Totem Pole

I can see now where I rank. This was taken about 5 minutes after I finished installing and putting sheets on the new mattress. Clearly they wanted to be my product testers.

It is quite nice to have a full mattress, however. How did I live with a twin for 36 years?

Imbolc

Yesterday was Imbolc and for the return of the light I lit a candle, made some incense and let the dog in / out of the yard a hundred times (well, 2). I resisted buying another rabbit, although they were very soft and on sale.

Progress continues on the Vernal Equinox shawl; at this rate I will have it done by then! I love the yarn so much that I may switch to it for every future project.

Finished another book, this time _American Gods_ by Neil Gaiman. It is a little difficult to describe, but was absolutely absorbing. If you like weird, Neil's your man.

Silk Shawl by Springtime

I don't have nearly enough projects in process, so I am going to take the plunge and complete a shawl for The Loopy Ewe's new challenge- silk.

I am going to make the Vernal Equinox Shawl by Wendy, and the yarn arrived today. It is a wool & silk blend in a lovely green.

The yarn has been made into a ball, some knitting needles have been selected, I read all the way through the pattern (well, skimmed) and am itching to get stitching.

See? It's Cece!

My friend Martha needed a cardigan for work. I began the knitting before I put that cup on top of the car and drove off. Oopsie.

I knit.

And knit.And then realized I decreased the fronts too sharply (100% too often). I had to rip out the neckband, the yoke and detach the sleeves. The project hibernated for a bit.

I eventually got my act together and reknit the fronts, the sleeves and the neckband. I even bought a button and sewed it on. Martha is wsarmer now. But if she still gets cold....There is always a warm corgi available.

Tour de Fleece 2011

Back in November of 2010, I picked up some dyed fiber at the So Cal Handweaver's show. This is a merino / silk blend dyed by Capistrano fiber arts. My plan for the fiber was to try and break out of my "rut" of using the same colors all the time. I wanted to ply two different colorways together and see what effect I got. I picked out one and Lori suggested the other.

Here is a picutre of the two colorways laid out in all their glory:

Then this July (2011) I decided to join the "Tour de Fleece" with the goal of spinning & plying these 4 oz into one fiinshed skein. It was a pretty respectable goal, as I done almost no spinning during the previous year, I wanted the project to be spun on a hand spindle and (not least) I began about a week into the tour, putting myself at the back of the pack. I started with the green / gold / purple first. I divided each colorway into 4 roughly equal sections to shorten the distance between color changes.

I managed to spin all of the darker colorway with no trouble and almost on schedule. Then I moved on to the sand / orange / purple. I did not enjoy this colorway as much, and it was quite difficult to stick with "the plan". The end of the tour came and went with this portion only about 1/4 complete. Into the project bag it went. I worked on it a little more later in November (a year from yarn purchase) when visiting with friends at this year's handweaver's show. Last weekend a friend hosted a spin-in and I brought it as my only project to try and get it finished at last. I almost made it, and finally finished the spinning Thursday afternoon.

I slid the two cops off onto knitting needles for storage and plied the yarns back onto the same spindle. After about 5 hours worth of work, here is approximately 4 oz of plied yarn. I wanted to make one skein with no breaks, and was successful. The spindle was quite heavy by the end, however.

The finished yarn, all skeined up. It needs a bath to set the twist and make it bloom, but the colors came out beautifully overall. Now I just need to figure out what project to make with it. Something knit, surely, and somewhat large. I may make a triangle shawl so that I can stop when I run out of yarn. A rectangle scarf would also be nice, or even a circular shawl. If I can't decide, I may get crazy and enter it into the county fair this summer.

I enjoyed spinning for the Tour and will do it again this year - hopefully with more planning and forethought. It feels good to finally finish a project and have a little more yarn in the "to knit" stash.

Velvet

Not With a Bang...

Not feeling so hot today... alternately nervous, depressed, cranky, listless and overwhelmed. Not the way I wanted to end the calendar year, especially one that has been looking up. Oh, there was work stress and money stress and my cat died, but the last few months have been happier.

I'll eat some cereal, quit watching tv so late, get on a regular sleep pattern and go to the spin- in tomorrow. That will all help. I was excited to take my spinning wheel, but now wonder if I am up to cleaning out the car, cleaning up the wheel, adding the new driveband, deciding on a project... blah blah blah. I am going and will have a good time, even if I bring "only" a spindle. I am still trying to finish my Tour de Fleece project from July, so it will actually be an excellent project to bring.

