The Early Bird Gets the Early Worm

And thus goes the saying that I most should keep in my mind. I have noticed that it has been quite awhile since I last posted. Much has happened, much has been spun, much has been knit (I love the passive voice) in the interrim. The knitting is going well. I just started A's Hanukah present today, and I'm happy with how it is turning out. I am almost finished with the SKB, but it's not yet to a stage that I would like anyone to yet see me in.
A couple of weekends ago, we went out to the McT's farm for a photo op. I thought to share some of the lovely results (courtesy of B's camera and A's computer). Shetland sheep are absolutely adorable and so friendly (when given the proper incentive).

A and I sat down on the manger amidst the wool and sheep, and there we knit. Electra was rather cooperative. A is wearing, by the way, the SKB that I am working on making (half a sleeve, the neck and I will be ready to block it).



That is, until she decided to wander off to greener pastures (i.e. outside), the yarn I was knitting got tangled around here and both my yarn (homespun!) and my project (fingerless gloves!) dissappeared out of the barn.

To make matters worse, three other sheep got spooked by our trying to rescue my yarn from Electra. They in turn dragged my yarn through the pasture (muddy!) and managed to wrap it around three separate posts in the process. I still haven't gotten up the courage to look at it or wash it. *Sob* And here are the sheep, looking very unrepentant.

In other news, I finished and sent off my Inuyasha swap package to my partner, C. Mom called me at work today to let me know that my side of the swap package had arrived. Hooray! I can't wait to get home to open it. I have some pictures, but they didn't turn out the best. I need to take the pictures during the day rather than at night. The lighting in our house is just hideous. At least the overhead light in th ekitchen is now finished. It hasn't been working for the past few months, so it is an enlightening (ouch*) experience.

Ta for now, we are almost to closeing at work.

A discourse on the subject of buses

Don't get me wrong, I love riding the bus. And I think that the bus system in Eugene is okay (not necessarily great, but okay). And I have been riding the bus since childhood. I, however, do not appreciate being left in the cold and the rain.
Yes, dear readers, the bus left 4 of us today at the Amazon Station, just drove right past us. And this, I might add is from a bus that cannot possibly be overcrowded, as it is a bus that is articulated (meaning that it has an extra caboose on the back). No, it drove right on past, as happy as you please. Stupid busses.
Thankfully, there was a girl who had her car and drove the poor stranded students, that being us, to school. Stupid busses.
Onto a happier note, I have no pictures for all y'all (did you like that A? I used the proper 2nd person plural!) because I am to lazy to transfer pictures to my camera. Maybe I will add them later. If I had pictures, I would post that I am working on the following with some sucess:
1) A cabled hat from handspun that I made from leftovers from the fibre guild at the U of O (It's about half way)
2) The SKB, yes, I am still working on it, but I am about to bind off the bottom of the body. I think, however, that I shall take S advice and knit a little extra and hemming it under.
3) A purple feather/fan scarf. This is almost finished...finally. I have half a skein left.
4)My Inuyasha swap, I have my small project finished, and have finished mapping out the big project...I just have to go find the bits for inbetween (sounds like its time for a trip to ECC and Sunrise Food Market...oooh, I could do that on the way home from work!). I am soo excited. I just hope my partner likes what I'm making her. I'll post pictures when I'm done.
Now I have to go home and take pictures so as to add them.

Pictures (Katie's projects)

Hey, look, I figured out how to post! Why'd it take so long? Well, my digital camera had no battery life, that and well, I just haven't. But yes, pictures! What have I been doing up here in the northern waistlands of Washington?
Well....




First we have a picture of the stuff I've done on the knifty knitter, or peg loom, as I like to call it. My second, third and fourth attempts at hats, which turned out pretty good. The first one I already donated, seeing as I'm making them for charity. Although the red and yellow one isn't cause my mom claimed it, and well, it is my real first attempt at multi-strand patterning ever...unless the scarf counts. That scarf has so many issues with it, and it didn't turn out at all like I had planned, but oh well, it too is getting donated, so someone will have a nice warm (almost too warm) scarf.





