Woolybuns

Well, I Digress...

DH and I set out to buy paint.  First, we sidetracked through the car wash to get rid of the nasty purply berries smooshed on my car (shoulda knowed better than to park under that tree!).  Car wash sprang a hydraulic leak just before my car started through, so they halted things a bit, then washed my car by hand instead.  Phew!  Dodged that possible yikes.  But it delayed us.  By the time we got to the paint store, it was closed.  Rather than waste the gas we used getting to that area, we called our daughter to come meet us on her way home from work.  She and DH wanted to finally get started on their new hobby.  Frogs.  And maybe a small lizard of some sort.  Both of them really wanted a chameleon instead but their needs and cost are a bit more involved.  So there they were, looking at some tiny frogs and more or less nondescript brownish lizards with spiny things.  Not all that inspiring.   I was left to wander.  Yeah, me.  Wandering in a pet shop.  You'd think the people I live with would know better, wouldn't you???  But no, there I was, surrounded by all manner of puppies, lots of small mammals, including some bunnies, and of course the more exotic types, including a baby blue and gold macaw begging for attention in between a baby moluccan cockatoo and probably a baby umbrella cockatoo but I didn't really look under it's crest or wings to see the color.  I cuddled the babies a bit, mostly the macaw because he chased the 'toos off each time I scritched one of them.   So, did the folks come home with their intended frogs?  Oh, of course not!  No, we came home with Betty and Wilma. 

Cute, ain't they?  LOL

It's my fault.  After playing with those fascinating exotic animals and knowing what amazing critters live here with me, I just couldn't let them settle for those kind of ok but really not very exciting frogs, now could I?  Frogs you can't hold.  Frogs that like to hide so you can't see them very often.  Sure, they're much cheaper.  But nothing's too good for my loved ones!!!  (Yeah, I can rationalize pretty much anything I want.)

Wilma (on the left) and Betty are veiled chameleons, about 5 months old.  Knowing which one is which is going to be a challenge.  They change colors.  Not only that, they change shape.  And size, too.  So before we get a chance to figure out which one has what distinguishing physical characteristic, they switch em on us!  Kind of fun.  But here's the thing.  They eat bugs.  Sometimes plants.  Mostly bugs.  Bugs that also have to be fed and dusted ala shake n bake with lizard supplements to properly nourish these green things with googly eyes that rotate independant of each other and are almost never looking straight on together as in Wilma's photo.  One of the few times those eyes focus together is when they spot prey - yeah, those worms or crickets or (oh, gross!!!) cockroaches (which Wilma and Betty can just jolly well scratch off their menu cause ain't no way in hell I'm volunatarily bringing a nasty cockroach into my house).  Once they spot the prey, they cover their tongues in a kind of sticky saliva, s l o w l y    o  p  e  n   
m   o    u    t   h  ... and zingthwipslurp suck down a juciy bug.  Prett cool, huh??

Fiber Fun

One definition of fun in my book.  The blue blob dominating the photo is a batt of angora and merino.  I dyed the angora and had it blended with natural white merino.   I LOVE angora blend batts!  They beg for rolling in, or at least plunging hands into their dreamy softness and reveling in the sensation with embarrassing "OH!  Oooooo!" noises. The vaguely hand shaped thing is a felted mitten I made from the batt.  I now have three non-matching  felted mittens. One of these days, I'll get around to making the mates to each one.  :)   These mittens are made in a process called wet felting.  Batt blob + warm soapy water + manual labor = custom fit seamless mitten.  Takes me about 4 hours to make a pair.  These things are pure luxury!  One woman once asked "isn't it a waste to use angora for felting?"  So I handed her a pure angora felted mitten and said "slip  your hand in there."  She did.  She melted!  She instantly broke into one of those surprised grins and purred, "that's like an orgasm for the hand!"  I still have enough of this batt after I make the matching mitten that I may try making a vest, or even a jacket.  Definitely at least a nuno felt scarf to go with the mittens.  But I"d love to make a jacket out of it.   Anyway, I'm scheduled to teach the mitten technique in western Maryland if anyone is interested in taking the workshop.  Contact  Daniela or  me for more info.

