Ok. I admit it. I want one. Very very very badly. The stuff in that box is so awesome that I can barely wait. I will have to bring my laptop to work with me tomorrow and take an early lunch so I can be online at noon when it comes up for sale. I'll have to. Unless I call in sick altogether...hmmm...is it worth it? YES!
Check out the links below to see for yourself!
Oh, and wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
UPDATE: I GOT ONE!!! I'll post when I get it so you all can see the goodies I got!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Fairs & Fibery Goodies
Can you all see me patting myself on the back? I'm going to have my fingerless mitts on display at Rhinebeck! Me...I keep pinching myself. I'm going to be a part of the CVM Conservancy display as my mitts were made entirely from a CVM fleece that I purchased from a Conservancy member; I washed the wool, dyed it with Wilton's food colors in a crock pot, spun the yarn, and knit the mitts from a pattern I got on the web. Credit for the pattern goes to Ms. Amy Ripton for her "Hedgerow Mitts" from Knitter's Review. I knit one mitt and made a minor change to the pattern to make them fit my hands more snugly, but other than that, they were a fabulous pattern and so easy to knit.
To find out more about CVM fleeces, check out this link: http://www.nationalcvmconservancy.com/ and to see where I got my very own CVM fleece to work on, check out Linda Hatt's site: http://www.mysticgrange.com/. Linda is a member of the CVM Conservancy and her fleeces and her customer service are exemplary.
If you get to wishing for some fibery goodness, check out the little note I've included below about the Fibery Co-Op. A Fluff'N'Stuff box just might be in your future....
Remember...Wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
To find out more about CVM fleeces, check out this link: http://www.nationalcvmconservancy.com/ and to see where I got my very own CVM fleece to work on, check out Linda Hatt's site: http://www.mysticgrange.com/. Linda is a member of the CVM Conservancy and her fleeces and her customer service are exemplary.
If you get to wishing for some fibery goodness, check out the little note I've included below about the Fibery Co-Op. A Fluff'N'Stuff box just might be in your future....
Remember...Wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Blue Ribbon!!!
I won a Blue Ribbon at the Altamont Fair for my fingerless mitts! I'm so excited that I just had to share right away! When I get my pictures out of the camera, I'll post them here, but for now I'm just telling the world that I got a Blue Ribbon for my very first entry ever into a county fair!
Friday, July 31, 2009
What's up?
Let's see...surgery went well with NO complications and I feel like a new woman. I don't seem to be having any problems with hormones so may not need to worry about HRT at all! I don't need to tell you that that is a major monkey off my back, I'm sure. I was very worried about HRT and its risks and am glad I may not need to continue to worry.
I'm posting pictures of the "Hedgerow Mitts"* I just made out of the CVM wool that I processed and dyed and spun myself on my Sonata. I love the way they turned out and I love the variegated colors I got with the Wilton's dye that I used. I have officially entered them in the Altamont Fair and have to drop them at the fairgrounds tomorrow. Knitted items are judged before the Fair starts and are displayed if they win, so they need to be there tomorrow and, if they place, will be on display during the Fair in the middle of August. Once I get them back, I'll have to send them to the CVM Conservancy for possible display at Rhinebeck! Wish me luck on both counts, ok? I've never done this before, so even if I don't place, the experience will help me do better next year. In the pictures, I'm including photos of the skein, too. I didn't have a large enough skein to enter it and I haven't spun much since the surgery because I can't lift my wheel (and it's just too damn hot...), so I didn't enter a skein yet. I'll be better prepared for next year, I hope!
*The "Hedgerow Mitts" are from a pattern by Amy Ripton that I received free from http://www.knittersreview.com/. I did make some minor adjustments to the pattern to make them fit me better after knitting a 'practice' mitt from my CVM, but otherwise, they are true to the pattern and I just think they are perfect!
UPDATE: I actually entered them yesterday in the Altamont Fair, which is our local county fair, for judging. Now I wait...The Fair doesn't start until August 10, so I won't know how I did until then. Wish me luck!
I'm posting pictures of the "Hedgerow Mitts"* I just made out of the CVM wool that I processed and dyed and spun myself on my Sonata. I love the way they turned out and I love the variegated colors I got with the Wilton's dye that I used. I have officially entered them in the Altamont Fair and have to drop them at the fairgrounds tomorrow. Knitted items are judged before the Fair starts and are displayed if they win, so they need to be there tomorrow and, if they place, will be on display during the Fair in the middle of August. Once I get them back, I'll have to send them to the CVM Conservancy for possible display at Rhinebeck! Wish me luck on both counts, ok? I've never done this before, so even if I don't place, the experience will help me do better next year. In the pictures, I'm including photos of the skein, too. I didn't have a large enough skein to enter it and I haven't spun much since the surgery because I can't lift my wheel (and it's just too damn hot...), so I didn't enter a skein yet. I'll be better prepared for next year, I hope!
*The "Hedgerow Mitts" are from a pattern by Amy Ripton that I received free from http://www.knittersreview.com/. I did make some minor adjustments to the pattern to make them fit me better after knitting a 'practice' mitt from my CVM, but otherwise, they are true to the pattern and I just think they are perfect!
UPDATE: I actually entered them yesterday in the Altamont Fair, which is our local county fair, for judging. Now I wait...The Fair doesn't start until August 10, so I won't know how I did until then. Wish me luck!
Monday, June 29, 2009
'Bout time I let you know how I did....
I came through the surgery very well with no complications (so far) and I feel pretty good. I don't know why now I was so frightened; for some reason I thought sure I was not going to make it through the surgery and that went very well. The growth on my left ovary was, in the doctor's words, "small, about the size of a tennis ball"....What the hell is big if a tennis ball is small?!?! and benign, which was the absolute best part of it all.
