Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canadians today – I hope your day is full of turkey and family (for some) and sleep and rest (for the others). I personally spent last night sleeping at the hospital wired up to within an inch of my life for a sleep study to see if I’ve inherited the family apnea. So I slept terribly, was home by 6:30 a.m. and crashed for another three hours in my own (delightfully comfortable I will never complain about my mattress again promise) bed. After I got most of the cement out of my hair.

I shouldn’t complain though – I’ve had two great dinners – one here at home with my parents, kids and niece and the other at a friends who is a gourmet cook…more on this in a moment…

First – I owe you a bit of old stuff promised earlier, starting with my trip to Toronto at the end of August.

I went down to visit Wanna-Baa of the comments, but stopped on the way to visit a farm in Port Hope – probably one of the few, if only, shepherds locally with Blue-Faced Leicesters. I have no pictures for you, but the farm was just amazing – there were turkeys wandering around my car in all different colours, a guard goat and the ugliest duck I have ever seen who thinks he is a person and insisted on following us to visit the sheep. Sara had brought out bags of fleece from her spring shearing and I ended up with two BFL fleeces – one is a first year and the other is a third year.

Both fleeces were relatively clean and so far the processing has been dirty but not horrifyingly so…

…than the very adorable alpaca…

There was also a baby donkey and the most amazing dogs – Lori raises Leonbergers – enormous but incredibly gentle. It was a whole lotta dog let me tell you.

Luke, his grammy and a REALLY BIG DOG.

So that’s it for the history although I should shout out a huge thank you to Chriss and Elizabeth for helping me skirt the fleeces and for their advice on how to get them clean.

And while I’m on the topic of fibre…

I seem to have acquired some more…

I participated in a fiber swap on Ravelry. Basically we were split into groups of four and each member of the group sent fiber to another member each month. This month I got a lovely 4 oz present from Lapoli…isn’t it nice???

I’ve also made an early 2009 resolution – I think this will be the year I knit for me. I have been considering simplifying my wardrobe pretty significantly and would love to focus on having most blacks and neutral bases that I can cover with my own knitted sweaters, cardigans, shawls and jackets…

I was so taken with this idea that I promptly cast on some things a bit early…

February Lady Sweater in Mirasol Tupa.

And work on the Susie Hoodie from More Big Girl Knits also continues. I am just about done with the bust increases and will be onto the arms soon which I am really looking forward too…shorter rounds!

Getting organimized…

Something had to be done. I couldn’t pull out a project without having fourteen others fall out of the cupboard. So – big canvas bins for fiber – the white has fiber to be dyed and the blue contains fiber that is up on etsy right now…

And some nice wicker baskets for yarn from current and upcoming projects to show off themselves…

Is it a bad sign when your house and stash start to look more and more like a yarn store?

(Oh and just to revisit an earlier post…all this clean up meant that I took some stuff off the needles…which means I managed to find all those needles I was lamenting about losing…

…not that this stopped me from putting in a knitpicks order…no siree!)

Now last of all…

Wild encounters OR how I pissed off a mother cat and paid the piper for it

Warning – includes photos of my legs that do not include handknit socks.

So I’m at my friend’s place for Thanksgiving and she has a formerly feral cat that arrived on her doorstep looking for handouts, got adopted and turned out to have gotten herself knocked up before they had a chance to spay her.

The kittens were born about 5 weeks ago – four adorable little ones – two black and two tabbies. Like all kittens they have sweet faces and short stubby tails and when they run it seems like their back ends go faster than their fronts.

I am helpless in the face of kittens.

So I am walking towards the kitchen behind a kitten and reach down to pick it up but clearly she doesn’t want interference and takes off ahead of me. I keep going into the kitchen but as I hit the doorway I hear this horrible hissing and feel pain in my leg. I look down and its like a scene from Wild Kingdom. You know the one where the pride of lions is taking down a full sized elephant by coming up behind and attaching itself to its back, claws fully embedded in the skin?