Next we have my two scarfs, the one on the right was made first, same pattern. I love this pattern, it's so damn cool and I don't get sick of it!! But the first one turned out better than the second, mostly cause of the type of yarn. And although this picture doesn't show it, both are of decent size, it's just that the first one dwarfs the second so it looks small, but it really isn't. Still don't know what I'm goinbg to do with the second scarf.









Then we have my second attempt at peg knitting a scarf, which peg knitting this yarn is a heck of a lot easier than knitting it. I couldn't see the stitches when I tried to knitt it. And that's my second scarf on the loom there, which will be wider than the first one, which is a good thing, cause you can't quite tell from this picture, but my first one is impossibly skinny AND long! It's hugely long, actually. I think it's one of those things you have to see in person.

So that's me. I'm also working on peg knitting a shawl, which I forgot to take a picture of, so I'll put that up when I'm done :) I really like knitting on these things, actually, a lot more than I figured I would.

But yes, by the way, Miriam, I like the 'wrist supports' as you put it, or someone put it, or whatever. But yes, very nice. :D

Of Mice and Cats

This post is a tribute to my wonderful cat. Recently I have found myself taking lots of pictures of her. In thinking upon this desire, I wonder if it stems from the worry that my cat is going to pass on sooner rather than later-she is about13 years old now and no spring chicken). I am sure she will live many more years, but I am growing more aware of her mortality. Recently she lost a great deal of weight because she lost a tooth, and she can no longer eat big cat dry food (she can still eat the kitten sized stuff). She's putting on more weight now (I keep feeding her as much as I can), but I do worry.
In any case, I recently put my mind to making her and Baxter (the Siamese) catnip mice. So far I have only made one, but Baxter doesn't seem to show much interest (possibly because Mayumi (my cat) has drooled all over it) and so I may not make another for him. Mayumi, on the other hand, is absolutely enamoured with the mouse. I am a bit worried that it will fall apart from her worrying over it (no pun intended) but so far it has stood up to her teeth and claws.
Last week Mayumi caught a real mouse... and killed it (Happy day, we have a slight problem with mice in our house right now). Mayumi deserted her mouse, and Baxter decided to play with it. Whereupon it dissappeared for two days.
You know where it reappeared? MY BAG!
On my way to school I found it between my Chem book and my notebook. I picked it up, thinking it was a piece of yarn or lint, and to my horror, it was soft and squishy. ICK!
Thank you Baxter.And now Mayumi is sick of me taking pictures of her, so I will entertain you with my recent knitting exploits. I finished the boucle fingerless gloves I was working on last post, unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of them finished for you peoples. I am working more on the SKB, Asher and I both worked on ours last night at knitting, and I am finished with the lace band on the body. My Harry Potter scarf is getting longer, slowly. I am a little over halfway done. I still haven't gotten up the courage to take up my snowdrop shawl again. It just hurts so much to rip parts of projects out.
I am going now, lunch calls my name sweetly and urgently.

Noru Fingerless Gloves

It's been awhile since my last post. Sorry...some times it's hard to get up the energy to take photos and use the internet, etc.
I have been working on a couple of projects, none of them the big ones though. I have been abandoning the SKB (Simple Knitted Bodice) and the Yarn Harlot Shawl. More progress has been made on the Harry Potter Scarf, I am now about halfway done, it's about time for another (better) picture of the scarf. I only work on that during class, and I seem to get about 40 rows done per class (wow!).
My latest finished project is: These are my Noru Fingerless Gloves which I have ripped out like 3 times and remade countless others. I like the yarn and all, but it took me awhile to find the right needle size (I settled on US 10s), and I first started them in the round. I am quite happy with how they turned out, although they were supposed to be for one of my housemates, and they are too small for her. Oh well, they're mine now! They are knit garter with a scalloped, crochetted border for the buttonholes. You can't really see the buttons, but I found some really cute ones with fleurs on them. Someone in choir commented, "They look like wrist supports." I'm feeling a little insecure about that still...















In other news, I am making a second pair out of a wool worsted and a mohair boucle (from Maggi I think), these are for a friend for her birthday, I know they don't look like much yet, but I have now finished one, and am working on the second. I'm having fun making them, and they knit up quick. The only problem is: My friend's birthday party is this Saturday, and I am halfway done with the second one. Ack! Oh well, this afternoon I am going to go to the fabric store for buttons. Yay! Field Trip.














