denim vest/jacket

for Angi - here's the vest i turned into a jacket

Robin's sleeve

Several years ago I made myself a jacket by knitting sleeves and attaching them to a denim vest, and my sister, Robin, asked me to do one for her using blues, greens, purples. The first sleeve is finished and the 2nd one is started... as of tonight. Since she lives in TN and i can't try it on her for sleeve length, i've just put the live stitches at the cuff on a piece of yarn and will knit the 2nd to that length and sew them into the vest. when we get together again she can try the vest/jacket on, we'll adjust the cuffs as needed and i'll finish 'em off!!


and this is the stash o'yarn i'm using... mostly handspun, but includes some yarn i got in Crete last fall.

this is not an original idea... i saw one several years ago, then scored a denim vest at good will, looked at a sweater sleeve pattern which looked roomy enough, made 2 sleeves and sewed 'em in! i've worn the jacket so much that it's starting to look kind of ratty, so will probably be knitting new sleeves one of these days! goddess knows i've got enough stray yarn stashed around here for many projects! have been trying lately to reduce the stash and am failing miserably. i do have it better organized and uncovered several unfinished items which are now where they can be seen, and may inspire in me some incentive (or guilt) to get on with finishing.

another finished item.... a pair of socks for Jim. these are not as wild as my usual socks and are more "fraternal" than most, because that's what he wanted. i fiddled with the color in the editing program and just couldn't get the true red... which is really scarlet and doesn't look at all pink as the photo here indicates! also dyed some solid red and brown so i could make stripes and that was as wild as he wanted to go. the socks are specifically for his upcoming adventure!

he leaves next week for a trans-Siberian railroad trip.... and is really looking forward to it. He will fly into Beijing then take a train up thru part of Mongolia, across Siberia and spend a couple of days at the end of the adventure in Moscow and in St. Petersburg. Somehow, 3 weeks on a train just isn't the kind of adventure for me, so he found a small tour group to go with and i'll stay home with the dawgs.

answers and etc

for Carolyn... my "non" traveling most often used spinning wheel is my VanEaton oak double treadle wheel, 24", double drive (does also have scotch tension).

The other wheel i use a lot is my Ernest Mason chair wheel. After Mr. Mason died, his daughter took over making the wheels for a few years, but i don't think anyone is making them now. both of these spinning wheels are much-loved treasures.


and for Terry... although dhJim has come over to the dark side as far as tolerating the pink flamingo decor (he can't really get away from them), "Flamingo Jim's" is a not-to-be-missed shop in Rockaway Beach... has everything from the tacky to the sublime!!

thanks, Lori! yep... these bright rovings "with attitude" do seem to do well at Black Sheep Gathering!! hope that's true again this year......

newest photos

my new flamingo sweatshirt purchased in Rockaway Beach, OR at one of the tackiest, touristy, and crowdedest shops in my universe!

well, actually, it's just the pic on the front of the shirt... we all know what a sweatshirt looks like!
yesterday i got my new travel wheel... Louet Victoria, and tho i haven't spent a lot of time spinning on it yet... i like it a lot. it came with a carrying case, weighs about 7 pounds, sets up very easily.... and no, i have no affiliation with Louet other than liking their wheels! when it is folded up and in its case, it takes up about the same amount of space as my Journey Wheel, which i love and have no intention of selling!!

and because i've spent so much time lately with fibers and dyes, i took a photo of my latest most favorite color combo. it's Blue Face Leicester... the bundle sitting on top of a bunch of merino/tencel.

lovely weekend

got back this afternoon from a weekend in Rockaway Beach, OR with some twisted sisters. Jane, Linda and I went friday, got there just in time for lunch, then went to the rental office where we'd made reservations, and were able to get in early (gave them very pitiful, homeless type looks). we were able to rent a condo on the top (4th) floor overlooking the beach. it has big picture windows in the living room... and we watched a big rain/wind storm roll in, and went to bed with the wind howling and rain blowing hard against the windows. couldn't ever hear the surf. then by morning it was over and the sun came out and gave us 2 gorgeous days! we managed to work in a shopping trip, but spent most of the time spinning, knitting, grazing and catching up on each others' lives. then Sue, Alina and Alyse (Alina's niece) got there about noon, we made room for them to set up wheels, etc, and carried on as before. Had a delicious fresh crab salad for dinner!! while out shopping we went to Flamingo Jim's and i found the totally perfect for me sweat shirt. will take a pic tomorrow. i thought i was really finished with collecting things flamingo, but could not resist this... and got lots of enabling encouragement from the sisters!

