Woolybuns

Hoppy Thanksgiving!

A beautiful snow drifted gently over our land late last night and into this morning.  The weather is quiet now.  The dogs are delirious, reveling in the fluffy white stuff, even the Old Lady (the dog, not me, thank you very much) took a puppy-like romp around the yard.  Amika the foolish dog tried so hard to snap up each and every snowflake, just as she tries to get all bugs who dare wander her way.   The bunny bottles are now all freshly thawed and filled, and the brand new babies born yesterday are snug and warm in their comfy soft and toasty nest.  The young adults in the household are up (and it's not even noon!!!) fixing hot chocolate.  I'm not cooking a big dinner today.  We're going to a restaurant.  It makes for a much more relaxed holiday (for me, though not for the folks who work there - I'm quite ambivalent about going, as I wish those who have to work today could be home with family and friends).  But I miss the leftovers and their pies just don't taste like mine do.  So, I have a turkey in the fridge, fixings ready to be fixed and I'll do that at a more leisurely pace tomorrow.  For now, everything is right in my world.  For that, I am most thankful.  I know too many people can't say that, and for those, I hold you in my thoughts and try as often as I can to help someone in the hope that every helpful action generates another.  I wish you all a wonderful day!

Swallow Your Coffee

Or whatever else you are drinking.  Still River Mill Greg - sweet, mild mannered, fiber processor par excellence - is showing his mischievous side.  He certainly reduced me to a gaggle of giggles!  If you're ready, go check out the shout out he left on my Frapper.  (and feel free to add yourself).

Knittin' News

Remember Robert?  Lace afghan square that just didn't want to work with my deadline?  I took a long break from Robert.  The deadline for finishing Robert is tomorrow.   Well, Robert sort of had a transformation.  As in I ditched the bitch. Alberta proved much more cooperative with deadlines.  This is Alberta in all her crappiness pre-blocked glory.  I finished the knitting yesterday morning by 8 am.  Threw Alberta and Susan into the sink to wash then rinse, and when I returned from class, I wrung 'em out and strung 'em up on the living room floor to dry.  DH gasped - wet wool on the oriental rug!  Don't tell him about the pins holding the squares to size and shape, ok?   What do you think my chances are of staying married getting a blocking board for Christmas?  In any case, both squares are nearly dry and stretched quite nicely to fit the required 12" x 12" size for the group afghan.  I'm thinking I enjoy this so much, it's about time I work on one of these afghans for my own house.   And now that this knitting deadline is done, I may just tackle Robert again.  I suspect Robert has a more feminine side than the name suggests.  I suspect a finer, softer yarn will suit Robert in my hands better.   So, as soon as Gret gets my yarn back to me, Robert and I will take another stab at a date.


The sock is progressing.  I will finish the pair but I won't like it.  That's ok.  They aren't for me.  And the recipient most likely will, for exactly the reason I don't.  They are too orderly.  I like random.  And bold.  I do like the blue, though.  I'm really hoping this yarn softens up after a good wash and rinse.  It feels dry and harsh to me.  Anyone else have experience with this yarn?

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Good Things

The newest on the needles project, a pair of socks in two colors.  It's a pretty basic pattern: Classic Socks by Yankee Knitter.  The yarn is Fortissima Colori Socka Color by Schoeller-Stahl.  I confess, I don't really like knitting with their yarn.  But this is what I have and I will like the FO.  My first two pairs of socks are the worsted weight version and I didn't like knitting with that either but love the socks.  This pair is a Christmas present for someone who I'm pretty sure doesn't read the blog, but just in case, I'm not saying the name.   This is my first time knitting with size 1 needles.  Yikes!!  They feel pretty comfortable though excessively fragile.  I can see the necessity for metal needles in smaller sizes.  I sitll like wooden needles in sizes 6 to 8 the best.   I really want to get my hands on a set of Bamboo Sisters to see if they feel as good as I think they will. 

I wish I weren't such a slow knitter.  It's cutting into my spinning time!  I think I'd like to learn to knit Continental to improve my speed.  Someone blogless, the NETA Foreign Correspondent for fellow NETAns, has "taught" me the procedure.  Now it's up to me to force my kicking, screaming no brain to forge those neuronal connections.  It ain't a pretty sight to watch, sad to say.   

