Whorled Peace

Pesto time! ...and my first attempt at 'process photos'

2010-07-21T11:02:00.001-05:00

mmmmmm, my basil plant was gloriously full of fragrant leaves, I scored pine nuts on sale and a small wedge of real Parmisiano Reggiano, it is most definitely pesto time! My food processor is packed away in storage, so I was going to make pesto by hand chopping, but I wasn't thrilled with the texture the last time I tried hand chopping. Luckily, I stumbled across a post here: whocookedwhat.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-make-pesto-all-time-and-it-is-so-easy.html where an immersion blender was used in place of a food processor. This worked so much better than hand chopping- and I can't imagine a food processor making it any better. I can't give a true recipe here, I didn't (and usually don't) measure ingredients for pesto. Also, I didn't add garlic, I just didn't have any on hand. So here is the process I followed:

warm fuzzies!

I didn't wash the basil because I grew it with no pesticides, so I just picked all of the lovely leaves. My hands and kitchen smelled divine!

toasty!

toast some pine nuts- I used about 2 1/2 oz because I had a lot of basil, probably 5 full cups of packed leaves

mmmm, parmisiano!

let the pine nuts cool and grate some good parmigiana reggiano, at least 1/2 cup. Once the pine nuts are cool, place a small handful of basil in a mixing bowl, add about a tablespoon of pine nuts, a good pinch of parmigiana and a drizzle of olive oil. Use your immersion blender to squish and blend the ingredients. It is a little difficult in the beginning, but will get easier as you add more stuff. Just keep adding a bit of each ingredient and blend/squish. The first handful or two got mushed up and kind of stuck in the 'vents' of the blender, if this happens just add a bit (light drizzle) of olive oil. By adding ingredients a handful at a time, some of the basil and pine nuts get completely pulverized into paste, but the latter ingredients get chopped a bit less, leaving you with (imho) perfectly textured pesto. Not chunky, that would not be right, but not a smooth paste either.


ready for the beauty shot!

Place in a bowl, a final dusting of cheese and drizzle of olive oil and ...."Oh Interwebs, when will you invent smell-o-vision links"?!

someone hand me a breadstick, stat!

charming...

2010-07-17T08:43:00.000-05:00

I really love the way this little powder room curtain turned out. It is pretty rare that a project turns out exactly as I picture it in my head when casting on. Lacy and beaded and just so pretty!

The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download named Candlestick Curtains by Carol Shoenfelder

so, okay, I'll never be a chocolatier, however...

2010-04-03T13:55:00.000-05:00

these were so much fun to make!

walnut coconut creams, covered in white almond bark, with adorable chick faces and feet fashioned from various candy sprinkles. I stole the idea for the chick faces from "http://cakeonthebrain.blogspot.com/2010/03/easter-chick-cake-balls.html

I also made some caramel, wrapped it around pretzel rods, then went nuts with chocolate and sprinkles. mmmmmmm, D is very very happy with these. He doesn't have much of a sweet tooth so when I hit on something he loves it is a treat for me!

funny story about the chick faces.

Cake on the brain used a food marker to make the iris part of the eyes. I couldn't find a food marker at the 2 stores I needed to go to for other groceries anyway, so I spent quite a bit of time, almond bark and toothpicks experimenting with different ways to make irises. I realized I had spent too much time with candy poultry when I sat frustrated looking at my few paste/gel food colors thinking, "Brown! that is what I need. darn, I wish I had brown. Brown would work well." sitting about 10 inches to my left was the leftover chocolate from the pretzels. It was the perfect brown. :)

early spring in the garden

2010-03-09T14:04:00.000-05:00

mmmmmm....days like today are the perfect reason to have a garden. 1-2 hours in the afternoon sun pulling up old tomato canes, twisting metal cages back into shape, brushing away straw to see what did or didn't survive the winter, days like today are worth their price in gold. My perfect escape.
This year the garden held a few surprises. Among the dead vines & branches there are so many fallen/rotten tomato carcasses that I'm going to depend on volunteer tomatoes this year rather than plant new. I'm telling myself that I'm being frugal rather than lazy.

I wish I could remember if this sad survivor of winter 2009/2010 is a broccoli or a cabbage. I think it looks like cabbage, but I could swear that is where I planted the broccoli. Either way, this little plant kinda looks the way I feel most days. Badly injured but still alive. The eternal optimism of Spring, right here in my own backyard.

and wonder of wonders...Garlic! lovely, green, smelly garlic! Looks like most of the garlic that I planted last fall survived. Before I get too excited about my gardening prowess let me step in and remind myself that garlic has been cultivated for a very long time. And they won't be ready for harvest till Summer. but still.

There is such comfort in plant, wait, harvest.

Jeff

2009-12-19T11:01:00.001-05:00

HD recently found a couple of old canisters of used film. Yeah, film. I wasn't sure that you could still get film developed! We both knew that more than likely there would be pictures of Jeff on the rolls, but we had no idea when the pics were taken- might be copies of pictures that we already had. He got the film developed, and sadly there were only 7 or 8 pictures with any image quality at all. There is a picture of Beau when we first adopted him. He was so cute, but SO dumb! He has grown into a beautiful, good dog, but he was a serious challenge as a pup. We also got a few pictures of Abbie. Gorgeous Abbie. Best dog ever. Period. A few very faded, grainy pictures from Christmas 2002, just Jeff, Doug and I. And one, clear, brilliant picture of Jeff in the City Center parking lot. He is tan, and smiling, mohawk painted red, white and blue. You can't really see the mohawk in the picture, be we remember it well. I'm so grateful for these few pictures. One thought that haunts me is that there will be no more pictures of Jeff. No more memories. so wrong. It hurts like hell to look at them, but I also know that they are an incredible gift.

So, what have you been up to lately?

2009-11-07T04:38:00.002-05:00

just a few things I've completed lately. The shawl isn't really complete, I need to add a border when I spin a complimentary yarn. And don't look too closely at the hat! I took the picture before I realized there were some yarn ends that needed woven in!

October socks

2007-11-20T07:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is in fact the 20th day of November, so shoot me!