In other news: My mom came home Wednesday with 4 big bags full of black walnuts, does anyone want any for dyeing or anything? I can't possibly use that many. Please...think of my sanity.

School

I am now into my second week of classes at LCC. In case anyone was wondering, I am taking Chem 104. Let me tell you, this class is boring. I am really hoping that it will pick up and become more interesting. Please God! I would really like to stay awake in the class. Speaking of staying awake, here is my newest "in class" project. Sorry the lighting isn't very good, I took these pictures before I left for class, and it was at 7 am, thus bad lighting. For those of us who can't see colour very well, this is a Gryffindor scarf for moi. I have wanted one for years, and never actually bothered to make one. As fiber duck pointed out, there are patterns online that have the figurings for the correct number of stripes to do down to the stitch count and everything...but I am doing a scarf from the Philosopher's stone, not the later ones. Those are nice and chunky, like mine. I am doing this on Clover 30 cm 9s, the stitch gauge is 5 to the inch, it is in the round, and my stripes are 20 rows (in case anyone had the hankering to know the knitty gritty details, no pun intended).



















Last week I went to Dye Lots, a big mistake. I ended up coming away with this:




















This being a spindle from Spindlewood made from purple heart. I really like it, it is nicely balanced, and pretty too! That is a big consideration when you are going to be looking at it for long hours while spinning yarn upon it. The wool on it is a grey merino that I got at the Puyallup fair this Spring. I am going to ply it with some handpainted merino, so that should be interesting.

In other news, I found this last weekend. It is a skeing of worsted wool from who knows how long ago, which I found for 10 cents at a garage sale. Any ideas?

Flock and Fiber

Flock and Fiber was great fun! I went last Saturday with my Mom (who I think enjoyed herself) and I came home with Fiber Duck and Ewe Spinster. I got some roving, well...lots of roving actually. Maybe not as much as some, but I bought 1 lb of baby alpaca, not roving, but cleaned already, and some mystery bats, which I am spinning right now.
Well, I broke down and bought a new wheel. I don't yet have pictures of it on my flash drive, so I can't post the pictures... next week for that. Her name is Clothos, in case you were wondering. More tales of that to come. (Erin, do you want a spinning wheel?)

Finally I have pictures of my fir cone shawl up! I finished her before summer, but I haven't posted the finished shawl. Baaad Miriam... The bushes outside my house made a lovely backdrop for these pictures. That, by the way, is the butterfly bush that my Aunt Sara planted to attract hummingbirds. My cat, Mayumi, loves it. She used to bring us little presents all the time. My aunt, for some reason, did not like these "presents."

I also have my next project lined up. I have four skeins of the ultra alpaca from Berocco (that's 400 grms at 215 yards per skein), and I am looking for advice on a project to do. Any suggestions? It should be enough for a sweater for me...

Spinning

I am currently at Theo's waiting for knitting group, so I though that I would take advantage of the internet cafe here (again). I also have my flash drive, so I can post some pictures of my lovelies for all of you to see.
Currently I am getting ready for OFF (Oregon Flock and Fiber) which I am going to with my Mom. We are leaving Friday, and coming back Sunday, so it should be a fun trip. Like I need any new roving. Speaking of new roving, here is a picture of my spiffin' birthday loot:














In case you are wondering, there is fabric (a rayon blend), blue kid mohair locks, a button tape measurer, baby alpaca roving (4 ounces) a bookmark, some pink fire star, and some mohair/silk roving which is not in the picture because it is currently on my wheel. And of course, chocolate....yummy.
In other news, I just finished the hedgehog from fibertrends, and here is a picture of the cute little bugger: He was so easy to make, I think that this one is even easier than the sheep. Next I want to do the squirrel, cause he's sooo cute. Plus Baxter would probably looove to play with it (Baxter, the cat, enjoys terrorizing the squirrels). Maybe it would distract him from my yarn.




I also have been spinning a lot recently. Ariadne has been getting a lot of use from me. Mom has permenantly claimed Helen, which I am sort of irked about...There's something about naming objects that makes them so much harder to let go of, you know? Helen, in case you are wondering, is my 2nd wheel, an Ashford Traditional, and I have had her for 3 years now. I feel like Mom is enroaching upon my territory.