Speaking of the Foreign Correspondent, she's currently on her way to Antarctica.  How (ok, are you ready?  - you know it's coming!!) cool is that??  I admire this lady!  During her married raising kids phase, the family maintained quite an active lifestyle (I want to go back in time and be adopted into her family!!)  Now, she doesn't let being a widowed grandma get in her way of pursuing life.  She travels all over the place, often just her and the cutensweet kitty in her little RV, and has probably hit more yarn stores than any other person on earth.  This lady knows how to live!  She's funny, intelligent, helpful and generous, too.   I am indeed lucky to know such a person.

Other people I'm happy I've had the chance to meet are some of my classmates in my latest round of college (ok, so I wasn't quite focused in my earlier days - I've attended 6 colleges and a business school, graduated from the business school and two of the colleges).   The last time I attended college was 1981 to 1987 (earned a Bachelor's Degree).  I was not overly impressed with the caliber of students then.  Neither were some of the professors - I know cause, as a non-traditional (read married, mom and older) student even then, I had more in common with the professors than my fellow classmates.  One memorable moment came during my economics 101 class.  I generally sat next to a 19 year old freshman, sweet, perky little girl who apparently believed me to be as young as she (I"ve been blessed with youthful skin but I was less than 10 years older than her).  When I told her I was expecting a baby, she panicked for me.  "OMG, I'm so sorry!  What are you going to do????"  The look on her face when I said "have her" was priceless!!  Still makes me laugh today.  I think she was even more shocked when I told her I already had a husband and a two year old. 

My classmates today have no illusions about my age.  I freely (and proudly) claim "old fart in the room" status.  Heck, I think I'm old enough to be the mother of our professor, let alone my classmates!!  But what a great experience this is for me.  I'm enjoying the classroom atmosphere immensely.  The homework is sometimes - ummm... interesting (yeah, that's the right word, uh huh), because the class is Intermediate/Advanced Fiction Writing, a class which requires each student to write at least 2 short stories which we turn in with copies for everyone.  Then we all critique the stories.  Many of my classmates are just the other side of the hormonal hysteria of teenage years, so they dabble in some strange writings (skip this part if graphic stuff offends you:  black leather, whips, chains, double sided dildo pain inducing sex was a description in one story).  But the level of intelligence these kids display during the story analysis phase is pretty exciting.  I'm impressed.  And encouraged for the sake of the future.   I'm also quite proud of the fact that they all liked my first story (one fella proclaimed it "adorable" - how cute is that??).  Puts pressure on for the next one though.  And ya know, that's a good thing.

Hey, don't forget (if you like this sort of thing) to add yourself to my map.

Berries, Babies, and Boo Boos

A repeat photo cause I've decided on the name for this bunny:  Woolybuns Berry Blue.  I'll call her Berry, even though that's what her sister is called also.  They live far enough apart and have different pedigree names, so it shouldn't be an issue.  Both of the Berries are German/English crossbreds.  My Berry's coat is dense, nicely crimped, and lusciously soft, just like her daddy.  I've heard that Berry's siblings are similarly nice but haven't seen any of them since they left here.

Berry has some new siblings, now about 4 weeks old.  The siblings are a confounding combination of exciting and disappointing.  Exciting in that they already show fabulous crimp and the promise of really dense coats, disappointing because 4 of the six have random white spots on their heads, and gray eyes.  While their random white spots are mostly small and absolutely adorable, they are genetically undesireable as the trait can be cumulative, meaning breeding to one of them can result in bigger white spots.  Again, cute and not a problem if you like that.  But my color goal includes good, intense color for spinning fiber.  Big white spots in the middle of the fiber would dilute the color in the spinning.  The gray eyes, likewise, are kinda cute.  But genetically, that indicates the babies are not true self color, but self chinchillas.  That means they could end up with some funky stuff happening with the color (still perfectly wonderful spinning fiber, just genetically incorrect), either as they reach adult status or in future babies.  So, no matter how friendly, cute and deliciously fibery they may be, they are not breeding quality.  They will find wooler pet homes instead.   Let me know if you're interested.

So, do you like this Frappr thing going around?  I think it's kinda fun, so add yourself to mine, if you want.

My shawl in the Brooks Farm Four Play yarn is now off the needles, one last stitch still on the crochet hook, waiting for me to decide if I need to rip a few rows out in order to have enough to fringe her with.  I originally wanted to knit a lace edge, but the logistics of sticking with the changing colorways and carrying yarn over to the other edge presented me with more thinking than I wanted to play with.  So fringe it is.  I'm also a bit concerned over it's current shape.  It's supposed to end up as a simple triangle.  Right now, it's much more of a diamond shape.  I consulted with fellow stitch n' bitchers last night and they snickered and looked highly dubious supported me in the silly, delusional notion that blocking will cure that and this is not indicative of a big boo boo.  I'll let ya know (you'll probably hear the shriek if blocking doesn't help).