And that’s just one side and the picture is a lot prettier than my leg which is also pretty bruised and there is more on the other side. I WAS wearing pants by the way…

So a few bandaids and some peroxide later I go down to get some dessert. I walk towards the kitchen again and as I hit the door Phoebe attacks the OTHER leg (no kittens were around by the way). Talk about determined overprotective mother!

Those would be puncture marks from her teeth! For the rest of the evening she kept a close eye on me and everytime I moved my hosts had to step in to move her out of the room.

I am certainly none the worse for wear but certainly learned my lesson when it comes to mother cats!

Have a terrific week everyone – I am off for a workshop with Brandon Mably and an evening lecture by Kaffe Fassett at WoolNthings…I should pack my camera NOW so I don’t forget it!!

Hey all – long time no write! Summer sucked me in and spit me back out again – I can’t believe September is already here – packing lunches and homework again. Neither of these two activities rates high on my list of favourties due to the amount of knitting time lost during a year!

The boy has entered Grade 4, and the girl Grade 6 (eek! that is kind of officially pre-teen country isn’t it?). Two days in and neither is particularly impressed with the experience.

What I’m knitting

On the knitting front there has been progress. The Swallowtail Shawl in my handspun is done and I couldn’t be more pleased. The colour changes are gorgeous and the repeats were long enough that I got several rows out of each colour even towards the long end of the knitting.

Pattern: Evelyn Clark’s Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits, Fall 2006
Yarn: Handspun from 100g of Blue Faced Leicester from Fleece Artist
Needles: KP Options in 3.5 mm

I am still plugging away on the Print O the Wave from Eunny Jang in Handmaiden Sea Silk…no sideways pics of this though. I am more than halfway through the repeats on the main body and will have to contemplate the border – somehow I am NOT keen on picking up 8 gazillion stitches around the edge.

Lastly – I am making some progress on my Susie Hoodie from More Big Girl Knits…granted that it doesn’t look like much but the Berroco Ultra Alpaca is terrific to knit…

Colour is darker and more heathery than it looks here…love love love…cross fingers it will fit.

In my mailbox

I participated in the Hush Hush Handspun Hootenany this summer and received this awesome package from my downstream pal…whose email I am looking for right now – I will credit with an actual name and link but my brain has big holes in it!

Anyway – here is the package of goodness:

That’s a huge 8oz bit of spinning fiber from Crown Mountain Farms – the blue yarn on the left is my pal’s own handspun – pretty pretty blues and greens and very very soft. The sock yarn on the right is her own handdyed (damn I wish I had a link for you to her etsy shop…next time!). There were also two bars of soap (lavender and almond – yum!!!), some lindt chocolates (not shown…um possibly devoured at this point) and a cute little notepad that says “Homespun” on the top.

My own upstream pal was in England, moving to Australia next week so my fingers are crossed she’ll get her parcel in time!

Spinning…span…spun!

More Fleece Artist – this is wool-silk in lovely browns, copper and burgundy/pink. I am spinnign thin again and now that I figured out what was going wrong the last time I tried to ply with thread, I’m going to try again.

Dye party

I spent Sunday dyeing my little heart out. A pound and a half of silk and a pound of merino-tencel blend. I am hoping to update the shop in the next few days and then I will be going on hiatus for about three months as I start French language training half days in the hopes of meeting the language requirements for my new position before Christmas. I suspect that blog updates will also be scarce and while I’ll be reading other blogs I probably won’t be commenting much (not a big change from the summer!) I am hoping to show you the Rambouillet that Chris and I are processing and to confess I had little stumble and am the proud owner of two unbelieveably gorgeous BFL fleeces that need to get cleaned and put away while the weather is still nice.

Here’s a little taste of what I dyed up…

These are 3 of the merino-tencel rovings…shininess due to the flash on the first two.

Take care!

The new job is kicking me in the rear. I can’t explain why. It isn’t far off what I was doing before…just…more.

