spinning new stash

this polworth/silk fiber looked so luscious that i had to start spinning it and i was not disappointed... soft, shiny and spins so easily!  mmmmmm... very happy i am!

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival

 

once again the yearly pilgrimage to Canby for the OFFF.  this year i woke up to a beautiful sunny saturday and felt very very happy that i did not have to get up at dawn, drive an hour and spend the rest of the day selling fiber!  (can you tell i'm feeling content in retirement... and perhaps a bit smug??)  I spent the day with my grandkids while their parents spent the day in a booth at the fair.  late afternoon we all went to a bbq and celebration of the autumnal equinox.  huge crowd of people and loaded tables of food.  there was a labyrinth which the kids enjoyed.... esp. when they got to the middle and found a supply of bubble blowing stuff!  i reconnected with some local folks i hadn't seen in a very long time, enjoyed meeting some women who had been to OFFF earlier in the day, and promised i'd show up at the monthly craft night at the library where spinners and knitters meet.

and then on sunday it was one of those typical fall days around here... first a short period of sunny, followed by drenching rain.. repeating itself thru the day.  not the best kind of day for an outside fiber booth, about which Chris commented that it was the last time he'd have a booth OUTSIDE at OFFF!  luckily he had sides for the booth that he put up and took down thruout the day.  not all outside vendors were so fortunate.  anyway, i took the kids and went there about noon, did lots of browsing, seeing a lot of people who i love, dashing into one of the buildings when the pouring rains came, did a minimum of actual buying.  i left there feeling very happy that Kate and Chris have taken over my business, and extremely proud of what their creativity and dedication has done for Woolgatherings!!

this is my stash enhancement ~  beautiful bright dyed silk cocoons (a gift from Janis Thompson of Dye Lots), a bump of alpaca roving (25% off sale), a braid of Woolgatherings polworth/silk that i've been dying to try, and a bundle of merino/bamboo top from Knitted Wit in a soft and shiny lavendar... yummy!  the button and beads in the top photo were from a new vendor i found inside the main building (where i was during one of the downpours)

knitting and garden

it's going to take me forever to weave in all the ends on my "Justify"... so i took an unfinished photo.  isn't the model fabulous?  this was a real stash buster project and really did involve NO new spun or purchased yarn.  i'm happy with how it came out... now just gotta get the ends done.

i saw one of my favorite most fascinating creatures in my garden this morning!  i've been watching for her all summer... check out this info.  i just read that praying mantids can be kept as pets... who'd of thought......

we've eaten a few of these eggplants and there's still more to come.  yummy, indeed!  this is the first white eggplants i've grown and i'll wait a while longer to see if it gets any bigger.  haven't had much luck with growing eggplants, but keep trying because i totally love 'em!

tomato information

back on sept 5 i was mentioning a tomato i really really love and couldn't remember its name.  i tried adding to that post and it disappears.... so, the name of that heirloom tomato is Japanese Black Trifele.

dyeing, spinning, knitting content

i dyed some superwash BFL (SO perfect for baby clothes!), spun it up in ~worsted weight 2-ply, and knit up this little jumper dress for Iris (in Vamos, Crete) for her 1st birthday in november.  i added the triangles on the bottom because i thought it would look cute.  I have lots of yarn left so will prob. make a cardigan sweater for Daphne (also in Vamos) for her birthday in january.  i surely do love knitting for babies... it goes so fast!

also finished (well... except for weaving in all those many many ends) the Justify , Lynne Vogel's pattern at Knitty.com.  and i like the colors in this one much better than the first one i knit, which i gave away to someone who liked it!  anyway, photo to come soon.

goal for today...

more baby love!

sweater for Naomie... proving that i actually DO eventually finish knitting projects... esp. when pushed by a deadline.  i love this yarn.... wool, cashmere and silk.  so very soft!

  yesterday Sonia and Ryan and their 5-week old baby girl, Naomie came for a visit.  so, i had another opportunity for baby love and thoroughly loved it!

Jim is trying to get a smile from the baby...

Ryan, Sonia and Naomie.

a sunflower in my garden ..

this.. obviously... is a sunflower!  i love sunflowers almost as much as poppies.  or maybe as much as.  whatever, they give me smiles  and i always wish i'd planted many more.  maybe next year....

and this is a plate that Zylie made and gave to me.  it's an owl with reverse image on each side.  it is guarding  the flowers and buried duck in one of my flower beds.

it's finally happened!

yes... summer has arrived in my queendom!  yes, today is sept. 4 which does not really qualify as "summer" by most calendars.  and finally there is a bowl of red ripe tomatoes on the kitchen counter.  they are really much redder than shows in the photo.  and it's just too bad i can't convey by photo just how sweet and juicy and delicious they are... and likewise, how luscious was the BLT i had today.  in "my" garden (as opposed to "Jim and James big garden") i've planted several heirloom tomatoes, and one of them called a black something-or-other (i'll need to look at the tag again)  (it's that damn slipping memory thing again...)  (good thing i can still remember my name, where i live and where is my yarn and fiber stash... the important things)  oh, yeah, that black heirloom tomato ... i've had 2 of them and they are my most favorite of all.. so sweet (and good on BLT) and i must write its name down so i can remember who it is and plant it again next year.  i'll put it in my desk calendar.  remind me next June that that's where i can find it.  


and about fibery things... i'm about 4 edging triangles away from finishing the Justify wrap (not counting all the yarn ends i need to weave in).  whew.  that was alot of knitting and a lot of stash used up.  next up is a jumper/dress for one of the baby girls in our Crete family.  she'll be one year old in november and maybe i can have it done by then.  the yarn is bright colors in BFL superwash.  details later.....

also fibery related was my panicky freak-out 2 nights ago when i saw a MOTH flying around the living room.  i went after it with vengeance and a dish towel and must have offed it as i didn't see it again.  but that was enough to send me into a "protect the wool" mode and i went thru every bit of yarn and fiber in the vicinity, plus took my 2 little turkish rugs (WOOL) outside, put them on the drying rack and beat them severely with a broom and left them in the sun for a day.  also, the WOOL Tibetan weaving of the Deity of Protection hanging on the wall came down and got a thorough vacuuming  front and back.  and the turkish rugs got the vac treatment, too.  happy to say, i found no evidence of MOTHS, and now all is clean and stash is organized (somewhat) and in bags and i'm done with my freak-out.