The Greatest

Yeah, that's you folks all helping me find out if the new email works.  Thanks!!!  And thanks again, cause I really appreciate the input.  It works!  Eventually, there will be a website to go with the new email address.  DS the Y is working on an entry page that I'm quite tickled with.   Well, maybe "working" is too active a word - toying with, might be the more appropriate phrase.   

Speaking of toys, does she look real to you?  She's about 10 weeks old, daughter of Merry Hoppins and Rebel.  Not sure of her name yet.  I hadn't intended to keep her but she's just too cute (much more so than this photo shows) to let go.  She's got a full sister still here and available to the right home.

This girl also needs a name.   I had a name picked out for her but someone who got her sister asked if I'd used that name yet cause she really wanted to use that for her bunny.  In a weak moment, I said sure, and I must have been more attached to the name than I thought, cause now I haven't been able to come up with a good name for her.  LOL  So, I'm publically admitting it to put the pressure on myself to Name That Bunny!

Fiber Related

As of Nov. 16, my email service provider is discontinuing.  Sigh.  Yet another lost email address.  So woolybuns@mailblocks.com will no longer work.  I'm working on a new email address but I'm not sure its functional yet.  By Nov. 17, it should work.  At this point, it has received one test email but I haven't yet been able to send a coherent message.  Whether it's the service that's incoherent or just another example of my extremely incompetent level of geek remains to be seen.  I've got my personall computer geeks sons working on it.  In any case, please be patient with me.  I will get email functional.

I'm also planning to do some felting this weekend.  Anyone feel like a felt along?   If so, leave a comment in lieu of email (see above). 

WIP

  Can you guess what this is?

Does this help?

Now you really have to know what's gonna happen at my house soon.  A kitchen that ugly just has to go!  The current kitchen, besides being ugly, is a bunch of wasted space.  No real counter space.  No place to put broom, dustpan, mop, buckets, trash can, recyle bin.  Two - yeah, just TWO freakin' small drawers that aren't even wide enough to hold a small silverware tray.  And in the middle of the room hoggin' all the wide open space that could be put to much better use like someplace to sit for breakfast, is a really stupid peninsula.  It ain't even an island, for NORma's sake!  It's attached to the wall, covering up a good expanse of baseboard heating.  And, as if the disgusting countertop isn't enough to drive your eyes to seek refuge deep in your bowels, the dang peninsula is covered in that hideously wretched mustard yellow imitation countertop crap.  And to  complete the humiliation this kitchen must feel, above that ugly peninsula is a wagon wheel chandelier.  Can you stand it????  We can't.  So a couple days ago, we signed a contract with a builder, cuddled up with a designer and spent the weekend picking out new appliances (the kitchen appliances all still work - so, of course, we got home and the washing machine snapped a wire so it won't spin).   The green block is a sample of the countertop we picked out.   The new kitchen will have recessed lighting, about 8 of them, along with 10 - yeah, ten - drawers, a cabinet for both trash and recycles, at least two utility cabinets, and an honest to goodness island with breakfast bar.  Woo hoooooo!!  We're also redoing the big bathroom and depending on how all the tile and cabinets price out, we will probably be adding a deck off the dining room at the same time.  So, for the holidays, we will have a gaping hole in the outside wall of the dining room, no kitchen, and no big bathroom, only the little ones.    Bring it on, baby!

Helping Hands

Do you hear that?  It's another call from the knitblog community to help those in need.  This call is for the people rebuilding after the powerful and deadly tornado in Indiana.    Anne started the call, I read about it from Sandy  via Norma.  Since I am a slow knitter and have never knitted mittens, I will felt some mittens. 

Somethings Work and Somethings Take a Bit More Effort

As the weather is finally sliding into synch with the season and the brilliant beauty outdoors subsides, my indoor garden fills in the gap.  Orchids are so faithful!  Well, first I have to make sure I put in compatible species, then they prove they are worth every penny.

