Woolybuns

Phew! I'm Exhausted

Since Rhinebeck, I've logged about 1800 miles in my car through 7 states.  Fiber played a prominent role.  So did friendship, wind, rain, cold, bewitching, and terrorizing small children and a couple grown ups.  And my nose got blown off.  Also, apparently I didn't have enough bunnies here at home.  I'll explain when I get caught up on home stuff. 

Just a Quickie

Before Rhinebeck, I did finish a couple things.  To the left is my first Red Scarf.  I do not want to give this up - it is delightfully soft and squishy! -  but I will.  After all, it only used a bit more than 2 skeins and I bought 4, so I can make something for me, too, if I want.  But I'm thinking the rest of it would be a great project for Dulaan, too, or perhaps for the December donations we do at spinning guild. 

I also finished my NETA square, though it's not yet blocked.  This square will meet up with many others in Portsmouth, NH next January for a joining party.  Then in February, the finished afghan will be raffled at Spa, with all proceeds donated to The Ship's Project.  I enjoyed knitting Kelly's SSSSwap sock in vine lace so much that I made my square using the vine lace pattern.  I actually finished it the first time a while ago, but when I stretched it out on blocking wires, a couple of mistakes jumped out and smaacked me right in the eyeballs showed up two repeats back.  So I ripped and futzed and cussed and finally got back on track. 

And to say thanks to whatever forces allow me the good fortune I mostly enjoy in life, bright and early the day after Rhinebeck, I cast on a hat for the homeless to be donated at spinning guild.  I'm using left over Four Play yarn from Brooks Farm and following Susan's  "Live Dangerously Don't Swatch Hat" pattern.  I'm much further along than that photo shows.  And using a rib stitch instead of the one Susan used.  I don't know who the hat will be for nor how much yarn I actually have, so want a stretchy hat to accomodate some unknown someone. 

Saturday Rhinebeck Sky

It could not have been more perfect.  Ok, so having an extra couple thousand bucks in the pocket could have made the day more fun, but weather and folks and fiber choices and chatting and chocolate - all very good.  Fellow Fiber Freak (posing with the sky and the tree) and I left my house at about 7 am, had a pleasant drive up the Taconic Parkway and reached the happy hunting ground of Rhinebeck by 9 am, early enough for a prime parking spot (one close enough to the gate for quick trips back to the car).  Within ten minutes, we were fondling Socks That Rock at The Fold.   This was perhaps the only disappointment of the day.  No STR yarn in lightweight.  They came to Rhinebeck with only 3 such skeins and sold those instantly.  Lots of medium weight but just the three lightweight, which is what everyone was looking for.  Why they would come with only 3 lightweight makes no sense to me (yeah, I know - probably sold it all before the trip) but that made the decision to pass on the yarn easy.  And getting over that happened in about 3 minutes, when I plunged my hands into a Mary Pratt moorit merino rambouillet cross fleece whose sweetness is only equaled by Taste Bud's Blackout Bar (I bought one and offered to split it with Fellow Fiber Freak - she took one look at it and promptly got in line to buy her own).  Oh, yes, that bag of  wooly wonder came home with me.  Fellow Fiber Freak has an option on up to half of it if I can force myself to part with any she wants.  My bunny buddy Toffee now needs to grow his fiber fast because it will look delicious blended with this wool.

The blogger meetup was a rousing success, as was Blogger Bingo.  Lots of faces, lots of names.  Can I connect them all?  Yeah, right.  So I'll just give you the faces in a photo album.  The common theme?  All those great grins. 

Some photos do have show up here.

Stephanie's shawl is amazing. 

And Stitchy because she created the fun that is Blogger Bingo.

Making love nice with a spinning wheel while wearing hand knit knee socks.

Denny, a knitter who spins finds a way to go from roving straight to knitting, skipping the spinning part.

And then there was this charming fella:

Yes, I did come home with more than grins and yummy fleece.  I bought silk hankies and silk sliver for dyeing.

Some glitzy stuff from The Wheel Thing for playing around with.

A bag of blended oh so soft odd stuff including wool, alpaca, silk, glitz, and ?? also for playing around with.

Some halloweeny sock yarn from Ken at Dorchester Farms (whose website doesn't seem to exist but I can get in touch with him via email, so holler if you want to contact Ken).

 

And finally, this delicate softly shaded ball of Skaska lace weight yarn.  It's 50 grams and 1200 yards.  Yikes!

Catching Up

I guess this has been Silly Stuff week.  DD started it.  She called early AM on Saturday, said she was bored, needed to return something to a pet shop and did I want to go along?  So off we went.  While she shopped, I played with kittens.  The one in the top cage, a cute little orange and white sprite, really wanted to play.  When I stooped down to say hi to those in the bottom cage, little Sprite reached out, grabbed  my head with both of her paws and restyled my hair gave me a vigorous noogie.  I so fell in love!  But with DH and the kids all allergic to cats, she couldn't come home with me.  Which meant I needed something else to tickle my fancy.   Under the influence of DD, Button became my focus.  Yeah, we bought ourselves Button a present.  Before she could have it, she had to get a bath.   Properly primped, poor little Button got humiliated outfitted for winter. Can you tell how pleased she is?