A Wool Gathering....gather'd up some goodies!

2007-09-18T18:36:00.001-05:00

yeah, yeah, two posts in one day- but I had a really busy and fun weekend! LD and I rode out to A Wool Gathering fiber festival at Young's Dairy near YellowSprings Ohio. It is the only fiber fest I've found so far that is close enough for a one day trip. And ya'll know I can't leave the pups alone to take a longer-than-one-day trip. So this is my once a year hands on fiber fix.

Llama mammas!

sheepies!

trying to subtly tell Mr Paparrazi that I'm done being photographed!

I got some yummy swag too! Finally got my hands on a card weaving book. I've had the cards for a year now and was chicken to try it. This book is fab, very clear and easy to read instructions. See that blue strap there- I made that within about a hour and a half of sitting down to read the book. Card Weaving is wicked cool. I picked up my pound of lovely merino top from the lovely folks with Ohio Valley Natural Fibers in Sardinia, Ohio. A gorgeous 8oz ball of Romney wool and mohair. The colors are to-die-for. I enjoy doing my own hand dying, but without a carder, I can't make roving as gorgeous as this. It is from a company called White Creek Wool in Deford, Michigan. I also picked up an ounce of dove grey cashmere. That was my last purchase of the day and I've lost the business card of the vendor that I bought it from. Cashmere! I've finally graduated to cashmere! I'm spinning it lace-weight on one of my drop spindles to try and stretch out the spinning love. It is heaven. And hey! I'm wearing my sweater again! see the end of my previous post for sweater details, if your interested.

be nice to the littles, you never know when a big is around the corner.....

2007-09-18T18:22:00.000-05:00

Um, Yeah, that is one big bug! Part of the 'Big Bugs' exhibit at our local Innis Woods Metro Park. My previous post showed a lovely smaller specimen that came to visit my garden.

and since I hadn't hassled her smaller cousin, this lovely creature left me alone.......

LD wasn't quite as lucky!

Sunday was our 7th wedding anniversary, so I thought I'd share a rare posed picture of the two of us.....

and the much more common picture of the two of us being silly. Silly, but very happy, relaxed and very much in love. And lest you think this blog has completely lost all knitting content....I spun the yarn for and knit the sweater that I'm wearing! brown merino with one skein of one strand of silk ply'd with one strand of the same merino. I did this when I realized I would run out of fiber before I got the yardage that I needed. Worked out nicely I think. The sweater pattern is one of the top down women's t-shirt patterns from Fiber Trends.

Visitor in my Lavendar...

2007-08-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

I spent about an hour cleaning up the flower beds this morning, deadheading flowers, pulling up poison oak and (my favorite chore ever) trimming the spent lavendar stems. The flowers are all dried and there is nothing left for the bees, so now I get to play. ....and I got an extra bonus today. I was just finishing up trimming stems, wondering how I missed this and that, got a buzz-by from a bee, when I looked up and noticed that I had company.....!

How gorgeous is s/he?! LD and I saw the babies in early spring and I was hoping that at least a couple had hung around.

yes darlin, I am looking at you! Breathtaking!

I sort of understand how the sheep feel.....

2007-07-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

.... and all I can say is "ahhhh"! Locks of Love will be receiving 12 inchs of red hair and I couldn't be happier to have it off my head!

Early Summer Garden

2007-06-28T07:29:00.001-05:00

Watermelons Lima Beans
the first of the Mr Stripey heirloom tomatos
white patty pan summer squash
cucumber flower

a view from the road

2007-06-28T07:23:00.000-05:00

life goes on...

2007-06-09T07:00:00.000-05:00

and the garden grows. I'm insanely proud of these cucumbers. We've been eating lettuce, chard and herbs for over a month, but these cukes feel like the first 'real' food. I was also overjoyed to see the zucchinis are coming along brilliantly. I know, I know, in another month or two I won't be able to give them away, but for now I'm just thrilled that everything is growing.
This is a picture of the Lima Bean plants. Can't wait to taste fresh Limas. I've been surprised to find many other lima lovers out there, and to a person, none of us has ever had fresh lima beans, only frozen or, God forbid, canned.
I'm already dreaming about next year and planning how much more of the back yard I can take over. Now if I could just find time to fit in some knitting and spinning!

Princess Abigail

2007-05-24T17:07:00.000-05:00

I'll never forget you, sweet girl. Your paw prints are tatoo'd onto my heart. I will love you and miss you for the rest of my life, and I'll always be greatful for the few short years that we had together. With your kindhearted trusting soul, you taught me to trust myself and with your unconditional love and dedication, you taught me to love myself. I'm a better person because of you.

....now if someone could just explain to me how I live the rest of my life without hearing her 'tail thump' on the floor upon waking every morning. Without the opportunity to laugh hysterically as she 'bites' at the other cars on the road (this is a dog that wouldn't intentionally harm anything that wasn't threating her, but put her in the back seat of a car and those other cars better watch out! You had to see it-hysterical! my description cannot do it justice.) Without tripping over constantly her because she insited on sitting directly in front of whichever chair I chose. I have 2 other canine companions- the boys- and I am continually grateful for their company. But I've lost an irreplacable freind. I tell myself that she deserves for me to mourn for her- this painful grief is a small price to pay for the wonderful 9 years she gave me. And that is true. But it sucks.

no time to knit...

2007-05-12T06:16:00.000-05:00

Yep. The neighbors thought we had finally gone completely round the bend, rather than just skating the edge like we usually do. 13 cubic yards of dirt... delivered to the front yard.

We needed it! We really did. Both the front and back yards were horribly pitted and bumpy. Both needed to be 'filled in' in spots.

Some 'spots' being rather larger than others!

And I needed enough dirt to fill in a raised garden bed. I'm very excited about my first garden here at the house. I only planted what I thought LD and I would really enjoy eating, I can't even tell you how excited we are about trying fresh lima beans. I've loved limas my whole life but I don't think I've ever tasted a fresh one. We also have zucchini, cucumbers, Brandywine and Mr Stripey heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, brussell sprouts, white scallop squash, radishes, mixed lettuces, swiss chard and various herbs. Fairly safe and slightly predictable, but this is our first year. I honesly thought about putting in a row of flax, try my hand at growing, processing and spinning up my own linen yarn. Thank goodness I came to my senses on that one- I barely have time to pick up my knitting needles these days. Maybe next year!