And now must get busy with some marathon dyeing. Even tho i thought i was retired from vending at fiber shows, i decided to have a booth at Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR one more time... this time sharing space with Lynne Vogel and Lori Lawson. With 3 of us, I'll still be able to have "time off" to take a class (signed up for a Joan Schrouder class on finishing techniques)... and shop and watch demos and judgings.. and all that fun stuff. The dates for BSG are June 21, 22 and 23. If you've never seen Lynne's and Lori's work, you're in for a real treat!! both of them have an incredible eye for color!! and will have the booth packed with beautiful spinning fibers and yarns!

quince

i absolutely adore this little shrub, and hope the neverending rain won't ruin all the blossoms!

finished it

here's the little entrelac camera bag for my new little Olympus camera! i replaced the photo i had here that i got from my scanner... this one is many times truer in color!! i think i'm loving this new camera!!!

I love entrelac!!!

well, i felt confident enough after the sample entrelac (last post) that i decided i could take off my training wheels and use some of my dye-along yarn and start an entrelac piece without knowing just what it will become. It could possibly become a hat... or maybe a small bag. And so, there i was knitting along and hardly needing to look at the directions any more, feeling just so confident... and then as i was admiring what i'd done, along came my humility lesson and whomped me. can you see my mistake? wish i'd seen it sooner. there is a selvage triangle missing on the right side, and nothin' to do but rip it back to where that triangle should be and put the damn thing in.

yay!! I did it!..

for many knitters, i know this wouldn't seem like something to crow about, but i've had such a hard time wrapping my mind and yarn around the entrelac thing that it seems quite appropriate to me. i even made it harder for myself by trying to get a sample started while i was visiting my son's family where the grandkids keep the noise and activity level at high... making it pretty challenging to concentrate on knitting anything but the most basic knit one row, purl one row thing. but the real break-thru came during my 3 1/2 hour train ride back home, when i put on my headphones, listened to Cowboy Junkies and just look what i did!

dye-along yarns

here's the array of yarns i spun from our dye-along superwash corrie roving. gotta confess i spun more than 6 ounces as i dyed 3 different batches and probably kept more than 2 ounces
of each. anyway, here they are and i absolutely love every bit of 'em! am thinking maybe i'll knit something entrelac and see if i can remember the lessons from Lynne last June at our twisted friends reunion in Alabama. that was fun to do and i ended up with a cute little bag that Lynne bailed me out on at the finish, when i got bogged down and frustrated with just how to finish it! maybe i can remember to take a photo of it and put it up here! what i love about these yarns is that we all 3 started with the same 3 colors, each added a fourth.... and there is such variety! we did, of course, each add our touch in how we combined all these rovings, and separated some sections of color out to get various effects.




these are some of Pam's that i spun and plied by themselves. what is so frustrating to me is that the camera just doesn't show the subtleties of what i am seeing. these are deep and glowing colors with a lot of life in them!!














and these are 3 of Lynne's. top and bottom yarns were spun straight from the roving, and the middle one i separated out some of the colors and spun them by themselves. I love how that bright orange gives such attitude to the skeins.










I wanted some of the yarn to be soft and pastel and be a contrast to the others, and here's what i got from some of my rovings.

life

well, i've got the dyed rovings from Pam and Lynne and spun up a wee bit... but lovely warm and sunny days came around, and i gave in to the pull to be outside. so spent a couple of days having quality time with my clippers and some bushes (pardon the expression) and massive overgrowth in my queendom. and clouds have now returned, so am happy to be inside... however, am trying to banish some of the dirt and dog hair that messes with the innards of dome central! Pam and Larry fly in tomorrow from Malaysia and will stay with us for awhile til they get ready to move on in their adventure. and it's always a good thing to have someone visiting as it does motivate me to do my cinderella chores. i'm getting pretty annoyed with the maid service around here!!... there isn't any!!!

so, will do some spinning tonight and work on getting some photos of yarn from the dye-along posted here and prob. also at http://www.twistedfriends.blogspot.com

yarn from dye along

I spun a sample from each of my 3 batches:

-at the top I spun random lengths from each, then

put in center pull ball and plied from both ends.

-next is from the full strength dye, poured in color bands on the roving, 2 ply

-and the dilute in color bands, 2 ply

-bottom.... dilute random pour,2 ply

and for the next installment, i'll spin up yarns from Pam's and Lynne's dyed roving samples which came in the mail today!! yippeee. can't wait to see what combinations of all the combinations look like!!

dry dyed fiber

dilute color bands


more intense color bands


dilute random pour

Long Distance Dye-Along

Well, Pam already has blogged about her gorgeously dyed superwash corriedale at the Twisted Friends blog www.twistedfriends.blogspot.com, so here's mine! I used the same 3 main colors as Lynne (www.handspuncentral.blogspot.com) and Pam (www.snugsblog.blogspot.com), and for my 4th i chose Lanaset yellow. For both i used cold pour on wet fiber, then steamed it.