Last night, when I should have been making the mate to one of the mittens, I veered off into another bit of luxury: I carded some silk and angora together.  Once spun, that stuff makes yarn that deserves the description "oooo la la!"   I need to get 2 ounces of this spun for someone.  I still need to finish spinning some of the orange mango tango to free up the wheel, but that should be done sometime today.  Having the pink stuff waiting is a powerful motivator!  Even if I don't get to keep it.  Fortunately, I have about 4 ounces of natural white silk/angora roving hanging around, so once this is finished and sent out, I can spin some silk/angora for me.  I think I'll handpaint that yarn.  Leslie got such beautiful results that I want to see if I can, too.  For all you yarn lovers, she still has some of this lovely, handpainted, millspun merino/angora available for sale.

A Birthday Jaunt

Yesterday, I took my daughter out to lunch for her 22nd birthday.  The restaurant: My Most Favorite Dessert.  It's in NYC.  She hasn't really had a chance to just do the touristy thing in NYC so we hopped a train and went for the day.  Alas, the sock did not come with us.   After a really yummy lunch ending with a shared piece of Chocolate Truffle Cake, we strolled up 5th Avenue.  Such an amazing collection of store fronts!  Gucci, Pucci, Louis Vuiton, Trump Tower, Elizabeth Arden, and so much more.  I didn't get as many store front photos as I wanted but traffic, both foot and motor, doesn't make that process inviting.  Trump Tower, with that ascending set of trees, just had to be snapped. Sprinkled in the middle of all that excess are a few churches, perhaps the most opulent is St. Patrick's.  I've been inside this one - absolutely amazing!  But we didn't go in  yesterday.

We spent a good bit of our time yesterday wandering the south end of Central Park. That haven in the midst of all the madness that is Manhatten is truly worth a visit just for itself.  For one thing, it's just so huge!!!  Coming up from 5th AVenue, the first couple things we encountered were street performers and a whimsical statue.  On the other side of this statue is it's baby statue - quite cute!  Central Park is touched with whimsy in at least a few spots.  One of my favorites is The George Delacort Musical Clock.  All those delightful animal statues that ring the base of the clock strike up the band and parade around the clock on the hour and half hour. 

Central Park is also liberally landscaped, bits of gardens and benches alternating with comfy open lawn areas and pools and ponds.

The Central Park Zoo was the real highlight of our tour, however.  It's a small place but very much a pleasure!  We watched the sea lions frolick on their own, then later, we came back for their feeding, which is equal parts supper, training, tourist show, and health check.  There are also a couple varieties of penguins nicely refrigerated in one building, as well as a big polar bear, some puffins, a display of rain forest critters that we didn't have time to see, and the true stars of our trek, the snow monkeys, or Japanese macaques.  Those fellas are a hoot!  The old man of the group just sat scratching and letting it all hang out, while a couple grand dams lay about getting some great grooming.  The  youngsters took care of the entertainment.  Their habitat includes a moat, with rocks and partially submerged branches and a variety of other natural play gym items.  Those little critters hopped and splashed and paddled and swung and scampered all over the place!  At one point, one young fella took a break to snack on a chunk of wood snagged out of the pond. Another one in great glee darted up, smacked him on the back and took off, the first one in hot pursuit!  Hard to say who had the greater fun with that: the monkeys or all us humans laughing across the way.  All in all, quite a wonderful way to spend a day and I look forward to many returns.  I am indeed fortunate that I am close enough to just hop that train in for a pleasant day, but not have to stay there.

Sensational!