Pre planting:

All planted in, watered, mulched and ready to grow!

no you didn't-

2007-04-28T07:01:00.000-05:00

Oh, but I did. I knit LD a pair of motorcycle gloves! And he likes them. I kind of like them too. I tweaked the "Knucks" pattern from Knitty.com just a tiny bit. I added a few vertical rows of purl stitches on the hand part, kinda looks like stitched seams.

Knitting motorcycle wear......makes me giggle every time I think about it!

I've also been spinning away on my Minstrel spinning wheel. I'm so happy with the double drive, I find I have much more control over the amount of twist and speed of uptake- I can actually get the size/type of yarn I want rather than going with what the wheel wants to do. A Kiwi is a wonderful first wheel, but you really can outgrow it's capabilities.

I have no idea what the yardage is, but I love the color, and it is Rambouilette wool, very soft and fluffy. No idea what it will become, but I'm sure it will be lovely.

I've been knitting also! Still working on a "corset tee" by Annie Modisett, I'm about 2/3 done with the miles and miles of k2p2 that makes up the body. I'm going to try to add sleeves of my own design, and I think with sleeve I might actually wear this sweater in public. The yarn is a cotton/silk blend, loverly stuff. Between k2p2's, I made this cotton "Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Sweater" from Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardiner & Shayne and superwash wool baby socks for a new baby on the way for a lovely woman at work. She has a 2 year old daughter, equally lovely, and I made Miss E a pair of socks as well. I'm planning on making myself a pair of argyle socks using the same yarn/colors. Love the pink and green!

And finally, I've been drop spindling some handcombed Rambouilette/Alpaca blend, having scoured the wool and washed the Alpaca myself. I love the idea of doing the whole process from raw fiber to finished item- just really love the idea of it.......but the reality is that it just takes too durn long! I have nothing but awe and admiration for the hundred of generations of folk who had no choice but to shear, wash, card or comb and spin their fibers. I'm just not planning on losing my link to KnitPicks.com any time soon. Too many projects, too little time!

and sometimes, I knit...

2007-04-17T11:56:00.000-05:00

hand spun, hand dyed corriedale. Motified version of Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch from 'Knitting Vintage Socks' by Nancy Bush. LD is particulary fond of these socks, to the point of showing them off to friends. seriously!

You never call, you never write......

2007-03-30T10:13:00.000-05:00

sorry.
Let me explain.
First of all, I am a complete, self admitted inconstant blogger. My life has 2 phases, either NOTHING is going on and I'm swallowed up in depression and self pity and, well, who in the world would want to read anything that someone in that conditions would write!? The other phase is when EVERYTHING happens at once and though I have a billion things I'd like to blog about, well, I'm so durn busy that I think about blogging, want to blog, but can't pull myself away from whatever else is going on. Occasionally I have actually even forgotten that I have a blog.
I've seriously kicked around the idea of only posting pictures and not even making an attempt to be witty (hey, I said "attempt", I didn't say I was sucessful!) and I really think I may start doing that. So here are the first two pics, and anyone who know either myself or LD will at once understand why I haven't posted recently:

and:

2007-02-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Your IQ Is 105

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Above Average

Your General Knowledge is Above Average

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

hee hee hee..... I just love these blogger tests. They are like crack to me. I tend to 'test' well, and sometime have to fight myself to actually answer the test honestly rather than pick what I know is the 'right' answer. This one surprised me a bit. I expected math to be horrid- obviously I stumbled on the correct answers for the math questions, and I've never been mislabeled as a genius in anything, but the thing that cracks me up and keeps me coming back for more are answers like- logical intelligence: below normal -that is just too funny. Even more so because I don't really know what 'logical intelligence' means! ......'scuse me while I go peruse a dictionary!

First FO of 2007

2007-01-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

Handspun silk, slightly altered "Christmas Angel" pattern from the 2006 Daily Knitting calendar. I'm going to continue to tweak this pattern to see if I can make her look more like a fairy. The head is a needle felted bead, I think on my next try I'll add a couple of pointy ears and make the skirt less bell shaped. I have just enough silk yarn left for one more. After being left alone all night on New Years Eve (the dogs were only alone over night- the same amount of time they are on their own Monday thru Friday during the day!) this is how Bailey and I spent most of our New Years Day. The little prince looks so happy/relived/comfy I just want to make a sandwich out of him and eat him up!

Gatherin' Wool

2006-09-17T07:24:00.000-05:00

Attended The Wool Gathering fiber festival in Yellow Springs yesterday. I took my Tour De Fleece bag and told LD when it was full, I'd be done. There was literally nothing of interest for him at the festival, but he kept me company and held my bag when needed like a champ.

Happy Day!

I scored some cool stuff:

a pound of merino top, half a pound of textile grade hemp sliver, a couple of ounces of very pretty mohair curls, 4 oz of a gorgeous Alpaca roving colourway (I have had NO luck dyeing muted colors like this) with just the slightest amount of angelina blended in for a tiny amount of sparkle. Gorgeous! and a couple of cute little finger puppets. I was very proud of the shopping restraint that I showed. Even saved enough money to pay for dinner out of my fiberfest fund.

This guy had so much character:

His owner said he was annoyed at being kept inside the tent, so he kept humming and sort of stomping back and forth- very comical. You could see it in his eyes that he is quite the character. What can I say, I've always had a thing for 'bad boys'!

I wore my homemade spindle pin:

but didn't run into anyone else from the Yahoo Spindlers group.

Never been to Yellow Springs, so after filling up my goodie bag, LD and I went into town to check it out. Wicked, wicked cool. What an artist's haven. If I were independently wealthy and/or a bit more talented, I would make Yellow Springs my new home.

Now THAT is what silk should look like!