More adventures in picture land

Today I had quite an adventure. By that I mean that I walked all over town trying to post pictures.
Yesterday I purchased a brand new spiffy, shiny, etc. flash drive for my own use. Yay! I put my pictures on to said flash drive (I haven't named her/him yet, though I think "Zippy" might work) and today I trundled off to the library to post. My first stop was the Knight Library at the UofO (even though I am not a student there), but to my eternal disappointment, I couldn't find a single computer with a USB port on it. So I thought: "I shall hop skip and jump (not reall, but I did walk) over to EPL (our public library) where I know they have internet and computers." And so I walked (through the rain I might add) over to EPL. Only to find out, upon arrival, that all the computer's USB ports are not functioning and have not done so for the past three weeks. So moping home I came.
I did, however, meet a very nice Bulgarian lady at the bus stop who took out her knitting when she saw mine. I din't catch her name, I had to run and get my bus, but we had a lovely time chatting and trying to make ourselves understood. She was knitting with the yarn circling behind her neck, and she said that this was to keep the yarn straight, and I might have to try it. Though it looks to me like a recipee for disaster (I have cat genes in my blood, and I might just wind up with a knot around my neck).
In other news, Mom has decided that the spinning wheel of mine which she is using is hers; she is now referring to it as "mine." For some reason, this just bugs me to no end. This might have something to do with when she took one of my projects on the wheel and finished the bobbin because she "couldn't find all of hers." It's getting really aggravating.
***
Okay, pictures are still not working (I tried three times now, and took Carolyn's advice). I will try going to the Knight Library again (apparently I need to go up to the 2nd floor) later to add pictures to this post.
***
Edit: I am now in an internet cafe, so here are the pictures I was going to post:
This is me and my new spinning wheel, Ariadne. I have had her for two months, and I love her!












And here is a new scarf I made from Noru, it is a multidirectional scarf. Now I just have to find someone who likes the pinkness.

Thinking I should update more frequently...

Here is my newest attempt to post pictures. Sorry I haven't updated for so long, I just have so little incentive to do so when I can't show you all my lovelies.
I am currently working on:
1) The snowdrop shawl from the yarn harlot
2) A pair of fingerless gloves for Lorinn out of some Noru yarn (I think it's lotus)
3) The simple knitted bodice pattern with Rowan felted tweed
4) Fixing up my silly loom (which all I need to fix it being s hooks of peculiar sizes)
I think that's it, but there might be more I can't think of right now. I also have a bunch of projects I recently finished which I should post at some point. Just as soon as I get a flash drive and figure out my libraries new internet system. I will give it one more try today though.

***
Post Picure edit (post as in after rather than in the writing type).
It took my about 12 minutes to upload the picture (one singular picture, I will see if it takes longer with more of them)...and that was about the limit of my patience for sitting at the computer waiting. In the meantime I got out my snowdrop shawl (which is getting close to finished) and knit a row. Agh, it now takes about 10 minutes to do a row.
In other news, I am waiting with baited breath to see when my down stuff will come out of the wash. Asher (to whom I shall soon post a link) said that I should wash them regularly and then tumble dry them low. So, that's what I'm doing. I'm a little nervous because my mom has raised me to fear the washer and dryer. I always get this feeling that if its not a heavy cotton that it will fall apart as soon as it falls into the washer. Since I have a lot of things that are not cotton, this is a wee problem for moi.

This picture is of my red flannel coat which I made at the begining of the summer. I have just now been able to start wearing it again, and I am so happy. It's really difficult to find times to wear a full length, lined coat during the summer months. It's nice and roasty toasty warm.

I just tried to post a picture again, and this time it didn't work. Oh well, I will try again tomorrow.
Ta all!

