novamade

sometimes i scare myself, too

 

This picture totally cracks me up.  It really does.

After the success of last year's Travelocity Gnome venture, I knew that anything I put out this year would pale in comparison.  I was never intending to put Little Sir into a commercially produced costume for the Day of Ghoulish Delights; but, when you walk out of the Pirate's Carribean ride at the Magic Kingdom (did I mention that I went to Disney World for a conference earlier this month, well, I did.  I learned about records and then rode rides at Disney amusement parks...look at that, a whole blog post in one sentence) and the costume you were planning to make is staring you in the face (albeit in lower quality fabric), sometimes you just have to go with it.  I am ambitious, not stupid.

 
I had to take up the sleeves and modify the shirt (and by modify I mean reverse and cut off the silly Captain Hook ascot which was ridiculous) and the costume was definitely large on him, but whatever.  It was there, it was what he wanted, he was happy, and I didn't spend countless hours working on a costume that would see two outings.  While some people would suggest I could use this outfit again in the future, let me assure you, that that will never happen, I have plans, y'all.  I mean have you seem my children?  I have my own little theatrical troupe to dress.  Awesome.  I wanted to costume them as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern this year; but, Special K put the kabosh on that as too obscure..."people won't get that."  I suggested that the people who matter would, but then he told me he didn't get it.  So then I suggested the Blues Brothers, there's a skinny one and a fat one--  honestly, I almost wanted to change their names on this blog to Jake and Elwood.  Special K nixed that with, "not too appropriate."  He has a point, it's not like they would ask to be the Blues Brothers (or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for that matter, but how cool would it be if they did, right?).  Oh, well.

After Little Sir kept asking me what my costume was, so I figured I should come up with something.

 
Run children, it's Zombie Mommy.

She'll only eat you if she's hungry though.  Oh, wait, she's always hungry.

 

I hope you had a Happy Halloween (if that's your thing).

what'cha doin'?

 
There's really not a whole lot to see here; but, I was finding my blog silence a little sad, so I thought I'd drop in.  I am in the midst of various and sundry projects in progress and have nothing in the way of finished articles of brilliance to share.  And since there was a time when people who read knitting and craft blogs liked to read about what other knitters (and crafters) were working or how knits were holding up, I thought, "I could do that."

A long time ago, when he was wee, I knit Little Sir a hat to warm his noggin. 

 
This picture is 2.5 years old!!

It was a little big; but, it did its job.  When we got the first big chill in Connecticut earlier this week, we were scrambling around to find things to stay warm and we found his old hat again.  My first thought was to use it on Little Mister's head; but, Sir was having none of it.  It was his and he was going to wear it.  Surprisingly, it fits.  Actually, it fits much better now and he is super excited about it.

He is convinced that his yellow mittens work with the hat as a natty ensemble.  I don't like to argue with him, so I just agreed.

Of course, this means that Little mister is a bit on the hatless side right now.  This makes him sad. I need to do something about his hat situation; but, it would mean covering up his curls, which I am loathe to do.

 
Aside from digging through winter wear to find knits that don't exist (since it takes me forever to finish anything these days), I have been slogging away on my Babette Blanket which got stalled due to yarn shortages. 

 
I grossly underestimated the amount of yarn a crocheted blanket would require.  I think I read somewhere that a crocheted blanket takes 30% more yarn than one that is knit.  I can see why some many crocheters love acrylic, because seriously, I have had to put in two more orders for wool and you know, the natural fibers, they are not inexpensive.

 
I am a little obsessed with crochet right now.  Aside from the amount of yarn required, it's so efficient.  If you are measuring efficiency by time and not resources, I suppose.  The economy of movement required is pretty thrilling too.

 
I am still knitting too, of course.  I started a pair of socks for charity. 

 
It's a plain old stockinette sock.  I am not in love with the way it's turning out, which is probably for the best.  If I liked it too much there would be danger in not wanting to offer it up for charitable purposes.

And then I am still knitting the vest I have spent an inordinate amount of time working on.  You'd think I was knitting a man's sweater for Pete's sake.  Thank goodness for two-hour line waits for flu shots, I guess.

 
So that's what I am about right now, what about you? What'cha doin'?

autumn on the horizon

Summer, auf wiedersehen. Bonjour, Autumn.