2007 was the year of being happy, 2008 I lost my boyfriend and my job, 2009 was the year of World of Warcraft & knitting, 2010 was the year of working again, 2011 has been the year of reading & more reading. My plan for 2012 is to make it the year of "finished!" projects. I have at least 16 urgent unfinished projects on the needles (or loom, or canvas) that I would like to see as actual completed items. The hard part will be picking 12 to complete. I figure if I complete one half-begun project each month, it should be a reasonable goal. All carrot, no stick - no restraints from starting new things or moving around in the queue, as long as one item is done each month. Hopefully it will rekindle the knitting bug. Maybe I will even take the plunge and spend some time with other knitters at the local knitting shop(s).

2011 Reading List (50 books)
Salt
Ireland
Skipped Parts
Weekend With Mr Darcy
Summer of Fire
The liberation of Alice Love
What the Dickens
Bond With Me
Blood Ties
Man Law
The Girl in the Greenhouse
The Return of the King
The Chamber 4 Fiction Anthology
Wicked
Blood Safari
Gap Creek
A Husband For Margaret
The Greatest Knight
Heart of a Knight
Silk & Steel
Wicked Promise
Murder at the Vicarage
Bright Young Things
Grace
The Scarlet Letter
The Two Towers
Listen
First there is a River
The Magnificent 12
Carved in Bone
Code Blue
County Line
The Last Unicorn
Life's a Beach
Four Corners of the Sky
My Man Jeeves
The Last Samurai
The Fellowship of the Ring
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Hobbit
13 Little Blue Envelopes
Dracula
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest
Bone Rattler
The Moonstone
Bertie Wooster & the Lizard King
Little Women
The Red Tent
Pride & Prejudice
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Lazy

Surprise day off from work today and I am spending it being lazy. Reading my book (_Bleak House_), playing my game, not doing chores. I may rally and put in some laundry later. I think the weather was nice (didn't actually go out or even look out a window today). I have a soap order to make - I'll get that started when the laundry is going.

In separate news, I was facebook stalking and found out my sister is getting married, and one one my aunts remarried. Also found this:

Sweet Sunday

I managed to get up and out of the house today as it was gardening day at Martha's. We cut back the roses & shrubs, harvested the lemons, snuggled the corgis and then it was time to make food from the fruit. Fruited spiced wine and lemon tart / pie were accomplished and eaten with gusto. I started to watch the BBC version of "Bleak House" and I think it will make a good series to watch while spinning.

Yes, spinning. I picked up a new drive band for my spinning wheel when I drove up to San Francisco last weekend; I visited John & Mrs. John at Village Spinning & Weaving. I figure now that I have it, I should end my two year spinning hiatus and get to work on the fiber I acquired at the fiber fairs this fall.

The pets are all snoozing - on the bed in little cat balls, or as little headless fluffballs on their perches. Maybe I should put the heater on.

Checking In

I took a moment to review my December posts from the last few years; it is good to see my life stays on an even keel over the long haul. Knitting, reading, compuer, pets, eating.

I took a week off work and had a lovely, quiet time (see above). I also drove to San Francisco to work at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair. I enjoyed the drive, visited my cousin, worked for my friends, saw a show, bought a new audio book and watched the ocean.

I started and finished a hat (and am wearing it now) and am about to start another.

This year was the year of reading more; I think next year will need to be the year of finishing UFOs.

Terrific Tuesday

Success! I have finally figured out how to use the lucet (lucette) I picked up at the handweaver's show a couple weekends ago. It took several viewings of a couple different YouTube videos before I cracked it, but now I am merrily making cord. It is so rythmic that I find it difficult to stop.

Almost done with Martha's sweater - just finishing up the neck band and then I need to tackle the sewing up. Not my favorite part, but I have my eyes on the prize - a finished object for my good (and cold) friend.

Another lightweight day at work today. I could get used to this. Looks like we will have Thanksgiving off, but will be working that Friday and Saturday for month end. Whee.

In the pet realm, the dogs got a treat of canned food tonight and I am still on "shed watch" for the snake. She is growing up so fast!

Mild Monday

Finished knitting the body of Martha's sweater today; only the neckband remains for knitting. After that comes blocking & finishing and delivering! Snuck in a couple rows on my own version of the same sweater last night. Only one or two more rows to go until I need to make the sleeves.

Played some quality WoW yesterday and today - upgraded the PvP gear, got my tailor levelled to 500, and tonight put half a level on my hunter. It is amazing that one makes progress if one applies oneself.

Went to the gym tonight and read a few pages of _Don Quixote_ on the reclining bike. I put in a solid 30 minutes and am feeling good. I go in to work late tomorrow, so I have a plan to go to yoga in the morning and later call to see if I can get into the Holiday Bazaar that they are hosting in December.

The snake is getting ready to shed - I will be excited to see if her coat pattern changes after this shed. Baird's hatchlings don't look anything like the adults, but I don't know what the in between stages look like. Only one way to find out!

11-11-11

Obligatory "cool date in history" post today. It was actually a pretty good day - lots of cheer at work and good knitting progress this evening. I fed the snake, finished another book, started the last skein of yarn for Martha's sweater, watched some programs on Netfix and patted the dog on the head.