(left) i layed the wet fiber out on plastic wrap, poured on bands of colors, some of which i had
mixed together before pouring (the ivy and scarlet to get the aubergine, for instance) The fiber was quite wet, so the dyes ran together more than i would have liked.... but, oh well... Then wrapped and steamed for about 30 t0 40 mins. For pouring on of dye, the fiber was actually layed out straight, but i kind of pulled one end around so i could get it all in the photo.




(right) I pulled the fiber around into an oval and then started ramdomly pouring diluted dyes on it, wrapped and steamed.




all the fiber is on the drying rack now, and maybe will be dry enough to spin by tomorrow.

stay tuned....

Zylie in the snow

They got a lot of snow in Duvall, WA recently, and Kate took a photo or 2 of Zylie posing in the newest sweater i knitted for her. It's a wee bit big for her this year, which means it will be good for at least 1 more year, maybe 2. And the left sleeve is really not longer than the right, tho it looks that way.... i think she's just keeping her hand warm.

And now... here's a Zylie story that really makes me smile. I want to write it down so i won't ever forget it! At the time, she was about 3 and 1/2. Background information: she adores Dora the Explorer and i think she has all the videos of Dora's adventures... and the videos teach kids things, besides entertaining them. So, on one occasion that Kate and the kids were here visiting, we also invited some of the relatives to come over to eat/play/visit, etc. When we told Zylie that "Big Papa" (her great granddad, my father) would be coming over, she got all excited.... and finally she saw him getting out of the car and went running out to meet him, grabbed him by the hand, and beaming up at him started leading him to the house. She looked up and saw her mom standing on the porch. She stopped, turned to him and said proudly: "Big Papa, I want you to meet my new friend... Mommy". So, thanks to Dora, Zylie very often will graciously and politely introduce people to each other... including at times introducing her daddy to her mom when he comes home from work! i suppose it's good practice!

seems i've done a lot of writing the past few days. i blame it on the sinus infection which keeps me from wanting to be any more active than applying fingers to keyboard. after the meds finally took away the headache from hell, i'm just tired and snotty (TMI??)

long distance dye-along

last week as i was out here in my queendom in NW Oregon, my friends Lynne and Pam in TN were in Lynne's studio having a dye day and emailing me about what they were doing. i got all "poor-me-out-here-and-you're-having-all-that-dyeing-fun-together" whiny... and decided we should have a long distance dye-along. Here's what we're going to do: each of us will dye 6 oz of superwash corriedale (because that's what we all have some of and won't have to order it and then wait). We will use stock colors of Lanaset and/or Pro Washfast acid dyes... orange, scarlet and teal, plus each of us will pick our own fourth color to use with the other three. We will use stock colors so that we start on an even playing field, rather than doing our own mixing to get those first 3 colors. We can use any method(s) to apply the dye and "fix" the colors, using any dilution of strength we choose. After the fiber is ready, we'll each send 2 oz to the others, then spin it however we want.... mixing them together, separately, or any combination, and at least knit a swatch... or better yet, socks? mitts? hat? or whatever. And, of course, pictures must be taken of every step along the way and posted to our blogs! So... stay tuned and see how our long distance dye-along works out.

LV Ltd handspun yarns

Today, on her blog, Lynne Vogel is talking about her newly launched line of handspun yarns!! Yay, Lynne!

Also... mentions her newest book The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters, A Knit To Fit Workshop which is due out Sept. 1, 2007.

And... also.. later today there will be a free pattern for my multicolor fingerless mitts on her blog.

wow! lots going on there... see it at:

http://handspuncentral.blogspot.com/

merino/bamboo fiber

this is the merino/bamboo top i recently dyed. if you look closely, you'll see the shiny streaky places where the bamboo doesn't take the acid dyes. i think it will look more blended in after it is spun.

the end

I finished the third pair of mitts (except for the dreaded weaving in of the ends!) and now i'm thru doing mitts, i think! they make a nice small take-along project, but are kinda boring. unless maybe i'll do a pair and try out something nifty from my new Barbara Walker book. next on the agenda is a pair of fulled slippers. I haven't been at all drawn to doing any of the knit-it-then-felt-it patterns of any kind, then i saw the Fireside Footies at Pippikneesocks (www.pippikneesocks.com/blog) and printed out the pattern. they are really cute and look warm and toasty. i might even have some wool yarn in the stash that would work!

and while i'm putting in links, check out Lori Lawson's new blog (www.paintspinknit.blogspot.com) the dyeing and knitting that she (and also Lynne) do is truly inspirational.

on the dyeing and spinning in my life... i recently bought a couple of pounds of merino/bamboo fiber to see how i like it. so far, i've spun and then dyed some yarn. haven't knitted it up yet, but it's a very soft and drapey yarn, took the dye and seems washfast with acid dyes. the colors seem to be a bit muted, even using some of the WF turquoise which i love for it's in-your-face color. the dyed top is hanging on the rack drying, and those colors seems a bit muted also. another thing i noticed is that where the bamboo is not well-blended into the merino, it has only a bare hint of color. i think it's like the tencel and rayon, doesn't really take the dye, but when it's well-blended with the wool, adds sheen and doesn't have an undyed appearance. as soon as the top is dry enough (tho i have been known to spin damp fiber when i just can't wait), i'll spin some up and maybe even get around to knitting a swatch and taking some photos.