Anyway – here is the loveliest of merino I received as part of a fibre swap. This is from woolydaisy. Isn’t it pretty! The top on top (heh heh…aren’t I the funny one) is garnet and the bottom is topaz (coincidentally my birthstone) – I’ m having stripped mitten thoughts…

Thanks woolydaisy!!!

Next…tranquil Canadian summer pictures….

Sigh…I just wanna go back. There was chipmunk (named Chippie…what else!) that would eat from your hand if you were still enough. There was knitting and spinning on the screened in porch. And best of all? There was a guest cabin where the kids hung out. Kind of like the kids table at family dinners but EVEN BETTER.

At some point the knitting/spinning adventures will get updated included, but not limited to:

- a finished Swallowtail shawl out of handspun

- self-striping yarn in four colours – hand dyed and handspun

- the fleece I bought with Chriss - I have learned that when it comes to processing your own fleece, clean is a relative term.

Happyish Monday!

First up…recent acquisitions and mergers!

First of all, there was a serious destashing that involved handing off some really yummy yarn I knew I’d never get around to knitting, or it was really nice stuff but not in a colour that made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I think that since this is a hobby I should only work with the warm and fuzzy stuff right? Right!

I didn’t take a picture of the bag’o'wool that I took over to my buddy’s place but let’s just say that she recently got re-bitten by the knitting bug, I owed her some $ so we agreed that I would send some yarn her way. I parted with some handspun and no small amount of sock yarn. She’s happy and now I have room in my shelves for this stuff -

Delicious package from my SP10 pal (who still hasn’t told me who she/he is!) From left to right: RowanTapestry, Artesano hummingbird, Colinette Jitterbug, and Colinette Parisienne. Yummy!

Knit-Wise SoySilk lace weight in yellow-orange. Its 100g with a whopping 1400 yds in it. It feels a bit stiff so I’ll be interested to see how it knits up and if it softens up at all. I have no plans for it…yet. Purchased at the Ottawa Knitting Guild Vendor night from Yarn Forward.

Some people got to go to Rhinebeck. Nancy, Leanne and I went to Poor Woman’s Rhinebeck (Nancy gets the credit on that one). I found a terrific kit with lace blocking wires (sorryI don’t remember the vendor). Here’s what else I got:

200 grams of Fleece Artist Silk Merino sliver…isn’t it shiny?!

Last of all, I was in Merrickville this weekend for a few hours and was about to leave when I spotted a promising little antique shop. I walked through and then decided to double check the sunporch area which had all the nifty antique farm implements. I looked up and spotted these dangling from the ceiling – so here they are dangling from mine:

Sock blockers! Don’t ask me how old they are, I have no idea. But the wood is nicely worn and they look like they were well used and loved.

Next up…new projects! I have NO idea what the hell has happened to my brain but suddenly I want to cast on EVERYTHING I have waiting in the wings…and some other stuff besides. I think its the cooler weather. I love fall – it always feels like the beginning of the year to me and my energy seems to peak. So, I just decided to stop judging myself for so many projects and just do what I want, rather than what I think I should.

Henry - as previously mentioned. Now that I have finished one of the seven repeats, this is going to be a looong knit. For my dad, for Christmas. Maybe.

Charlotte’s Web Shawl - but not in Koigu – that’s Handmaiden 2 ply silk cashmere that has been hanging out in my stash for 2 years. Probably the most expensive yarn I own. This pattern fits my criteria for this yarn perfectly – pretty and worn against the skin. It will be a small shawl – but perfect for wearing with a coat.

Latvian mittens – specifically the Mittens from the District of Latgale from Lizbeth Upitis’ book . I am modifying the pattern because there are 8 rows of that braid you see and knitting it is awful! – Each braid is two rows of alternate colour purling. The yarn tangles, its slow and makes me want to scream! So I am going to add a whole bunch of extra patterning in the wrist portion and skip the damn braiding.

