pounds
14 Move to a cheaper apartment.
15 Once a month - day trip with daughter
16 Pen Pal - so far these penpal sites look kind of cheesey?
17 Read 6 books - I buy books and don't read them anymore, I listen to audio at work (0/6)
18 Research cost of Scotland trip to build goals on. - Look at tours
19 Take a college course (or some kind of education) - history
20 Take better care of my legs
21 Visit Scotland. (Plan for August of 2012) - with Sheila.
22 Walk for 30 minutes twice a week

Finances
23 Fix them - need I say more?
24 Get $1200 in a savings account that I don't have to borrow on regularly.
25 Get HBSC 1 cc to zero balance
26 Get HBSC 2 cc to zero balance
27 Learn to be frugal
28 Save for trip to Scotland - DO IT! (Goal 8/2012)

Craft
29 Complete my first sweater - don't let it sit.
30 Duct tape dress form for me.
31 Finish duct tape dress form for Mackenzie
32 Handweavers Guild of America - Spinning CoE
33 Italian chemise - Mackenzie
34 Knit 8 skeins of sock yarn before anything more is purchased. 0/8
35 Knit a shawl for work - I am cold a lot.
36 Knit every shawl in Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. 0/25
37 Knitters Guild of America - Knitting Masters
38 Learn to knit something you don't know how - cables
39 Learn to knit something you don't know how - colorwork
40 Learn to knit something you don't know how - lace
41 Organize Knitting stash - is your Ravelry up to date? Not.
42 Research the steps to make a Florentine gown. Just how many parts are there! Yikes.
43 Spin 10 minutes a day at least.
44 Spin 8 bags of fiber before buying more -srsly wtf - 0/8
45 Spin for every shawl in Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. 0/25
46 Stop hording my angora bunny fleece. Blend with a nice wool and spin!
47 Turkish hats

SCA
48 Documentation - Italian Garb
49 Documentation - Period Natural Dying
50 Documentation - Spanish garb
51 Documentation - Turkish Embroidery
52 Documentation - Turkish Garb
53 Garb - Italian (1 complete outfit)
54 Garb - Spanish (1 complete outfit)
55 Garb - Turkish - add Turkish Embroidery to 3 En'tari's 0/3
56 Go to 2 Thescorre Events per year
57 Go to 3 Thescorre Meetings per year
58 Learn about Medieval Spain. Do I feel a persona change coming?
59 Natural Dying - period - for Ice Dragon/Pennsic A&S
60 Paint mirror box
61 Tent - decide and get one, or a Ger…
62 Turkish Embroidery - Complete Entari, Period - Ice Dragon, Pennsic by 2011
63 Turkish Embroidery sampler to get a feel for the process.

Genealogy
64 20 hours per month spent on family research
65 Be more dedicated to the Graveyard Rabbit Blog… slacker
66 Census records - Baldwin
67 Census records - Duncan
68 Find a good wall map of North Carolina
69 Find a good wall map of Scotland
70 Find a good wall map of Tennessee
71 Find a good wall map of Virginia
72 Find Baldwin connection to Connecticut
73 Find current day relatives in Dundee/Angus
74 Find-a-grave - Add the stones you have to the site.
75 Genealogist Certification? (long term project)
76 Get all photo's from Mom, identify everyone and get everything scanned
77 Get the Fender tree more complete for trip in 2012 - know what you are looking for when you go
78 Get to 3 DAR meetings per year
79 Get to 3 Genealogical Society Meetings per year
80 Go to Tennessee and/or North Carolina to find ancestor cemetery's
81 Learn the counties of Scotland and their history.
82 Random Acts of Kindness site.. VOLUNTEER
83 Take 4 online Genealogy classes to further my research skills. (0/4)
84 Trace Duncan line to the DAR, it is thought John Duncan was in the Rev War
85 Transcribe!!! Genealogy documents received.
86 Visit one cemetery every 3 months.
87 Volunteer for the Ontario County Genealogical Society
88 Write to Michigan cousins on a more regular basis
89 Write to Patsy every 6 months with updates.
90 Write to the Ohio family and make contact - it has been too many years.

Cooking
91 Canning - get back to it, use the farm markets
92 Cook Books. French (20 recipes) 0/20
93 Cook Books. German (20 recipes) 0/20
94 Cook Books. Italian (20 recipes) 0/20
95 Cook Books. Mexican cook book on the shelf (20 recipes) 0/20
96 Cook Books. Polynesian (20 recipes) 0/20
97 Recipes into Big Kitchen and make cook book… 2 years procrastinated so far??
98 Save for the ultimate food processor/blender

Entertainment
99 Buy a GPS
100 Find a fun game I will like for our Wii
101 Watch the Lost Series - the only reason cuz is is instant watch on Netflix.. =/
102 Watch the Madmen Series

September - my "something is missing" month

2009-10-01T07:54:00.002-04:00

September has been an odd month for me for many years. I feel like I should be doing something, anything and for a couple of years I couldn't put my finger on it. About 10 years ago I quit everything I loved and looking back realize .. well we can't go back and fix, now can we. Decisions sometimes are a good thing or not a good thing, we just never know when we step out of what we know. So I will admit for shutting down and I suppose it could be considered a depression, a long one. I hated the apartment I was forced to move so my daughter and I didn't have to give up our cat. I hated losing my house because I had not worked for ten years to be a homemaker for my family. I hated going back to the job market with a ten year hole in my resume and feeling like I had stepped back, not forward and I hated doing the jobs I do just because it is what I know how to do and not really what I love to do. Yes, I confess, I am one of those... I work because I HAVE to. I love to stay home and I love being a homemaker.

Over the last two years I have started to dig out. I am back to spinning and my my my... I love sitting at my Kromski going into my zone. Spinning has always made me feel grounded and where I should be. I am so surprised I almost sold all of my spinning equipment and supplies! Phew, that was a narrow miss!