Son Chris is leaving Sat. for a Microsoft trip to India. i've been trying to think of how i can prepare him for the experience of landing in New Delhi. it's been 8 years since i was there and the memories are still clear of the extreme culture shock of that city and being driven around there!!

more mitts

I finished the second pair, which looks a lot like the pair I gave my dad, and sent them to Lynne. and then discovered in the pile of UFOs one that i'd done, ummmm can't remember how long ago. There's lots of angora in it, and it's really fluffy and sweet. and now the kicker!!.. in my extensive stash, i actually found the main yarn i'd used, plus some that will work well with it. so, this time it paid off to be a packrat. i think i'd kept it because it has lots of angora in it and i don't spin yarn like that very often, making it more of a "treasure". I had used a pattern, but have no idea where it is or where i got it, so am improvising on the second one. it has a thumb in it and i think i can figure it out!! well, it's actually half a thumb and covers the joint at the beginning of the thumb (clear??)


the color in these photos is crappy. the main yarn is soft turquoise/offwhite-ish. maybe in the daylight i can do better. but for now.... here it is.

in Morristown, TN

here's a photo taken of us after the play... from L to R:
Tim (nephew), Amy (niece), my dad, Robin and me

where am i now?

well, last thursday my dad and i flew to Knoxville, TN. my sister, Robin, had a part in To Kill a Mockingbird at a local community theater, and Pop wanted to see her (and my niece's) performance and needed someone to accompany him... so.. here we are! We went to the play Friday and Sat. nights, then rented a car Sunday a.m. and drove to his ole stompin' grounds in NC, around Hickory, Statesville, Rutherford College, visited my (step)mom's gravesite, visited some of her relatives and drove back this afternoon to Knoxville. oh, yeah, we stayed overnight in Hickory! and tomorrow we fly back to Portland. so, Pop got to have his stroll down memory lane, we got to see a play which was very well done and enjoyable, we got to hang out with Robin and her kids, and it's been a nice few days! For anyone who doesn't know, my dad is nearly 91 years old, almost blind from macular degeneration, practically deaf even with hearing aids, is otherwise in pretty good health, but tires easily so need some help in getting around. I'm just happy he still wants to go places and do things, so when he needs a travelling companion I go with him when I can!!

And those fingerless mitts in the last entry? well, Pop's hands were cold when we were on the plane, so i offered to let him wear the mitts... after a while he told me they felt really good... then asked if this had constituted a "formal presentation". And now... my current WIP is a pair of fingerless mitts!! I'm hoping my hands won't be cold enough to use them before next winter!

socks????

well, they started life as socks and morphed into fingerless mitts. having decided to do a ruffled cuff on socks, i cast on 88 stitches, then decreased down to 44 on the first round. after about 3 inches, it was obvious that the cuff was just too loose and floppy for socks, and wouldn't be so bad on a mitt because the cuff could come up over a shirt or sweater sleeve. so, i kept on knitting til it was about 5 inches, then bound off 10 stitches and cast 'em back on in the next round. 'twas a perfect thumb hole... so i kept on knitting for another couple of inches. kept trying it on til it covered my knuckles... and now i have mitts. they feel really warm and comfy and keep my gnarly ole knuckles toasty. the photos aren't the best... it's hard to get one hand/arm far enough away from the camera and still be able to push that button with the other hand. hmmm, guess i could have set the timer...

photos

since i haven't put up photos of the grandkids in a long time... here's a couple of cute ones that Kate took (and i took from her blog)

Zylie is a budding ballerina and loves her dance class:


and Alex knows there's more than one way to enjoy water!


cute, huh? ok... i'm done for now......

newest socks

can't remember if i've ever put pics of my socks on my blog, but for the record, here's the latest pair. they are made from stash yarn, which is quite obvious... including some yarn spun with mohair locks and plyed with a silk single. it makes the cuff soft, warm and cushy. i especially love the way the colors go in the heel flap of the sock on the right.

spring????

can spring be far away?? 2 of my "signs" that spring is on the horizon have shown themselves: the fresh asparagus is less than $2/pound this week, tho price will probably go back up before it really drops... and, Meika the husky has gone into her projectile shedding phase. how can she possibly have that much hair? seems i walk past her and if i'm within 2 feet, her fluff leaves her and attaches to me. and the sun is shining and i'm feeling that pull to go out with a rake and clippers and get involved with the weeds and overgrown bushes... uh, shrubs. and my best news today is that i had my medication induced (nucular* injection) cardiac stress test... and the radiologist said i'm normal, and since it is extremely rare that anyone says i'm normal, i will take this as an exceptional day. so, i'm happy about that, but guess we still need to figure out why my blood pressure has gone off the charts.