If there is one thing a contest or giveaway is good for, it's learning that you are not alone in your insanity.  Some of you have some crazy long lists; and, I totally respect that.  My plans for fall seemed ready, and then a friend gave me a request that might push a ton of my fall projects into winter (as opposed to the few projects I was previously expecting).

So I think this is all of the fall knitting that I have planned.  The grey (back left) is some Beaverslide Dy Goods McTaggert Tweed destined to be a sweater.  I have no idea which one since I have changed my mind about the pattern no less than 6 times between taking it out of the cabinet and winding the cakes.  The orange yarn next to the grey is going to be a shawl, very fall, no?  The taupe/brown yarn next to the orange is going to be a Wallaby,  I think it's time that Little Sir had one that was easy care and cotton.  Below that is some dyed Perrendale wool that is going to be spun up and knit into a sweater for Little Mister.  Next to the blue roving and underneath the orange yarn is a sweater that has been in progress since last fall--it needs sleeves, that's doable.  A skein of Cherry Tree Supersock in birches for socks.  Some Louet sport...maybe another sweater for Little Mister, clearly one who gets so happy about fall needs fall sweaters?  And then the single sock with the remainder of sock yarn for a sock that has been mateless for two years.  So sad.

I was all set with the knitting plans; and, then a friend who bought a house in Costa Rica last year asked if I would make two afghans for her new piece of paradise to brighten things up.  Um, how could I say no?  I could not.  So I am going to be crocheting two afghan throws; but, I need to finish them so she can take them along to her new place in November.  So that is likely going to be where my efforts get concentrated first.  I haven't gotten the yarn yet (and can I just freely admit how giddy I am to be ordering new yarn?  It's so exciting to looks at the colors and imagine what the yarn can be turned into!  I wish I could be a personal shopper for yarn types, I would be so good at that.  Really.).

And then there are the quilts.  I wants to make tons, but I have to finish the log cabin quilt. Little Sir is very interested in helping me.  I think the hold up for this quilt is the fact that I decided to quilt it myself, when the sensible solution would be to send it out to a professional quilter with a longarm machine.  But deep down, there is some part of me that wants to be able to say, "oh, quilt a queen-sized quilt, I've done that, it's not so bad."  That is also the part me that I refer to as my naive and stupid side, so there you are.)

And then there is this autumnal stack for a kid's quilt.

And don't even get me started on my weaving plans.  I don't know what they are, but I know I have plans to weave...

In case you were wondering, I wasn't as successful on the summer finishing front, the red scarf is done (needs wet blocking); and, I am super close to finishing the lacey shawl...I should be able to get things from the summer list done this week though (with the exception of the sweater vest, never have I felt so plagued by such a simple project).  I don't feel so bad about it, I had a nice and restful weekend with my boys, and that was where my priorities were for the holiday.

And as for the contest/giveaway, I used a random number generator to "pick" a winner, and that would be Ali who blogs at Skeins Her Way.  Thanks for playing everyone, good luck with finishing your summer projects and getting through your fall knitting list!

and we're off!

                                            above: summer spinning

I know that, technically, there are 17 or 18 days left of summer (for those of us north of the equator); but, I think that I am not alone in thinking that fall pretty much starts afterLabor Day (next Monday, the 7th).  For me, a deadline serves as a strong motivating force to get things done.  I do not quake about deadlines, I welcome them (I hope for them, actually).  So with a minute past midnight, the 8th (day after Labor Day) as my deadline, I have a couple of days to finish a couple of things.  Because, quite frankly, I am way more excited about my fall projects than I am about my summer ones that are sort of languishing.

I have been working on a vest all summer, I already know it's not getting done by Monday, so the vest will be my carry over project to the next season (I only work on it during my lunch hour at work, so it's slow going, but I know it'll get done).  It's the one fall project that I am not particularly excited about.

I have had a red silk scarf on my Kromski rigid heddle loom since last October.  The loom got buried underneath some fabric and batting at some point and it was out of my sight, so it went out of my mind.  I am finishing this scarf if I finish nothing else this weekend.

Actually, I am going to spin this roving for Bertha, even if I finish nothing else this weekend.  Sorry, Bertha, when I said I would post this Friday, I really meant that I would post it to you on Tuesday.