Apparently, motivation is replacing funk as a blog theme.  Perhaps there is a cycle underlying our posting?  In any case, Stephanie's thoughts on motivation prompted Margene to ruminate about motivation, which led me to consider my own prompts and incentives.   With the bunnies, motivation is simple.  Just look at that face!  Ok, so many of you understand that cute factor but don't jump in as I did.  Obviously, cute is not enough.  Animals require care.  Some people (think puppy mill) can provide not even bare minimum but those of us who truly love our critters go well beyond that.  They get cuddles along with carefully planned nutrition, playtime after (or perhaps before) grooming time.  That hands on time is a powerful motivater - not only is the fiber just darn luscious, there is the energy of the living body underneath, the calm of everyday routines, and the joy of perky little faces anticipating my company.  During good weather, it just feels good to spend time puttering in the rabbitry.   Even the manual labor of raking under hutches feels good.  Joints lubricate, muscles strengthen, endorphins must release, and of course the sense that I've accomplished something also plays a part.  During extreme weather, both hot and cold, motivation is a bit more elusive.  I confess, sometimes I want to say to hell with it.  It specifically doesn't feel good putting forth the effort in the extremes of nature.  For me, the bigger challenge is the cold extremes.  I have Raynaud's and going out into the cold is downright painful.  Feeding the rabbits is not much of challenge but watering them is.  Water bottles are ineffective as soon as the temp hits 32 because the metal nozzle and roller ball freeze up faster than the water itself.  So I have to use an open container - cleaned out cat food cans are what work for me.  Handling those means bare hands because you just can't get a good grip and stay dry while wearing mittens.  Gloves are out for me because of the need my fingers have for sharing body heat with each other.  They are actually warmer huddled together without gloves than separated by fabric, even wool.  So what makes me venture out at least three times a day during freezing weather?  Much of it is the bond forged so tightly during the good weather, that committment to the welfare of these little buddies who cannot take care of themselves.  Part of it is rising to my own physical challenge - can I do it?   And part of it is just who the hell knows???

Knitting does not have the same emotional bond that comes from sustaining life and health in the rabbits.  And unlike Stephanie, I don't knit for the relaxation, nor the connection to those who came before me, and especially not for the sake of having clothes.  I'm happy in jeans and sweats and actively pursuing something.  So what draws me to knit?  I think a big part of it is the sensuous, using the definition "Highly appreciative of the pleasures of sensation."  For me, knitting stimulates sensation.  I am drawn to visually and tactilely exciting yarns and patterns.  Bold and bright colors, vivid combinations, and soft textures that caress and drape.  Even techniques that force active participation.  If I can talk and knit at the same time, it's not a satisfying knit.  Then it becomes a substitute for potato chips, which in a social setting is a good thing!  But a big part of my motivation to knit is the opportunity to keep the brain cells stimulated.  I love to learn and I love to accomplish, just for the sake of learning and accomplishing.  I think it must stimulate those endorphins!  There is also some wiring in my brain that makes me clumsy in physical skills (you know, walking across a flat floor in sneakers or even bare feet, I can still stumble over nothing), so being able to teach my hands to manipulate the needles successfully is in itself a challenge.  And that's what motivates me to finish the knit.  Unlike many of you, I don't have a need to always have multiple WIPs.  I'm happy working steadily on the one project to its conclusion, though I do like to know I have another waiting for me to start. 

Which is why yesterday, I took a trip to A Stitch In Time, after last week reading the great review on Marcia's blog.   I finished (except for the kitchnering) the first pair of socks and have the second pair well underway now.  Both are basic rib cuff, stockinette for the rest.  I'm now comfortable with the technique.  Time to have a more challenging sock project in the wings.  It will be my reward for finishing this second pair of stockinette socks.  At A Stitch In Time, I bought the book Socks, Socks, Socks and some yarn for a specific pattern in the book. This time, I'll be combinging color and texture along with learning a new technique.  The black yarn is Falk Dalegarn and the multi color is Cool Wool Merino 2000.  I'm really looking forward to starting these socks!  But not until I finish the the current pair on the needles.  If I move on now, I will not finish those and my toes are already waiting to get acquainted with that pair!  Goes back to that stimulating senses thing.

Ring Code???

I want to join a knitter's ring.  One requirement is to post the ring code to my blog.   Ahem.  Have I mentioned before my utter idiocy, teeth curling contortions and screaming meemies slight difficulties in dealing with anything computer related?  Well, then, you know this ring code presents me with a freakin Mount Everest like challenge.  What the heck is a ring code???  Where do I find it???  How the NORma do I get it on my blog?

Back to our regularly scheduled cuteness.

This is Lizzie.  She lives at the barn where Jazz lives.  Lizzie is still a baby, about a year and some months.  Arabian and full of character. Possibly for sale, though I can't remember for sure (I'll find out if anyone wants to know).  Lizzie likes her new shavings! 