Emmeline and Trolls

Okay, here I am in Maine, still having trouble posting pictures. But for now I want you all to know that my family is wierd!
I watched the other night a video called "Emmeline," which although, is not about an anscestor of mine, interviews relatives of mine, and they are wierd. Anyways, wierd story:

Emmeline is about a woman in the 19th century in Lafayette, Maine. As a 13 year old (or so) she was packed off to the mills to work and send money home to her poor family. There, away from her families protection, she fell in love with her boss in the mill and got pregnant. She gave away the child to a family there and in return they paid for her return trip to Maine.
Much later in life, she met a man who had come to work on a road with a work party. They fell in love and were married.
Later his family came to meet the new bride and congratulate the couple. To their horror, they recongnized the bride, she was their son's biological mother! Emmeline had married her son! Well, the marriage was immediately annuled, and the groom went home and left Emmeline to be ostracized by the community of Lafayette.
This was a very interesting PBS special, and has interviews with very interesting characters. I have to show you guys this.

In other news, you guys should go here: http://www.hatchlingshorts.com/
The "Toll," you will notice was directed by Zachary Pike, my cousin. It's wicked cool! It is a 3D short documentary on a Bridge Troll with interviews. It is absolutely hilarious. What they have posted so far is just a preview, they are showing the actual short at ComiCon in Sandiego. I hope they do well! The troll's story is so heartrending (I have to say that or the troll might come after me!).
Another one is "Mordred's Isle," which is a take on Survivor from a D and D perspective. It includes such great bits as a "+6 cloak of charisma" for picking up chicks and a kraken, and Juan the Bard. Check it out.
The third bit on there is a long (30 minutes) live action spoof of the DaVinci Code, which is called the "Norman Rockwell Code." I have yet to watch it all the way through, and it is not quite so amusing as the others, and if you don't know Norman Rockwell. But it is an amusing way to spend half an hour.
Well, that's enough for now.
Miriam

I miss you all!! :( Just thought I'd drop a line to let whoever still reads this that I mis them, and Pirates was much fun! We'll have to meet up and do something like that again. (ANd if it includes pirate costumes, then even better!!)

So I'm going to Florida the first week of August, lol. This whole Florida trend with the roomies makes me laugh. Ok Mack and Katie, when are you guys gonna go?!

Just to let ya'll know what I am doing...well, it's not much- haha. I've been in for a few interviews, and I have another on the 1st. I think I have a pretty decent shot at the State of Oregon job, so cross your fingers!!

Well, I hope the summer is treating you all well. And I hope it's cooler where you are, cuz it's NASTY here right now (105 degrees yesterday or some such EEEEVIIIILLLL). Love you bunches! :)

Greetings from the Lands of the South

A new post! Fancy that! Well, I'm sure that no one actually reads this anymore, but I will still try. I haven't been posting because my computer no longer has internet, so I have to use mom's. And we have dial up here at home, so posting is slow. And, to further complicate things, I couldn't find the cord to use for connecting my camera to the computer. I found it, and here I am.
Well, what has Miriam been up to, you ask? I have 1) a scarf out of Noru that I am working on ( a wool, angora, silk blend) that I got for 75% off at Ben Franklin's. I am making it into a bias scarf, and I love the yarn! (No pictures yet, they didn't turn out very well).
2) An undershift with four panels and lots of gores! No, not the blood, guts kind, but the cool triangular kind...sorry to disappoint y'all. It is out of a white cotton, and I am happy with how it turned out, I'll post a picture later, it is currently in the wash pile.
3) A skirt out of a rayon brocade. Again, in the wash pile, no pictures. Laterz.
4) A coat in a burgundy flannel. I purchased the flannel ages ago at JoAnne's (actually, it was a 17th birthday present from Dad, I think). I lined it with a light pink cotton...and for y'all as advice: Sheets make great lining fabrics! I used a trim that is actually cut out of fabric scraps from a scrumptious velvet thingy (garage sale), and there is hand made! bias tape on it too. The closures are nice black frogs that I got from my local fabric store. It is finally finished and I loooove it! Here are pictures:
5) A shrug out of my homespun yarn, I think I posted a picture a while back... it is a pattern from knitty called "shimmer," although I didn't use the shinny yarn it called for. I really like how it turned out. I have pictures of this one too!

I just have to say that having a dress form is a wonderful thing. This was a gift from someone in my Dad's co-op in Seattle, and I have fallen in love with it! It makes hemming soooo much easier. Now my hems are actually straight, most of the time. But Erin, don't despair, I will always prefer a human dress-form (grins evily).
That really is all I have done so far. I went to Florida, where I have a 5 year old cousin. This meant I couldn't get much crafting done over there. That's okay, I had a blast playing with her. She is entirely too cute for her own good. I was lucky enough to be there when Alberto was going through, so the weather wasn't too bad most of the time, and I got some pretty pictures of the storm.