*yes, i do know how to spell it and pronounce it!

more about Frank

I totally agree with Charleen's comment about being that fly on the wall when Frank tells the stories to his friends at home about his adventure! what would be especially fun would be seeing him with his *7* children when he gives them the gifts he's brought for them!! the youngest are twins, about 3 years old. Rach took him to shop at Target, and has a lovely photo of him standing in an aisle with other shoppers milling about... and there's Frank grinning. He had Rachael take pics wherever they went... grocery store, walking in the snow, Frank wearing his new sweater that they bought to keep him warm.

had a twisted sister spinning day here today, with about 7 of us. Jane let me borrow her woolie winder for my van Eaton wheel, so i had a good spinnin' time and got lots of yarn spun. sure do love that gizmo and will be very happy when i finally have one of my own (it's been on order for a couple of years... i ordered one before he'd made one for a van Eaton.) it's odd getting used to not having to move yarn to another hook... but i'm willing to make the effort :-]

tho it isn't the result of any kind of new year's resolution, i've been motivated (for some obscure reason) to go thru stash, reorganize ... and lo and behold, i found a top down raglan sweater i started.. um.. maybe 4 years ago and started knitting on it again. damn! i should not have even mentioned it. that seems to be the kiss of doom for my projects... talk about it and something goes wrong with it. this one, however, has all the yarn spun for it and i haven't dipped into it for another project (a miracle in itself), and body of it is done down to about 6 or 7 inches from the bottom. there is hope. also found a pair of almost finished socks and got 'em done and off the needles and almost finished weaving in the hundreds of end. i love to do patterns and use lots of colors... but sure do hate all those ends. of course, i don't remember ever hearing anyone say they love dealing with all those yarn ends!! and got a new pair of socks started for that take-along project, which i should get a lot of knitting done on tuesday. i'm having a cardiac stress test done which takes 4 or 5 hours, most of it just sittin' around and waiting. i think the worst part of the whole thing is having NO caffeine for 24 hours before (includes no chocolate... eeeek) if that's the worst of it, that's ok. but not looking forward to 2 mornings of no coffee.

interesting evening

Tonight Rachael came for dinner and brought Frank, who is the elementary school teacher in the village she was in when in the Peace Corp in Tanzania. He's the only one who spoke english, so was a huge help to her in their village. She arranged for him to come to the US and observe classes in several schools, and is giving him a tour of our little corner of the world. This is the first time he has traveled out of Tanzania, and he is quite wide-eyed with the whole experience. He flew into Seattle, Rach met him there and they took Amtrak to Portland, and they've been shopping at a mall, to Powell's Books, to a grocery store, walking in the snow and all kinds of new adventures for Frank. On Sunday they'll to up the gorge to Goldendale, where Rach and Matt live and he'll spend time in the schools there. I just can't imagine what this whole experience is like for Frank.... he lives in a village where they don't have running water, no stoves in their houses or refrigeration, any travel is on foot or on a run-down bus on dirt roads ... you get the picture.... He was interesting to talk to and was very willing to try the food we served... I had tried to keep it to a pretty simple menu. He didn't quite "get it" why I like pink flamingoes and why the guest bathroom looks like homage to the pink flamingo... and I knew he would'nt understand that i love 'em just because they're so damn tacky!! so i just smiled sweetly and said i think they're pretty! Here's a photo of Frank, Jim and Rachael looking at the world atlas:

New fibers for sale

I have some newly dyed Merino/Tencel and a Superwash Merino with Alpaca on my fiber blog:
http://woolgatheringsfibers.blogspot.com

new PC information

I just cain't hep it....

Due to the climate of political correctness now pervading America, Kentuckians, Tennesseans and West Virginians will no longer be referred to as "HILLBILLIES." You must now refer to them as APPALACHIAN-AMERICANS.
And, furthermore,
HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT WOMEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. She is not a "BABE" or a "CHICK" - She is a "BREASTED AMERICAN."
2. She is not "EASY" - She is "HORIZONTALLY ACCESSIBLE."
3. She is not a "DUMB BLOND" - She is a "LIGHT-HAIRED DETOUR OFF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY ."
4. She has not "BEEN AROUND" - She is a "PREVIOUSLY-ENJOYED COMPANION."
5 . She does not "NAG" you - She becomes "VERBALLY REPETITIVE."
6. She is not a "TWO-BIT HOOKER" - She is a "LOW COST PROVIDER."

