A Little Greeting

A Spinster’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Paula J. Vester, Southern Fibers

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

12 shearers shearing…

11 ladies carding…

10 rabbits for plucking…

9 weavers weaving…

8 niddy noddies…

7 scoured fleeces…

6 pots for dying…

5 cashmere goats…

4 Ashford wheels…

3 lazy kates…

2 white lambs and

a silkworm in a mulberry tree

 

This was provided by CJ in our Spinning Guild's newsletter.  I had to pass it along.

 

I am not as ambitious as the above workers.  I am slowly and steadily working on the last little drab of spinning on my current blue yarn.  It is gorgeous, and I think that when plied it will be wonderful! 

I spent a nice leisurely day spinning, knitting and reading yesterday, and now I have to run some errands. 

We had a major cold snap.  Of course, with the current weather conditions it will last a coupla days and then warmish again.  We need rain so badly.  We had a nice little storm Sunday morning around 2 am or 3 am. I heard the thunder first and then I saw some lightening.  I thought about running Patty out before the storm, but did not budge from the bed.  Then, of course, it was over and gone by the time we got out of bed about 6:30 am.

We had our Wild Foods Party at CJE and AE's house Saturday.  It is an annual event, and I guess I will say, the food wasn't as wild as we have had before.  Lots of venison and some actual field quail.  I brought Bison sausages.  There was a real odd assortment of food, and the desserts just about did me in.

I took a guest, and she seemed to be intrigued by the long-lasting friendships we have within the group.  I have accepted it and do not notice that so much any more.  I guess one could call us a "tribe", and that some of the friendships are lifelong.  I suppose an anthropologist could come in to study our group.  It is a quite intriguing group of professionals who have no appearance of being professional when together.  They have lots of fun, and they like to party.

Not much else to share.  I have completed my 1.75 inches of stockinette on the yoke, and I am now ready for the colorwork.  FINALLY!  I wound the balls last night, and I am keeping fingers crossed I have enough yarn.  It is handspun, and there is no turning back once started.

I am also about halfway on the colorwork bag I am making.  It is a pattern from the magazine Jane Austin Knits.  It is a cute little bag, and I don't know why it intrigues me.  Maybe because it is small, and that means not a lot of knitting to complete.

In my head I think I want to start the twined knitting fingerless gloves next.  I will see. 

I just got some lovely new sock yarn.  I know I didn't need any more sock yarn.  I just caved with the sale.  I got four balls of Regia yarn and shipping for $16.95.  I haven't designated socks or other projects yet.  I have to work on that bowl of yarn this winter. Sigh! 

Have a good week.  Stay warm!  Have a safe and happy time wherever you are.

 

 

Ways to Avoid a Major Project!

 O.K.-I now have the sleeves and body all on one needle.  A whole lot of stitches on there!  Now I begin my yoke and my colorwork.  For some reason I am busy doing other things.  It is an avoidance thing, I think.

First the other night I was so tired, and all I could knit was one teeny-weeny sock for my Christmas tree.

Also other people in my house had both comfy chairs.

Then yesterday I went to Eureka Springs for a mini workshop by Beth Brown-Reinsel.  I learned a Swedish technique called Tvaandsstickning.  I apologize that I don't know how to put those little marks above the a's.  We call it Twined Knitting.  It is a technique about 400 years old, and it makes a firm, warm, and inelastic fabric.  Beth showed us a beautiful jacket found in Sweden on one of her trips.  The sleeves were knitted in twined knitting, dyed after knitting, fulled, and taken to the tailor to finish.  The tailor then sewed the sleeves to a fabric that was made from a felted material and embroidered.  There was a cotton lining. It was very heavy, and I assume very warm.

We all were concentrating so hard with the beginning of the workshop.   It is a bit fiddly to learn how to manipulate the stitches.  Once that part got into my head, I finally developed a rhythm of sorts.  I know if one practises a lot, there would definitely be an easy rhythm to flipping the threads front and back and in the twining process.

 We had potluck!  Lots of good food and desserts!

 And lots of visiting going on.  That was fun too!

 And my finished cuff!  Not in the least bit perfect, but finished.  I did get the instructions from Beth to make a pair of fingerless mitts using a cuff like this, and another pattern for a pair of gloves. 