In other news, Erin, call me! I keep trying to get in touch with you, but no luck. Tickets? When? This weekend is the black sheep gathering, are you coming?
That's all for now, ta ladies and gents!

P.S. Sorry, no pictures quite yet, the computer seems not to want to let me post them, I'll work on that. Ta!

gradumutation

Hahaha! So I figured out how to post! Just wanted to say hi to ya'll and I MIIIISSSS yew!! I hope you all are having fun, keeping busy n stuff. I'm still waiting on a job. :( Hoping to work for the State of Oregon, but one of the jobs doesn't close til tommorrow so meanwhile I'm twiddling my thumbs. Oh well, I guess we'll see. Oh, I'm going to Florida next month! What are the odds that 3 out 5 of us roomies all went/are going to FL within 2 months of each other? It makes me laugh. Oh, and btw, we need to order tickets for Pirates soon. Since I do not have a job, I either need someone else to order them, or have people send me monies. Whoever orders them is going to have to order a TON cuz a bunch of people are going and we want to mke sure to end up in the same theater. I'll send out an email about that. Anyway, I miss you all and I hope to see ya'll soon!

Oh, and look! It's us! :)

Move out

Well, I am currently working on moving out and back to Eugene. Can I just say that I have lots of yarn and spinning fibre? Well I do.
Since I am moving, here is a tribute to my wonderful roommates (minus Sara cause I don't have any recent pictures of her uploaded from my camera).
I love that I have roommates who sew and knit! Here they are working on pirate outfits:
Erin and her blue silk/poofy shirt:














Erin and I in Mackenzie's skirt together (Mackenzie's skirt has like four yards of fabric, so this wasn't that much of a stretch). Notice the beautiful stripes. I must say, I wasn't quite so much of a fan of it on the shelf, but with a ruffle it is splendid.














And here is Mackenzie, not wearing the skirt, and trying to hide from me and my camera. She's still there, and looking a little cookie. Why are all my roommates crazy?














Here we have Katie getting ready to cut out pieces for her pirate garb. As of now she has some poofy pants finished and a vest to go with them.














And yes, I have been making things too. In the picture of me with Erin I am wearing a shirt that I made, not a very good picture though. And here is some yarn I made last week drying in the bathroom (towel racks are great for drying yarn!). I also made a coat for Katie out of some periwinkle blue wool with a boarstooth edging, finished a hat that I have been working on forever, and made myself an SCA dress (woot!). I have been a very crafty person the past week. I also started working on a shrug from knitty (that's right, I'm too lazy to put in the link right now), in my homespun.

Finals

Well, finals are coming up, and I have been working on finishing up a bunch of projects before leaving town. I will post my other projects this week to make up for my lack of posting last week. For now, here is my newest dyeing project:

I I used koolaid in green, yellow, red and blue to achieve this. Here is my roving soaking in warm water in our bathroom. Note: The sink is fixed! It now drains properly!














Next is the roving before it went in the stove, with the koolaid already on it. For some reason I have a devil of a time pouring anything, so the colours are a bit random.












Here is the roving hanging up to dry, and the yarn all finished. I am not entirely happy with the result, I think that the colours aren't bright enough. Katie thinks that her mom will like it though, so it will be a present for her.

Soup

Okay, I just made a new soup (for me at least), and I wanted to share with you all (that would be me, as one of the few people who actually read this), the recipee.

Miriam's Curry Potato Soup

Ingredients:
3 cups water
2 potatoes
3 small carrots (or two big ones)
1/2 cup of chopped green beans
1/2 a chopped onion
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder (to taste)
1 tablespoon chicken bullion
1/4 cup milk
1 tablspn butter

Directions:
Boil water in saucepan. Add chopped potatoes, carrots and green beans. Let simmer for half an hour (or until the potatoes are soft). Mash up potatoes in pot (they do not have to be 100% mashed, chunks are yummy), enough to make the soup creamy. Add onions, milk, butter, curry and bullion. Let cook for 10 minutes and add meat if you would like (I add maybe a quarter of a cup of sliced sausage.). Bon appetit! This serves 1-2 people depending on if you combine this with other dishes.

