COUNTDOWN TO RETIREMENT

The countdown begins. 

In about a year from now I will be able to stop the day job and have more time to practice my crafts more consistently. Meanwhile I spin, knit, weave and sew whenever the opportunity and energy allow. Working 8-12 hour days leaves me tired and a little cranky at the end of the day most of the time and I usually fall asleep after dinner.

On the needles: A sweater for Clara
                          A blanket for Elizabeth

On the Loom: Two at a time long skinny Scarves-1 cotton-1 wool.

On the spinning wheel: A blend of merino and silk

On the sewing machine : a crib rail cover
                                         a pillow for Elizabeth
                                         a dress for Clara

Once the sewing machine is fixed I'll get back to finishing these.

Back at it!

Time has flown by so quickly.

In June 2012 our daughter married her boyfriend, Ian, in a lovely church in Ipswich Massachusetts. It was a wonderful day for us all.
We adore our son-in-law and his family and they love our Elizabeth.













In September of 2013 Elizabeth and Ian gave us the most beautiful Granddaughter, Clara Jeanette.

She is wonderful, smart and charming. And she is of course she is very smart. Clara is growing and progressing every day. I am so grateful.












Clara's 1st Christmas Eve,



                                                                 
                                               

















Clara's 1st Christmas,

                                                         


 Clara's Christmas hat,





















    Clara's 1st New Years Day!

A NEW YEAR


I know I'm almost a month and a half late with this post but December and January have passed quickly.


At the end of December I joined a group on Ravelry  call 12 in 2012. It's a group that has the goal to spin 12 pounds of fiber in the year 2012. Each month has a challenge.  The January challenge was to spin a single yarn and for February the challenge is to spin a larger quantity of fiber than I'm used to spinning.

January went pretty well! I started with a fiber that I purchased from Southern Cross Fibers; a color way called Storm on Falklands fiber. Falkland is fiber that is not a specific breed of sheep but fiber that is grown on the Falkland island and not anywhere else. The wool is grown mostly from the merino and polwarth breeds.

I spun 4 ozs. of this fiber last year but still has 8 ozs. left to spin for this year. I made a 3 ply yarn that is both under spun and under plied. It is a balanced yarn and also soft and smoochy. I will work on making a slightly tighter yarn next time.

My second January spin was one that I've started in December as a spinning demo at the Charles River Smockers December meeting. I spun 2 ozs. there and had six ozs. to spin.

It's Spunky Eclectic Tuxedo Rose on Romney a September 2010 Club fiber. I didn't think I was going to like this yarn but when I was finished I was excited. I turned out to be the best looking yarn I've ever spun.  I n-plied  to keep the colors together. This yarn makes me happy!!

Romney is a course fiber and is usually spun for outer wear as it could be itchy for next to the skin wearing. Staple length is about 6 inches. I raffled this yarn off to the Charles River Smockers who attended the January meeting and it was won by our President Vera.

Next, I spun 8 ounces of super wash corriedale from Spunky Eclectic in the Davids Gift color way. Bright vibrant color made this a fun spin. I split the top down the center and spun from one end to the other.  I ended up with 325 yds. of navaho ply yarn.

Lastly, another Romney.

Again, it another Spunky yarn. I purchased this one shortly after I started spinning.  I loved spinning this top, it practically spun itself. I ended up with 360 yds. of 2 ply, very lofty yarn.

Total for January - 30 ounces.


February 4, 2012-Did you know? It was national EAT ICE CREAM FOR BREAKFAST DAY!!


My husband,myself and our granddaughter, Grace, headed out a 8:00 am to Cherry Farm in Danvers for an ice cream breakfast.

Grace had a waffle Sundae with strawberry and cheerio topping. She was very excited to eat ice cream for breakfast and couldn't wait to tell her Dad.  She texted her Dad the above picture of her before breakfast and the one below as her after breakfast. She does have her mothers sense of humor.