I took Beth and another friend downtown to do a little bit of snooping in shops.  We had a nice walk and saw some really beautiful things!  Then home again, home again, jiggity jig.

I am still spinning on the pretty blue yarn.  Nearly there, but another week of work probably before plying.

I found a great sale today online-I will apologize now to my LYS-for some sock yarn.  It was Regia for 2.95 per ball.  Then they had a great discount at the end.  When it came to shipping it was only 30 cents more to ship Priority.  So for 16.95 I got yarn for two pairs of socks!  Yeah!  A great bargain!
Another Christmas gift under my belt!

It was so warm on Monday that I went out to the front flower bed to dig out more grass.  It was nearly 75 degrees!  I ended up putting on a pair of shorts.  Then Monday night we had a little rain, and a cool front.  Still warmer than it should be this time of year.  But the really cold front is coming next week.  Highs in the 40's.  Sigh!

CJE and AE are having their annual party on Saturday.  This is a big event for our tribe.  I have some Bison sausages that I will cook.  It will be good to see folks again.  I didn't go to Mirkwood for the usual events, and I haven't seen most of these folks since last year.

So all avoidance aside, I should be able to start knitting the yoke this afternoon.  I want to spin a little more, and then I will sit down to that.

 

Channeling My Grandmother!

I knit these little slippers from a 1950's pattern book.  I used two strands of leftover yarn together and made them thick and cozy. 

And I am baking biscuits.  My grandmother did make great biscuits.  I like biscuits dripping with honey or sorghum molasses. 

We had a little bit of frost this morning.  A change in the weather-cooler and windy.  So baking is called for to make me feel a little warmer.  I also like my wool sockies. 

Noodles has been ill.  He got into a fight.  I only found this out by the limping and the scabs that appeared.  Now he has a lump on one side that I am hoping is only a pus pocket.  I have been giving him antibiotics, but will have to load him up and take him to vet tomorrow.  Sigh!  Just as I think things are going to level out financially, I have emergencies.

My neighbors loaded me up with food late on Thanksgiving.  I had already eaten turkey and sweet potato, but now I am eating and eating and eating leftovers.  Last night was the first night that I craved anything sweet.  So I ate a small bit of peanut butter.  That helped.

My brother called me yesterday afternoon as he was driving home from his daughter's house.  He sounded really tired.  I think we are all getting too old.  He is going to Italy in a coupla weeks for work.  Must be tough-huh?  To have a paid trip to Italy?

A woman in my knitting group is going to Italy next week for the winter months.  I think she will be back some time in February or maybe March.  She is visiting her son and her daughter.  One lives in Florence, I think it is her daughter.  I don't know that Italy will be any warmer than here, but it will be more fashionable anyway. 

I am happily knitting the second sleeve of my sweater.  Then I can join the body and sleeves to start the yoke.  Yeah!  Finally an exciting part!

I am also knitting a mosaic hat that is easy and I am using leftover yarns.  It is going quickly.  When it is done, I will go back to colorwork bag I had to frog. 

CJE's mother has had a severe battle with shingles.  Enough that she was not cognitively engaged.  Now that they are under medication and subsiding, she is aware of what is going on and is in pain.  And of course, CJE's shingles flared up and she is on her medication.  Sigh! 

Well-gotta go.  Biscuits are ready to come out of oven.  

Thanksgiving-A Celebration of Thanks!

It still feels odd calling this Thanksgiving Week.  It still feels too soon, too early,too something.

But in my quiet and silly way, I still have so much to be thankful for that I don't care that it is early.

I usually spend my day of Thanksgiving thinking and praying and giving thanks to the universe for all that is important to us all-peace, love, happiness, joy, friendships and all relationships.  I like to spend the day to myself, and I try not to interact with anything other than my quietness.  I don't need to stuff myself silly with food to find thankfulness.  I just need quiet time and me time.

I have almost finished with the pink yarn.  Whew!  It has been a marathon to finish the last bits and get it plied.  I did most of the spinning singles with a really good YA audio book called Gone-Away Lake.  It is about cousins spending the summer holiday exploring the woods and having adventures.  He is 12 and she is 11.  They find a hidden swamp that was once a summer lake resort.  The homes were abandoned when the lake disappeared.  But they find a very eccentric couple of elderly people living in two of the abandoned homes.  It is a really interesting book, and helped me get the work done.