I have two quilts that I would like to finish up, one needs binding and the other needs quilting and binding. 

 

Finish two quilts in a weekend? Totally doable.

 

I have been working on a shawl all summer that needs to be finished, because I am sick of working on it.  I don't really like knitting shawls in laceweight yarn, so I am not really sure why I started this.  It's almost done...32 rows, that's nothing.

Of course, I am going to try to finish this stuff while taking the boys to the beach or some other such nonsense (that is what one does over Labor Day weekend, apparently, that and grill things), and generally having long holiday weekend family fun.  And when I am done with all of that, I am going to read some books.

Yes.  I know.

For those in the US, Happy Labor Day!  May your laboring be fruitful.

And you still have time to enter the contest (it's not really a contest, but, there you are)/givewaway if you haven't already done so.

it's my party and i'll gift if i want to

So yesterday was my third blog birthday (I know I am a day late, I think no one is surpised by this).  It's been a fun three years*, thanks for reading!

To celebrate my blog birthday (or, anniversary, if you'd really rather) I thought it would be a good idea to open a shop.  I did mention that I had a lot of dye, right?  But you are likely see all sorts of crazy things in my shop...sort of like my blog, I suppose.

 

Clearly, this falls under the heading of "things that seemed like a good idea at the time." You guys know that I work full time, so this is definitely a side-venture sort of thing.  I enjoy dyeing wool, spinning it and making various and sundry things with fiber, so this gives me another outlet.  Yay!  I know, the irony of my opening a shop after a series of posts on economy does not escape me either.

In any case, I wanted to let Bertha and Kat know that they will be receiving some "blog birthday" gifts from me.  I really enjoyed finding out what readers most enjoy about my blog, thanks guys!  I will be in touch later today to find out your addresses and to discuss color selection for the handspun with Bertha.  Seriously, no spinners reading last week?!

Since I like celebrating a birthday heartily (I do celebrate for 8 days, afterall) and I still have a third gift to give, I figured that I would still like to gift a reader out there with some fiber, because that's pretty much what I have in my shop right now.  So let's try this again.  I have fiber...free...for a reader, anyone interested?  If you don't spin, I will offer the option of getting handspun instead...see how accomodating I am?

Just leave a comment on THIS post telling me what your fall project list looks like and what your favorite project on that list is.  I am honestly curious.  I have a pretty big list (I know, shocking, right?).  I will share mine if you share yours.  Please leave your comment (let's give you guys more time this time around) by next Monday, September 7th by noon (12:00 pm) EST.  That's a week!  I will randomly select a commenter to receive a braid of roving (colorway your choice) from my shop OR a hank of my handspun (colorway my choice, but something appropriately autumnal).  Sound good?

* And how serendipitous is this: this is my 200th post!

blog birthday on the horizon

You know how there are knitters out there who celebrate a "knitterversary" every year.  I think I tried that before.  Since my blog isn't really just about knitting anymore (was it ever?), I thought calling my blog anniversary a birthday seemed better, and maybe even more appropriate...and well, birthday, yay!  (Above photo from Little Sir's 3rd birthday party at school last March...during the Sesame Street phase.)

In trying to figure out ways to celebrate, I thought there should be a giveaway of some sort, because that is modus operandi for such celebrations in bloglandia; but, I figured I would come up with some other bits of fun too, like an announcement (no, I am not pregnant again, as Ann would say, I'd probably bury the lead with an annoucement of that nature; and no, I don't plan on shutting down my blog); and, maybe even a new banner/blog look, I think it's time.

So as far as the "prizes", let's call them "presents" (birthday and all) here's what I am thinking:

1) I have been doing a ton of quilting lately and I have some (sizeable) scraps that I would like to pass along to someone else who may be interested in making blocks of their own (or something else, don't let me restrain your creativity) .  The fabrics are all printed marbled designs from a company (of two partners) called Quilting Treasure, these marbled designs are the type you would find on endpapers of old books (the booklover in me loves this, the booklover in you should love it too). 

2) I mentioned a while ago that I have a lot of dye.  If you are into fiber, maybe you would like some handpainted or handdyed fiber (woolly) from yours truly?  You could spin it; or, if felting is your thing you could do that too; or, maybe you have an alltogether different use for painted roving, knock yourself out.  I will offer you a selection of colors to choose from (it doesn't have to be yellow, but if you like yellow, by all means...). 