20 in 2012

For my first spin in February I decided to take the challenge to spin more than my usual amount in a spin (I usually spin 8-12 ounces at one time). I decided to do the 24 ounces of a sweater spin I have left of a 2 pound mixed BFL. This is taking f-o-r - e-v-e-r.  It's lovely fiber and is spinning up nicely but........the natural color, while beautiful, is not very interesting for long term spinning. I'll be glad when it's done.  I have about 8 ounces left to go before plying.

Another Hat


Here is the hat I made for the husband. This is yarn that I spun from organic merino top from Souther Cross Fiber. The color way is called Sturt.It is lovely fiber, soft and warm and the colors are just right. It is the same pattern that I used for Ian's birthday hat but I added several inches so he can turn it up for extra warmth.  I finished it last month. 

Currently, I'm working on a woven scarf from a linen yarn that I purchased at Marden's.
I took these pictures at night with my phone so the colors are really yellow but you can get the idea. The finished picture will be better.

I want to share some new yarn. One of my local yarn stores Cranberry Fiber Arts had the brillant idea for some special edition hand painted yarn from Spunky Eclectic. And it is gorgeous. 

Lucky girl that I am, my friend Sande rushed to Cranberry and got me 2 skeins of this lovely sock weight yarn. I don't what I'm going to make with the "Salsa" yet but I'm thinking a woven scarf just might be real nice.

Giving Thanks

Well, Thanksgiving is over for another year but it will remain in pleasant memories for a long time to come. There were a few "firsts" this year. The 1st first was the apple pie that I made. It wasn't the first pie I've made but it was the first one that looked pretty.

I was told it was very good. I don't really like apple pie that much.

We went to Elizabeth and Ian's house for dinner and they cooked their first turkey and it was excellent.

Turkey before:

Turkey after:

Everything was so good and everyone had at least 3 favorites on the table. Nobody left hungry.

The beautiful weather continues here in eastern Massachusetts. Today the temperature reached 65 degrees. After we returned the grandchildren to N.H. and did a few errands I brought the spinning wheel out on the porch and finished up a progression BFL that I started a few weeks ago.

I had just finished when the mail lady delivered the November fiber club from Souther Cross fibers.
The fiber is falkland and the color way is Storm. I just grabbed an empty bobbin and started spinning.

This fiber is spinning up beautifully. It's the first time I've spun Falkland but it won't be the last. I only have 4 ozs. so I will try and get another 4 ozs. on Thursday in the update. I would like to do a 2 or 3 ply yarn.

Fall 2011

As much as I hate to see the summer gone, I do love the fall season. Somehow fall evokes in me a sense of renewal, of new beginnings. Probably its a throw back to my youth when, each September, starting back to school in a new grade left me feeling excited for the year ahead.


The about hat was knitted for my daughters  boyfriend from some hand spun. The yarn is Targhee wool hand dyed by Amy from Spunky Eclectic  in the Flannel color way. Targhee produces a very soft and smoochy yarn. Its a delight to spin and to knit.


The pattern that I used is called A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole. I love the decreases on this hat and plan to knit another hat that is fit for my husband from another hand spun yarn.

I love this yarn!

Almost a year later!


How times flies. The past year has flown by quickly. The grandchildren are growing taller and stronger and smarter all the time. My daughter Liz has purchased her first house and seems very happy.  I continue to knit, spin, weave and sew. 

LazyGirl

I am such a lazy girl. I spend so much time on the Internet but never update these pages. 


I the past month I have been to two fiber festivals. Rhinebeck was great. This was the second time I attended and it was just as good this time as last year. I bought a little fiber, some yarn and a new Bosworth Spindle. 


Last weekend the husband and I went to the 1st annual NE fiber Festival . Talking to some of the vendors there, they were pleased with the turnout and encouraged that the festival will live on.


On the needles:


Still working on the cotton throw rug for the kitchen. I haven't picked this up for awhile.
Bella mittens for dd Liz.
Forest canopy Shawl. Really, there are two of these going, one from my hand spun and one from a pretty Malabrigo that I bought at Purl in Tiverton, Ma.


On the Wheel


I'm spinning a beautiful black Romney that I bought from a gal at Rhinebeck . It's a lovely color and I think it will become my first true 3 ply yarn. In have some real pretty hand dyed rovings/tops from SE that I want to spin but I really want to finish the Romney first.