September is canning season and I realized that is my problem. When I lost the house, I lost years worth of gardening. I had over ten varieties of thyme for starters. I grew 4 varieties of basil every year. I grew rosemary, oregano, name it, if it was growable in my region, it was growing in my herb and perenial gardens. I grew medicinals, I grew a witches garden... I just grew stuff. By the time I moved there were hundreds of lavendar plants bordering my beds that I started from seed. I started most of my plants from seed. January was planning month, my husband and I gardened year round, there is always something to do even with 3 feet of snow outside.

I am used to September being hectic. Thousands of tomatoes eyeing me until put in jars. We made salsa, canned tomatoes, apple butter, jellies, jams and more. If it wouldn't go in a jar, it went into the chest freezer. We planned a year round food source and was usually to the last of the frozen and canned foods as the new and fresh was coming in. The freezer would be stocked with every freezable vegetable we grew, the blueberries we picked, and well I could go on forever. I did this for years so it is no wonder I wander around my apartment wondering what I always do with myself, haha. We moved last November to this new place and the kitchen is huge and I like the apartment far more than I did the last one that I actually stayed in for 8!!! years. I think it is pulling out by inner canning spirit. I bought a canner! I am not sure I will get anything canned this year, jars seem sold out everywhere currently in my area but it is a start and I do have a jelly I want to make for Christmas. Maybe this means I am ready to reach back and snatch up the things I gave up in order to shut a door. I am not really sure why I did this but maybe it is a clue that I was not totally happy with some decisions I made but that is where we come up with that saying... "live and learn".

So, I did commit myself to something that has been fun so far (so far meaning day 2!), we will see day 500 when much of my list is not done! I am a list person, putting a list in front of me is like waving a red flag in front of a bull, I become obsessed. Tikabelle, from a podcast I listen to, Gives Good Knit, does a list called 101 in 1001. It is actually a good list. You can put some pretty lofty goals there with that kind of time frame and it helps you not forget things you might want to do but just seem to mull over on occasion. You know.. those "I should" and "someday I would like to" or "someday I might....". But it on a list, print the list and put it somewhere where you can see it often. You just might get to those "I should" and "someday I might"'s. So far I am to 50 plus and my starting date is today, October 1 and end date being June 28, 2012. Wow, 2012. I have lofty goals but that is just fine with me. I am challenged and there are things I have been dreaming of and intend to make real. Like, going to Scotland, my dream as long as I can remember. I set a date, I am going, I will work on the funds the next 2 plus years, period. I will post my list once I have all my detail in my spreadsheet and it is more complete.

One thing on the list is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I want to knit every shawl in Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book and actually, I want to step it up too. I think I want to spin for every shawl and then knit it. So, that is going on the list. Like I said, LOFTY goals. But it keeps me out of trouble, right?

Sunrise update.. I am getting there! I filled 4 bobbins for the last time I think. I am going down to 2 bobbins now as I am fanatical about coming out even on bobbins. I like things even, what can I say.

Duct Tape Dress Form

2009-09-05T17:10:00.002-04:00

I have spent the last week skimming through online tutorials and this morning going through YouTube videos. I liked one especially as it showed the actual taping. So many did not show how they taped, we saw once the taping was done. I recommend watching this YouTube video, I actually like the way they taped, it seemed to make more sense to me and I liked seeing the order of taping. They are silly and I actually had to laugh a few times but it was very concise and I will be trying this method on my daughter. She is the first duct tape victim of the two of us. I would like to skim another 5-10 pounds before I do mine or I will be making one ever six months which is not a bad thing if the weight is going in the right way!

Another thing I found that I will use on ours. I have read and watched so many construction methods for a stand or suggestions of a hall tree, etc. The most simple I have found and cheap is a straight microphone stand which I saw here. It is easily adjustable and I really liked how easy and clean this looks when it is finished.

For stuffing, I have been saving all those grocery bags over the last 8 months or so out of sheer laziness about getting them back to the grocery. I did buy some of my own grocery bags, the ones the stores all sell to bring back and refill? Well, my bags are always in the neat lower rack of the closet door rack, not in the car where they can be used! So.. I will use the bags I have and finish off with poly-fill stuffing. It seems most economical.

One more thing and I can't remember where I read it or saw it. When cutting up the back, one person suggested a zig zag cut up the back as opposed to a straight up cut. This ensures you are getting the form back together accurately.

And so, the first part of the project was done. My daughter is small waisted and large busted and I was concerned about strapping her down but shaping does take place if you take the time to shape the tape. We used 80 yards of tape. I am almost wondering now if one more layer might have been better but we will see how the mounting and stuffing goes after we find a microphone stand. Only one oopsy. I cut her bra right off when cutting the model from her, haha. I was so worried about keeping the scissors from hurting the skin that the bra was our only loss!

She said she felt like the tin man but all in all it was a fun project.

She has decided on her first SCA Italian Ren gown and that will be of the Florentine style, 1520-1540's. I am very eager to get started on this project so time to find fabric, some playing around with patterning and getting that dress form done. In another post I will give more information on her choice of gown. I am brand new to Italian dress construction so I expect a lot of mistakes as I learn the ins and outs of Italian Fashion Medieval style.

Good day.. productive is a good thing.

2009-09-05T01:15:00.001-04:00

Wow.. I did some of my to do list and even added a few things as I came upon them.

Alpaca. (added to the to do list) I had gotten some baby alpaca a couple of months ago. I was given a couple of ounces or so.. I will have to weigh the fiber once it is all dry. There is a red brown like clay, a darker brown and a white. I got it for an insanely cheap amount and in fact I had asked the woman if I was paying enough. A customer had come into the booth and asked questions about alpaca fiber and the woman manning the booth was doing a favor for the owner who is a good friend. So I told the customer all I knew about alpaca from the spinning perspective and the properties of the fiber. So this woman was not inclined to recheck the price and I walked away feeling like I got too good of a deal. Once it is weighed I will post but I only paid $8.25 for the entire lot.