2006-08-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

This:

not this:

In trying to poke around at the cocoons to avoid touching the icky stuff, I ended up matting them together into a sad mess. Done. Stick a fork in them. I've enough pride to know I'm beat.
-but I couldn't stay sad for long, because just look again at what arrived from the marvelously talent Carol of http://www.silkworker.com !

Gorgeous incredible handpainted silk top! The colourway is Trumpet Solo, and when I saw it on the website, my heart dang near skipped a beat. Complete lovely silky goodness. I'm spinning it on my favorite drop spindle, my Lambsy Divey All Day Lollipop, spinning it fairly fine, hoping that when I Navajo ply, it will be lace weight-ish, and will then be knit into a shawl/wrap. Don't know what pattern yet, I'm just enjoying the spinning. Happy happy spinning!

Bombyx Mori project ends with a splat

2006-08-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

EEEEWWWWW! Lord in Heaven! I am trying very hard to process my silkworm cocoons so that I can be done with the whole "silkworm saga" and we never need speak of it again, but, seriously, YUCK! What the heck?! I thought that by letting the moths emerge from their cocoons I would be left with fairly clean, empty cocoons. Yes, allowing the moths to emerge damages some of the silk, but I'm planning to spin it, not reel a continuous strand, so that was fine. Plus, added bonus of no bad karma-stifling issues. Yea! ........dude.
What was left behind in each cocoon --and let me pause here to say that not every worm that spun actually made it to the pupa stage, a few died off and left me with nasty dead wormies-- but the ones that did pupate into moths and emerged, well, they thoughtfully left me with a pupa shell (?) in each cocoon. <'scuse me while I get a breath mint, I just vomited in my mouth a little bit>
So Gross! I have to pull each cocoon apart and try to 'pop' out the pupa shell, but some of them don't want to pop, they want to get tangled. And once their tangled I've discovered that if I keep trying to get the buggy part out, it gets all smooshed in the blob of silk. Lord have mercy, I don't think I have the strength to finish this. I'm touching dead bug guts and stuff! And NO! I am NOT taking pictures of this part of the process!!! Once finished, we will never speak of it again, and I will deny any knowledge. I'll take pictures of the 'de-bug gutty' silk blobs, if I get that far. Dear readers, I'm going back in.......give me strength!

and the moths emerge....

2006-08-16T18:54:00.000-05:00

Wicked cool- bombyx mori moths! Sorry for the crappy photos- semi cheap camera combined with moron photographer= blurry pics. I'll see if LD can't get some better pictures when more moth emerge. They are fabulous looking creatures! I really wish I could have zoomed in on this little moths face. She is beautiful and fierce looking.
Now that the silkworm experiment is coming to a close, I've decided that bombyx mori silkworms are not something I will try to raise again. If I get any viable eggs, I'll find someone who wants to give it a go and gift them the eggs. I am amazed and awed at the amount of work that goes into producing silk, but I am also a bit saddened by the process and what has been done to these creatures over centuries of domestication. *and please remember, this is just a blog- only my opinions and thoughts. I certainly do not look down on or judge anyone for anything* It is fascinating, but sad that once they emerge from their cocoons, the rest of their life cycle consists of mating, laying eggs and dying of dehydration. They still have rudimentary wings, but can no longer use them to fly. sad. At some point, I may try to raise one of the wild native to North America breeds of silkworms, but for now I'll stick to spinning soy or bamboo silk, renewable resources.

and while I couldn't get a decent picture of the moths, Draco, our bearded dragon did a fab job of posing for this picture. He is beautiful and fierce too.

Pretty posies and pierced nosies

2006-08-07T16:19:00.000-05:00

Check it out! After many many years of wanting to have it done, I finally sucked it up and did it! Well, no, I didn't do it myself, so I guess that should have said 'had it done'. And I like it! I've been told many times that I didn't have the right 'nose' for a piercing and was asked if I was sure I wanted to draw more attention to it, and now I can tell those peeps to put a sock in it. I think it is kind of cute, and trust me, it is very rare for me to think that anything about myself is any kind of cute. But my nose stud is. :) and if nothing else, it does draw attention away from my Dumbo ears!
Not much fibery goodness going on. I'm still stalling on the gauge swatch for LD's sweater. I hate gauge swatches. Really really hate them. But a finished object (sweater/hat/socks, whatever) that doesn't fit, well that just sucks. Far worse than the suckiness of knitting a gauge swatch. So, I will get to it. eventually.
But for now, I'll share a pretty picture of some of the flowers in my backyard. I tried growing nasturtiums in pots for years, w/o any sucess at all. Threw some in the ground this spring, and, viola! They are growing like crazy. And the clematis blossom surprised me, we just planted that vine this year. I thought it would take a year to establish.

Oh, and the silkworm caterpillars! Well, we have a few straggler caterpillars, but most of them look like this:

post in two parts.......Part 2

2006-08-02T18:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, we celebrate the birthday of a wonderful man. The love of my life, my husband (known here as Lead Dog, or LD for short). In honor of LD, I'm posting 25 things I love about Doug. I could have gone to 50(and beyond), but felt that might be a bit boastful. :)

25 things I love about Doug

1. He is hot. Sorry, but he is. He is so good looking that even after more than 10 years, it still gives me butterflies to look at him.

1. He is kind. I have never heard him say anything mean spirited to anyone- myself included.

3. He loves animals, and they love him back. Any questions that I had in the beginning of our relationship about his character were stifled when my monster of a cat- who in 8 years had never gone to a stranger and would barely allow me to pet and love on her, immediately went to Doug, purring. I've never seen a dog or cat that didn't immediately warm to this man. He has a good soul, and animals can sense that.

4. He cooks. Most of the time, he cooks better than I do.

5. He knows how to operate the vacuum cleaner, dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer. Knows how to operate, and frequently does!

6. After our first 'hook up', he said he would call the next day.....and he did! He is very dependable- if he says he will do something, it is done. He has never let me down.

7. He loves his Mom and Dad. He does not try to blame any mistakes or disappointments in his life on his parents. He calls them regularly. He introduced me to his folks on our third date.