3) Maybe you like fiber but you are not into the whole spinning thing and you just want the yarn to knit something up.  In that case, how about I spin up some fiber for you.  That's right, I will spin some yarn out of my own handpainted or handdyed fiber (woolly) for you.  Again, I will offer a selection of colors to choose from. 

So three different "presents".  To be considered, you do have to do some work however.  Over the course of the last three years, I have blogged about all sorts of things.  Please tell me about three posts that struck a chord in you.  I would like to know 1) what post you have found the most humorous or entertaining; 2) a post that made you think; and 3) a post that you learned something from.  I don't need dates, just a general description like "the loser sweater post" or something like that (see, now if you don't remember that post, you are going to look for it...it was just that good, she writes, humbly).

Please leave your response as a comment on THIS post.  In addition to your three posts, tell me what "present" you would most like to receive (fabric, fiber or handspun).  If you want to be considered for more than one (or all three) that is fine; but, more presents mean more work.  You will have to come up with 3 different posts for each "present" entry (if you list more than one choice on one comment/entry, I will go with whatever you list first).  Please comment/respond by 11:59 p.m./2359 EST August 29, 2009 (Saturday).  I will post the winners (and my annoucement) on Sunday the 30th, my blog birthday.  Fun, huh?

on economy: treatise 3, you get what you pay for

 

There are a ton of gorgeous designer fabrics available for the quilter (or crafter in general) these days.  I am a fan of pretty much anything that Amy Butler and Joel Dewberry come up with.  I like Alexander Henry's prints as well as Michael Miller's, too.  It's fair to say that I have a pretty good handle of the slew of modern fabric print designers out there.  And as you know, I am a stasher.  So I nab bits and pieces of things here and there for consumption later.  But I will share a secret with you, I hoard the designer fabrics in they same way a newbie handspinner will hoard and hold onto his or her first independent dyer's handpainted roving.  You know, afraid to spin it because it's the "good stuff". 

 

For a while, I was afraid to dig into my fabric stash because it was all "the good stuff" and I have never really been that sure of my quilting abilities.  But it recently occurred to be that I have been quilting for ten years, so I actually know more about quilting than I do about anything else I do.  And if I have been quilting for ten years and haven't been using "the good stuff" what have I been using?  Well, I am glad you asked.  Let me tell you...

I have been using fabric from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft.*  Some of you out there, I am sure, are shaking your heads.  But hear (read) me out.  My mother has never met a piece of fabric she didn't like.  She is a sewer.  My aunt is a professional seamstress and tailor and my mom insists that she taught her everything she knows, I would like to think that my aunt's schooling did that; but, there you are.  In any case, when my mother discovered JoAnn's for the first time, it was a little insane.  I was 5 or 6 at the time and a friend told her she should go see it, so she did...she almost passed out because of the selection.  My mother is a sewer of clothes.  She always has been, she only sews aprons now (why one woman needs 30 aprons, I will never know), but back in the day, my mother was a sewing machine, or rather, an extension of her Singer.

So when I started quilting ten years ago, JoAnn's was pretty much all I knew about fabric.  I never really wanted to sew clothes as a kid, my mom sewed them for me all the time and I didn't care for them (my mom has a thing for ruffles, bows, etc.), she leaned towards sewing dresses and I was a tomboy (does that shock anyone?).  My mom never made quilts,  even today, it would never occur to her to make a quilt. In any case, I started buying fabric from JoAnn's for quilts.  And then one day, I got a Hancock's of Paducah catalog from a friend... I wish I could say it changed my whole crafting world; but, my first thought, at the time, was "why is this stuff so expensive?"

I consider myself to be reasonably intelligent, so I figured there was something about the fabric one purchased from Hancock's or from a quilt shop that made it remarkably different from the fabric one bought at a JoAnn's.  So I ordered a half yard of a print that I liked just to compare (it was the cute fish fabric, I still like it--too bad I can't find anymore of it).

There, obviously, was a difference...but not a huge one in regard to quality.  You know how sometimes you pay for a name or a logo or the brand?  I think that is the case with a lot of the fabric on the market today.  I have seen fabric at quilt shops that surely was not worth$10 a yard... and I make that statement on the weave structure of the fabric, not the print design (which really, is another kettle of fish(!) entirely).