Anywho... today I washed it all. With the Salad Spinner Method! This is fabulous!! I love it.

The List - -
Sunrise - Bobbin #5 is full and I plied one bobbin full skein from Bobbins #1 and #2. It is coming out very nice and balanced (yippee) and I look forward to seeing it after it's warm bath to make it bloom.

Garb - My daughter decided on Italian Ren - Venetian. So we are going to start with a Venetian Dress for her first SCA persona garb.

Knitting - Finished the scarf! Gave it a warm bath too. This scarf is Crest of the Wave pattern and knitted from All Things Heather in Pink Camoflage. It is 50/50 superwash Merino and Tencel. I purchased it at my favorite online yarn store, The Loopy Ewe.

Crest of the Wave Scarf

Cooking - Went to the farm market and grocery store and got the necessary's for Zuppa Tuscana!!! That is tomorrow's dinner. Mmmmmm!

A To Do List - - of sorts

2009-09-03T23:52:00.001-04:00

I am a post it note junky. I use them every day, stick them everywhere and depend on them heavily. That is probably not a wise thing to do! But I do it. During the last few days I have kept a list of things I thought of while working and made several 5x7 post it note to do lists.

This weekend is a 4 day weekend, I intend on being productive.

One thing on the list was a new look for this blog. Amazingly, I got home and the blog template I did have went poof. Who ever made it must have closed their photobucket account and there went the template. So! I used one of bloggers templates and personalized to what I like. So that is already crossed off!

Spinning - Sunrise - currently I am on bobbin #5. I think after I fill this bobbin I will ply the first 4 bobbins of my singles.

Garb -
1) Viking Apron Dress - figure out the sizing so I can order linen. Many in our camp had them or were going to make them. I think Dark Horde Moritu next year at Pennsic will be a lot of Viking Apron Dresses!
2) Encourage my daughter to figure out and pinpoint more in what she wants. She had decided on Italian Renaissance which excites me. I have always wanted to try my hand at creating 1400-1500's Italian Garb but I chose Ottoman Turkish for my persona. It was said as a joke by a friend but I just might be "Safiye of a thousand dresses.." LOL. I could easily dress in about five different periods and be very happy. I want to do some research on Spanish garb too. Oh, and Flemish... see? Don't forget the Viking Apron dress above! Middle ages fashion "ho"??? Ya think? Plain n simple.
3) Duck tape dress forms. (We plan on my daughters this weekend.)

Food -
I found a recipe for Zuppa Toscana based on the Olive Garden recipe. I hope it comes out just as good!

Knitting -
1) 6 rows to finish my scarf!
2) I need a new purse project. I think I have about 10 things started. I will pick up something that was abandoned.. I think.

Sunrise

2009-09-01T18:39:00.002-04:00

That is the name of this sheep. It is a beautiful BorderLeicester that I purchased as a fleece back in......... 1997!!!! Or maybe 1996. My shipping copy shows they received the fleeces 12/23/97 and I got them back in June of 1998. I remember having a lot of fleeces that I washed but then decided to send them all to Ohio Valley Fibers to have everything scoured and pin drafted. I sent 7 in all I think then proceeded to move them, store them in a cubby in the hallway of my apartment building.. unheated. So in the winter is was in freezing temps, in the summer hot and humid temps. The fleeces were pin drafted into plastic bags and two were put to a box. And, they have all moved twice.

Oddly, when I decided to deal with them this year.. ie, downsizing 50 percent of what I own because I am tired of owning so much and want to simplify my life.... (Writers note: All these fleeces went on Craigslist in a harsh moment.. the ad was deleted 2 days later.. I know.. 2 days WAS a long time...). Anywho... I did get rid of a lot of stuff but decided to keep all the spinning stuff. Spinning was the wrong hobby for me to kull so I will work harder on balancing all of my very many hobbies! Plus, I bought the Kromski wheel that I coveted. I have no self control.

I did seriously look closely at these 7 fleeces I had sent off in 1998 and found one thing interesting. The three white fleeces were not as nice, got just a hair sticky over time and over all I did not like the way they felt in my hand. So.. out they went. The dark fleeces though were all super nice. Soft. This fleece is particularly soft and fluffs up with just a little tug as the pin draft rope lifts out of the bag. I have to say I am way impressed with the job Ohio Valley did. No rodent damage or bug damage for all of the years neglected and wow... it is just beautiful. This is a dark gray but it looks more a brown gray than a black gray.

Stats: I sent it to Ohio Valley as 4 lbs, 3 oz. It came back after scouring at 3 lbs, 14 oz. That is not bad at all knowing at home I probably did not get all the grease out. There is no stickiness to it after sitting. I will have a whole lot of yarn when I am done spinning this. It is not scratchy but being a mid weight it will be suitable for a blanket or a nice warm jacket type sweater. I see where my mind is going on this already. Too bad I haven't yet finished my first knit sweater!

Can we say... OMG! What were you thinking or were you?

2009-08-14T18:02:00.000-04:00

Today was Pennsic laundry day. Today also required a nap but that was a different story. My daughter and I dragged mundane laundry, bedding and our garb laundry to the local laundromat with a stop at Starbucks on the way. Necessity, of course. *grin*

Filling the machines and then waiting.. when transferring to the dryers it was then I saw what I did! At Ice Dragon in 2008 I had purchased this gorgeous length of wool. Granted not my persona really but raspberry purple and deep forest green, I am so there. So I bought it and coveted it for the perfect project then decided that project would be a Turkish coat that I could keep the chill off at Pennsic and for winter garb wear. So.... boldly! I went at this piece of fabric with scissors and a picture in my mind of how I wanted it to look when finished and came out with a finished garment that was not to shabby. It was just the outside with the plan to line it this winter and it was oversize which I really liked and planned on making it super warm to wear. We needed it one night at Pennsic, I froze all night. (Air beds get cold and stay cold - which is another Pennsic camp box project. A wool blanket for a mattress pad.)