Funny how one thing leads to another.  On Friday, I got a phone call froms someone asking for information/help with her recently adopted angora bunnies.  While they obviously got good care from their previous owner, the woman discovered some concerns.  Since diagnosing severity is difficult without actually looking, I drove a good bit of distance to check up on the bunnies and help the woman learn angora bunny care (one is essentially fine just fat, the other has some sore hocks but will be getting lots of TLC so should recover fully).  This woman lives not too far from Still River Mill, so you know I combined the bunny trip with a visit to the mill to drop off some fiber (4 pounds of silk and angora to be blended and spun into fingering, along with some other stuff, much of which will eventually be for sale, should anyone wish to start  salivating reserving now).  Anyone who knows me knows chat happens (I heard that snort, Elaine!).  So as Deirdre and I chatted about the wonderful new adventures Still River is delving into, the topic of hay came up.  As in, I ran out.  Bunnies hungry, the hay farmer won't call back kind of ran out.  As in buying extra carrots and dandelions at the grocery store instead of the crap that passes for hay in too many places.  So Deirdre shared a hay source.  Now, unless you also live in a state that has rapidly lost thousands of acres of farm land, you may not recognize the value of that sharing. This hay is gorgeous!  Nectar of the gods good!  Green far better than Ben Franklin's face is printed on (ok, maybe not quite that good).  Go ahead, stick your perky little nose right into that stuff and revel in the sweet, fresh smell of hay so luscious I almost want to eat myself!  And get this: the farmer who sells this hay operates on the honor system.  I drive in when it's convenient for me, pick up what I need and leave the money in a box if the fella's not around.  Yeah, Baby!  Now I just gotta get enough before it's all gone.

Update on Latoyia

On a very sad note, over the weekend came the news that Latoyia Figueroa was finally found, murdered, and the boyfriend/father of her fetus is in custody.   My heart goes out to her family and friends.  What should be a joyous time in their lives is instead a nightmare.  I didn't know Latoyia, but that of course never stops concern for the welfare of another innocent.  Unfortunately, Latoyia becomes another statistic for a very disturbing story.  The leading cause of death in pregnant women is murder.  An ABCNews.go.com article states: "According to a 2001 study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, approximately 20 percent of Maryland women who died during pregnancy were murdered. This supported the findings of previous studies in Cook County, Ill., and New York."

What do we do with this information?   Both abuse and murder has occurred in my extended family, so this topic catches my attention.   It's not a pretty topic, I know, but such horrible endings won't stop without intervention and that means arming ourselves with as much information as we can to identify the risks, as well as working for solutions. 

De Funk-ing

Seems like a number of someones  are, like me, kind of in a funk.  And finding ways out of it.  Not sure what the cause of all this funkiness is (freaking hot weather sucking life out of every cell in our bodies???) but I do know my own cure.  Like Sandy, I've done my share of wallowing lately.  Down time.  Don't even look at me or I'll bite you Hibernating.  I even took up sock knitting and love it!  But that just made the wallow productive, not curative.  This morning, like every morning, I dragged my drooping self out to feed the bunnies.  I'm running out of hay and can't get the frickin' hay guy to call me back, so after I handed out slightly smaller portions of morning hay, I decided to weed/feed.   I use under hutch stuff on my gardens, then cover that with a layer of mulch (self composting - much less work than dumping it, then turning it every so often).  That works for a lot of the ucky, ugly weeds I don't even know what they are, but wheat grass (from spilled bunny food) and dandelions  still sprout through.  So I harvest those.  And it takes me a while so before I even begin, I turn the sprinkler on to the section of the garden just down from where I'm weeding so I'm weeding to soothing sounds of gently rhythmic sprinkles. And then I give the freshly pulled morsels to the bunnies to stretch the dwindling hay supply.   And they all perk up and munch in just the cutest way that says thanks for that, how's about some more?  And throughout all of this my dear old loyal mutt Suki is wandering the yard at will, pretending in her own getting old and senile way that she lives The Life of a farm dog, patrolling the perimeter and snuffling out the best spots to roll in smelly stuff.  And I'm reluctant to interrupt her wanderings, and I'm enjoying the cool early morning air with the sweet swoosh of the sprinkler accompanied by the chirp of the resident gold finch who seems to love my purple cone flowers.  So I pull out the rake and take up a month's worth of spilled and spoiled hay littering the aisles of my rabbitry and that leaves the junior bunnies a tad suspicious.  So I talk to them gently and one by one cuddle them and stroke their foreheads and gaze into their little faces as their eyes glaze into hypnotic bliss. 