At a quilt show I went to recently, there were these two women, let's call them Linda and Holly (because that's what they called each other, I am going to go out on limb here and guess that they are probably not novamade blog readers).  This was their conversation:

Linda: Holly, did you see that quilt with the browns and reds in the corner?

Holly:  I did, Linda, but it's too bad she used JoAnn's fabrics.  You can tell that the fabrics just aren't up to snuff.

Linda:  Yes, it's too bad.

Really?  Really, Holly?  Because I saw that red and brown quilt too, and I thought it was lovely (sorry, the quilter didn't want photos taken, I like to follow rules).  Folks, there was nothing wrong with that quilt.  The quilter picked good solid cotton fabrics, and quite frankly, she was probably able to afford the long arm machine she used to quilt it because of the money she saved/s on fabric; but, what do I know?

I know, for a fact, that if you use common sense when selecting fabric from JoAnn's or other discount fabric stores, you are going to be able to put together a nice quilt (for less money).  And that quilt will last for a long time.  I made Special K's wedding quilt with fabric from JoAnn's, almost ten years ago. 

It has been washed repeatedly (in the washing machine...and dried in the dryer).  This quilt gets a lot of use, more so now because of Little Sir and his penchant for using it as a cape.  Any irregularity in the quilt now probably has more to do with my quilting ability back then...it was only my second quilt, cut me some slack.

 

I went though my fabric stash recently and pulled out all of the leftover JoAnn's fabrics from projects I have done over the last 10 years.  I ended up giving a ton of it away to some other crafty people I know.  I ended up keeping the stuff most recently purchased for particular projects.  I may not purchase as much fabric for quilting from JoAnn's in the future, mostly because it's not the greatest idea to mix JoAnn's fabric with the designer stuff, as they probably would degrade at different rates, but you have to be careful about that with fabrics from different design houses anyways, in my opinion.

 

I think, and again, this is just me, in this economy, or any economy really, you have to be able to balance your crafty pursuits and your other responsibilities, be they fiscal or otherwise.  I recently bought "designer" quality fabric to make a a queen-sized quilt.  While entering the receipts in our money management gizmo thingy I realized that the amount spent on that fabric and supplies could have fed my family for a month.  I didn't feel guilty about this, as the money was used from money specifically budgeted for my crafting endeavors; but, it certainly puts things in perspective.

 

Before I start working on that pricey quilt (probably with the help of some friends), I still have to figure out how to finish my queen-sized JoAnn's fabric nightmare.  It's a nightmare not because of the quality of the fabric, which is fine, I think some of the prints are cute too; but, seriously?  Thirty-six log cabin blocks?  Gah.

I went to JoAnn's yesterday because the Simplicity patterns were on sale over the weekend (Little Sir wants to be a pirate for Halloween, that's what he settled on after realizing his gnome costume doesn't fit him anymore).  As I paid $1 for the pattern at the register, I concluded that sometimes, it's nice to pay for something on the cheap...because really, who doesn't like a good deal?

* Some of you may have also figured out that you can find a lot (and I mean A LOT) of Alexander Henry and Robert Kaufman prints mixed in with the calicoes at JoAnn's.  Just saying.  If you were not aware of this nugget of info before, Happy Christmas.

on economy: treatise 2, making do*

 

There are many knitters who pride themselves on the size of their yarn stash(es).  Some people are proud of how much they have accumulated; while others are proud of how little they accumulate, instead making deliberate purchases for planned projects (admittedly, there are not that many of you).  There is another camp of course, the one I am a part of, the stashers who have, basically, greedily hoarded, so much yarn and fiber that they are humbled, if not embarrassed, by the volume of stash accumulation.

I have a lot of yarn. Amount assessment is relative, to be sure.  My definition of "a lot" may be minuscule to some; but, let's get real here, any sane person will agree with me, there is no shortage of yarn and fiber in Novaland.

This great epiphany of my yarn stash having a life of its own occurred to me last March.  When I bought yarn that I pretty much already have to make a vest for Special K.