I have been working with wool for 15 years. I know the properties of it, know how to spin and felt it. Know how to take it from sheep to spinning wheel bobbin.... and apparently, today, I did not know NOT TO WASH IT IN A WASHING MACHINE! There, the ugly truth and confession... I agitated my wool Turkish coat! I know you wool experts feel my pain!

It did full rather beautifully though I didn't want it that way. And it might not be a total wash. While not an oversize coat (Ferace) like I wanted, it just might be a toasty warm Yelek though not silk that is lined but... fulled wool! So while not a total tragedy yet.. it just went with the vein of the day. I had a brainless day, it took two rides around the block to actually remember I was going to the bank... the look on my daughters face was priceless by the way.. so why not wash that wool!

Pictures:

The OMG, look at this moment.

As you see, it did full nicely!

The left over pieces were sewn into a rectangle shawl. This is not washed as you see.

Hrm.....

Kromski Polonaise

2009-04-29T14:20:00.000-04:00

I am a blog fader of the WORST kind. I am not a teaching blog, I have nothing interesting to tell the world at large and I am not trying to make a statement of any kind. I just type what I am doing or what is on my mind and I am kind of breaking out of a 10 year, yes.. 10 YEAR.. slump. What a waste of time.

See same complaints, different blog: Conversations with Ancestor's Past

Recently I moved. I moved 9 years ago from my house that I loved and into a crappy apartment that I didn't love. There is the slump marker. I moved from crappy apartment to a nicer place in a very small City that I have always loved going to and actually closer to my workplace than I was. When moving way too much stuff, I made the firm decision that I was downsizing 50 percent of what I own. The recession calls for it.. do I really need all the stuff I own?? (Uhm, yarn/fiber stash is exempt from all downsizing discussions, period. It doesn't count.. this is all my 401yarn plan.) I will confess I decided the spinning had to be downsized and I sorted through all the fiber I have had for 10 years! sitting in boxes and being ignored. All of the fleeces I hand picked and skirted myself then sent off to be processed into pin draft. Moved them twice now and still never been spun. I had 6 huge boxes that I boldly put on Craigslist. (Note: every hair, every fiber is back in their plastic bin with smell good repellent.) I cracked.. I couldn't part with any of it so I did the next best thing. I bought the wheel I have wanted for too many years. A Kromski Polonaise. Couldn't afford it, should NOT have afforded it but I did it... it is now part of that 401yarn plan. *big smile*

I will say that even in a 10 year slump, every first weekend of May I ache for Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I went once, fell in love and every year want to go but why? I fell out of the fiber world, sort of.. knitting is still a struggle, I am not great but I am still doing it! I have never been to Rheinbeck? Why? I live in Rochester NY. Tsk.

So spinning on the new Kromski yesterday, oiling it, aligning it, getting the feel of it as I start to break it in.. I would like to know why that Louet S-90 is so neglected that sits in my living room. Am I back to spinning for the NYS Fair, or Maryland Sheep and Wool? I did pretty well back in the day. Seeing all of the indy dyers out there.. (I have tons of their sock yarn..) I am looking forward to trying their rovings. I am looking forward to being re-introduced to "Dot", the Borderleceister fleece I have three sheerings of and so on...... <~~~ Fiber junkie here, I confess! And so.. beauty.

"Turn Work" - Part 2

2007-07-05T22:59:00.000-04:00

So okay, that didn't work either. I do not understand what turn work means in this sock pattern but! I learned how to figure it out and do something I could understand. And, by myself! Of course it took me telling my non-knitting lunch buddies what I was doing and finished with... "Yep, it should work....". They all nodded eagerly and heck is sounded good to me. I ended up knitting a row to get the purl row on the inside of the sock and now my knitting is golden. I have turned the heel. Why is turning the heel so much fun? Is it just fun to knit or you know you are crossing the threshold of being more done with the sock than not? I am contemplating starting the second sock so that by the time I am done with the first one it is just a matter of finishing the second sock, not starting it. /nod

I think I might try this pattern again with a heavier sock weight yarn in the future. I have tricky ankles. I have lymphedema from incompetent valves in my legs. I wear compression stockings by day and am supposed to... yep.. "supposed to" wrap my legs in compression bandages at night. So the swelling in my feet and ankles varies by day and my attention to my leg health. I don't need a drawer full of big "thick ankle" socks but I will need a variety I think.

Back to my sock!

Anatomy Of An Error ~ "Turn Work"

2007-07-04T20:55:00.000-04:00

*STRESS!*

That is what knitting errors does to me because I am very new at fixing them. I have been working my current project of Rainbow Lace Socks by Evelyn A. Clark. The cuff went very fast and I found this lace to be easy for me to remember after a few repeats and was knitting along like a pro. Time for the heel. It says... "Turn work; p27 stitches." Hmm... I turned it and looked at it. (You know what I did, don't you?!) Well turning it put the stitch I am supposed to knit on the correct side so there I go starting that heel flap. About 5 rows down, I started looking it. The heel seemed to be wrong side out to me so I studied the picture and looked at the sock, saw where the "right side" was so turned the sock inside out. And the lights came on! I sighed. And I sighed again. So "that" is what "turn work" means. Okay, another damn sigh. Yes, I am one of those knitters that would rather live with her mistakes than fix them. More so, I am afraid to unravel! I have a fear of loosing a stitch and when I do I actually break into a sweat, lol.

So, I figured out how to slide into the prior stitch and pop the tail end out and perfecto, there is my stitch! By the time I unraveled row four, there were 26 stitches instead 27, then suddenly 25. *Panic scream!*

Patiently I studied my stitches. One was very easy to find, the other slid down the line and looked like part of the lace but once I identified it and looped it back up the four undone rows, it looked like it was supposed to be there. YAY! I have this bad feeling that some day I will be proudly wearing my handknit sock and every step I take I will feel another stitch pop as it unravels leaving a trail of yarn behind he. Haha.