Also proving his worth is this dude, Woolybuns Harley Davidbun.  He's due for shearing soon - well, ok, he actually probably already passed his actual 90 day due for shearing date but I didn't write it down so I don't know when the 90 day mark is/was.  So, I'm letting his coat grow until it's the length I want it.  Ever spin 4 to 5 inch long angora?  Yummmmm!!!  But, since he's a young fella, I practiced him on spending calm time on his back and the other bits of handling that comes with a "hare cut."  BTW, these photos show a bunny who has NOT been groomed since his last hare cut.  Staple length at this point is about 3 inches.  Harley has some impressive crimp to his wool, typical of a good pure German coat (not to mention a requirement in the standard for the breed). I tried to get some photos of it but the POS camera doesn't handle the lighting in combo with close ups of white wool.  On the wool photos, all I got with flash was a big white blur, and grainy, blurry blobs without flash. But Harley was terrific.  And pretty dang cute, I think.  The back photos also show off how nicely consistent his belly wool is with the rest of his wool.    Also typical of a good pure German angora.  He stayed there on his back without me holding him for a good 10 minutes or more.  Not a record here at all - a pretty lilac German/English doe who now lives in North Carolina would routinely stay in position on her back for over an hour.   Makes shearing so much easier on the bunnies.  Yeah, and on the shearer, too.  I'll see if I can improve my interactions with the camera and white wool (or maybe draft DS the older and his fancy schmancy camera) - that crimp is really lovely to look at and I'd love to share it with you.

Not so lovely to see.  I deliberately dropped those stitches to go back about 10 rows to pick up a what I thought was a simple dropped stitch.  Now, look carefully at that spot - see the green stitch?  Yeah, that one that sits sideways.  Yeah, sideways - properly behaved stockinette stitches do not sit sideways.  They line up nice and neat vertically.  And they link up with the stitch to the right and the stitch to the left.  Not so this little rogue stitch.  This one - can a knit stitch be ADD??? - chose its own path, waving to its neighbor to the right.  Or is that sticking its tongue out at me???  In any case, I handed it to more experienced knitters to rescue me from the frog pond.  Both Audrey and Karen  put forth valiant efforts at Stitch n Bitch last night.  But alas, both concluded, as did I, that I had two options: rip out the 10 rows and discipline that stitch, or a cheap and dirty lash it into compliance on the back side.  Now, maybe I'll fudge a stitch that kind of hides inobtrusively off to the side.  But this little dickens is almost front and center.  And I'd know.  So, there sits 10 rows of froggy knitting.  I did get 5 of those rows back on the needles last night.  I also know what I did to create that little dickens: I half knit a stitch: needle inserted properly, yarn thrown properly, then just slide it off instead of pull the thrown yarn through to complete the stitch.  Maybe sometime I'll play with that to see if it can be creatively harnessed, but not in this shawl.

Fixed

I think.  I've freely confessed before to my utter lack of geekness.  Presenting this blog to you is a testament to the ease of using Typepad, not to any computer skill on my part.  So, when Patti  pleaded for the fix on the photos of my SAFF adventure, I cringed and thought perhaps I could get away with just being incompetent.  Along comes Denise also pointing out my inability.  Sigh.  I girded my mental loins - folks, you have no idea how painful trying to fix something related to computers is for me.  But bless the hearts at Typepad!  All I had to do (I think - please won't someone - Patti?  Denise?? - tell me this works on your computer as well as on mine??) was delete the photos and add them back in.  I can now click on the photos and get the bigger size. 

Update on the shawl: it's been progressing quite well.  I had a big instant of sheer panic last night: Amika the goddess of destruction with a particular focus on fiber and wooden fiber tools managed to breach the gate and dragged my shawl in progress onto the floor.  Now, given that Gromit, who's fondness runs toward hard plastic like cell phones, just wreaked his havoc on DD, I fully expected the shawl, yarn and needles to be kaput.  I couldn't even look at it last night, just ordered the children to deal with the dogs, gathered the mess into my hands and deposited it somewhere out of reach.  But, I checked it out first thing this morning and it's ok!  The dog can live.

And this is what else I've been playing with.  Angora and dyepots.  Wheeeeee.....

Kim mentioned working with red.  I love red!  In all it's shades.  So I dyed some angora scarlet.  I love the way it looks in person but sheesh!  Trying to photograph it - aiiieeeee!!  Kind of attacks the eyes, don't it??  Maybe later today I'll try to get a photo of it in natural shaded daylight instead of the unnatural stuff in my house.  Of course, looking at it doesn't begin to tell the truth of thing.  That's only found through touching.  I've been doing a lot of that this week!!