Next up – breaking out the sewing machine. My 1995 wedding dress was looking pretty dated:

Last weekend I began deconstructing it – removing the skirt and all the beading around the neckline, arms and waist. I will be dying the silk a deep blue and I picked up some dupioni silk to dye as well. The plan is to make a quilt for Madeline as a keepsake. I was able to pull hundreds of beads off it too. I would like to use my handspun natural alpaca and make a beaded stole as a gift to Alex should he ever marry – I have some time since he’s only 8. I’ll post some pictures as soon as the dyeing is done.

Close up of the back detail and embroidery on the silk.

And finally – the money is starting to disappear as I buy the stuff for my new kitchen. The reno is going to be the week of Nov 12th. I get to say goodbye to this:

And maybe more notably this little monstrosity that drips no matter how often we tighten or replace the do-hickey’s inside the thingamajig.

If you are still with me…thanks for hanging in there!

Well kind of. I spent my weekend teaching myself to crochet. Here’s the thing. I love to crochet – its fast and satisfying. I can finish a dishcloth in under an hour.

Here’s the other thing – I still hate how crochet looks. To me it all looks like variations on Granny Squares. I may never progress past dishcloths since that seems to be the only thing these are good for.

Except Tunisian crochet which is very cool. Of course the fact that you can crochet a passable stocking stitch may be what makes it appealing. May as well just knit!

So thing to love #1: Crochet. Kind of.

Thing 2: my angel partner from SP10. With all the issues I had with my original pal (thanks again for the book, if you sent anything else I never got it!!), I was assigned an angel – and man! She’s good!

Lorena posted my parcel in mid-August and IT NEVER ARRIVED. Between the Board turfing, daughter’s bike being stolen from my carport and possible mail thievery I was ready to stick a for sale sign on my house and move to Wawa. Just when I had given up for good and told Lorena not to tell me what was in the parcel (I can only handle so much heartbreak at once), it arrived!

The box looked like it had travelled from Florida to Ottawa via Columbia but still – it was mostly intact! And what wonderful stuff indeed! Lorena totally “got” me. 100 calorie chocolately snacks, delicious yarn, Florida yummies (key lime!) and of course, yarn and roving. Here are the pics with more deets.

This photo is all about vices. If she had thrown in a pack of cigarettes it’d be complete. Thankfully I am nearly full time quit these days so its just food and coffee. From the left – key lime jelly, Newman’s Own fair trade coffee, 100 calorie packs of little cookies, key lime chocolate bar and Crunch sticks (which may be gone already…ahem). So – tummy? Feeling the love.

Next a sideways picture of Burt’s Bees healthy hands kit (has almond butter, cuticle cream, something else I can’t remember and cotton gloves to help it all soak in), a very delicious lavender/mint bar of soap that has already become a favourite of mine and the kids, and two CDs of music. Unfortunately the green one got mangled…but Lorena has excellent taste in music. Hello! Barry White, Indigo Girls, great stuff I’ve never heard, Joni Mitchell – eclectic but it all works somehow. My Ipod is happy. So – senses of smell, hearing and touch? Feeling the love!

And of course I saved the best for last – 8oz (!) of merino/tencel blend roving, 4 balls of Plymouth Yarns Royal Bamboo in oranges and yellows that is begging to be knit into something but I don’t know what (maybe time to jump on the Chevron scarf bandwagon?), some golden yellow dye (the one colour I was missing from my collection) and the blue skein is Jitterbug! So my wheel and needles? Love love love.

Thanks Lorena!!

Other knitting news – no new FOs but lots of stuff is moving along nicely. My hands are suffering from the crochet as I learn new motions and my muscles adapt. I find when I am learning I tend to be too tight and I start fighting with the yarn which probably doesn’t help much. Its getting better as I loosen up the stitches a bit. I am finding that it has significantly improved my ability to let the yarn flow through on my left hand – a challenge for me since I knit by throwing with the right. I suspect my fair isle will be all the happier for it since I knit with both hands for colourwork.