Then I found out Stitchy's Mock and Roll at a LYS was Saturday, not Sunday and I had only an hour and a half to feed rabbits, shower, and drive through Connecticut's always cranky traffic.  I made it with a few minutes to spare, albeit with a serious case of camnesia.  Now, what kind of refreshments would you put out for the Traveling Trunk Show of the Museum of Kitschy Stitches?  Those crazy folks brought out Twinkies and Hostess cupcakes, squirt cheese* and crackers, and cheese puffs.  Yeah, cheese puffs in a yarn store.  Stitchy's commentary is as funny as the book. Go see her when she's in your area.  And treat yourself to your own personal copy of the book.  You don't want to miss out on this stuff.  Conveniently for all those Rhinebeck bound, Stitchy will be there.

Speaking of Rhinebeck and Stitchy, I'm ready.  I signed up as both a player and a square for Rhinebeck Blogger Bingo.  I got my Bingo card and I've been scoping out my targets.  Like me, most of them don't put many photos of themselves on their blogs.  I don't know how I'm going to figure out who's who for my card, but anyone who has me on the card, look for my latest felted FO:

      

*squirt cheese: that stuff in a can like canned whipped cream?  Yeah, it's maker is so proud of it, it's not on their website.  A quick google on images didn't turn one up. 

Autumn's Glory

Here in New England, that would be our maple trees.  Lucky me, I am surrounded by them. There are over 200 different species of maple trees, most growing to majestic size and producing that glorious color every fall.  Just how intense the color gets in any given year depends on a lot of voodoo weather factors, like bright sunny days and chilly crisp late summer nights, and enough rain sprinkled throughout summer.  Even the previous winter weather matters.  Colors range from yellow to orange to brilliant red.  The sugar maple is probably the most famous of the maples because it offers up that yummy Northeastern treasure, maple syrup. My favorite fall tree color is the peachy orange/red shade.  Sadly, this year I'm not seeing that.  But even in an off year, these trees are just so magnificent.  I don't have any sugar maples in my yard.  People were practical around here when they planted, so we've got a lot of Norway maples.  They handle pollution and soil conditions more gracefully than a lot of other trees.  The tree to the left is mine.  We believe it was planted the year the house was built, 1964.  This is the tree that waits until everyone else has cleaned up their yards before dropping it's leaves. It often produces that incredible peachy orange/red but this year, yellow orange tones predominate. The only other tree in my neighborhood that competes with this one for over all shape and size is about 5 houses down from me.  The photo on the right is the view of that tree from the street. Over to the left is the same tree peeking over the back yards. It too lingers with its leaves but as you can see, it's further along with color than my tree.  This year, it has better color than mine, but that's not the case most years.  Many of the maples around here are already quite well into dropped leaves.  In my backyard are two Crimson King maples with purply black summer foliage. They are the first trees to get naked here.  They stand like sentries over my rabbits, protecting them from the brutal summer heat and humidity. Then as summer fades to cooler temperatures and the rabbits welcome daytime sun, the Crimson Kings obligingly drop their leaves, almost an acknowledgement that they cannot compete in the fall beauty pagent with their more colorful relatives. I've been raking those leaves out of the rabbitry for about a month now.  Combined with the dropped hay and other droppings from the hutches, they make wonderful compost.  The next tree to drop its leaves is the one belonging to my back yard neighbor.  Three weeks ago it was just starting to color.  And here to the right as it looks today.  Depending on the weather, my Norway maple out front should give me color for another couple weeks.  Foliage season is shorter than summer flower season but every bit as rewarding.  Perfect for another annual autumn treat, hot mulled cider and crisp macintosh apples. 

What Are Friends For?

To those of you who suggested Upton Tea Imports, shame on you!  You know Rhinebeck is coming.  I'm also going to SAFF just one week later.  You know I don't need competition for my cash.  And yet you pushers and p*mps lead me straight to slaughter.  Two hundred forty seven choices of black tea.  One hundred eleven choices of green tea.  Another one hundred eighteen choices in the miscellaneous category.  Bone china mugs.  Porcelain mugs.  Proper tea pots.  Infusers. Scoops and spoons, strainers, filters, tea cupping sets.  Even decorative storage tins.  A sheepy one to boot.  What were you evil people thinking?

Which is to say: thank you. 

T is for

... well, Tea.  More specifically, hot Tea.  A good cuppa Tea is my morning hot beverage of choice. What makes a good cuppa Tea?  First and foremost is it must be boiling hot as you make it.  You can't have a truly good cuppa without the truly boiling part.  Microwave hot is sh*t not good tea hot.  What happens to water heated in a microwave?  It's called superheating.  Most of us will never suffer through the explosion of water that theoretically can happen with superheating.  The problem with using superheated water for tea is boiling often does not happen.  Boiling results in lots of vigorously rolling bubbles.  Since microwaves don't heat the container, water tends not to boil no matter how hot that water gets in the microwave.  Hot but not boiling water does not properly steep Tea.  It leaves a film on the top of the Tea and any cup of Tea with that film is crap not worth drinking.  So, when you offer a friend a cup of Tea, boil their Tea water on the stove.  Next note on good boiling water: if you get the water from your tap, start with cold water.  Hot water in the pipes encourages junk from the pipes to come along for the ride.  Even better, use a non-chlorinated source of cold water. 