8. He has integrity. He is willing to work for the things he wants, never trying to cheat the system or look for a handout.

9. He has close male friends that he has known for 30+ years and is not afraid or embarrassed to tell them that he loves them.

10. He told me that he loved me for the first time on the phone. And when I called him back to clarify what he had just said, he did not make a big deal out of it. He loved me and told me. Like breathing. No drama or strings attached.

11. He is unbelievably good looking, and he is completely unaware. He is concerned about his appearance only to the point of good personal hygiene and wanting to make sure his clothing is clean and appropriate for the occasion, but has no idea that he makes women weak in the knees.

12. He has a strong mechanical aptitude, but doesn't mind asking for help or looking up instructions when he needs to.

13. He respects his elders. He recognizes that a lifetime of experience deserves respect/

14. He sees me with eyes wide open, warts, wrinkles, selfishness and all, and loves me anyway.

15. He holds doors open for people.

16. He lives life without fear or reservation. He is open to trying new things, without worrying about looking foolish.

17. He quit his job, sold his home and moved 150 miles away from his family and friends because he understood that I couldn't move my children away from their family and friends. It was not even up for discussion. And he has never once made me feel guilty about it.

18. He stops to ask for directions when needed.

19. He has never met a stranger. He makes friends more easily than anyone I've ever met.

20. He is non-judgmental. Open minded to all cultures, religions and lifestyles.

21. He cried at our wedding. And was not embarrassed or ashamed.

22. He is very self-assured, without an ounce of conceit.

23. He offers help to anyone, friend or acquaintance, without expecting anything in return.

24. He would go to the ends of the earth and do anything within his power to make me happy. the sound of my laughter makes him smile.

25. He is a wonderful man, with a beautiful soul. And I am the luckiest woman on earth.

A post in two parts.....Part 1

2006-08-02T18:45:00.000-05:00

I have spinning caterpillars!

This is my first completed cocoon! -yeah, I said 'my' first cocoon. Like I did any of the work!

and this is the second cat, starting his/her cocoon basework.

All in all, this has been a fascinating experience. (and they say I'm the 'normal amount of normal' Ha! shows what those blog tests know!!)

the inconstant blogger strikes again

2006-07-30T12:32:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry friends, but of late I have not been feeling very witty, amusing or even conversational. No funny stories to tell, nothing inspirational, just feeling very blah and sorry for myself. I can at least share some pictures of the silkworms, and my Tour de Fleece yarn being dyed. I am hoping that the silkworms start spinning soon, the Mulberry tree is feeling rather harvested!

And here is the 'pre dye' soak:

the dyeing:

and the final rinse:

What is up with these tests?

2006-07-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind.
You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

I really pride myself on being a weirdo-scifi geek-freak, off the radar, but in a totally harmless and interesting way. What is the deal with all these tests answers coming out completely normal? My funky inner hair color is Orange? Um, no- that is what color my normal outside haircolor is. I was looking for electric blue or burgundy with gold streaks or something cool like that. Orange. I've had orange hair my whole life. drat.

Fini!

2006-07-21T08:26:00.000-05:00

drumroll please.................

Ta Da! My Tour de Fleece spinning is done, and just in time! My total yardage came in at 1732 yds. Whew! I'm so glad to have this finished in time. Now, if I could only pin Lead Dog down to a color, I'd get this pile dyed so that I could start knitting his sweater. I could conceivably get the sweater knitted in time for him to wear is this fall. (or maybe before winter ends- don't want to set up any expectations now, do I?
as if that was not impressive enough (ha! how is that for ringing my own bells!) I also have pictures of Mom's finished socks

The pattern used is Fancy Silk Socks from the book Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. Although the name of the pattern is Fancy Silk Socks, the pattern didn't call for silk, and I didn't use silk. I haven't even spun silk yet, waiting for my wormies to spin. I've spun soy silk on a drop spindle- didn't like it-and I digress. Mom's socks were knitted from hand dyed BFL, my favorite fiber. Knitting Vintage Socks is a lovely book, Fancy Silk Socks is a lovely pattern, and Mom's socks are lovely, but they did seem to take longer to knit than the other lace patterns I've tried, so I'm not in a hurry to do this pattern again. And anyway, I want to get Grandma's socks done- designing the pattern myself as I go along. Maybe I shouldn't say that I'm designing the pattern, what I'm really doing is borrowing parts of other patterns to make the exact socks that I want for dear Gram. What I will NOT be doing anytime soon is spinning WHITE or any other solid colored yarn!

Um, okay.

2006-07-20T07:24:00.000-05:00

You Are 70% Normal

Otherwise known as the normal amount of normal
You're like most people most of the time
But you've got those quirks that make you endearing
You're unique, yes... but not frighteningly so!

How Normal Are You?

This was unexpected. Normal amount of normal, huh? Well, I guess I'll just have to work a little harder.

Fat cats and finish lines

2006-07-19T16:37:00.000-05:00

These silkworm caterpillars are getting fat! Very gratifying to know that I can successfully raise an insect.

Tour de Fleece is going very well too. Grand total to date is 1476 yards! Only 124 yards to go, one semi full bobbin. I can whack that out in one evening in front of the TV! Woo hoo! And, grudgingly I will admit that I've learned something from spinning all this dang white wool. I've really been able to watch the drafting triangle and keep my spinning very even (with no pretty colors to distracts me- you know me, pretty colors and shiny things.....) and I've just about mastered the 'long draw' style of spinning. For non-spinners, this is a technique used to spin lovely, soft yarn, very quickly. And it involves 'letting go' of a lot of control- quit snickering! You kind of let the wheel and the wool do all of the work- it is really cool once you get it down. Now, I don't know if this will work with every type of wool, Merino- having a very short staple, is one that comes to mind as maybe not being the best candidate for the long draw, but the coopworth lamb/alpaca blend is lovely. Should make for a really nice sweater, if Lead Dog ever decides on a color. Pictures tomorrow of the yarn pile and Mom's socks. Finished, blocked and drying as I type. Gotta go cast on Grandma's socks. Her birthday is next Thursday, think I can finish in time? When I mentioned that I was winding the yarn into a ball for Grandma's socks, Mom said they'd make a nice Christmas gift- doh!