No matter what else this day brings, I've had this morning - and that includes sitting outside in the cool morning air under a partly cloudy sky, sipping a cup of tea while wearing jammies and taking pictures of my own feet dressed in my own hand knit and just waiting for kitchenering wool socks.   It does a body good.

Activist Sock

The Sock sat stood up to be counted among the supporters of Cindy Sheehan at a candlelight vigil on the New Haven Green.  I wanted to go to Crawford, TX to stand with Cindy but the heat of the summer can be too much for the bunnies.  And caring for the bunnies through that heat while still going to work every day is too much for DH, no matter how willing and supportive he is.  Participating in the vigil was a good alternative.

I arrived on the Green early, to a nearly empty space.  It didn't stay empty for long.  People of all ages, lots of people, turned up to stand in quiet determination with Cindy and all us other patriots for peace.  We lit our candles and circled the flagpole to stand shoulder to shoulder and sing "All we are saying Is give peace a chance."    It was a very moving 45 minutes of solidarity.  And yes, patriotism.  We do not support this war, this president, this administration, but we love our country and the principles upon which it was built.  Cindy Sheehan gave voice to that patriotism and the silenced majority , as Ellen Goodman described in her column recently, now speaks out.   On Sept. 24, there will be a march on Washington to continue speaking out in opposition to this war.   

The Weekend

was just gawd-awful HOT and humid and hazy and sticky and downright dangerous to the buns.  On Friday, I had read about a new fiber event, being billed as A Hot and Hazy Fiber Day that I really wanted to go check out.  Gotta support these new events to help 'em grow!  But the day lived up to their name and that meant I stayed right here to watch the bunnies for signs of distress.  On days like that, bunny distress here is not just a possibility, it's a guarantee.  I don't have a barn so cannot provide a climate controlled environment.  All I can do is help them deal with what nature throws at us.  Usually, the 7 fans I run outside for the rabbits is enough.  I also offer cold and moisture rich fresh foods like carrots, papaya, grapes, and other such goodies. But these standard measures were just not enough for the weather this weekend.  By 11 am Saturday, the first two bunnies were wilting fast.  Only one thing to do then: bring bunnies into the house in the full yuck of the day.   It's not just for their comfort, it's actually to save their lives.  Any rabbit that turns up with a wet face is a rabbit in real danger of dying.  So on days likely to lead to that, I make a minimum of hourly trips outside for face checks. I prefer to get them into the house for the AC well before any rabbit reaches that wet face point.   Of course, the bunny hutches are too big to bring in, so that means figuring out where to stash the rabbits to prevent fights or breedings, as well as keeping bunnies from munching the electric cords. I had the biggest bunch stashed in the family room in an assortment of travel cages and reconfigured puppy pens.  Two others took over the kitchen: one running free with Button the 5 pound dog and the other taking over Button's crate. Button loves the rabbits to play with but she's none too happy to share her crate.   I'm not sure how many rabbits I had in the house at any given time, but I think pretty much most of them spent at least some time inside enjoying the AC.   All of them came through the weekend in great shape and today are relishing the much more comfortable though drizzly day.

The weather over the weekend also required some rabbits be clipped of their glorious but oh so hot coats.  I sheared a total of 4 adults and two juniors.   This is Woolybuns Opal, a German/French crossbred doe, first in full coat, then freshly sheared.  Quite the difference, eh?  Opal is not one of my more prolific fiber producers but she does have very pretty color with quite pleasing softness, as well as easy to maintain and shear texture.  She's now a retired breeder (and available to a pet/wooler home). 

