The week in glimpses. Every Wednesday. For a while.
Wordless Wednesday
January 12th, 2011Fiber Bender
May 7th, 2009I am maybe recovering from one….
I had the greatest spinny-girl episode last week.
It was off to Camp Pluckyfluff with me. I got to spend time in the company of not only the lovely Lexi, but met a few new-friend wonderful spinners, and also got to see some spinny friends that I have not seen in a while! It was really fun and challenged my spinning in some new ways. Then it was a full weekend of the MD Sheep and Wool Festival! Such a wet weekend, but we got to see some woolie-wonders, and buy some woolie-wonders, and I took a really great class from Judit MacKenzie McCuin and learned more about wheel mechanics than I could have dreamed! That woman is brilliant as can be. I am a bit tired tonight so I’ll slip to photos. As soon as I can, I will show you the spinnings from classes and get all of the goodies I have left up on etsy. I am aiming for tomorrow! Thanks from the bottom of my fibery-soul to everyone who stopped into the Cloverhill booth and purchased my yarn and fiber. I hope you enjoy using it as much as I did making it!
Baaaaah-bah.
NO bones… the REAL reason SOME people go…. Seriously.
Then of course for the SOME SHEEP.
Marigold rocked the camera here–
I got a nice little Jacob fleece. I have been longing to spin one of these because of a Cloverhill customer who spins them over and over and makes the most gorgeous sweaters. First the “processing” part, which is just a nice way of saying that I have to hand wash out a years worth of unmentionable molecules. I have never longed to do that. Ever. YIP!
I bought NO sheep and NO goat, though I wish I had. 
One of these years….
2 loverly skeins of Fleece Artist wanted to make a getaway from their booth and stow-awayed in my bag. They told me that they would love the be the Nightsongs shawl which Coleen has tormented me into making– that saucy temptress! They are peacock-ee in color and full of sea silk. Yum. Actually they were called “mermaid” I think. Natch. Then I got a few equipment and maintenance items. My old Ashford Traditional wheel got a pampering and spa-night on my return and I swear, is so happy. I have never been one to personify my wheel, but if it were one of those namey ones, it would probably be squealing with delight and asking to marry me.
Meanwhile… At a secret meeting room in Hyattsville…
Lexi Boeger, Molly Miller by appt. , Liz aka the amazing Hobbeldehoy, Cindy of Studioloo ( go gnomes!), Beth of Double-stars, Jonathan the DC potter extraordinaire, Red Hot Steph of Loop, Kate of Dragonfly fibers, dear Tal (write!), and Stacey are all pictured below. I so enjoyed spending a couple of days and spinning with you! I had serious withdrawal Monday morning!
The only unanswered question? WHY IS IT CALLED A LAZY KATE?? Someone must know right?
Now that you have suffered through wooly overload, you might demand to know WHO is the big WINNER of the “Your Own Private Fiber” contest? It’s YOU Chronographia!!! The random generator picked you, plus that was one smokin’ knock-knock joke. I’ll find you.
More tomorrow– Hey! It’s raining again!
Yarn Party!! and a GIVEAWAY!!! NO WAY!!!!
March 4th, 2009You might have noticed the little yarn party button to the right ——>
That is for the 2nd Homespun Yarn Party– happening on the 15th of this month! If you click on the button it will web-transport you to the blog for this fiber extravaganza. Every couple of days they feature one of the artists or sponsors and you get to “meet” them and get super excited about going and getting a pre-sheep and wool festival fiber-fix! There are so many great folks there this year–I am so excited! I will have my very own table there this year– along with my sister Matryoshka of the lovely Felt Forest needle felting wonderland. We will have needle felted magical-beings, lots of fiber-orbs and handspun yarn. There’ll be stitch markers and other goodies too. Sure hope you can come by and visit! We’ll be at Md Sheep and Wool this year as well. You’ll find both Gnomegarden fiber-stuffs and Felt Forest at the Cloverhill Yarn Shop booth– main d2 and 3. Jolene’s booth rocks with the best of the indie-fiber world. Make sure you visit!! They will also do a countdown blog as it gets closer. Watch for it!
I thought that it would be fun to have a give-away to celebrate! All you have to do is leave a comment here and tell me you favorite color and I will draw a random name on the night of the 14th and the winner will get a free skein of my handspun yarn!! In that color if I have it!!( I can bring it to the party– or send it to you. ) Wait there’s more! I’ll also pick 2 more folks who will win a 4 pack of stitchmarkers plus a 25% off coupon for use at my etsy shop after the show! Yay! That’s a pretty good give-away, right?? You might want to keep an eye on my flickr I’ll have a yarn party set there where you can get a preview of what’s coming with me! Here’s just a smidge of what I’ve been dyeing…. I’ll have 10 more pound of wool cooking soon!
I’ll be carding and spinning my head off for the next 11 days. It might be sort of quiet around the blog. I’ll check in now and then and let you know what Esme and I are up to.