I also am done with one sleeve of the winter sweater.  I am going to finish the body now and then knit the next sleeve.  I am so close to starting the yoke.  I am doing a very simple stranded colorwork, but it has to be more interesting than the stockinette of the body and sleeves.

I also started another hat, and I want to finish that before I start over on the colorwork bag. 

Today has been a gloriously warm and sunny day!  I just ate a sandwich sitting on the back deck in the sun.  I am getting plenty of sun on my arms with just a tee shirt on.  I also am barefoot, so the feet are getting some sun, too.  I remember when I had to scrape ice on my windshield at this time.  So this is glorious weather!

One of the women in my knit group just published her first pattern.  Yeah! Cassie Dominnick.  I don't think she will mind my telling her whole name.  She will have more, I am sure.

My friend CJE has been so worried about her mother.  She has been very ill, and not managing herself well.  Yesterday at the doctor she is discovered to have the worse case of shingles the doctor has ever seen.  She has never had them before, and suddenly she is covered up one side of her back, down her hip and groin, and down the leg.  The doctor told her it is following a nerve path.  That is probably why she is so sick and weak.  It is scary, isn't it?

I need to take advantage of days like today to work in the front flower bed.  But....I think I like just sitting in the sun.

Noodles has not been well, and I haven't figured out totally what is wrong.  I finally figured out why he is limping so much.  He has scabs all over his head, neck and shoulders,  There is one big wound(scab) under one arm pit.  That means fights with a straggler who has ventured into our yard.  Yes, he is very defensive about his territory.  But I haven't figured out the occasional tics in the face.  I researched it online, but just like humans, he could have a brain tumor, or seizures, or anything.  He doesn't show any ataxia, so I am ruling out seizures or a brain tumor.  Oh, well, it is almost time for yearly well-check and shots.  So unless he shows major changes, I will wait.

H and R have had to put one of their dogs down.  But they now have rescued Georgina and added her to their family.  Granddogs are great!

So nothing else new.  Remember to have a lot of gratitude this Thursday for all you have.  Happy Thanksgiving!

What Is Going On With The Calendar!?!

Okay-something is wrong with my internal calendar!  I mean-is Thanksgiving really next week?  I guess I haven't been paying attention to anything.  Suddenly I noticed that everyone is talking about Black Friday.  I never pay any attention to Black Friday, and I just didn't pay attention.  Then suddenly I noticed the anchors on t.v. saying that prices were going up on Thanksgiving turkeys and the fixin's. 

I had to go to the calendar and look to make sure.  YES! Next week is Thanksgiving!  How can that be?  It is happening too early in the month. 

There is still one full week afterwards.  That's not right.  Isn't Thanksgiving supposed to be right before a short week right before December? 

Anyway-the end of the year is approaching.

Discombobulated!

This has been the strangest week for me.  It started as a rush of phone calls on Monday.  I usually can go days (literally) without talking to anyone at all.  It seemed strange to have calls waiting in queue for me.

Then on Tuesday I went down to Boston Mountain to pick up my things from the October fiber show at Ozark Folkways.  I picked up my friend TR and we ate lunch before going up the mountain.  I drove the old highway to view the foliage.  It was absolutely gorgeous with the sun shining and just warm enough to need a light sweater or a long-sleeved shirt.

Then Wednesday I felt ill again, and I couldn't believe it!  I thought the tummy bug was gone.  Luckily it only lasted one day.

Because I purposefully did not want to hear anything at all about politics and commentators babbling about nothing, I turned off all electronic media.  I did turn on my computer and watched Brother Cadfael on Netflix.  I got quite a lot of spinning done during that and I am quite happy that something got accomplished.  It was a nice Wednesday.

Thursday was Knitting Group, but I only lasted about an hour this time.  There was standing room only this week, and it gets way too noisy and you can't really talk to anyone. 

Friday was yard work.  Can you believe I actually mowed the yard again?  This is November for pete's sake!  I actually wanted to run the gas out of the mowers, but I guess I haven't been too diligent with my mowing.  I still have way too much gas left in both mowers.  I am going to go to Lowe's and buy some stabilizer and call it the end of the season. 