2006-07-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

My fiber is here! Let me take just a moment to sing the praises of Nistock Farms www.nistockfarms.com They are fabulous. I've ordered several types of fiber blends from them and not only is the fiber wonderful, the customer service is unsurpassed. So, I'm back on the Tour de Fleece, and am cautiously optimistic that I'll finish in time. I do need to finish up the yarn for Grandma's socks before I can go back to spinning the lamb/alpaca blend, but I'll whip that out tonight.
The mailman also brought some very upsetting mail today. My primary care doctor is leaving private practice. I'm not sure I can adequately explain how disturbing this is to me. I've always had a fear/distrust of doctors, and prior to the past 5 years, I really never had a primary care physician. I saw my OB/GYN faithfully for nine months during each pregnancy, but other than that, something had to be broken or falling off for me to seek medical attention. Somehow, by the grace of the positive powers in the universe, when I desperately needed medical/mental help 5 years ago, I lucked upon Dr L. She has been such a steadfast positive support in my life, one of the pillars that held me up during the beginning of the estrangement from my boys. As if that wasn't enough to deal with, I also had cervical cancer spreading deep into my cervix. If it hadn't been for Dr L, I never would have had the procedures necessary to find the cervical cancer, already progressed to stage one, let alone the necessary surgeries and hysterectomy that I needed to be completely cured. (Ladies, please don't be as stupid as I was- have your pap smear every year. Cervical cancer can be cured so easily in its early stages, it is so slow growing, there is really no reason to let it progress like I did) See, she not only helped save my mind, but my body as well. If this is the right move for her in her life right now, I wish her a world of success, peace and joy.
Now to change subjects before I tear up! Here's the silkies:

they are getting nice a plump. I'm nervous that I'll mess with them while they are trying to shed their skin, so for the rest of the weekend, I'm just going to add leaves and not try to clean out the container too much. They should be ready for the first instar change in the next day or so. If disturbed while shedding, they can get stuck, and die. I moved them into a larger container last night, so for the next couple of days, it's hands off! I'll be sure to post any pictures that I catch of the shedding process, and in a couple of days I should have some pics of much larger, plumper silkies!

Man down! Man down!

2006-07-13T18:47:00.000-05:00

Well, drat. I ran out of wool. I've spun 860 yards, 740 to go. And I did place an order for more last Saturday, but dang it all to heck, they only have 14 oz of that particular batch of roving left. Weeeeell, I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope that 1- the roving arrives in time for me to spin it before the end of the Tour (7/22, I think) and 2- that 14 oz is enough for me to spin 740 yards out of. I'm trying to spin a double ply 'light' worsted weight yarn. We'll see! If nothing else, this little break in the action sure does add to the excitement factor for me. I was getting a little over confident, thinking "oh, this is cake- I'll finish early!" Ha! and the spinning Goddess looked down from on high and said "uh huh, sweetie, we'll just see about that!".
so, during my patient wait for the Fed-Ex man, I'm spinning this:

I need to knit up a pair of socks for Grandma. And finish Mom's second sock. And get a couple of CIC socks done before the end of the month. Life is good when there are so many projects queued up that I don't have time to think about how much I miss the boys and get all mopey. I started to backslide early in the month, but extra love and attention for the pups and LD have helped enormously. Here is a pic of three of them, and while they are giving me neither love or attention at the moment this pic was taken, it soothes my heart just to look at them

The silkies are growing and keeping me busy too. Here's the updated photo: *hmmmm- blogger is NOT letting me add the pic of the silkworms. I'll try again tomorrow. *

They have not made their first molt/instar change (hmmmm, I really should look up the proper terms before I start typing!) but that should be happening in the next few days. I did count them tonight as I was cleaning out the old chewed up leaves. I have approximately 120 hatchlings from a batch of 200 eggs. I can live with that.

Snow Blind!

2006-07-10T07:55:00.000-05:00

Ugh! I thought that the challenge of spinning 1600 yards of yarn would be the yardage, but the real challenge is spinning white. White, white, white. Blech. Boring.
But the happy news is that I am up to a total of 688 yards, with only 912 to go. I can do it - I think! to break up the boredom of white white white yarn, in lieu of posting more pics of white yarn, I'll share some pics of my last 'dye day'.
I used a 'low water immersion' method, 4 large canning jars in a pot, squish the jars full of roving, pour the dye in, add enough water/mordant mix to come to the top of the jar. Insert a spoon handle and smoosh roving around to ensure that the color reaches all of the roving. Add water to the pot about halfway up the outside of the jars and simmer about 45 minutes until the dye is struck (water in the jar is clear). This is a fun and easy way to get nicely variegated yarn, but there is NO control over the color. Someday, after this Tour de Fleece is over, I'll happily post pictures of the yarn spun from these batts. ...and what will I make with the yarn? Well, socks of course!

Silkworm update: cats are doing well. Growing, but not a whole lot different. I'll post some pics of them on Wednesday, their 1 week birthday.

2006-07-08T07:34:00.000-05:00

two day old silkworm. Very cool.

And a spinning update:

I'm up to 433 yards with a mere 1167 to go. I'm starting to have serious doubts that I will have enough roving to spin the whole 1600 yards from this one pound of roving. I'm fairly certain that if I order more today, it should arrive in time for me to finish the Tour de Fleece. I hope.

Happy Birthday little Kego!

2006-07-06T16:34:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the brilliance of Michael at www.wormspit.com I've learned that the newly hatched silkworm babies are called Kego in Japan. It translates into hairy babies, which is totally appropriate, that is exactly what they look like! I never thought I'd say this about an insect, but they are durn cute! I'm having second thoughts about feeding them to Mr Draco, but I'm sure around the time of the third or fourth instar (skin shed-it's how they grow. seriously, check out wormspit, you'll learn soooo much!) I'll be ready to part with a few to make feeding/cleaning easier. And if not, well, Mr Draco can't miss something he's never had!