So I came home the next day and I've been home recuperating from probably the easiest surgery I've ever gone through. I've been knitting, though nothing too complicated because of the pain meds, and reading and snoozing and watching tons of nothing on TV. I've gone for walks and taken Mike to the grocery store because as long as I don't take the narcotic pain meds, I have no restrictions on driving. On the driving front, I'm not going too far because it takes a lot out of me, but the store is just too far to make Mike walk and then carry groceries home. I can take him, he can shop and do all the lugging and we do ok between us.
I'll post more another night as I'm tired tonight.
So, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
So I came home the next day and I've been home recuperating from probably the easiest surgery I've ever gone through. I've been knitting, though nothing too complicated because of the pain meds, and reading and snoozing and watching tons of nothing on TV. I've gone for walks and taken Mike to the grocery store because as long as I don't take the narcotic pain meds, I have no restrictions on driving. On the driving front, I'm not going too far because it takes a lot out of me, but the store is just too far to make Mike walk and then carry groceries home. I can take him, he can shop and do all the lugging and we do ok between us.
I'll post more another night as I'm tired tonight.
So, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Odd thoughts, or maybe not
Have you ever known something that made you oddly happy? Or that you thought of as a good omen in some way? Groundhogs do that to me. Groundhogs are all named "Frodo" and when I see a groundhog on the way to or from somewhere, I say I've seen a Frodo. If you've read any of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien, you know that the heroes of the stories are Hobbits, who are short, and maybe a little round, folks with hairy feet who like to eat as many meals as possible in a day and live in underground homes with round doors. To me, not unlike groundhogs, hence the name "Frodo" for all groundhogs. I suppose they could be "Samwise" or "Merry", but I just like Frodo best, so that's what I call them.
It makes me oddly happy to see them busily eating on the side of the road when I'm on my way to work or on my way home from work and when Mike and I are driving somewhere on vacation, we both tend to think that the more Frodos we see, the luckier the trip will be. Is that unreasonable? I don't think so and I'm glad to see them around.
We even have our own little guy living under the shed. I suppose that if I were a gardener (I'm not), I'd care that Frodo was coming out to eat up my plants, but I don't begrudge him the odd weed or grass or whatever it is he munches on in my yard. Sometimes I know he's outside because the cats jump into the windows and chatter at him in frustration because they just can't get through the screen to catch him and play with him until he dies, as cats will.
Funny how thoughts run through your mind when things are unsettled in your life. I'm having surgery yet again on the 24th. Yes, it's necessary. No, I don't want to have it. I'm tired of being cut into and I've gone to so much trouble to avoid this surgery that it really ticks me off to have to have it in the end anyway. I'm having a complete hysterectomy and I'm wondering if what I'm feeling has to do with the fact that I feel that the surgery will, in essence, remove my "femaleness", if that's even a word. Will the removal of my essentially female inner organs make me less of a woman? I don't want to think so, but I do fear that I will somehow be less woman than I am now. Does all that even make sense? The logical part of me says it doesn't, but the emotional part of me is a whole 'nother story. My innards are not the only things that make me a woman; so why do I feel like the loss of them will make me somehow less of a woman? My friends who've had hysterectomies tell me things will be better; I won't have the issues that are making the surgery necessary and some parts of my life will be better than they were. I guess I'll just have to find out.
In the meantime, I don't want to have the surgery, and I wouldn't if a doctor didn't tell me I don't have much choice right now. If I want my problems to stop, I need to remove the sources of those problems, and that means a hysterectomy. Ah well, I can rage about it all I want to; it won't change the necessity or the date of the surgery. Wish me well and don't look for a post for a bit (like I post so frequently...). I'll try to answer comments if I'm up to it, but I'm not promising anything.
Until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
It makes me oddly happy to see them busily eating on the side of the road when I'm on my way to work or on my way home from work and when Mike and I are driving somewhere on vacation, we both tend to think that the more Frodos we see, the luckier the trip will be. Is that unreasonable? I don't think so and I'm glad to see them around.
We even have our own little guy living under the shed. I suppose that if I were a gardener (I'm not), I'd care that Frodo was coming out to eat up my plants, but I don't begrudge him the odd weed or grass or whatever it is he munches on in my yard. Sometimes I know he's outside because the cats jump into the windows and chatter at him in frustration because they just can't get through the screen to catch him and play with him until he dies, as cats will.
Funny how thoughts run through your mind when things are unsettled in your life. I'm having surgery yet again on the 24th. Yes, it's necessary. No, I don't want to have it. I'm tired of being cut into and I've gone to so much trouble to avoid this surgery that it really ticks me off to have to have it in the end anyway. I'm having a complete hysterectomy and I'm wondering if what I'm feeling has to do with the fact that I feel that the surgery will, in essence, remove my "femaleness", if that's even a word. Will the removal of my essentially female inner organs make me less of a woman? I don't want to think so, but I do fear that I will somehow be less woman than I am now. Does all that even make sense? The logical part of me says it doesn't, but the emotional part of me is a whole 'nother story. My innards are not the only things that make me a woman; so why do I feel like the loss of them will make me somehow less of a woman? My friends who've had hysterectomies tell me things will be better; I won't have the issues that are making the surgery necessary and some parts of my life will be better than they were. I guess I'll just have to find out.
In the meantime, I don't want to have the surgery, and I wouldn't if a doctor didn't tell me I don't have much choice right now. If I want my problems to stop, I need to remove the sources of those problems, and that means a hysterectomy. Ah well, I can rage about it all I want to; it won't change the necessity or the date of the surgery. Wish me well and don't look for a post for a bit (like I post so frequently...). I'll try to answer comments if I'm up to it, but I'm not promising anything.
Until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fiber Festivals and other fun things
What sounds boring to some folks and fabulous to others? Why, Sheep & Wool Festivals, of course! Mention a S&W fest to a knitter or a spinner or other fibery crafter and you'll see the transformation take place from a mild-mannered fiber person to a rabid fondler of fibers and stash-enrichment-seeking human missile! Maybe it's not quite that bad, but close, honey, very close!