HOW TO SPEAK ABOUT MEN AND BE POLITICALLY CORRECT:
1. He does not have a "BEER GUT" - He has developed a "LIQUID GRAIN STORAGE FACILITY."
2. He is not a "BAD DANCER" - He is "OVERLY CAUCASIAN."
3. He does not "GET LOST ALL THE TIME" - He "INVESTIGATES ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS."
4. He is not "BALDING" - He is in "FOLLICLE REGRESSION."
5. He does not act like a "TOTAL ASS" - He develops a case of RECTAL-CRANIAL INVERSION."
6. It's not his "CRACK" you see hanging out of his pants - It's "REAR CLEAVAGE."

I'm back

just returned this afternoon from Duvall, after spending a week helping Chris with the kids while Kate is in London for a week, then Russia for 2 weeks. Loved spending the time with them... and am now exhausted and happy to be home in a very quiet dome central. the deities in all their wisdom certainly did it right in planning for women under 40 (in general) becoming mothers. sure takes a lot of energy and patience that i left behind years and years ago!

Winter Solstice

It's been almost a week since the party to watch the Al Gore dvd, and that was an interesting evening. There were 6 people who came, and first we connected to the MoveOn.org website for a message from Mr. Gore and then a Q&A. It was good to spend a few hours with kindred spirits, but as i said before, it was like preaching to the choir. It does tend to get one focused on the global warming issue again and to exchange thoughts and ideas about what individuals can actually do to have an effect on the problem. We got almost to the end of the movie before we lost power again... but it was only out for about an hour.

And today begins the return of the light and signifies to me the new beginnings in the cycle of the earth. hey, happy solstice and return of the light... yippee! We are going to McMenimen's Grand Lodge in FG tonight... live music celebration of solstice. Solstice is always kinda bitter sweet because the 22nd was when my mom died 13 years ago. i remember that day.... Mom was in ICU, unconscious and not responsive. The sun came out for a while and shone thru the hospital window onto her pillow, and i started talking to her about the return of the light and the days getting longer. I was standing at the head of her bed and stroking her hair, and looked down to see a tear rolling down her face. She was so much a sunshine person and had a difficult time getting through the shorter and dreary days of winter. She always started dreaming and drooling over her seed catalogs the week after xmas, and had her garden planned by early January. She waited that day til my sister, Robin, arrived from Tenn, and all her kids were there around her, and then her spirit left.

****
it is later now... and we enjoyed the live music. The group of 3 included a harp, guitar and bass and they sang mostly Celtic music. It was lovely and i'm really happy we went. The leader of the group, Lauren Sheehan, will be at the Grand Lodge once every month until May, and we plan to go again!

Bring on the light... I'm so ready!

powered up again

We were only out of power for about 19 hours, which makes us part of the fortunate few! There are homes all over the northwest which may be without electricity for days. That was a vicious wind storm with 100mph wind along the Oregon coast and several major highways were closed today because of fallen trees across them. DIL Kate called today and said they had lots of downed trees on their property east of Seattle, but none damaged their home or cars... whew. They do have a small power generator to run the pump so they have water from the well, as well as use of a small microwave... but that's all. If the kids get too bored without their tv, computers, video games, lights, etc, they'll be heading down this way for the weekend.

Tomorrow night we are hosting a MoveOn-organized viewing of Al Gore's DVD An Inconvenient Truth. There are 12 people from the neighborhood signed up to come... and I don't know where the hell we're going to seat them... our TV room is quite small. Maybe it will seem bigger when I get my fiber stuff moved out of there
(2 spinning wheels and 3 big plastic containers full of fiber and yarn). That should make room for about 4 or 5 chairs, not that my stash runneth over..

can't tell you how happy I am to have electricity again. was not looking forward to my pioneer woman routine. Yes, i'm very spoiled now and have become a delicate flower... but I did too much of that pioneer shit back in the "old days", when we heated with the woodstove, the power went out several times every winter, had to fix meals on the stove by candlelight, take care of sheep and lambing with no lights in the barn, and it snowed a lot back in those days. I'd rather be spoiled!

Power less

that's without power. huge windstorm last night in the pacific northwest, many trees down and power lines hangin' all over the place. we are lucky in that we have a wood stove, tho we haven't used it much since we got the heat pump. anyway, i'll have to see if i remember my pioneer woman skills for cooking on the woodstove. my computer is down to the last hour on its battery, so i'll be without it soon... sigh...