The junior bunnies always look so vulnerable to me once they've been sheared.  These two young ladies are both without names as yet.   The albino is one of the Pufflet babies, and the girl on the right is a blue doe, Opal's granddaughter.  These two are both about 3 months old.  I really like the promise I saw in these two coats!  Crimpy and nicely dense.  I sheared the blue doe on Saturday, the last one of that day.  I had intended to shear more on Saturday in anticipation of Sunday's continued HHH but by the end of her shearing, she was a bit cranky from the weather and I was tired.  A bad combination. She lurched and I wasn't prepared for it. An even worse combination when holding sharp, pointy scissors aimed sort of in the direction of my own flesh.  Not quite sure how I managed to stab one vein then slash myself a couple inches away all in one swift movement but there it is, 24 hours after the fact.   But, better my own flesh than that of the bunny.

Once cleaned up, I took refuge in My Sock.  Silly me!  I actually got the toe finished except for the Kitchener join.  I tried it on, all excited!  Leg length is perfect, heel fits comfortably snug, toe decreases are also nicely snug.  But, it  turns out, measuring the foot with a tape measure just isn't as accurate as trying the UFO on.  The toe section was just too long!  So I calmly ripped out the decreases and the few extra rows and started the decreases again.  About half way through, I noticed a dropped stitch.  Well, I'm getting the hang of this knitting thing lately, so I decided this was a good opportunity to try out the handy pick up a dropped stitch without ripping all the way back.  It would have worked if the dang dropped stitch hadn't been smack in the middle of the decreases.  I gave it two tries.  Valiant efforts, both, but doomed by location and my inexperience with the technique.  Oh, well.  I ripped again and put it away.  So here it is, ready for the decreases, take 4. I'm quite pleased with this sock, misadventures and all.   I've learned a lot, especially about shaping, and look forward to many happy sock experiences. 


DH wisely suggested we end the weekend with a supper of hot fudge sundaes and a movie.  Gotta love a guy so in tune with a girl's needs!

So This Is Progress??

Yeah.  This is the same sock that was 7 inches long on Wednesday.   Seems I went to Stitch n Bitch and got altogether too much agreement that I wouldn't be happy with the loose ribbing, so a frickin' froggin' I went.  And by Thursday morning, I had a whole two inches of Sock.   But ya know?  Margene is right: it's the process.  I learned a lot about the process with that first version, so yeah, that's progress.   And I'm gonna be knittin sumthin', might as well be an improved version of My Sock.   I went to another gathering of knitters last night, got a lot of Sock knit, so this morning, I started the heel.  I tried starting it last night but the slip one, knit or purl one rhythm just kept escaping into the laughter conversations.  After ripping out the second row of the heel twice, I gave up for the evening.  Sitting outside this moring in the cool early morning breeze with bunnies frolicking in the pen next to me, I got all the way through knitting the heel and even moved through the first attempt at turning the heel.  Yeah.  Some more of that half-assed type of progress.  At the end of the turning, I had 13 stitches.  Pattern seems to think there should be 14.  Huh. 

Riiiiiiippppit!

Then I heeded the foot whomping, door rattling gentle hints of the bunnies expecting food.  I'll get back to turning the heel later. 

My two favorite babies from this year's breedings.  The black is Woolybuns Brattman and the torte is Woolybuns Hoppin' Fresh.  They are siblings, about 11 weeks old.   These are two of the surprise babies I found on the ground shortly after they were born.  They are turning out just dandy!  Nice thick, crimpy coats wrapped around fun, cheerful and oh, so friendly personalities.   Keeping them allows me indulge the "too cute" factor while still letting go of others.

These two fellas are among the "others."  At least, as of right now, they are available.  The one on the left is a chestnut (aka wild gray), and the one on the right is chinchilla (color, not the animal).   Both of them are wooler/pet bunnies, 2 months old.  See that cute splotch of white on the one boy's nose?  The other guy has a smaller, kind of hidden spot on his forehead.  The bunnies are cute, healthy, and loaded with lots of nice fiber but those spots don't make for good breeding bunnies.  Depending on the genetics behind the spots, babies from either of these guys could have larger areas of white.  That doesn't hurt the rabbit, but one of my goals is to produce good depth of color in my color bunnies.  Large areas of white will dilute the color in spun yarn.  So, these guys just don't meet my breeding needs.  Interested?  Email me.  I'm planning another trip partially south soon, so for anyone along or near my route, delivery/meet up can be arranged.