I've been to several fests this year and fortunately, I have a husband who actually enjoys coming with me (!!), even if only for the lamb-burgers, and he even finds things for me to buy! We went to Clermont State Historic site in NY for the Chancellor's Sheep & Woolcraft festival in April - the weather was fabulous - and I didn't buy much, but that's a very small fest (no lamb-burgers, either) and there really was not a lot of things that I happened to be interested in this year. I mean, I have tons of wool, both pre- and post-production if you know what I mean, so unless something really jumped on me and begged me to take it home, I wasn't going to.
Then, in mid-May, we went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool festival in Contoocook, NH. I got my English-style 5-pitch wool combs there; they are hand-made by a gentleman named John A. Meck, who I was told has since passed on, and they are a really nice set of combs. At least I think they are; I'm still kind of new to this, remember...
And yesterday we went to the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft fest in Cummington, Massachusetts. We got there about 11:45 and stayed until 4:00 or so and had such a lovely day! It was not too hot or too cold, there was a nice breeze to cool us off when it was feeling a little warm, and it didn't rain. I saw so much stuff and met nice folks and just had a wonderful day. I ended up buying a sack of carded Shetland batts, all ready to spin! It's lovely stuff, too, and so soft. I have over a pound, so I should be able to make something nice from it, if it's as nice as I've heard others say it is. I've never worked with it so thought I'd give it a shot. I also bought some kid mohair locks (never worked with this fiber either) that are dyed a fabulous fiery orange. They look just like a sunset to me and I can't wait to see what I can do with it. I bought some Cushing Dyes to experiment with, since I've recently begun thinking about dyeing my own fibers for my own use. Right now, I have a crock pot full of a lovely green fleece and if it turns out the way I'm hoping it has, it is destined for a project I should have plenty of time to complete (more on this another day). I bought some sheepy earrings, just because I thought they were adorable. They look like members of Shaun the Sheep's flock, so I had to have them to match my tattoo, of course!
What else is new? Nothing I'm anxious to discuss right now, but I'm sure I'll be talking soon.
Until next time, wear natural fibers, hug your cats!
Ellen
I've been to several fests this year and fortunately, I have a husband who actually enjoys coming with me (!!), even if only for the lamb-burgers, and he even finds things for me to buy! We went to Clermont State Historic site in NY for the Chancellor's Sheep & Woolcraft festival in April - the weather was fabulous - and I didn't buy much, but that's a very small fest (no lamb-burgers, either) and there really was not a lot of things that I happened to be interested in this year. I mean, I have tons of wool, both pre- and post-production if you know what I mean, so unless something really jumped on me and begged me to take it home, I wasn't going to.
Then, in mid-May, we went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool festival in Contoocook, NH. I got my English-style 5-pitch wool combs there; they are hand-made by a gentleman named John A. Meck, who I was told has since passed on, and they are a really nice set of combs. At least I think they are; I'm still kind of new to this, remember...
And yesterday we went to the Massachusetts Sheep & Woolcraft fest in Cummington, Massachusetts. We got there about 11:45 and stayed until 4:00 or so and had such a lovely day! It was not too hot or too cold, there was a nice breeze to cool us off when it was feeling a little warm, and it didn't rain. I saw so much stuff and met nice folks and just had a wonderful day. I ended up buying a sack of carded Shetland batts, all ready to spin! It's lovely stuff, too, and so soft. I have over a pound, so I should be able to make something nice from it, if it's as nice as I've heard others say it is. I've never worked with it so thought I'd give it a shot. I also bought some kid mohair locks (never worked with this fiber either) that are dyed a fabulous fiery orange. They look just like a sunset to me and I can't wait to see what I can do with it. I bought some Cushing Dyes to experiment with, since I've recently begun thinking about dyeing my own fibers for my own use. Right now, I have a crock pot full of a lovely green fleece and if it turns out the way I'm hoping it has, it is destined for a project I should have plenty of time to complete (more on this another day). I bought some sheepy earrings, just because I thought they were adorable. They look like members of Shaun the Sheep's flock, so I had to have them to match my tattoo, of course!
What else is new? Nothing I'm anxious to discuss right now, but I'm sure I'll be talking soon.
Until next time, wear natural fibers, hug your cats!
Ellen
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Call me a sore loser, but...
I really hate the Penguins and they just beat the Capitals to get into the Conference Finals. I'm talking about the NHL Playoffs, just in case you don't follow hockey, and I'm sure most of you don't because it seems to me that almost no one I know follows hockey. Anyway, the Capitals beat my NY Rangers so I guess I don't feel that bad for them, but the Penguins!?! That's another story altogether. I just don't like Sidney Crosby; I think he's a whiny little puke whose head snaps back when he's touched just like he was a human Pez dispenser. Whew....hope I've got that out of my system!
Back to the real stuff here; knitting and spinning, right? Anyway, Mike and I went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool fest at the Contoocook Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, NH. Nice little festival, though it took us so long to get there that we only had a couple of hours to shop. I did find the combs I've been looking for and they are really deadly looking! I can't believe how sharp the tips are and how easily they can scratch you if you aren't being careful. You really have to be paying attention when you're working with these tools.
I also looked at some natural dyes; the lady at the booth was very nice and I'm sure she had some really nice products, but I'm so new to dyeing (haven't done any at all - does that qualify as 'new'?) that I was afraid I'd be wasting her time by asking all kinds of questions. I figure it'll be better for me to learn a little more before I start messing about with expensive dyes.
I took lots of pictures, but since it was so late in the day there weren't a lot of folks around to even take pictures of. I met a nice couple whose 'Honeybuns' booth had the most luscious angora fiber. Unfortunately, angora rabbit is not my favorite fiber, and I did have a limited budget, so I didn't end up buying any. One of the lovely women in a group I belong to (HandPreparedFibers) asked me to stop and say hello and they were such a nice couple. Mike and I enjoyed talking to them very much.