I did get some of the old pokeberry stalks cut down again.  It is definitely the end of season chore that has to get done. 

And suddenly it is Saturday.  I am not going to go to the weaver's meeting this a.m.  I did not sleep well and had the most weird dreams.  I also want to finish my bobbin of yarn and get to plying.  I can't decide if I want to watch Netflix or listen to a book on tape.  Tough choices.

I also have been in a knitting funk.  I guess it is normal, but I am in a bad funk this time.  Since I was outside all day yesterday working in the yard, I was sure I would be ready to sit and knit a while last night.  I did not knit a stitch. 

I am not sure if the weather has anything to do with all this.  I think if it was normal November weather, I would be moving into hibernation.  That is my most productive time with needlework of all kinds.  Right now we are expecting a cold wave of rain and chill on Sunday night.  Then I suppose after that we will have another heat spell. 

I am so amazed at all the flowers blooming.  I know that the frost we will get Sunday, Monday and Tuesday will probably nip them.  But isn't it strange to have all these flowers blooming in November?

Patty is outside right now lying in the sun on the deck.  Noodles is enthroned in the deck chair in the sun. 

I don't mean this to be a long detailed grouse of the weather.  I am certainly happy to not be knee-deep in snow or to have ice hanging from the eaves.  It is only a commentary of odd behavior.

I have been mulling over how to get that rich deep burgundy color that is seen this time of year on the leaves.  And that rich orange-y color that is slightly peachy, but not so yellowish.  I guess persimmon orange is closest to the color I am thinking of.  I am  not too sure of my dye stash, but I may have to think about this some.  I think it would all be gorgeous blended with my ashy beige I dyed with black walnuts.

Well-enough bad news and good news all in one package.  Have a great weekend!

Is It Over Yet?

I hate to say this-but I am really, really, really tired of all the politics.  Can we as Americans think of something other than who is making the most empty promises and the most slurs, etc?

Anyway, it has been a week of tragedies since the storm in the northeast.  And I think a Nor'easter is moving in next.  More water and wind on top of everything else.  We were supposed to get some rain this weekend, but evidently it bypassed us.  Sigh!  It is just so dry. 

I am only knitting on my sweater at this time.  It is endless row after row of stockinette stitch in the round.  That is so much easier since it is only a knit stitch.  It goes fairly quickly, but it is also 13.5 inches.  Then I get to do the yoke.  And that is a colorwork pattern and will require more concentration.

I did finish the cute little baby sockies last weekend.  I like to have baby sockies on hand for new babies.  You are never too young for handmade socks.

I am also spinning on my pink yarn.  It is really pretty.  I am really glad I scoured the pink Coopworth.

I also did a quick dye job on some BFL.  I did a pound of roving in a very old, very, very old pot of black walnut.  Evidently there wasn't a lot of dye left.  But it came out a beautiful ashy beige color.  I really like the color.  Just a soft neutral to add to the mix.

Other than that, I have had a little bit of a stomach virus, and that is finally edging out of the picture.  It saps my energy to focus on what to eat and what can make it quit hurting.  I don't like to think about food that much. 

My friend OSM was here Friday afternoon and spent the night.  She left early yesterday morning to meet a friend in Tahlequah.  She is returning to California next week.  I think she is finally feeling better and her health seems to be turning to the positive.  She has gained some weight and her skin looks better.  She has more energy, and that helps.  The only negative is that her newest dog peed twice in the house before she left.  I don't like that at all.  I had to stop getting ready to leave the house to clean my carpet twice. 

So nothing else to report this week.  Nothing new and exciting.  I did get some seeds planted Friday. I have no idea when is the time to plant anymore.  By now we should have had a hard freeze and cool down on the weather.  I have a sunflower blooming, the calendula is blooming like crazy in the back, the catnip has blossoms, and there is one little long-nose coneflower blooming in the front.  Who knows anymore?  I just hope the new seeds will settle in the cooler earth and sleep through the winter.  I planted more prairie flowers this time, and hopefully the drought will not get here too early next Spring.

Have a good week this week.  I am going to finish out this little bit of pink fiber and get this bobbin filled.