Thanks to everyone who entered – not just for taking a chance but also for sticking around to read my ramblings and respond to my rants. It has been a wonderful year so far and I can only hope that the next one is as good.

Update on the afghan – I sent my mother an email explaining that the afghan has become as painful to knit as … well I am without a good metaphor today (it is Friday my friends – expect little on Fridays!). Anyway, I have been gracefully excused from the afghan and told to knit whatever I want.

Woohoo…Lizard Ridge, here I come!!!!

Apparently I can’t resist a good swap – add caffeine and I’d pretty much sell my firstborn to participate!

1. Whole bean or ground? Ground please!

2. Fully-loaded or decaf? Either is terrific – not a big fan of bold coffees though

3. Regular or flavored? I love flavoured coffee…unfortunately it doesn’t like me. Guaranteed unhappy tummy if it isn’t “neat”

4. How do you drink your coffee? I love my half and half or 18% but am trying to cut down on it and have been cutting my cream with skim lately – not as nice but I feel less guilty.

5. Favorite coffee ever? I once bought a half pound of beans from a coffee roastery (is that word?) in Montreal. Divine. Crack in a coffee cup. I still fantasize about it.

6. Are you fussy about your coffee or will any old bean do? With the exception of preferring milder coffee and no flavours – not too picky.

7. Favorite treats to have with your coffee? No…I like to savour it all by itself…paired with a good crossword puzzle. Convenient as I am trying to en-thinner myself.

8. Anything else about your coffee preferences? That’s about it…pretty easy to please!

9. Yarn/fiber you love? Natural protein fibres – wools, silk and alpaca are favourites. Bamboo is lovely too.

10. Yarn/fiber you hate? Fun fur, chenille, metallics, ribbons – I’m not flashy and neither is my fibre!

11. What’s on your needles? This is where I guiltily admit the number of projects I have – 3 pairs of socks, 2 sweaters, a shawl and a scarf – but thankfully no afghan! I have been given afghan reprieve! More on this in another post.

12. Favorite colors? This is tough to answer – I love reds and jewel tones but I also am developing a strong appreciation for more muted tones. The painting I had in an earlier post from a few weeks ago is a good example of how much I like really saturated colours.

13. Allergies? Not to fibre – so far. I don’t mind scents but am not a candle person or wear perfumes.

14. Anything you really love, really don’t like, or just need to get off your chest? Nope – oh wait – certain colour combinations drive me nuts – black and blue (bruise!), red and green (christmas!), black and yellow (bumble bee!)

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

Soft merinos, silk, alpaca…nothing scratchy (mohairs) — soft acrylics are good.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

An old old needle holder that belonged to my mother for my straights. DPNs and circs go into a Ziplock freezer bag along with their packaging in case someday I decide to put them away.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

Self-taught about 15 years ago. Intrepid intermediate I think.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

Who doesn’t!

5. What’s your favorite scent?

I’m iffy on scents – either love them or they make me feel ill. I do like more natural smells like lavender or sandalwood.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I’m pretty happy with anything that combines fat, sugar and flour. Throw in some chocolate and I’m yours forever. I’m just THAT easy. And Kit Kat bars are, quite possibly, the most perfect food every dreamt up in a kitchen.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I do spin – very much a beginner. I also do some altered art stuff but that seems to have been replaced by manic obsessive knitting.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

Lately I’m on a classical music kick – I don’t have enough since I left most of my collection behind when my ex and I separated.

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?

I’m a red girl…brights, jewel tones, deep earth tones that are more in the red family (umber instead of sienna for example). I’m not a fan of dark greens or purples.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

Two children (7 yr old boy and 9 yr old girl) – 3 cats

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Um…I live in Canada. So yes, yes and yes. But not ponchos…I’m round enough looking thankyouverymuch. Cause when you wear a poncho and it doesn’t “skim” your body so much as stick out from it…well…its just not pretty. Body acceptance and ponchos don’t mix.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Socks, scarves, shawls — cabled sweaters but mostly for kids.