Well, I'm off to bed for an early night. Remember to wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Back to the real stuff here; knitting and spinning, right? Anyway, Mike and I went to the New Hampshire Sheep & Wool fest at the Contoocook Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, NH. Nice little festival, though it took us so long to get there that we only had a couple of hours to shop. I did find the combs I've been looking for and they are really deadly looking! I can't believe how sharp the tips are and how easily they can scratch you if you aren't being careful. You really have to be paying attention when you're working with these tools.
I also looked at some natural dyes; the lady at the booth was very nice and I'm sure she had some really nice products, but I'm so new to dyeing (haven't done any at all - does that qualify as 'new'?) that I was afraid I'd be wasting her time by asking all kinds of questions. I figure it'll be better for me to learn a little more before I start messing about with expensive dyes.
I took lots of pictures, but since it was so late in the day there weren't a lot of folks around to even take pictures of. I met a nice couple whose 'Honeybuns' booth had the most luscious angora fiber. Unfortunately, angora rabbit is not my favorite fiber, and I did have a limited budget, so I didn't end up buying any. One of the lovely women in a group I belong to (HandPreparedFibers) asked me to stop and say hello and they were such a nice couple. Mike and I enjoyed talking to them very much.
Well, I'm off to bed for an early night. Remember to wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
In a good mood
It's Tuesday, May 5, and I'm officially in a good mood. I went for a follow-up visit to my gynecological oncologist (yes, I was scared) and got good news and not so good news. The good news is I do not have cancer, and believe me, I was worried for while there. The not so good news is that I will probably still have to have a hysterectomy as other issues are making my life difficult enough that it will be better for me to do this now than to live through all the mess and end up still having to do it later anyway.
The best news about the hysterectomy is that it can be done laparoscopically and there will only be a 2-week recuperation so my whole summer will not be shot because of a long recuperation.
So, let's see, what else has happened since I signed in? I was invited and signed up to make an item out of my own handspun wool from a CVM Romeldale sheep for possible display at Rhinebeck! How cool is that? All I have to do now is finish spinning the wool, finish working out the pattern, ply the wool and wind it into balls for knitting, knit the swatches, knit the project, and send it in by September 1. Whew! Thinking about it like that scares me, but I'll get it done. I can just imagine going to Rhinebeck in October and taking a picture of my work on display at one of the biggest Sheep & Wool Festivals on the East Coast. Better get cracking!
Don't forget, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
The best news about the hysterectomy is that it can be done laparoscopically and there will only be a 2-week recuperation so my whole summer will not be shot because of a long recuperation.
So, let's see, what else has happened since I signed in? I was invited and signed up to make an item out of my own handspun wool from a CVM Romeldale sheep for possible display at Rhinebeck! How cool is that? All I have to do now is finish spinning the wool, finish working out the pattern, ply the wool and wind it into balls for knitting, knit the swatches, knit the project, and send it in by September 1. Whew! Thinking about it like that scares me, but I'll get it done. I can just imagine going to Rhinebeck in October and taking a picture of my work on display at one of the biggest Sheep & Wool Festivals on the East Coast. Better get cracking!
Don't forget, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Random Thoughts
I've become odd, I think. I wonder why I've bothered to start a blog when I post so infrequently. I wonder why I knit when I take so long to finish things, if I even finish them, for that matter. I wonder why on earth I want to make my own yarn when there is tons of perfectly good yarn out there in the world, waiting for me to do something with it. I don't know the answers to anything; I only know I like the way it makes me feel to spin and to knit. I relax. I turn from a stressed out nut who feels like I'm on the edge to a mellow woman who even lets her picture be taken and published to the web.
I hate that I've gained so much weight, but I know that some of it is out of my control. I was on an antidepressant for a couple of years that changes your metabolism enough that it makes it difficult to lose weight and easy to gain it. Fun, huh? So one of the things that made me depressed was the fact that I was fat and the drugs I was taking to make me not depressed helped to make me fat(ter). Catch 22, I think they call that. Anyway, I'm off those drugs now. I think I can control my own mind for now and I'm stressed but I'm happy, I think. It's ok to be stressed as long as it isn't so much that it makes it difficult to deal with normal life. I can leave it behind at work and relax at home. I can't always make my life happy, but it's nothing I can't deal with. Does that even make sense? I'm just typing random thoughts here tonight. I was on one of the lists I belong to and there were nearly 200 posts today! And every one of those posts was worth reading...how many times does that happen on Yahoo lists? In my experience, almost never, but it's like that here. Oh, it's not for everyone, I know, but the folks I've met there are so 'family' that it makes me happy to read and sad to read and interested to find out what everyone has to say.
Take a peek at my new Sonata! Yup, that's me over there, spinning on my new Kromski Sonata wheel. I actually let Mike take a picture of me and put it up here. I think that's a step in the right direction for me. There was a time I wouldn't have dared put a picture like that up. I'd be embarrassed; but I'm me. That's who I am and what I look like. I don't now and never will look like Marilyn Monroe and I would't be me if I did, right? So...take me or leave me, here's what I am and who I am.
See; I told you I was changing up... :o)
Remember, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
I hate that I've gained so much weight, but I know that some of it is out of my control. I was on an antidepressant for a couple of years that changes your metabolism enough that it makes it difficult to lose weight and easy to gain it. Fun, huh? So one of the things that made me depressed was the fact that I was fat and the drugs I was taking to make me not depressed helped to make me fat(ter). Catch 22, I think they call that. Anyway, I'm off those drugs now. I think I can control my own mind for now and I'm stressed but I'm happy, I think. It's ok to be stressed as long as it isn't so much that it makes it difficult to deal with normal life. I can leave it behind at work and relax at home. I can't always make my life happy, but it's nothing I can't deal with. Does that even make sense? I'm just typing random thoughts here tonight. I was on one of the lists I belong to and there were nearly 200 posts today! And every one of those posts was worth reading...how many times does that happen on Yahoo lists? In my experience, almost never, but it's like that here. Oh, it's not for everyone, I know, but the folks I've met there are so 'family' that it makes me happy to read and sad to read and interested to find out what everyone has to say.