Thankfully this was one of those nights where the error was my teacher. I understand "turn work" now. Unraveling doesn't have to be a stressful occasion and variegated yarn can tell you all on its own where the mistake is. I had an extra loose loop. Studying the stitches I saw that there were two pink, one purple and three more pink stitches on my needle. That purple stitch screamed at me "Lady! I do NOT belong with these pink guys! Fix me!" Ah, so easy. *struts, yeah right!* Today, I am a better knitter!

:)

Happy 4th of July!

Ravelry!!!

2007-06-29T17:10:00.000-04:00

I will say that every day I have been watching my inbox for my invitation. I read a post somewhere that May 10th had just been added so I popped into Stash and Burns website to see which podcast they spoke about it first, that was when I sent my request for invitation. Every day this week I said... "It HAS to be today!!".

I won the Ravelry lottery yesterday!! Thursday I was in. I logged in to check my mail at work and saw my son had sent pictures of my brand new granddaughter and suddenly I squealed in glee as the next email was my invitation! My co-workers on either side of me thought me nuts when I excitedly exclaimed, "It's here! It's here! I am in Ravelry! Oh yeah and look! Pictures of Natalie too!!!". Bad grandmother, lmao.

I love it, I have cataloged one of my three current projects and I just entered my stash. I see I don't have a very big stash but for me it is a lot to knit for my slow speed of knitting. Now to take pictures of my yarns!

What a nifty community it is, I can't wait to scour it top to bottom. Already I can see it will help me, I feel sort of stalled sometimes unsure what patterns are appropriate for the yarns I have. This I think may help me open the flood gates of a bit more understanding. My mind seems to work like that. I have all this information but unsure what to do with it, then something will click and what I have falls into place with that, "OHHH!! I get it!". Then I start the next level of process.

Ugh!!

2007-06-25T20:48:00.000-04:00

My momentum of all my sock knitalongs left me like the rush of air from a deflated balloon! I have not knit on much but my granddaughters baby blanket (she was born June 1st!!). Since my father's passing my attention has been everywhere else. I knit for about 45 minutes a day at lunch during work and that has afforded a snail like progress on this blanket.

The want is there, the energy is not. Everything feels so hard, everything is takes so much effort. Well! There are answers to that. Two months ago I had a physical and blood work. I got a letter in the mail from my doctors office on Saturday with another lab slip. My thyroid test was "borderline normal" does that really mean "borderline abnormal"? So, in July I have to have the testing again. It would explain the incredible fatigue and my brain that just does not want to work.

I am new enough to knitting that I find it hard to get myself started on a project and have two stalled toe-up socks not sure how to proceed with them. I am not sure I understand short rows enough and maybe that is what happens when I get to the heel. I can't seem to figure out how to do the heel the opposite of what little I know cuff down. So with this current fatigue and muddled mind syndrom, well, I tend to just forget it and nap instead of being persistant. This too shall pass??

Projects at the moment... still the baby blanket shown in an older post. It is about 30" now. 14" to go!!

Ohhhh!!! And!!..

2007-05-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

Sock Crazy, the best person on this planet today. The L&V PrOn Exchange is long over and wow! I received another package from my exchange pal today. I will snap a picture here to add to this post but omg.. it could not have come on a better day and was a true spirit lifter. I had already been spoiled to the point I would gush over the nifty things she sent to me to receive yet more. I have to say that it seemed most of the participants were great and it was fun to see what everyone was getting by there enthusiastic posts, it was almost like being there to watch them open their packages. The person I spoiled never said if she got her box, I finally had to email her just to make sure I didn't have to go after the shipper for a lost package. She said she got it but she was busy, that I can understand, and that was the last contact.

Thank you Sock Crazy!!!!

Some Catching Up to Do

2007-05-11T20:32:00.000-04:00

I will have to get some picture snapping going on here. I have a third of baby blanket knitted for my newest grandchild that will be born on 6/1. Her name is Natalie Lynn. The knitting slowed the last few weeks. I buried a parent this past Tuesday and I am finding this very hard to wrap my head around. I lack the energy to do much and a friend of mine tells me it is normal and to just take the moods as they come and grieve. Well... okay. I don't like it much to be honest. I spoke to my sister today, my mother, she and I seem to be going through the same thing. We thought for sure getting through my father's funeral was the hard part but we are finding that day three after the funeral is harder, and today is harder than yesterday was.

So, I will knit...

I knit at work on my lunch hour. Yesterday I took my knitting out and found that my cat, the evil "little white cat", chewed on my bamboo circular needle. She chewed a rather large divot into the tip. I filed it with an emory board, filled the hole with polish, smoothed it with wax paper. Nothing works, after a bit of knitting it starts to catch again and the tip just may break off soon. So... I stopped at my LYS and bought a new circular needle. Bad Kitty!

On my needles right now:
A toe up sock I can't figure out what to do next.
the baby blanket
sock #2 - Jaywalker

I feel so incomplete, I don't have enough projects started!!! :)

Sock Crazy x 3!

2007-03-31T18:50:00.000-04:00

Lets talk about spoiled. My exchange pal, Sock Crazy, has been just the best. Over the course of the time period I have received packages from her. ::Hugs!!::

Today I received a Symphony candy bar!! yum. And two skeins of yarn from Mango Moon. The black is an acrylic/nylon/spandex mix and the other is Viscose, hand spun in Indonesia. I already have an idea for the viscose, it is so colorful!

This exchange has been great fun and thank you so very much Sock Crazy!

Sock Crazy Strikes Again!!

2007-03-20T17:07:00.000-04:00

A surprise in the mail today from my secret spoiler. My FIRST Lorna's Laces!!!! And how colorful. I just love it. Also came a spiral bound notebook perfect for my purse and this will be my "official" knitting notebook. And yum!! A Heath bar. My daughter was already eyeing that but I draw the line at Heath!