that's all for now. will check in again when we are powered again and power-full

A New Project

(like I need a new project!!) When I did my excursion to NW Wools in Portland on Tuesday, I found a new book which I spent a lot of time with and was not able to talk myself out of having. (and I do need another book like I need a new project) This one really appealed to me... AlterKNITS written by Leigh Radford. It is filled with ideas and projects which kind of call out my creativity and my muse. There are really inspirational quotes, many of which strike a chord with me, and it's not all sugar-y sweetness! (that stuff annoys the hell out of me!) (but in a literal sense, wouldn't it be a good thing to have the hell annoyed right out of you/me??) Anyway, there are several projects which I might try... and today I got myself armed for the first one... felted bags. And these are done the easy way... the buy-a-wool-sweater-at-goodwill-and-felt-it way. I have resisted the call to get on the bandwagon for knitting a huge piece and then throwing it in the washer to shrink it down to felt, and make a bag. This method is remarkably simpler and less labor intensive. There is already one sweater in the washer, and this one has a hood on it, which if all goes well, i will use for making a pocket on the outside of the bag! I really had no idea how difficult it would be to find an All Wool sweater in a pleasing color... so there was a lot a pawing thru the racks before i scored 2 likely bag candidates. Stay tuned for photos...

SAFF

yeehaw! It's looking like there is a possibility I'll be going to SAFF next fall. Jim has been wanting to go to the Outer Banks in NC, and we've discovered that our vacation time share has a place there... so, we'd go in Oct.... and SAFF is Oct. 26, 27 and 28, '07. And, if I'm in that part of the country, i'd most certainly need to go to TN to see Lynne and some twisted friends. Ahhhh, the planning has just begun! and making plans for a vacation is a wonderful way to see past the gloomy, grey, rainy days of this time of year. AND, just 8 days til Winter Solstice and the days start getting longer! ahhhh...

returning to real life

well, it took a really long time to recover from that trip back from Crete... must be the age thing. wasn't able to sleep longer than 2 hours as a time, then awake, but not awake enough to get up and do something. that kind of sleep schedule doesn't do much for reviving my (alleged) brain cells. and finally last week my muse kicked in and i got my studio up and running again, started pouring dye on fibers again... and whoooopee... feelin' groovy (Here you should picture Snoopy dancing around and singin') So, a bunch of fibers got labeled and taken to NW Wools today to fill in some gaps in the fiber room... actually, not so much "gaps" as bare nekkid shelves. And now I have some superwash merino/tencel to work on next and will put some up on the fiber blog soon as i can.

holiday plans are beginning to shape up. My sister, Robin, arrives 12/25 from TN about noonish, many of the local family will come for the afternoon and dinner, no family from the seattle area will be here and we'll miss 'em. This is actually the very first time I won't be spending xmas with my very dear son, Chris... but his kids are at the age where they really want and need to stay home and play with the loot that santa leaves, and not be piled into the car and driven to portland for the chaos of family events at Kate's mom's and here! maybe next year we can plan it so that Jim and I can go up there for xmas.

Jim and I will celebrate Winter Solstice by decorating with greens cut from the many fir trees around here, lots of candles and then will go to a live music solstice celebration at McMennimen's Grand Lodge in Forest Grove. We decided not to put up a tree this year, and i'll probably just bring up a few decorations from the stash in the basement. Maybe we should build a big fire and initiate the raki still... hmmmm...

our sweet dawgs!

We retrieved the dogs from "doggie camp" (please don't ever tell them that it's a boarding kennel!) on Friday. Actually, it is more like a camp, with all the love and attention they receive, than like any kennel I've ever seen! Today I received photo files of our little dears in their deer antlers holiday attire. Here is Tasha looking like a "deer in the headlights". She was probably loving every minute of the attention, even tho she doesn't really look like it...

and then there's Meika, who we are told was not very cooperative about sitting still while wearing the antlers. I'm quite sure she'd much rather be wearing the tiara she feels she is entitled to...


The doggie camp is actually the kennel at Project Pooch in Woodburn, OR
http://www.pooch.org I'm pretty certain that I've described this program earlier on this blog, but here's the description from their webpage:
"Project POOCH, Inc., is a non-profit, 501c(3) organization that has successfully paired youths incarcerated at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon, with homeless shelter dogs for over a decade.

Youths (guided by professionals) learn to train the dogs, groom them, and find them new adoptive “forever homes.” The dogs leave the program ready to be great pets, while their trainers re-enter the community with new job and personal skills and increased compassion and respect for all life."

As I understand it, there has been zero recidavism with the youth who have been involved with the program... which I think is remarkable!! We adopted Tasha from Project Pooch, and were delighted to find her and get a dog who needed a home and who we knew something about

home again

arrived at pdx a little after midnight, about 27 or 28 hours after crawling out of bed in Vamos, Crete. i'm feeling grateful to all deities that it was an uneventful trip .. tho with a lot of sitting around in airports waiting for connections...AND our luggage made it here at the same time we did, which is rather miraculous considering it had to be transferred 4 times!!

more later. feeling quite sleep deprived as i don't sleep on airplanes!!

and it's only 7p.m.