Take a peek at my new Sonata! Yup, that's me over there, spinning on my new Kromski Sonata wheel. I actually let Mike take a picture of me and put it up here. I think that's a step in the right direction for me. There was a time I wouldn't have dared put a picture like that up. I'd be embarrassed; but I'm me. That's who I am and what I look like. I don't now and never will look like Marilyn Monroe and I would't be me if I did, right? So...take me or leave me, here's what I am and who I am.
See; I told you I was changing up... :o)
Remember, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Another couple of days
Saturday, February 21, 2009
And now for a change of pace...I need to do some things to make life more interesting so I think I’ll try writing shorter posts here and maybe a bit more often; more like a ‘diary’ or a journal. I don’t mean that I’ll post anything too revealing or of an extremely private nature, but I find I need an outlet of sorts to get things off my chest and out of my mind. So to that end, it’s Saturday, I’m working on my second cup of coffee and watching ‘fix-it’ shows on PBS.
I’m ambitious enough to want to do some work on my home, but ignorant enough to know that if I try it without the right know-how, I’ll mess up way more than I can fix. I have a small house, a Cape Cod style, with a small (very small) kitchen that has no room for a table and chairs. It barely has enough room for us to cook in. Hardly any countertops and an old sink and faucet combo that just seems to collect crud. No matter how much I clean around it, it can look nasty pretty quick. I’d really like a countertop with an under-mount sink, but I’d have to talk Mike into that. For some strange reason, he just doesn’t think that works well. My sink sits on top of my counters, which are some kind of laminate. There is a glass cutting board set into the counter and I absolutely hate it! It is lousy for my knives - dulls them very quickly if I use it - and it has an edge that catches all kinds of stuff when you try to wipe it down. It’s a pain to clean and keep clean so I end up putting a large plastic cutting board over the top of it to keep it neater and keep stuff from going into the edge.
This little kitchen also doesn't have nearly enough cabinet space, either, so that’s an issue, too. I really need to reorganize what I do have to make the most use of it and I’m still not sure how to do that.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Had to leave the computer for a bit and never seemed to get back to it last night, so here it is, Sunday night, and I’ve just finished dinner while watching the Rangers/Leafs game. I shouldn’t eat while the Rangers are playing lately; they stink out loud and it’s horrible to watch them some nights. At the end of the 2nd period, there’s no score and it’s the freaking Leafs, for God’s sake! Don’t get me started on hockey. It is not my favorite thing right now and I’m usually all pumped up when a game is on, but not the way the Rangers are playing.
So, I’m working on my ‘wedding shawl’; I’m determined to finish the damn thing before my anniversary in July, but I’m not promising anything. I also completely ripped out a pair of socks I had started because I made them too long for my feet before starting the heel and I don’t know anyone with bigger feet than mine (at least, not that I’d like to give a pair of hand-knit socks to).
I found two skeins of cobweb weight yarn in my stash and decided to wind it into balls. While I was working on that, I wondered what on earth had possessed me to buy two skeins of cobweb yarn. It’s like sewing thread! I don’t know what on earth I’d ever make with it and I have two balls of it now and I’d bet that each is about 1,000 yards or more of yarn! Even if I doubled it, it wouldn’t be lace weight! It’s really really fine. I wonder; someone on the KnitList asked about a wedding shawl that needed to be so fine it would pass through a wedding ring when knit. This stuff would probably do that. I just had a thought; the dental floss I use to make ‘lifelines’ is heavier than this yarn! I must have had a very bad case of yarn lust to buy this…
Mike is still out of work, like far too many people in this country. He’s still getting his unemployment insurance checks, so the mortgage is still getting paid. Thank God for unemployment insurance. I’d just like to make it through until he gets a job with the bills not too far behind. I get everything paid, but some stuff is late. It’s the old ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ syndrome; some months I can pay Peter, some months I can’t. I do the best I can and I don’t spend like I used to, that’s for sure; I just can’t. I hope no one is expecting me to spend to help the economy; someone with money will have to do my part. I’m doing ok with bills and groceries and that’s all I care about right now.
I did want to take that Aran cardigan class at my LYS, and I did hoard some money for it, but the day I went to sign up, it had been filled. I figure I was not destined to take that class. I do have the book they plan to make the sweater from, though, and enough gorgeous alpaca/wool blended hand-spun to make it. If I have the nerve, I’ll give it a shot. I suppose I could go there and eavesdrop on the class for tips and kind of knit along, but that would be cheating and really not fair to those who paid the whole shot to take the class.
I think I’ll stop here and post this. I’ll try to write more later in the week as I’m finding this more relaxing than I remember. I think the ability to tell your troubles to the world like this is a good thing most days. I don’t know who reads my blog, but whoever you are, thanks for listening.
Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
And now for a change of pace...I need to do some things to make life more interesting so I think I’ll try writing shorter posts here and maybe a bit more often; more like a ‘diary’ or a journal. I don’t mean that I’ll post anything too revealing or of an extremely private nature, but I find I need an outlet of sorts to get things off my chest and out of my mind. So to that end, it’s Saturday, I’m working on my second cup of coffee and watching ‘fix-it’ shows on PBS.
I’m ambitious enough to want to do some work on my home, but ignorant enough to know that if I try it without the right know-how, I’ll mess up way more than I can fix. I have a small house, a Cape Cod style, with a small (very small) kitchen that has no room for a table and chairs. It barely has enough room for us to cook in. Hardly any countertops and an old sink and faucet combo that just seems to collect crud. No matter how much I clean around it, it can look nasty pretty quick. I’d really like a countertop with an under-mount sink, but I’d have to talk Mike into that. For some strange reason, he just doesn’t think that works well. My sink sits on top of my counters, which are some kind of laminate. There is a glass cutting board set into the counter and I absolutely hate it! It is lousy for my knives - dulls them very quickly if I use it - and it has an edge that catches all kinds of stuff when you try to wipe it down. It’s a pain to clean and keep clean so I end up putting a large plastic cutting board over the top of it to keep it neater and keep stuff from going into the edge.