Thank you!! Thank you, Sock Crazy!! I feel so spoiled.

Passing of the Ice Dragon

2007-03-19T12:23:00.000-04:00

So I went to Ice Dragon on Saturday. It is a SCA event that was held at a nearby Barony (Buffalo) of delightful and enthusiastic people. The day started off with this "nor'easter" and for the sake of description, lets just call it a BLIZZARD!! By the time I made it from my apartment to my car, my wool clogs were filled with snow and my salvars (16th century Turkish pants) which are thin and cottony were wet and I was cold. What a horrible drive into Rochester (I live about 20 miles east of) to the carpool meeting place of my friends house but it is amazing how we will travel for our hobbies! :)

Part of this event is an Arts & Sciences competition and it is really quite amazing to see pieces of art and objects of the middle ages recreated (as close as possible) from the research of a topic. There was mead there, wood working, clothing construction, scribal work, food and of course the fiber arts.

For about a year now I have been talking about getting good enough at the scribal arts to be able to do scrolls for the Kingdom and enter such contests but it amazes me how I have overlooked one huge thing. I am good at fiber arts. I have to learn scribal arts. Why am I not researching period dying, spinning and goodness ... Turkish Embroidery!!??? How blind we can be sometimes. For being such a fiber enthusiast I have missed the proverbial boat. Thank goodness I had a life preserver ::smirk::

So now I turn to what I have been good at for years and instead of marveling at the beauty and my love for the craft.. it is time to incorporate my love of history and blend the two together. I know there is history, I have not studied it much so it is time. :)

www.sca.org

Beee uuuu ttt iiii fullllllllll

2007-03-13T19:39:00.000-04:00

That is all I can say about the baby alpaca yarn I got from my secret swap buddy!!

I wanted something open and bouncy and have no idea how to look at a skein of yarn and figure out what to do with it. So I spent hours Saturday morning looking at scarf patterns. I had in my mind the desired effect I wanted with this yarn but had no idea how to make that happen.

Bravely I tried a pattern on straw.com and used a scarf pattern called Choo-choo + Mikado Ribbon Scarf. Nice and open like I wanted and it is soooo bouncy and soft. It ended up being very easy, I wasn't sure I understood the yarn wraps at first but once I was through the second row of dropping the wraps I did that... "Ohhh!!!! I get it!".

The scarf is exactly what I had in mind. Now if only my toe up sock were that, "Ohhh!!!! I get it!" I am stuck on how to start the heel and all that and reading the book is like reading a foreign language for me. :( !!! So... I am starting a pair of Jaywalkers! CUFF down!

Brand New Spring on the Longest Winter Ever

2007-03-10T19:33:00.001-05:00

I have lived an entire life not feeling like I quite belonged anywhere. I suppose I could blame my life on a not so nice man that was my biological father. We all have painful memories and I chose not to dwell on them and let him just be part of a forgotten past. However, born within this period of time is someone not quite comfortable in her own skin except during certain times in my life. I would tell any psychic that would sit and listen that I am sure that my traveling soul was not supposed to be here this go round. Once one of these sort of people told my mother and I that I had an old soul and my purpose in this life was to guide my Mother's soul through this lifetime. Well, when I look into the beautiful eyes of my daughter, that is exactly what I see. She is here to take care of me, there is a wisdom, and old wisdom that speaks in her eyes.

Now do not get me wrong. I am independent and while I can't seem to make a relationship last, nothing stops me (except funds) to do the things I really want to do, even if it has to be alone. I wanted to go to South Carolina, I drove there alone leaving my parents to wonder on my sanity and to worry about me. I wanted to weave, I wove. I wanted to spin, I did so. I wanted to get some college under my belt, I did that too. I have not sat back and not done things that interest me. I adore history... there is centuries of knowledge at my finger tips and daily I dabble in it.

As I have mentioned on and off, I left the world of fiber seven years ago or so. It was the wrong thing to do. It was depression of too much change and change that I wanted throwing me for a loop. During that time my love of fiber should have been my crutch and what got me through but it ended up shoved out of sight and in dark corners to be easily forgotten as I stepped into life to "find myself". Finding myself took facing that all of the thoughts and inner turmoil of wrongness (in my mind) was really a rightness that needed to be embraced. And so I did. Embracing it left behind what grounded me most, my own doing but I didn't want to take the time to look back, I wanted to look forward and live what I called an alternative lifestyle. I am not sure where I thought I had to give up something I love to move into something else I loved but well.. hindsight and all that.

During this time I changed so much that I am not sure who I am any more. The base is still there. I am still a talented woman with a taste for a different lifestyle but I have changed so much for so many people trying to fit in, be part of and wanted that I have lost track of who is really... me. The quest for embracing what I am has gone in severe peaks and valleys of feeling incredibly good to incredibly bad and the last two years has been a steady decline in my self confidence as a loss in faith in someone dear to me seemed to eat a rather large hole deep inside. It is harder when the heart is involved but this too shall pass. It has affected other people I relate to or don't relate to anymore and I don't quite have the blind faith in people that I did once upon a time.

The light goes on ... but I say that tongue in cheek because it seems my light goes on at an average of 6 or 7 times every 10 years!

A mere month ago I picked up my pointy sticks. The spinning wheel came out of the dark corner.. she was dusted and tenderly gone over as I apologized for overlooking the greatest of therapy and something I truly love. How many times did I tell people during these years.... "when I spin I am so grounded. The whirl of the wheel finds my mind drifting onward to good thoughts and a calm comes over me, I am in tune with mother earth... I feel so good". I am such a hypocrite. I talked the talk but did not walk the walk for SEVEN YEARS!