Really good hot Tea is steeped in a Tea pot with Tea leaves.  Back when dinosaurs roamed the earth I was a child, my mother always made her Tea with Tea leaves not Tea bags.  Yuck!  Back then, I didn't like Tea.  But now, a dedicated Tea drinker, I confess, I usually use a Tea bag and I usually drink the cheap stuff.  I've been so American about my tea!  But that has more to do with when I drink it.  Immediately upon stumbling down the stairs in the morning, before the brain kicks in (isn't that what tea and coffee is for anyway?  Kick starting the brain?) and I just want a fast, hot cuppa.  Now that I've read up on why the Brits have their Tea making ritual, afternoon Tea  sounds delightful and I may just go find myself some Tea leaves.  I have come to  appreciate the more  refined flavors in  some Twinings Tea.    I already have some favorite Tea pots. The yellow set I won in a school fundraiser raffle. My mother gave me the Iris set for a long ago birthday (probably my 30th) as well as more recently this cute little sea shell set she bought in Ireland at the Belleek factory. 

My favorite Tea set also comes from Belleek.  This set was a Christmas gift from my husband even more years ago than the Iris set.  I love this sweet basketweave shamrock design.  I don't often use  any of these Tea pots but I think that should change.  I'm thinking a relaxing afternoon Tea time indulging in a proper cuppa Tea  made in a  treasured Tea pot would suit me just fine to a T. 

Saturday Reflections

The view of my water supply as Saturday drifts into night.  Some days, a bevy of swans grace the reservoir; some days, it's a dopping of ducks.  Today still waters mirrored the land and it was good.  Autumn color is upon us and tonight promises a frosty fall nip.  It's a peaceful time stolen from an unpeaceful world.  I'm grateful for these moments of serenity, knowing too many don't encounter them. 

Random Ramblings

Whoopeeeee!  SSSSwap sock is done.  And snuggly comfy.  That was fun.

I immediately cast on for some more vine lace but not in sock form.  It's a square for the annual NETA afghan to be raffled off at Spa.  Last February, we raffled off two afghans and it looks like we'll be doing that again next February.  This is the pre-blocked afghan my square went into last February. Participating in this group project is great fun and a very motivating way to advance the knitting skills.  One block that must end up 12 x 12 inches, 6 rows of garter stitch beginning and end, 3 garter stitch border on either side, in between is whatever your little heart desires.   And then we have the big joining party in January.  All proceeds from the raffle are donated to The Ship's Project for postage costs.  What's not to like about such a project?  If I get any points from the Knitting Goddess for this charity knitting, I'd like to donate them to someone in need go have a good laugh then maybe cast on in her name. 

Tomorrow is Spinning Guild day.  For the first time in TWO. Years. I'm not an officer.  No official duties to tend to.  Phew!  So I reserved a vendor table.  Kick me, please or come buy some super soft roving and make us both happy.  Program for the day: The Shepherd's Rug.  I'd like to participate and often it's possible to both vend and participate in the program at Guild (since very few folks browse or buy during program), but I'm not sure that will be the case this time, partly due to space constraints.  I will at least buy the kit and the book so I can try it on my own.  So hopefully, one way or another, I'll have a photo of a mini rug/chair pad/cat bed to post after the weekend. 

Have you noticed how much cookin' is going on in blogland lately?  Yum!  So what culinary creations am I exploring? 

Yeah.  Oatmeal. 

Sigh.  See that nice little health message on the container?  Turns out my cholesterol levels suck. And with a strong family history of heart disease, I have to take those sucky numbers seriously.  So go ahead with your comfort foods or exotic jams and delicious pies.  I'm so not enjoying my own cooking:

I think it's time for some comfort knitting with silk/angora yarn.

Gettin Soxy

My SSSSwap sock is just zipping right along.  After I took the photo, I finished the gusset.  I'm loving this soxy stuff!  Typical of me and anything new skill wise, my first efforts with sock knitting were clumsy, awkward and discouraging (CAD).  But I've lived with me long enough to know perseverance is my guide.  In the face of my personal CAD, I must just take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and then just keep going.  And at some indefineable moment, that last neuron hooks up with the right synapse and *POOF* I get it.  Not the easiest learning style but once I caught on to my own peculiarity, I could get past the frustration.  Well, that's what happened with SSSSwap. In knitting SSSSwap pal #2's sock - Vine Lace Sock from Socks Socks Socks - that magical moment happened.  Part of it was just doing my sticktoitiveness thing.  But part of it also was creating this thing for someone else, knowing that someone else is a nicely accomplished knitter who deserved my best.  That pushed me.  And *POOF*  I'm a Soxy Grrl.  Realizing that magic moment?  It's better'n chocolate.