This little kitchen also doesn't have nearly enough cabinet space, either, so that’s an issue, too. I really need to reorganize what I do have to make the most use of it and I’m still not sure how to do that.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Had to leave the computer for a bit and never seemed to get back to it last night, so here it is, Sunday night, and I’ve just finished dinner while watching the Rangers/Leafs game. I shouldn’t eat while the Rangers are playing lately; they stink out loud and it’s horrible to watch them some nights. At the end of the 2nd period, there’s no score and it’s the freaking Leafs, for God’s sake! Don’t get me started on hockey. It is not my favorite thing right now and I’m usually all pumped up when a game is on, but not the way the Rangers are playing.
So, I’m working on my ‘wedding shawl’; I’m determined to finish the damn thing before my anniversary in July, but I’m not promising anything. I also completely ripped out a pair of socks I had started because I made them too long for my feet before starting the heel and I don’t know anyone with bigger feet than mine (at least, not that I’d like to give a pair of hand-knit socks to).
I found two skeins of cobweb weight yarn in my stash and decided to wind it into balls. While I was working on that, I wondered what on earth had possessed me to buy two skeins of cobweb yarn. It’s like sewing thread! I don’t know what on earth I’d ever make with it and I have two balls of it now and I’d bet that each is about 1,000 yards or more of yarn! Even if I doubled it, it wouldn’t be lace weight! It’s really really fine. I wonder; someone on the KnitList asked about a wedding shawl that needed to be so fine it would pass through a wedding ring when knit. This stuff would probably do that. I just had a thought; the dental floss I use to make ‘lifelines’ is heavier than this yarn! I must have had a very bad case of yarn lust to buy this…
Mike is still out of work, like far too many people in this country. He’s still getting his unemployment insurance checks, so the mortgage is still getting paid. Thank God for unemployment insurance. I’d just like to make it through until he gets a job with the bills not too far behind. I get everything paid, but some stuff is late. It’s the old ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ syndrome; some months I can pay Peter, some months I can’t. I do the best I can and I don’t spend like I used to, that’s for sure; I just can’t. I hope no one is expecting me to spend to help the economy; someone with money will have to do my part. I’m doing ok with bills and groceries and that’s all I care about right now.
I did want to take that Aran cardigan class at my LYS, and I did hoard some money for it, but the day I went to sign up, it had been filled. I figure I was not destined to take that class. I do have the book they plan to make the sweater from, though, and enough gorgeous alpaca/wool blended hand-spun to make it. If I have the nerve, I’ll give it a shot. I suppose I could go there and eavesdrop on the class for tips and kind of knit along, but that would be cheating and really not fair to those who paid the whole shot to take the class.
I think I’ll stop here and post this. I’ll try to write more later in the week as I’m finding this more relaxing than I remember. I think the ability to tell your troubles to the world like this is a good thing most days. I don’t know who reads my blog, but whoever you are, thanks for listening.
Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Happy New Year! 2009
Sunday, December 21, 2008
I think I’ll break “tradition” and post again this month…LOL. At least I’ll try to come with something interesting to write, though I can’t guarantee anything. Christmas is NOT my favorite time of the year and I just don’t know why. I always feel kind of like Charlie Brown; the commerciality really bugs me, but that doesn’t seem to be quite all of it for me. I do love the traditional things that happen, but some things are just too much. This year I am remembering that last year I lost my beloved Miss Alvin right after Christmas and I am feeling very sad. I don’t much care about tons of gifts, either, as I would much rather give someone something that’s just perfect for them or that they really wanted than actually get a bunch of stuff myself.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy getting gifts; I do. I just would prefer to get some little things that someone really put some thought into, rather than expensive stuff that someone really didn’t think about. Does that make sense? One of the little things I got last year from Mike was a set of Harmony cable needles from KnitPicks. They didn’t cost a fortune, in fact they didn’t cost much at all, but he knew I’d like them and he ordered them for me. I got a lot of other knitterly things too, but they were all things he knew I’d like and use. This year, I don’t care if I get a damn thing; I told him I got my gift in July when we got married. I know he doesn’t really believe me, but that’s really how I feel.
We didn’t even put a tree up this year. We always put a fresh tree up, one we’ve gone out into the woods for and cut down ourselves. It makes the whole house smell wonderful and so Christmassy that I can’t imagine having a fake tree, no matter how good it looked. We planned to go out to cut one down last weekend, but Mother Nature had other ideas…We’re in upstate NY and we got hit with a mess of an ice storm. Our power was out for four days and it was so cold in the house, I worried about my pipes freezing, though we got past that ok. Then this weekend, it’s done nothing but snow since Friday morning. I think we’ve got about a foot and a half on the ground now, though it appears to have stopped. Christmas Eve we are expecting what they call a “wintry mix” so that could be snow, sleet and/or freezing rain. I guess we’ll stay home and watch Christmas movies with a bottle of wine. On second thought, that doesn’t sound half bad.
I did buy some lovely evergreen-smelling candles, so I’ll have the tree smell, if not the tree. And I’m sure we would have had to tie it to the walls and the ceiling and whatever else we could anchor it to with these three frisky cats in the house. Miss Alvin never did anything but lie under the tree and look pretty, but I’m sure that these three would be climbing the tree and chasing the ornaments all over the house, so maybe it’s better that we didn’t get one this year. Of course, our cutting back on spending isn’t going to help the country’s economy at all, though it will help the economy of our home. Silly, isn’t it? The government wants us all to go out and spend like fiends to shore up the economy, but we just don’t have the money to do that. Is that a catch-22 or what?
I worried when Mike got laid off from his job in November that we’d have problems with money, but his unemployment insurance will get us through. There won’t be much left for frivolities, though, so it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of stash to knit up. I did want to take a class at my local yarn store in the spring; I’ll have to put a little aside so I can maybe do that. It’s a fairly expensive class; $100 to learn to make an Aran cardigan, but it would be so worth it if I could learn to make a sweater like that. I love the intricacies of cables, but haven’t the nerve to try it on my own. All the sweaters I’ve ever made (except the BSJ, and I took a class for that) have come out so badly that I really feel I need the guidance of a class to get me through. I have the loveliest alpaca/wool blend yarn that I bought ages ago for just such a project, too. It’s a lovely creamy white and the hand is so soft. It will be a beautiful sweater when it’s knitted up; I’ve just been afraid to try it on my own.