  

I wish I could say that my argument was: I didn't want to use part of a sweater's worth of yarn for a vest; but, that wasn't it, not completely any way, the fact of the matter is this: I forgot I had the yarn.  Let me say that again: I forgot I had the yarn.  In my defense, there was a time that I packed my stashes of yarn, fabric and fiber away in bins, boxes and bags; and, there was a good deal of "out of sight, out of mind" action going on.  But here's the thing, if you have twenty-two (22) sweater's worth of yarn sitting in your stash, you (and by "you" I mean "I") should probably just make do with what you have and figure out a use for any surplus yarn meant for a sweater project.

After this purchase of yarn that I didn't need to buy because I already had it, I decided to go off of buying yarn for a while.  I don't feel deprived at all.  It's not a yarn diet, I am simply making do with what I have; or, if you'd rather, making use of what is in the stash.  If I can't knit a project with yarn that I've already got, I probably shouldn't be thinking about knitting it right now.  Seems so logical.  Surely, it's the economical approach, wouldn't you say?

  

Lest you think me virtuous, let me say that my hoarding tendencies moved from yarn acquisition to increasing my stash of fiber since the yarn shelves were full.  I burn through fiber pretty quickly; but, I ventured into fiber stashing in the least fiscally responsible way possible (basically, if Krista or Carrie did an update, I competed with other buyers to purchase the fiber--I can be a wee competitive).  I am all about supporting independent crafters, but for my health and the health of my bank account, I need to bar myself from etsy sometimes, like now.

And really, it's called for when you start to accumulate fiber at an exponential rate.

 

And when that fiber starts encroaching on the fabric stash, well clearly, it's time to stop.

So I am in full "making do" mode.  Which, for me, isn't such a bad thing.  I have a ton of good quality yarn and fiber.  Over the years, I have become something of a fiber elitist (for whatever reason, I like "elitist" better than "snob"), that is not to say that I don't recognize a good deal especially when it comes to utility and function.  While I am not overly enthusiastic about acrylic.  I recognize that this synthetic material makes caring for knits made for children more doable.  I wish there was more Cotton Ease in my stash right now, because I would really like to make sweaters for the boys for Christmas in yarn that will actually facilitate utilizing the garment.  I'll figure something out, I am nothing if not industrious.

Lately, I have noticed that yarn and fiber that was once coveted (by me anyways) is more easily attainable now.  I am not sure if it's because I am not purchasing right now and the materials are beckoning to me with some sort of weird siren's call; or, perhaps, it's not just me.  Maybe other knitters, and spinners are out there looking at what they have in their stashes and thinking, "I have a lot enough.  Maybe I should just make do."

* alternatively: I'm a greedy hoarder and I need to stop

on economy: treatise 1, the sentimentality of spending

Not THE economy; but, economy in general.  Despite the state of THE economy, I made a purchase that some would consider frivolous.  I know the person who made the purchase possible would have thought so.  Oh, well.

I've been thinking about economy quite a bit lately, not so much because of the state that our (THE) economy is in right now (some would say the toilet, I'll let you define it for yourself); but, mostly because of the date.  If my dad had lived, he would have turned 66 years old today.  You guys know how much Ilove birthdays and celebrating them.  Every year, for his birthday, I would buy my dad a box of chocolate covered cherries.  His favorites weren't especially fancy, they were the economical choice.  They were the type that one could walk into a drug store, any drug store, and buy for less than $5 a box, if one wanted.  My dad only ate them for his birthday, and Christmas, because I would send them again at Christmas time.  He loved them; and, he considered it a special treat, mostly because I sent them to him---it was the sort of thing he would never buy for himself.  For my dad's birthday today, I almost bought a box of those chocolate covered cherries in his memory; but, then I realized, I couldn't eat them anyway (due to recently discovering that I am lactose intolerant, I know!). 

My dad often said that sentimentality caused one to make silly decisions, I think he was right about that, for the most part.  My dad was a pretty funny guy, he was a bit anti-social, so people didn't always really get to know him; but, he was the kind of guy that most people would like, I think.  He never took himself seriously, and he loved to laugh; but, above all, he was thrifty.  If there was a photo of a person in the dictionary (or, I guess, on wikipedia) for the entries on thrift or frugalitythere would be a picture of my dad.  My dad didn't like spending money, and he was more a "use what you have" or a "make do" kind of person.  Growing up, I didn't really mind his frugality so much, only in the summer when he would sort of try to beat some record to see how long he could go without turning on the air-conditioning (with the goal being to not turn it on at all).  His little test of wills wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't live in Florida, on the gulf where it usually gets to be around 104 degrees in July and August with 100% humidity without a drop of rain (seriously, I used to call Pensacola the tenth cirlce of hell--for the heat weary). 