I'll close today with an adorable picture of the precious pup that holds my broken heart together with his two paws. -and can't you tell how much he just loves his momma waking him up to take yet another picture of him?!?

We Have Babies!!!!

2006-07-06T05:03:00.000-05:00

Baby silkworms, that is! I've been getting rather nervous about the little eggies, wondering if the temp is correct (no, the thermostat doesn't ease my mind, those things can be wrong, you know!) wondering if the humidity (or lack thereof) is correct, and worrying that they will all decide to hatch an hour after I've left for work- and then all the little babies would die of hunger/dehydration before I got home to feed them (horrors!). So you can imagine my relief and joy when this morning (2am) I wandered downstairs in an insomniac blur and found one tiny, fuzzy little speck crawling around a bit. okay, crawling is probably the wrong word, waving around a bit is more on target.
So what did I do, you ask? well, I slipped on a pair of flip flop and ran to the mulberry tree in the back yard and started plucking tiny newborn leaflets from the end of about half a dozen branches. My silkworm babies will not go hungry! And I'm just thrilled that they've chosen the end of the work week to hatch, this way, I can spend all weekend making sure they are fully fed and happy. Full, happy silkwormies will equal lots and lots of silk. I am planning on allowing the silkworm moths to emerge from their cocoons- I'll fluff and handspin the silk, not reel it, but some of the silkworm will also be used as a treat for our Bearded Dragon- Draco:

Tour de Fleece update:

This is 172 yards. Only 1324 to go! I am not loving spinning all this white, but as said yarn will be made into a sweater, I need to dye it all in the same batch. Can't have Lead Dog running around in a splotchy sweater now, can we?

And they're off!

2006-07-01T07:09:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! Tour de France day! Now, anyone who knows me, knows that I have very little interest in sports, but find a way to tie said sport into spinning or knitting, and I'm all over it! I've actually been watching the Tour pre show this morning! Holding off on spinning for the last day has almost killed me, and I'm on pins and needles to get started. A quick trip to the dog park this morning, then I'll be spinning happy all afternoon!

In other news, we had an exciting arrival this week:

What is it, you ask? Weeeell, they are silkworm eggs! Now, settle down, you know this is not the craziest thing I've ever done. When Lead Dog and I realized that we have a Mulberry bush/tree growing in the back yard, I started doing a little light research to see if I could find info about Mulberries, maybe find a recipe or two for the yummy berries, one thing lead to another, and poof, we are silkworm parents. silkworm farmers? crazy silkworm caretakers? whatever you want to call us, we are going to try our hand at it! For more silkwormy info, please visit: www.aurorasilk.com and www.wormspit.com and for the some of the funniest stuff I've ever read you have to check out: www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000398.php

socks and a sample hooking

2006-06-30T09:27:00.000-05:00

I love knitting sock, and I love knitting children's socks even more- small feet= quickly finished. But the thing I love the most is knowing that the socks I'm knitting will be slipped on little feet that really need them. Children in Common is a wonderful group that gathers 100% wool socks (and sometimes sweaters and things) and sends them to a Russian orphanage. I've made a commitment (to myself, the group certainly doesn't require a commitment) to make one (or two) pairs for CIC in between every pair of socks that I knit for a friend or family member. I finished a pair for Dad for Father's Day (forgot to take a picture before gifting them!) then got busy on these:

The smaller sock is a pattern that is available on the CIC website (basketweave pattern). I didn't use a published pattern for the other pair, just cast on the appropriate number of stitches (divisible by 4) and did a basic broken rib pattern for the leg/top of foot. Odd rows: knit 3, purl 1 Even rows: Knit around.

The other thing that I've (almost) gotten finished is my sample rug hooking. Again, made with my handspun, I thought the colors would be perfect for a fall leaf, but needed to 'try it out' before embarking on a whole big ass rug, so there you go! Turned out rather nice, and helped me figure out what I do and do not want to do on my full size rug. The background will definitely be a solid color on the rug, I don't like how the variegation compete with the leaf on the sample. Once I've bound the edges of this sample piece, I'll probably sew it onto a tote bag. Any other ideas out there?

Handspun yarn

2006-06-29T16:46:00.000-05:00

so, I finally got off my butt and took some pictures of my handspun/hand dyed yarns. Yea! I just love to look at them. And I really love knitting with them. It took a little while for me to get up the nerve to actually use my yarn, I'm not sure what I was afraid of, but it did take a while.

Now I find that I really don't want to knit with store bought yarn. And 'pay money' for yarn?!?!? Lord, why would I want to do that? I'd so much rather buy roving and make the yarn.

Yes, it makes the finished project a much looonger project, but purchasing yarn has never been a guarantee that the object would ever be finished anyway. I have a craft room full of purchased yarn to prove that point!

Le Tour de Fleece!

2006-06-28T06:44:00.000-05:00

Wicked cool! I missed out on all of the Olympic knitting (I'm too slow of a knitter, didn't want to bring the team down) but spinning, now that I can do! I've been wanting to spin some yummy Alpaca/coopworth lamb blend to dye and knit a sweater for LD, and this competition makes the perfect motivator! I need to spin 1,600 yards for the sweater. The largest skein I've spun so far was just under 600 yards, so this will be a challenge. I'll be spinning the roving in its natural white color so that I can dye all the skeins at the same time.

gratuitous pup photos

2006-06-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

sorry, yes, I'm afraid I will have to be added to the list of inconstant bloggers. I really intended to submit once a week, but, well, best intentions and all that. So today, you get pups. To your left, I'll start you off with Beau, the redheaded stepchild dog. (hey, I'm allowed to say that, I'm a redhead!) This is really a wonderful pic of him, very happy and relaxed at the park. He is a very good boy and has been super affectionate with me lately. He has a very highly developed intuition and can tell when his Momma needs extra puppy love. To the right of your screen is quite possibly my favorite picture of all time. Bailey has been riding in the car like this for a while, but we've never been able to capture it on film. Abbie is such a pretty girl, and I love how relaxed she looks, she doesn't mind at all giving her little buddy a shoulder to stand on. And Bailey, well, what else can I say about him? I think LD put it best when he asked "how can so much CUTE be stuffed into such a little dog?" :)

And maybe tomorrow I'll update all my spinning/knitting stuff.
teaser: I've got a new addiction- hooking! yep, just loooove saying 'I'm a hooker'. "Sorry dear, didn't get dinner ready, too busy hooking". ha! okay, well, pulling ya'lls dirty minds out of that gutter, my obsession is really Nantucket rug hooking (just like regular rug hooking, but you use yarn instead of wool strips). Tune in tomorrow for pics- same bat time, same bat channel.

hand dyed wool, ply'd yarn....socks!