I’ll stop for now; it’s time to go clean the car off and help with the snowblowing so I can go to the store for dinner things. Thank heaven the market isn’t far from here! I’ll write more later.
January 1, 2009
I never got around to writing more that day. Funny, I just have to be in the mood to sit down and think on paper (or computer screen…). In the time since I wrote the above, I’ve actually finished a shawl. Ok, so it’s not blocked yet, but the knitting and the weaving in of ends is done. I didn’t have quite enough of the cream alpaca to make it as large as I wanted to, so I added a few inches of a deep cranberry-red Baby Twist and improvised. I think it turned out rather well and it’s so warm. My house is a little chilly today (of course it’s about 12 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the wind is howling), so I tossed it around my shoulders until I warmed up nicely. It’s also a nice size for tossing over my lap as I sit on the couch, so I’m happy with the way it turned out.
I’m still working on my “wedding shawl” but that yarn is soooo fine and it just seems like I’m getting nowhere fast. I knit and knit and knit and it’s like I’ve done ¼ inch. I’m sure we’ve all been in that boat, though, so I just pick it up whenever I think of it and go from there until I’ve had enough. This shawl is lace-weight and I have to say that I don’t think I’ll ever buy any more lace-weight. I still have about 1,000 yards of a beautiful hand-dyed pale spring green that I won in a raffle and I actually bought a huge hank of merino lace-weight in cream on a whim. I guess that will sit in my stash until I find I like it again. Hmmm, I think I like cream colored yarn; I mention it a lot lately….
That lovely cranberry-red Baby Twist is alpaca that I bought in Kentucky when we went down to see my sister and her husband two years ago. I ordered it: 18 skeins in the same dye lot because I was absolutely going to knit a sweater from “Big Girl Knits” and I figured out that I would need 16 or 17 skeins and I better buy an extra, since Kentucky is not just around the corner from upstate NY. I made the “Cherry Bomb” from that book and it turned out so horribly that I never did start another sweater and the “Baby Twist” has been sitting idly by in my stash since then. Oh, and I started another of what I call my “office ponchos”. If you’ve read “The Knit Stitch” (sorry, can’t remember who wrote it), you’ll find in the book a “pattern” of sorts for what she calls a “Sweaterless Yoke”. I made one for myself about three years ago and I keep it at work for chilly days. Lately, it’s always a chilly day in my office as they are saving money by turning the thermostat down. I have a blower right over my cubicle and it seems that when it’s on, it just blows right down my back.
Anyway, I made one from the book and it’s all knitting on circular needles, around and around and around until you decrease a bit and bind off. So, the one I made is a variegated gray/black/white alpaca and it came out so nice that I wear it quite a lot over my shoulders when I get cold. I like that it isn’t on my arms; I’m a ¾ sleeve person and prefer to push my long sleeves up for comfort, so the fact that this little poncho just sits on my shoulders and doesn’t hinder my working is fabulous to me. A friend admired it and I told her I'd make her one. She picked out the wool - a lovely shade of deep olive green - and I started it. And I got so bored going around and around and around that I decided to change things up a bit. I put in some evenly-spaced YO’s and k2tog’s to give it a little interest and it came out so nicely that she just loves it. It's not like it's lacy or anything, but it's not all just stockinettte either.
So let me tell you a little about the one I’m working on now. Since I just finished a shawl - EZ’s Pi - I decided to do a variation on a theme type shawl and I’m working out a kind of a Pi poncho. I’ll post it no matter how it turns out, but so far, so good (keep your fingers crossed!). I'm using the previously-mentioned Baby Twist and it looks lovely so far.
Let’s see…what else is going on? We’re holding our own so far. Money is very tight, but we’ll make it, I think. Of course, having to toss the contents of my fridge, freezer, and my stand-alone freezer after the ice storm isn’t helping much. I hate to think of all the food we tossed and how much it all cost. I have to look on the bright side; my big freezer got defrosted and that’s a good thing, right? Hope all of you are doing well. I wish a Happy and Healthy New Year to all.
Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
I think I’ll break “tradition” and post again this month…LOL. At least I’ll try to come with something interesting to write, though I can’t guarantee anything. Christmas is NOT my favorite time of the year and I just don’t know why. I always feel kind of like Charlie Brown; the commerciality really bugs me, but that doesn’t seem to be quite all of it for me. I do love the traditional things that happen, but some things are just too much. This year I am remembering that last year I lost my beloved Miss Alvin right after Christmas and I am feeling very sad. I don’t much care about tons of gifts, either, as I would much rather give someone something that’s just perfect for them or that they really wanted than actually get a bunch of stuff myself.
That’s not to say I don’t enjoy getting gifts; I do. I just would prefer to get some little things that someone really put some thought into, rather than expensive stuff that someone really didn’t think about. Does that make sense? One of the little things I got last year from Mike was a set of Harmony cable needles from KnitPicks. They didn’t cost a fortune, in fact they didn’t cost much at all, but he knew I’d like them and he ordered them for me. I got a lot of other knitterly things too, but they were all things he knew I’d like and use. This year, I don’t care if I get a damn thing; I told him I got my gift in July when we got married. I know he doesn’t really believe me, but that’s really how I feel.