I had the bright idea to have a card weaving workshop with my No Idle Hands friends/ group and now I am at that stage of preparation where I realize I have no idea what I am doing. On the other hand, fun is the important part... and I did a little prep work this week so it shouldn't be a total disaster.

No World of Warcraft this week, as I am trying to finish up the sweater, but I sure do miss it.

Mid Week Update

I am still knitting on the sweater for Martha. It is getting smaller and smaller! Odd, because it is also getting larger and larger. Managed to find the extra skein of yarn today, so I am no longer worried that I will run out before the end.

Worked on a gauge swatch for the mitts for Margaret, size 2 needles are definitely the way to go. Next step: determining size and casting on. Some math may be involved.

I haven't touched the spindle or my darling World of Warcraft, but have found a little time to do some reading on a mediocre book that was a free Friday offering from Barnes & Noble. It is just barely good enough to keep my interest.

Time to evict the cat off the laptop, find a movie on Netflix and get knitting!

Fiber Frolic

Tonight I buckled down and added some more rows to Martha's sweater. I could even finish it some day. I'm still loving the pattern, the yarn, the color and am motivated to finish my own (in the same pattern) when this one is complete. There has been a nip in the air this week; definitely time for handknits. I need to make some typing gloves to use at work as it has been just freezing in the office and my hand flexibility and coordination is slipping away.

Sunday was the annual Southern California Handweaver's show & sale. I am never happier than when I am surrounded by fiber. The Yarn Harlot calls it wool fumes - she may be right. I saw several friends and acquaintances and had some nice long visits (some nice short visits too). There were some "classic" vendors and some new folks, all with interesting and beautiful wares. Fiber, patterns, finished goods, accessories, beads, yarn, equipment; it is all "home" to me.

Fran decided she wanted to try out a navaho spindle and it looked so fun that I gave it a whirl too. It is just spinning off the point (like my charkha), only upright. It came pretty easily but I don't know that I would ever want to finish an entire project on one. Maybe if I had a navaho rug loom to go with it...

I brought home some fiber (mohair, of all things) to spin and experiment with and finally took the plunge and bought a lucet (a tool for making cordage). I resisted the firey orange roving, but fell for some orange silk yarn and have plans to make some lucious socks... or maybe gloves! At some point I got out my spindle and spent some time spinning the merino / silk blend I bought last year (also my Tour de Fleece project) and remembered how good it feels to have fiber in my hands.

Spinning Saturday

I haven't done a great deal today, but I did touch the spindle and made a small amount of progress on the Tour de Fleece fiber from this summer. It seems like it is taking forever to spin, but I think the real problem is that I am not actually doing any spinning these days. I will take it with me to the Handweaver's Show tomorrow and it can be my walking around project. A fitting one too, as I bought the fiber there last fall from Capistrano Fiber Arts. I haven't spun the other roving that I picked up last year, nor knit the silk socks I bought yarn for, but it is safely stored away (moth free) and I will get to it in good time. Hopefully this year I will be able to get a drive band for my spinning wheel and get back to some production spinning over the winter. I suppose it is a little embarrassing that I didn't just mail order the drive band at some point over the year, or even make a new one from some rug warp or linen thread. I'll live with it.

It was a pretty quiet Saturday all around. I did some tidying in the morning, played a little WoW, picked up bird and cat food at the pet stores and even brought home a mouse for Velvet the snake. If I can manage to throw some laundry in the washer and pay the rent, I will call it a full day.

Knitting Wednesday

I have been adding a row here, half a row there on Martha's sweater for the past couple weeks. It was supposed to be finished by August 1st, but I have fallen far behind. It did not help that I had to rip out half of it to fix the fronts and then I injured my wrist and was sidelined for 4 - 5 weeks.

Anyway, I sat down tonight and added some rows while watching a movie and I think things are back on track. Time to start worrying that I am going to be short on yarn before I get to the end!

Alpaca Sunday!

Motley Monday

A simple day today, but I did get some things done that were on my to do list. Apparently the only way I will get them done is if I don't actually make the list, but rather pretend it is serendipity that makes me end up at the ATM or in the parking lot at Target.

No knitting to speak of, but I managed to deposit money in the bank to pay for my autumn soap order, buy a new trash can (and bags!), and even redeem my coupon for free eggs, which just happened to expire today. I even picked up a new cheese grater / slicer, which has been on my kitchen equipment list for a couple of years now.

Time now for a little laundry, a little World of Warcraft and maybe a few quality minutes with my drop spindle. At some point I do want to finish my Tour de Fleece project and start spinning up the fiber I acquired at Lambtown!

Alpaca Sunday!

I just want to snuggle the heck out of them.