And so I start again. I want to knit and I want to do it well. I always wanted to knit but loved spinning and weaving more. I seem to need to knit now and so I will (I am sure this is my Grandmother taking care of me). My spinning wheel will not be neglected because of it but delving back into this world I know even if I am a bit rusty I realize I know things, I am good at something and I can be fantastic at it all. I was very good at all of this before and now I will be better. Already my confidence in a simple scarf project today has soared. I am a creature of consistency and this scarf, as simple as it is, has reminded me row after row that I have something to offer because I am giving life to this object that I will cherish. The last years has been so inconsistent that I feel at a loss and had stopped caring about much.

Picking up my pointy sticks has revived my caring and outward giving. I may not have a lot but there are so many without so much more than I. I am taking on the Dulaan project with year round commitment of knitting. If I can get one child to school or one adult to work simply by keeping them warm then I have done something good for the world. There will be other charity's as well as I get better (and faster) at knitting. I have sent care to a woman I don't know because it felt like the thing to do. Yes, pushing outward is the best therapy of all.

And so here I am at a brand new spring. My long seven year winter is finally coming to a close and inside of me is a wealth of good things brimming at the surface to overflow into creation, beauty and sense of self. Perhaps I do not belong in this life, perhaps I missed the bus to my correct place of travel for this soul I carry this life but it will pass through having the knowledge I can feed it for the next.

It is good to be home.

Sock Crazy strikes!!!

2007-03-07T21:49:00.000-05:00

Looooky! My secret pal sent an envelope to me and inside is this delicious baby alpaca yarn and I am telling you it is so soft!!! I just may have to sleep with it tonight, hehe. Tootie rolls included, yum!

Thank you secret buddy!

This shows the colors best.........

Toe up madness!

2007-03-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

Well, my fear to start up a toe up sock with very limited knitting experience has turned out to be not so bad. If I don't look at the entire picture and just do the toes, then the pattern to the ankle, and so on, I should be fine. This is the first pattern I have done. The sock pattern I have done was a 2/2 rib. I know know how to do M1, YO and kf&b! Kf&b was a bit messy at first! Hehe.

Roots

2007-03-06T11:42:00.000-05:00

I spin and weave MUCH better than I knit but I find I don't miss the weaving and I am just loving this exploration of knitting. Perhaps I am a born knitter after all. While my resume is a couple pair of socks, I am now ready to embark and learn to make everything!

I remember my Grandmother. I was her girl, she and I had this connection that never needed words much as my Mother and sister have their connection. She was from Scotland, had come over to the US when she was 16. She was separated and lived alone for a great many years, divorce was unheard of in those days so she worked a full time job taking the bus to and from work in Akron, Ohio. When we would visit I would just cling to her; not that she would let me get two feet away from her!

She would sit in her chair in the evenings drinking her "wee ticky" of scotch and with me in her lap, arms around me, she would knit like there was no tomorrow. She was a smoker too I remember and one cigarette after the next would burn away in the ashtray as she forgot about it while trying to teach me to knit. I don't know how she did it to be honest. A wiggling grade schooler in her lap, watching her shows on tv and paying attention to everyone else in the room and still knitting with an amazing speed and accuracy. At one point she gave me a pair of big pink metal needles (which I have today, when she died I was given all of her knitting needles and crochet hooks) and some gaudy yarn of the old days. It was acrylic, she did use wool for particular projects and I can't clearly remember what she made beyond the winter garb my sister and I got from her. I also remember her sewing us top and pant sets for school. But this knitting she taught me was intended to be a scarf and while it started at about 20 stitches when I left Ohio.. it was about 60 stitches once in New York! So discouraged it had to wait until our next visit and once back in her chair with her while she professionally critiqued my work she would be encouraging while telling me it was beautiful and the trick with this project would be... it was then she would list things I could do with my fabric what were not the intended scarf. That scarf ended up being a dress for a doll and I was thrilled at having become a designer! Back to New York I would go with another scarf on my needles.

My knitting never got much past that point. She was patient but I was a kid and soon into horse back riding and friends and running about the countryside as an active farm kid. Today I wish I could sit with her and knit. I would love to hear her talk of Scotland and her childhood while learning everything she knew about knitting. Knitting was like breathing for her. I remember she crocheted too but that is something I never took up.

I wonder now at this need to knit. The last 7 years I have been a very restless soul and perhaps she is guiding me to a place of peace and balance. I know she has been with me for all these years and it was here in this craft that we had a strong connection.

How I miss her. How I miss the roll of the r off her tongue with her brogue as she spoke my name and always she would call me "Sharon darling".

My Secret Pal

2007-03-05T06:13:00.000-05:00

It seemed like only a day before I got a post card in the mail from my Secret Pal for the L&V Pron Exchange. How exciting this is as it is my first! exchange. *holds up the card for all to see*

Already I feel spoiled, see how easy I am? Hehe.

Thank you Secret Pal!

On the wheel

2007-02-27T18:39:00.000-05:00

The wheel is out and on it is a nice merino/angora blend. I want to see if I can spin it fine enough for a three ply sock yarn then dye it when it is done.

STR!!!!!

2007-02-27T18:31:00.001-05:00

Can we say YUM?????? :)

To be forgotten...

2007-02-24T15:37:00.000-05:00

I dropped out of the fiber world rather abruptly about 6 years ago. I am not sure what I was thinking at the time. My daughter and I moved from our house that we were so rooted in and moved to a "so-so" apartment but nothing seemed the same and my enthusiasm sucked. I missed all my gardens and my routine as I was now back in the world of work and commuting while trying to deal with an angry 8 year old suffering a broken family. I am blessed with the sweetest daughter ever so thankfully her anger never manifested into anything I couldn't handle. I did other things that required nothing of me really. Video cames just eat brain cells and that was perfect for me at the time. Suddenly, the games are gone, I probably won't go back to "Evercrack", it is a pointless expenditure of energy when I love medievil history and everything about it. I love learning, I love being creative and I love fiber. Spinning always grounded me, it was meditation for me. My place to be just me. Why would I push away things that made me feel smart and part of something bigger. I have a bag full of ribbons from the NYS State Fair, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and the Fingerlakes Fiber Festival. Why didn't those inspire me to continue what I was good at? I always took a great pride that if the world were wiped out and I was one of a handful of survivors that I would be instrumental in the groups survival with my skills in weaving, spinning, gardening and so on. A quirky pride but all mine! :) So now I have come back to my world; a world I always loved. I am a dream loom short but I have everything still, I just packed it away "just in case".