2006-05-17T07:54:00.000-05:00

I loooove finishing a project! For your viewing pleasure, may I present Hedera from www.Knitty.com. My first lace socks. I looooove them. They are hand dyed, hand spun, hand knitted BFL wool. In addition to making a fabulous pair of socks for my friend, I also learned quite a lot about dyeing and knitting with hand spun yarn from the whole process, bonus! I hope Kim loves them too!

well, Duh!

2006-05-16T07:13:00.000-05:00

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Plain Jane

2006-05-12T23:14:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd introduce you all to my spinning wheel today. Obviously, she is very important to the whole process. I spun exclusively with spindles for a year before taking the plunge and buying a wheel. Most of my spindles were purchased because I'd read favorable reviews of said spindle, and the price fit my budget. So when I decided that I was ready to spend on a wheel, I tried to research the best value. I was all set to purchase a PVC wheel, very useful little wheels by many accounts.
Luckily, LD convinced me that I really wouldn't be happy with anything but a wooden wheel. So, research began anew for the best value for a wheel that would be suitable for a solo beginner,
as I don't know any other spinners, and am not one to ask for help (too stubborn!). I decided that I definitely wanted an upright wheel, but was open to a couple different manufacturers. Louet was an early favorite, an Ashford Joy is a 'someday goal', but I ultimately settled on an Ashford Kiwi. I think the advertisement stating 'perfect for student/beginner that had me hooked.
She took less than a half hour to put together, and while she may have been a bit plain at first, a coat of stain and some stenciling, and I think she is just gorgeous! Couldn't be more pleased. I was thrilled to own a spinning wheel before, and now I am proud of my wheel as well.

And now for something completely unexpected...

2006-05-10T06:01:00.000-05:00

First off, let me just say that, dude, I am LOVING this fiber addiction. While spinning last night I let my mind wander and I realized that there is just nothing about spinning that I don't like. Well, of the things I've tried, there is nothing that I don't like. I haven't tackled raw sheep wool yet, but raw alpaca is cool. So anyway, back to the reason for my post today..... more dyeing experiments. I wanted to try and create a cute, preppy pink and green combo, probably for socks or mittens, more than likely for the Children In Common group. (sorry, still working out how to post links- I'm such a 'puter illiterate!) So, I break out my ProChem Summer dyes, and use Watermelon and Key Lime on some of my favorite Blue Faced Liecester roving (from CopperMoose Farms) and then decide to dribble just a bit of Cantalope for some interest. The roving turned out pretty much like expected, Watermelon was a bit more red than pink and the Cantalope and Key Lime blended to a brown in a few places, but overall I was happy with the result. And then I spun it. Holy Cow! The colors blended and deepened and my happy bright spring colors turned into this gorgeous Autumn Tapestry yarn that I am in LOVE with (and Bailey gave it a sniff of approval too!). Seriously, if Lead Dog wasn't around, Autumn Tapestry and I would be headed to the chapel! So, the biggest lesson I've learned from this round of dyeing is that your finished yarn may turn out looking NOTHING like the roving. Good to know. And now I still need to figure out how to get bright 'kid-cool' colors, but I've got plenty of dyes and roving to work that out. Happy Spinning!

to dye for!

2006-05-02T07:42:00.000-05:00

so, about 6 months ago I ordered 2 acid dye starter packs from Pro-Chem. I've played with KoolAid and Wilton's dyeing, but was not satisfied with the variable results from the colors splitting. So I ordered acid dyes. They arrived promptly, I opened the box and read the instruction. A couple days later I pulled the colors out, looked everything over, and put them away again. A couple days later I read the instructions again. This went on for the previously mentioned 6 months! For some reason, I was just terrified of trying it! Dyeing wool is not brain surgery, but I am a very frugal spinner, I value every ounce of fiber that I have and am petrified of 'ruining' any of it.
Well, after finally deciding to just put on my big girl panties and deal with it, I'm finding that (as is true with most things in life) 'thinking about it' is soooo much worse than just 'doing it'. I'm very please with my progress so far, and for you viewing pleasure today I present you with "Sea Horse Carnival". The roving was beautiful white Blue Faced Leicester (read this 'blue faced' Leicester, the sheep's faces are blue, not the wool!) purchased from CopperMoose Farms, spun and Navajo plyed on my Kiwi. I am also spinning a small amount on a spindle, I'll post later with a comparison.

First Post

2006-04-29T06:17:00.000-05:00

Oh my. The First Post. Scary! My 'plan' is to post updates on my spinning and dyeing experiments, as well as ongoing knitting projects. And of course, the dogs. LD (Lead Dog aka my loving husband Doug) and I are blessed with three of the most comical, adorable canines in the world. Let me introduce the crew. We'll start with the baby, Baron Bailey Keiran K. (we just call him Bailey, unless he's been naughty). He is the light of my heart and the joy of my world. That is him, to the left, posing like the gorgeous hunk of puppy love that he is!
Our middle pup is a mixed breed rescuse named Beau (sorry, no fancy middle names for the middle child!). He has some behavior challenges, but over all he is a VERY sweet and loving boy, much more bonded to LD than to me.
And last but first in our life and hearts always is Princess Abigail. She was our first (actually, she was the first dog I've ever shared my life with) and she just could not be more special. She is easily the sweetest, most well behaved and most beautiful dog in the world.
As it is Saturday morning, said pups are bugging LD and I to go to the park. They know that when Mom and Dad do not get up, get dressed and leave for work, that it must be SATURDAY and that means eggs for breakfast and the park!