13. What are you knitting right now?

Three pairs of socks, two scarves and I just cast on a sweater for my daughter.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Now this entirely depends on the handmade gift…half empty jars of homemade jelly your grandmother cooked up 5 years ago? Not so much. Nice handspun? Now you’re talkin’.

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I have no preference between straights or circs. I prefer metal needles (aluminum I guess)…yes I am coveting KnitPicks options…but the new Addi lace needles are sounding pretty nice too.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

Both. I couldn’t spin or dye if I didn’t. I’m just not patient enough.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

It WAS 10 years old. I found it in the bottom of my quilting bin last year when I was cleaning up. I had designed a red cabled sweater for my now ex-husband. It got frogged…a lot.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

I’m not a big holiday person. But if I get a day off work…its all good! I’m a reluctant tree trimmer and I generally opt out of halloween altogether. Bah humbug!

19. Is there anything that you collect?

You mean besides knitting yarn and wool for spinning and needles and patterns and such? Apples…blue glass…sheep-y stuff.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

I don’t subscribe but tend to pick up Knitters and Interweave Knits and Spin-off when I see them. Occasionally Vogue Knitting to see what’s up – although I’m not a trendy girl and their sizing doesn’t work for me. I covet books more than anything and could use some good stitch dictionaries and I am absolutely coveting the Latvian Mittens book. Would love to get my hands on some Noro Kureyon to do a Lizard Ridge. More fingering or dk Bare merino from KnitPicks.

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?

I really need to get my hands on a good fair isle pattern book for mittens and hats…and then…I might try steeking.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I am and was shocked when I measured my feet to discover they are about 11 inches around at the widest point – not dainty!! No wonder I can’t wear heels. I mostly knit plain socks right now although I keep looking at lace socks. But at that size, I figure I need to alter the pattern to fit and I don’t have a great idea of my gauge at the moment.

23. When is your birthday?

November 11.

The last of the current knits is the Icarus shawl which I am knitting in Misti Alpaca lace weight – bought last summer and has been patiently waiting for me to either commit to the Print o the Wave stole or try something else. I’m not awarding points if you spot the glaring error I am currently ignoring.

Next up…wanton consumerism/enhanced stash/project understudies waiting for their big break

10 butter soft skeins of Mission Falls 1864 Wool in a deep raspberry colour that is begging for me to stop be such a weeny and just commit to a design for a cabled sweater for Madeline. For some reason when I go to design something – and I mean really, its mostly just math folks (which I happen to like) – I hit a creative wall of insecurity. Not sure why – if the wool was $25 a skein I could understand it!

And speaking of $25 dollar skeins – this is 875 yards of exquisitely soft gossamer weight wool. Someday I will win the lottery and buy it a friend and after that I’m going to try a shetland shawl. There, I said it. Publicly. Now I want to run and stick my head in the sand.

Some more handdyed knit picks merino – I just could not get the colour to work on this but the tones are actually much deeper and more jewel tones with blues, greens and purples. Someday these will be socks for me!

And more socks. The small balls are leftovers from projects – mostly the Charlotte’s Web Shawl. I picked up more Apple Laine in black and want to do some kind of mosaic up near the cuff with some of the leftovers – and maybe a heel and toe in an contrasting colour.

And this was just a silly retail therapy purchase – more sock yarn. That is actually a deep purple. More sporty socks with a bit of a white stripe maybe?

And last of all…I leave you with the possibly cruel but necessary plight of my poor ragdoll Amber. Let me begin by explaining that ragdolls do not shed as much as other long haired cats. Or at least this is what the breaders will tell you. This is patently NOT true. All cats shed. Long haired cats just shed in clumps which makes it a bit easier to clean up. Ragdolls have very soft “bunny-like” fur that is very fine. So when Amber sheds it often gets caught up in her own fur and in the spring especially she gets a ton of mats in her ruff. This year was so bad, I resorted to drastic measures.

I’d say I’m sorry…but I’m not.