this has been an interesting and full day! we got up in time to say good bye to Pam and Larry as their taxi picked them up at 8am. And Pam is sick as a dawg with some godawful cold/flu thing.. and i don't envy her next day and 1/2 as she goes back to Thailand with a couple of layovers in various airports (some of which are as long as 7 hours!) So, since i'd not gotten a full night sleep, i came home and went back to bed for an hour or so. It was difficult to tell Pam good-bye as i don't know when we'll be together again. she and Larry will go to Malaysia in Jan. to stay for a few months and she doesn't really have any plans for going back to the US. we've been friends for about 25 years... and she's the person who taught me to spin way back then... and it's always hard to part with good friends when you don't know when you'll meet again. so, ok, after i got up again, i went back down to their house to see if they'd left anything and to enjoy the sun on their balcony for a few minutes. that is really a sweet balcony!! happy i am that Elena let me keep the key to that house so i can enjoy the balcony for the next few sunny days. So... we then decided to go see the art exhibit at Bloumosifi. One of the waiters, Nikos, has come up with a brilliant exhibit of photos he's taken of the grafiti of Athens. it really is a thought provoking and artful exhibit!! There are 2 or 3 of them that i'd love to purchase... but don't think it will happen. So... then we went to the office and talked to Elena and Toine and looked at the new brochure that they have put together for promotion of Vamos SA... it is really a classy publication. So.. then as we were walking home, i asked Jim if he'd like to go to Liakoto Cafe for an ouzo, and he of course said yes! so... after we'd admired the view from the balcony for awhile, we sat down for the ouzo, and Xanthippi came and sat with us. we started talking about Greek mythology and Cretan ancient history, and Artemi (her man and our "landlord") came in. after another hour of so, hunger set in and we all decided to go find something to eat... so we went to Armenoi to what is apparently a very popular restaurant... there were many families there ahead of us... so it was at least an hour before we ate. it was worth waiting for... delicious meal... first a huge salad of shredded cabbage, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, green peppers, carrots and with a sprinkling of chopped dill and fennel, with light olive oil and vinegar dressing. and there was... fried cheese balls, courgette balls (zucchini with cheese), tzitziki, chicken from the grill, schnitzel, lamp chops (lamb really) (it just comes out as "lamp" on Greek menus)... entirely too much to finish it all! So, here we are back home again. Jim just went out to get the rest of our days here lined up. Tomorrow we will go to Hania, Tuesday he will go to gather olives with Georgios and Tues. night we'll go to Elena and Toine's to cook a meal with them. Wed. a.m. we'll have coffee with Stella and prob. dinner with Alex and Marina. and then on thurs. a.m. Manolis the taxi man will take us to Hania and we'll start our way back home again!

and a couple of days ago, we went to the old Karides Monastery and then to Kalives with Pam and Larry. In Kalives, there was a sign in a taverna that i could not resist taking a photo of:

Jim and Larry had to wet their feet in the Aegean (Cretan Sea):

and then the monastery at Kalives... that's a whole photo study unto itself, but here's Jim relaxing in the sun and enjoying the music (chanting) they were playing there:

and just because the Karides monastery is such a magical mystical place...
some of the trees have lost their leaves, the hybiscus is blooming madly and the sky if bluer than you can imagine... totally unedited photo...

the 12 arches of the ancient olive oil factory at Karides

and the White Mountains (Lefka Ori) with just a skiff of snow

HALLLO???

with a few notable exceptions (thank you!!) we've heard so little from home and been able to get so little in the way of updates, that we thought for awhile that our neighborhood had been flooded out and all our family and friends had been flooded away, too. we finally made a couple of phone calls (at $1.49/minute) and feel better, except that the moon and planets must be in some nasty alignment because my inner hermit is wailin' like a banshee! and now that i've got my whining out of the way, i'll go out for dinner now with some people i really love, drink some of that strong cretan wine, some raki and eat hearty. after all, i'm trying to pack on even more fat to keep me warm this winter. maybe i'll hibernate!!

Life in Vamos, Crete

We have had more warm and sunny days than not, and are of course grateful for that especially when we read about the torrential downpours and flooding in the northwest US. Pam and Larry are here visiting from Thailand and I think Pam has fallen in love with Crete all over again, and Larry loves it, too! The house they are renting is really sweet and bright and has a great balcony! There are photo ops around every corner... so i've been taking advantage of that!

here's Pam in her little house:

the balcony is really nice, tho there is no privacy as the balconies from adjoining houses are right there connected.. this is a view from the Liakoto Cafe:

and this is the view as you sit on their balcony eating sweets from the pastry shop in the afternoon sun!


if you look closely, you can see sheep on this hillside. When seen up close, they look rather scruffy and the wool looks very coarse and straight. I haven't tried to get my hands on any. I'm more interested in getting another chunk of wood to have a drop spindle made. It will probably be eucalyptus this time (have brought home olive and cypress wood for spindles)