In the meantime… I was working at my computer yesterday when I noticed that Hedwig had dropped in on her for tea! Esme was sleeping off a late-night wheel marathon and meal worm bender, of course. Hedwig poked around her cage for a bit, left her a note, and went home.
One last bit of awesomeness– no extra charge!– Marigold is now on Ravelry! HA! It is so groovy to hear your kid say ” OH, I have to go check my Ravelry!” She is all signed up for our spring gnomeswap and so into the whole experience. You can find her stitches at cocoaloco.
wonky! Pointy! Prickly!
January 29th, 2009I love that word more than most.
wonky. wonky. wonky.
Random knitting, gnoming and hedgehogging photos.
I am getting a cold and snurfley. NOT smurfley. Then I’d have my BLUE head on.
Lil’ Rosie-gnome in one of my first handspun Loop batts. Yuuuummmm.
A Gnomish hat for a person far away. Knit from my own concoction of wool, bamboo and silk– plus some sparkly fairy stuff. Pattern courtesy of Matryoshka-saves-the-day– Jil Eaton’s Elf Cap.
The super cute arigurumi Hedgie– Pattern by AmyGaines
What’s in the bag?
Oh her baby-gypsie-highness, of course!
Nice family gathering. Marigold’s has no eyes, no eyes at all. Where’s my button box….
Those Suh-huh-hum-mer nights
July 10th, 2008Go ahead, sing it like Olivia Newton John. You know you did when you read that.
Here is a picture of the tiki-torch swimming that I mentioned in a previous post:
The phone-cam doesn’t rock so much in low light, but you get the idea. I am loving having this magical pool so much. I didn’t really know that would be the case either. We have belonged to pools in the past, and we always had a similar sized pool when I was wee. It’s just really good. I watched Rosie get under the ladder to play today and had an amazing body memory of doing the same thing when I was her age. I was thrown back to that totally engaged in the game feeling, and just remember looking at my hands as I typed on the ladder rung or something else silly. Anyhow.
I have other things to share. I finished knitting an acorn. It’s tres cute. It sort of looks like a little french guy who ate some fairie food here. It is holding my in-progress jaywalker socks at the moment. I knit the bottom of the acorn from yak yarn. The pattern is wonderful and from a blog which I have become fond of Roman Sock– check out her post for today too. I just love her!
And lastly for this post, I have been spinning up some lovely merino-tencel which bears the name of a LYS and my previous workplace. I have such fond (and some very funny) memories of my time there and my ladies of the lake. Here is Cloverhill. I am really liking the way the colors are playing.
( apologies again for the blurries. It isn’t your eyes– unless of course you haven’t had your coffee yet.)
I am taking a spinning workshop this weekend, and am very excited about it. It is with Jacey Boggs, nutty- spinner- extraordinaire ! There I hope to learn to spin with wild abandon, and with things that might not ought to be spun into yarn. There will be a LOT of people there it sounds like. If I can remember to just think like my kids and I am sure I’ll do fine.
Spinny girl.
June 2nd, 2008As promised, here is my spinning dilemma. Please, if you can help or know someone who might have a vision for me– send it along!
Here is my first spinning. It’s been hanging around waiting for me to make something of it.
Then, a while later I got some of this lovely wool from Cloverhill. I believe it was from a sheep named Oreo. I can’t remember much else, but have left a msg. for Chris to lend any memories she might have. I spun a bit of it and fell out for a while. I just returned to it and spun it all and plyed it.
I wanted to make this sweater from it. It is from the book Spin To Knit.
Here’s the speedbump…
The pattern calls for 1500-2000 yd of yarn total divided up betwixt the yoke and body. I have ( drumroll please) 1330 total. 370 of multicolor and roughly 960 of the grey/brown. WAHHHHHH! SO what’s a girl like me suposed to do with that?? There is no more Oreo at CH. Has not been for a year or so. I can see if C remembers where she got it. Cripes. Do I try to find something similar and add it as a block? The pattern is very “cowgirl-knitting” as I like to call it- almost Zimmermanian. Should I just start knitting and see what happens. I am throwing it out to the fiber-universe–Some wise spinner/knitter, please help me.
The NICEST people. Gnomes and Mermaids.
April 23rd, 2008I have some big thankfulness to share today.
First, My Mama-E has been her kind self and kept me delighted by early birthday surprises. MANY be the thanks to you girlfriend!
I have mentioned my extreme weak spot for Loop’s amazing fiber batts, right?? I could just eat them. Well I got this gorgeous MERMAID inspired one from said MAMA, and a few days later a package in the mail that were these LOVELY sticks!!! Remember Jim’s knitting gnome??
Well have a look at this!
made by http://www.designsbytami.com. I love them so much!! PLUS!!! Look at that batt behind it!!
It’s a good thing a have these 2 spinner’s orifice hooks that my Ravelry pal chiwawa made for me–
Ms. Mermaid–
and the gnome wand!
Check her out!! She is amazing with her wood burner!
TEN DAYS! Sing it with me– “AwwwwwwwwwWWWWWWW, FREAK OUT!”
over and out.