Fir Cone Shawl

In recent news: I am almost finished with my fir cone triangular shawl I am very happy with how it is turning out. I still have to add the edging, which is going slow. Very slow... I am currently almost half way done with the edging (7 repeats short), and have decided that it is at the ad nauseum state. Here are pictures for those of you out there who are curious.
Here is the beginings of my shawl back a month or so ago:














And here is it in its current state:














Yesterday it was absolutely beautiful out, I took Helen, my spinning wheel outside to play, and we quite enjoyed the sun. One of my aquaintances, Bret another History major, brought out his camera and took some pictures of us in action. I was spinning some lovely romney, mohair roving in a blue colour way from the fair.














Here she is later that day soaking up the sun through the blinds. I absolutely adore my spinning wheel by the way. I know that she is only a plain Ashford Traditional Wheel, but she fits the bill.

Shopping

Sorry I have been a bit delayed in posting. I have two capstones which I have been working on. This past week I had to devote a large chunk of time to them, and that left little time to post here. I have done a little spinning now that lent is over. I got Helen out of my closet, and played with some colonial top that I started spinning ages ago on a drop spindle. I am Navajo three plying it, and I hope to make socks out of it. As so much time elapsed between skeins though, I think that I will make socks, with one skein for the foot part, and one for a lacy decoration up the leg. What do you think?



















Well, I have had two restock trips in the past two days. Not that I needed more yarn or fabric... Anyways, I went to the Puyallup Spring Fair on Saturday, they have a section called the "Shepard's Extravaganza," and I found lots of fibre to play with. I got this stuff which is Merino for $1 an ounce (it's a pretty gray).














I also got this which is a merino, silk, mohair blend:














And this merino (I think its merino) roving in a navy with some purple.














The next shopping trip, Sunday, we went to JoAnne's. I usually don't buy anything there, but we are making costumes for the premier of Pirate's of the Caribean, so I needed something to go with my purple bodice. I found this, it is 100% silk, in a gold and black brocade. I have three yards of it, and it will go to a blouse and an overskirt for under the bodice. Unfortunately, I don't know quite yet what I will use for the underskirt, none of my fabric seems to work. I might have to find something from mom. The first picture is the fabric drying in our bathroom (it dried in like 3 hours, I love silk!) The second is a detail of the border that runs along one of the selvedges. That will be the edge on the sleeve, and the bottom of the skirt. It was a little spendy for me at 5$ a yard, but I figure that's pretty good for a silk brocade. It was 50% off. I also got some crimped silk that is tie dyed for a shirt or something. I took a picture, but my camera's batteries were running out.



















Well, that's all for now. Night.

--April 25th edit--
Pay Day! Hopefully it won't all go to the local yarn store...
In other news, Erin now wants a spinning wheel. I feel like she is progressing so well (she has joined the dark side). In other words, I feel like I need to announce this to the world:
As if this wasn't already obvious...

Easter Break

Well, Easter Break is over and done with, thus no posts for a little while. I forgot my camera, so no pictures from Eugene.
Let' s see, it was a fairly uneventful weekend. I got some new yarn. I can't remember the yarn company off the top of my head, but it is a two ply wool, alpaca, viscose blend. I have 6 skeins of 100 grams of this stuff. I love it. It is a burgandy colour in a tweed. The plan is a lacy shirt.

In any case, last Monday I went to one of the Immigration Reform Protest Rallies, this one in Seattle. It was quite fun, though most of the chants were in Spanish...
As usual, I was the one with the knitting project. Erin had a project, but it was buried in her bag under stuff. In the picture I am working on the Fir Cone shawl, which is getting bigger, I have almost three skeins on it so far, and have two more to go!
While we were there, I don't think I've ever seen so many cops in my life (except when the riot police came out in Peru in Arequippa for the taxi strikes). We saw bicycle cops, we saw car cops, we saw motorcycle cops, we saw foot cops and ones on horses. Well, there were 25.000 people or so there.














In other news, I just made a hat. I started it at about 4 or so, and finished it at 11pm. Woot! A one day hat! I will post a picture once it is all blocked etc.