So now the true test. Showing up to old haunts even if I feel intimidated. What if I am not remembered... or they can't place me but know they know me. What if I get "the look" as if I abandoned the entire group? I don't intimidate easily but I am not always hugely confident either but for weeks I have been thinking of stopping at the Sheel & Wool shop that is not even three miles from my house. And so today I awoke and said.. if you clean out that refrigerator and wash it out, you can get a treat at Louise's. See, I am my own enabler! And a very proud enabler too. Maybe that was my way of challenging myself to break out of my self imposed shell. In some ways I am very much a wall flower but bravely cover it up with a forced outgoing personality. It is not easy for me to step up and be heard in most situations but I do it.

And so.. I drove up the driveway and parked. The shop was open and down I went to a place I was a regular at. A place where I took classes, a place where I taught one intermediate spinning class; a place where my friends would congregate. Louise, the owner, saw me across the shop and immediately asked, "Is that Sharon I see?" A rush of feeling very good, I was remembered! She came straight for me and after a wonderful embrace and well wishes to each other, she even knew I had not been there for five years. How wonderful it was to be remembered. All it took was taking that one step. I am not sure why it took many weeks to do this but it is now done AND!! on Tuesday nights I have a place to go and sit and knit with others who gather there. New friends on the horizon while catching up with old.

The fiber community is one of the more warm communities I have been involved with. The SCA is as well and yes, every community has their uppity sorts that bring on that roll of eyes but those are few and far between.

I am so glad that I am back.

My very first "Sock Yarn"

2007-02-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! In the mail today was the first delivery of too much sock yarn I have purchased since last Friday. I have a spinning fiber stash but I don't have a sock yarn stash.. yet!

Oh wait, I do!!! I am knitting a pair of socks so anything extra IS stash! I have arrived! *chuckle*

So.. my first arrival *holds it up cuz camera battery says exhausted.. grunt* is Schaefer Anne from Simply Socks in the grapevine colorway.

From watching the posts, everyone put their yarn into a ball from their ball winders. Well I know where my ball winder is but someplace in this apartment is a missing umbrella swift!

One Sock Done!!!

2007-02-19T12:00:00.000-05:00

Yippppeeeeee!!

I am not good with my digital camera but all of my indoor shots come out so dark (any suggestions?). This is enhanced in PSP but that is a raspberry color yarn. It is Plumberry SheepsWool yarn by Brunswick. I found it in my old stash and decided to use something old to relearn to knit this one pattern I understand!! :)

OMG! and...

2007-02-18T17:24:00.001-05:00

STR!!!

Stop me!!!!!!!! lol

And...

2007-02-18T14:50:00.001-05:00

Mystical Creations.....

Weee... Purchases!!

2007-02-18T14:09:00.000-05:00

Friday I paid off my car!!! And bought sock yarn :) :) :)

I bought four colorways of Lisa Souza's yarn. My luck to get her on a show week! I am patient, I am patient, I am patient!! *not really but repeats and repeats*

And! I bought one Shaefer Anne (sp?).

So it seems this obsession will be no different than my wool obsession, book obsession, et al.

And.... seems I am still looking at a few other yarns... *big surprise*

Woolgasm!

2007-02-11T17:42:00.000-05:00

As if no fiber enthusiast knows what that means!

That is the one word that can describe my first Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I was so excited and had a wad of money to just throw at merchants there and I did! And it was indeed, better than sex! Haha.

I was like a kid at a fair who had never seen one. My girlfriend Teresa had already been to the festival so knew what it was like. Our husbands so patient and didn't seem to complain about the constant trips to truck and station wagon to deposit our new found purchases. I just glowed in a smile for weeks after then when I really looked, I had bought enough material to spin for at least 10 years. But wow.. to go there again.... someday!

Welcome!

2007-02-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

I feel like I am climbing out of a seven year depression and maybe I am. I won't bore you with details but in a nut shell I was married, had one child at home and one child on his own. My days were filled with my gardens, fiber this .. fiber that.. more fiber this.. more fiber that. My best friend and I were lucky enough to both be home during the day and we had guild functions, shop functions, dye days in the drive way, spin in's, Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, New York State Fair, Fiber Seminars and more events, projects, etc than I could ever list.

I decided I was not happy in this marriage and in divorcing ended in a small apartment and I think it was then that I really felt the weight of my decisions. (Decisions I would never change.) I tried to stick with my fiber arts, it being the one thing I loved but it all ended up put away and I let my energies go elsewhere. Well, the last month has been an enthusiasm to dive into all of my projects once more and oddly, found I forgot so much over the last 7 years!

I have enough fiber to spin for the next 20 years, I have piles of handspun wool to play with. I did sell my 12 harness loom a few years ago because I felt it was more of a crime having it sit in storage than being used by an artist. The spinning wheel is out, the fibers are sorted, the knitting equipment is found, the spinning equipment is found except for the drum carder but I think I know where it is!

So here I leap into my love of fiber again. My goals are to get that spinning wheel working again and my skill level back to what it was. My novice knitting "under control" and lifted to the level of advanced beginner, lol. Felting! I have the basics but never took the time to really learn it and do it well.

I smile all day, even my friends that see me daily say it is like I opened the curtains and the sun came in. I truly think it was the loss of home yet I did not realize this.

The only thing missing is Teresa, my best friend who moved to Indiana. However we will just have to stay close by other means!