My dad used to say things like, "when I kick the bucket, then you can spend my money anyway you want.  Get yourself something nice."  When I was a kid, I never really thought much about spending my dad's money at all, probably because it was so rare to actually spend any money in general, really (this might be what drives my hoarding now, but, there you are).  My dad wasn't a wealthy man, which, I suppose, might explain his frugality. But, he wasn't a stingy man.  If he had something and someone else was in need of it, he would share it or give it outright.  He liked to "spread the wealth" as they say, similar to the way I like sharing my passion for fiber and textiles!  That being said, my dad never quite got the whole crafting thing.  He never held it against me, but, he thought it was weird that I spent so much time and (especially) money on crafting.  Last year, when he visited, he summed it up like so, "I don't know much about the whole knitting thing, but, I am pretty sure you've got enough of that yarn."  When he saw my spinning wheel, he just shook his head and didn't say a word.

A few weeks ago, a check came in the mail from a life insurance policy my dad had with his job.  I didn't know he had it, neither did my half-sisters.  It was a surprise, a welcome one, actually.  Death is expensive.  We ended up charging a great deal to our credit card after my dad passed away.  But K thought (and I agreed, obviously) that it would be nice to get something with some of that money that would help me remember my dad (you know, a thing...people do this, right?  It's not just me, is it?!).  The obvious thing would have been a fishing pole, because my dad loved to fish; but, let's get real here, I am not going fishing anytime soon.  I didn't like to fish when my dad made me go with him as a kid, so I am certainly not going to do it now (though I am sad that my boys will never get to go fishing with my dad, it was kind of an event).  So instead, I got myself something nice: a Schacht Matchless double treadle spinning wheel. 

 

I feel like I have to learn how to spin all over again.  It's a little different from spinning on a Lendrum (not a lot; but, enough to know there's a difference--and wow, is this wheel fast.).  I am calling this wheel Choobie.  That was my dad's nickname for me, and I haven't heard it in a while, and I am feeling sentimental, if not wholly economical.  Thanks, Dad.

i dye.

So you remember how I said there would be no dyeing studio in the vicinity of my residence anytime soon...or ever.  I think I was well-intentioned when throwing that out there for the masses; but, the fact of the matter is this: when you have a little over two pounds of fiber to dye, and you have a full-time job, children and a husband all hoping for dinner that does not involve a box or microwave...you are probably going to dye that wool at home when everyone else is asleep (and then spend an eternity cleaning your kitchen.  Sigh.). 

And well, it just worked out better that way...because really, I can't think of anything else I would rather be doing at 2 a.m. on a Thursday morning--though I am starting to think that sleeping would be a good alternative too; but, there you are. 

I like it, there was a good bit of trialing.  A got a lot of dye (I know, this is not shocking to anyone) to try out before settling on something suitable for me.  I wear a lot of neutral colors, my wardrobe is not very exciting, I usually punch up my color options with accessories.  As I write this I am wearing various shades of khaki, which really, is a little less than inspiring.  But as you may remember, I have a fondness for purple (which, if we are being honest here, is kind of a lively version of black, really--color theorists back off!  I am thinking fashion-wise here!  Trust me, after all the dyeing I have done recently, I know a thing or two about the color wheel).  So that's what I went with...purples...greys  and the white of my canvas...I like that effect; I know it's not for everyone though. 

All this fiber needs to be spun up (though I could make a statement by simply wearing it draped on my person, stylish, no?).  I need to find a suitable sweater pattern so that my spinning can be informed--which will be new for me--spinning for a project, that is--usually, I just spin and what I get is what I get; but, in my defense, I think many people spin that way.  So sweater patterns, thoughts?  I mean, there is over 2 pounds of wool here, I won't need it all.  I am leaning towards a cardigan, but I could be persuaded to knit a pullover too.  It's going to be multi-colored, so let's not forget that