Hand Work


I have a couple of smocking projects coming up. This weekend my smocking group is hosting  a weekend of smocking with Barbara Meager. We will be making an eyeglass case smocked with overdyed floss and a smocked insert for for a lovely handbag. I'm really looking forward to the classes and time with good friends.

Winter 2010

Its been awhile; I've been neglectful once again. I am very easily distracted.

In September '09 I purchased a spinning wheel from Copper Moose, a Kromski Sonata. I knew nothing about spinning but the words associated with spinning fascinated me. Mother of all, the footmen, the maidens and a lazy kate all called to me. I mean, how could you not want a niddy noddy if you knew such an item existed?

My first attempts were a mess. Terribly over spun and coiled. Ugly yarn. I slowly began to improve. Last month I took a 2 day class in beginning spinning and I've improved some more.

Oh my goodness, I have been neglectful to my blog. This was not my intention when I started.

In the past few weeks I have been working on 2 EZ Baby surprise jackets. One is a natural/peach BunnyHop yarn and the other is Filatura Dicrosa Baby Zarella 409 a pretty green/yellow/blue. I'm almost half way with both and although I can see where I can improve my stitching I'm reasonably pleased.

I have also started spinning on a drop spindle. Let me tell you, if you watch the videos on YouTube it looks like it not so hard but it takes some skill to keep the spindle turning and the fiber drafting. My first attempts are terribly over spun and wormy looking. As I spin a little more each day, I can see some improvement in my spinning. Its still over spun but it looks a little more like yarn. I'm still in the park and draft period of spinning and I have to pre draft the fiber to keep the spun yarn from being too thick. I think I need some lessons. I have been looking for lessons around here but so far they are few and far between-at least 50 miles from home, usually offered on a workday.

I really want to learn to spin and draft on a spindle before I commit to buying a spinning wheel. I am considering Kromski Sonata, a travel wheel. I like its look, the double treadle, the scotch tension and the size. We'll see.

Another Slow Week

Well, nothing much in the way of sewing or knitting has happened in the few days. Sunday was a beautiful day and I worked outside "planting" the bottle tree that Ken made for me. A few Sundays ago we took a ride up rte. 1 to Maine and searched for colored bottles in all the antique stores along the way. We found six or seven but still need eight or nine more to finish it. Some little plants and a boulder will make the area complete. Even with the missing bottles and plantings it make me a little happier when I look at it.

Last night was the last regular meeting of the year of my Saga chapter. We had a potluck supper with a lot of good food and conversation with some wonderful women. There was a Yankee swap after dinner I came home with a telescoping magnetic pin picker upper, a pin cushion and a thread cutter.

Tomorrow morning is the last regular meeting for my other Saga chapter. Some of the ladies are the same but mostly its a different group of very talented sewists.

Tomorrow night is knit night at Starbucks. This is becoming one of my most favorite couple of hours of the week. I become so relaxed drinking my large decaff Cafe Mocha and knitting with woman who were strangers just a few weeks ago. I will knit on my socks for a class on Thursday
night. I am learning how to knit 2 socks on 1 circular needles. I'm not sure I'm liking this but I will finish the socks before I make up my mind.

I am fast becoming a lover of knitting socks. I love the yarn, the little stitches and the making of the knit stitch over and over until I have something soft and warm to comfort a loved ones foot.
I signed up for the summer of socks on ravelry and am hoping to get a few pair done for myself and the hubby. Time will tell.

WELCOME

Welcome to my blog!

One of my objectives for this blog is to help me organize my crafting life. I have so many craft project started (I'm sure that I am not alone in this) and they are all over the house in different piles, bags and boxes. When I want to find a project it takes me so long to dig everything out that the crafting time as run out and nothing gets accomplished.

Another objective I hope to meet is to hold myself accountable for each new project I start. If its right here in front of me then I can't hide it in a bag and pretend that it doesn't exist. In this economy it doesn't make sense to buy materials and then not produce a functional or beautiful result.