We didn’t even put a tree up this year. We always put a fresh tree up, one we’ve gone out into the woods for and cut down ourselves. It makes the whole house smell wonderful and so Christmassy that I can’t imagine having a fake tree, no matter how good it looked. We planned to go out to cut one down last weekend, but Mother Nature had other ideas…We’re in upstate NY and we got hit with a mess of an ice storm. Our power was out for four days and it was so cold in the house, I worried about my pipes freezing, though we got past that ok. Then this weekend, it’s done nothing but snow since Friday morning. I think we’ve got about a foot and a half on the ground now, though it appears to have stopped. Christmas Eve we are expecting what they call a “wintry mix” so that could be snow, sleet and/or freezing rain. I guess we’ll stay home and watch Christmas movies with a bottle of wine. On second thought, that doesn’t sound half bad.
I did buy some lovely evergreen-smelling candles, so I’ll have the tree smell, if not the tree. And I’m sure we would have had to tie it to the walls and the ceiling and whatever else we could anchor it to with these three frisky cats in the house. Miss Alvin never did anything but lie under the tree and look pretty, but I’m sure that these three would be climbing the tree and chasing the ornaments all over the house, so maybe it’s better that we didn’t get one this year. Of course, our cutting back on spending isn’t going to help the country’s economy at all, though it will help the economy of our home. Silly, isn’t it? The government wants us all to go out and spend like fiends to shore up the economy, but we just don’t have the money to do that. Is that a catch-22 or what?
I worried when Mike got laid off from his job in November that we’d have problems with money, but his unemployment insurance will get us through. There won’t be much left for frivolities, though, so it’s a good thing I’ve got plenty of stash to knit up. I did want to take a class at my local yarn store in the spring; I’ll have to put a little aside so I can maybe do that. It’s a fairly expensive class; $100 to learn to make an Aran cardigan, but it would be so worth it if I could learn to make a sweater like that. I love the intricacies of cables, but haven’t the nerve to try it on my own. All the sweaters I’ve ever made (except the BSJ, and I took a class for that) have come out so badly that I really feel I need the guidance of a class to get me through. I have the loveliest alpaca/wool blend yarn that I bought ages ago for just such a project, too. It’s a lovely creamy white and the hand is so soft. It will be a beautiful sweater when it’s knitted up; I’ve just been afraid to try it on my own.
I’ll stop for now; it’s time to go clean the car off and help with the snowblowing so I can go to the store for dinner things. Thank heaven the market isn’t far from here! I’ll write more later.
January 1, 2009
I never got around to writing more that day. Funny, I just have to be in the mood to sit down and think on paper (or computer screen…). In the time since I wrote the above, I’ve actually finished a shawl. Ok, so it’s not blocked yet, but the knitting and the weaving in of ends is done. I didn’t have quite enough of the cream alpaca to make it as large as I wanted to, so I added a few inches of a deep cranberry-red Baby Twist and improvised. I think it turned out rather well and it’s so warm. My house is a little chilly today (of course it’s about 12 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the wind is howling), so I tossed it around my shoulders until I warmed up nicely. It’s also a nice size for tossing over my lap as I sit on the couch, so I’m happy with the way it turned out.
I’m still working on my “wedding shawl” but that yarn is soooo fine and it just seems like I’m getting nowhere fast. I knit and knit and knit and it’s like I’ve done ¼ inch. I’m sure we’ve all been in that boat, though, so I just pick it up whenever I think of it and go from there until I’ve had enough. This shawl is lace-weight and I have to say that I don’t think I’ll ever buy any more lace-weight. I still have about 1,000 yards of a beautiful hand-dyed pale spring green that I won in a raffle and I actually bought a huge hank of merino lace-weight in cream on a whim. I guess that will sit in my stash until I find I like it again. Hmmm, I think I like cream colored yarn; I mention it a lot lately….
That lovely cranberry-red Baby Twist is alpaca that I bought in Kentucky when we went down to see my sister and her husband two years ago. I ordered it: 18 skeins in the same dye lot because I was absolutely going to knit a sweater from “Big Girl Knits” and I figured out that I would need 16 or 17 skeins and I better buy an extra, since Kentucky is not just around the corner from upstate NY. I made the “Cherry Bomb” from that book and it turned out so horribly that I never did start another sweater and the “Baby Twist” has been sitting idly by in my stash since then. Oh, and I started another of what I call my “office ponchos”. If you’ve read “The Knit Stitch” (sorry, can’t remember who wrote it), you’ll find in the book a “pattern” of sorts for what she calls a “Sweaterless Yoke”. I made one for myself about three years ago and I keep it at work for chilly days. Lately, it’s always a chilly day in my office as they are saving money by turning the thermostat down. I have a blower right over my cubicle and it seems that when it’s on, it just blows right down my back.
Anyway, I made one from the book and it’s all knitting on circular needles, around and around and around until you decrease a bit and bind off. So, the one I made is a variegated gray/black/white alpaca and it came out so nice that I wear it quite a lot over my shoulders when I get cold. I like that it isn’t on my arms; I’m a ¾ sleeve person and prefer to push my long sleeves up for comfort, so the fact that this little poncho just sits on my shoulders and doesn’t hinder my working is fabulous to me. A friend admired it and I told her I'd make her one. She picked out the wool - a lovely shade of deep olive green - and I started it. And I got so bored going around and around and around that I decided to change things up a bit. I put in some evenly-spaced YO’s and k2tog’s to give it a little interest and it came out so nicely that she just loves it. It's not like it's lacy or anything, but it's not all just stockinettte either.
So let me tell you a little about the one I’m working on now. Since I just finished a shawl - EZ’s Pi - I decided to do a variation on a theme type shawl and I’m working out a kind of a Pi poncho. I’ll post it no matter how it turns out, but so far, so good (keep your fingers crossed!). I'm using the previously-mentioned Baby Twist and it looks lovely so far.
Let’s see…what else is going on? We’re holding our own so far. Money is very tight, but we’ll make it, I think. Of course, having to toss the contents of my fridge, freezer, and my stand-alone freezer after the ice storm isn’t helping much. I hate to think of all the food we tossed and how much it all cost. I have to look on the bright side; my big freezer got defrosted and that’s a good thing, right? Hope all of you are doing well. I wish a Happy and Healthy New Year to all.
Remember, until next time, wear natural fibers; hug your cats!
Ellen
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