Gatherin' Wool

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!

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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?

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!

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.

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

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!!!!

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!

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

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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?