Sisyphean Ranch

Update for all you guys who asked

2010-02-06T13:08:00.005-06:00

Summer’s Over…Hurray for Fall << >> main

Hi, All.

Long time, no chat… It’s been a busy, weird fall and winter.

You can ignore all the adoption stuff that I wrote about last time. I guess my adopted mother lied through her teeth until the end. I will never know why, but I could never figure her out. Why would someone on their death bed STILL be so insecure? Maybe she knew the truth about my adoption? It’s a real strange story.

I spent $750 for Lutheran Social Services to find my birth mother and it was worth every penny. It may seem weird, but even at age 50, I still felt like a lost child. My main reason for starting this search was getting my health history, but I decided to spend the extra $350 to actually make contact with my birth mother and I’m so very glad I did.

Before I paid for the contact info, I had only paid for the health history search and the info that was given at the time of my adoption about my birth family. The two pages I got were interesting, but when I read those two pages to my birth mother, it turned out to be all lies. What REALLY happened was: My birth mother was 17, did not know who my father was, and she did NOT give permission for me to be given up. Apparently, her mother got together with LSS and gave all the info (lies) about my mother, father, and both families. Then, she signed all the adoption papers while my birthmother was unconscious and in surgery. When my birth mother woke up and went to find me in the nursery, I was gone. She never wanted to give me away and it has been a real burden for her for these last 50 years. I guess they could do that since my mother was a minor? Anyway, I am glad to have found her and am so sorry that her family did this to her.

My birth mother and I have a LOT in common. We could be sisters. We have the same beliefs: Everything from politics, religion, hobbies, likes and dislikes, etc. Definitely more nature in me than nurture. I’m so lucky to finally have an honest mother to talk to. I’m hoping to be able to get out to her side of the US soon. Between both of our health issues, it’s tough to schedule, but I’m going to get out there as soon as I can.

The health history isn’t all that good. There’s a lot of cancer. So, I’ve at least been given a heads-up about my greater chances of getting breast and/or colorectal cancer. The main reason wasn’t so much for me, but I have a son and 2 granddaughters, so this will be good for them, especially the colorectal cancer, since my mother first got it at age 42. She’s now 67 and is going through round 3 (I think) of this cancer so the Mayo Genetics department recommends that my son get his colon checked at age 32. Well, he’s almost 34, so that’s in the works. I had mine at the beginning of January, since I turned 50 anyway, and I’m clear.

Speaking of breasts, I’ve gotten 3 calls from my Mayo breast doc to get my left boob back down there and get it checked out. They got my past films and have found something new and different that they really say I need to get looked at. Well, that has to wait because I believe I am finally going to get the more provocative testing on my pituitary and hypothalamus that I have been trying to get done since last May. I’ll find out in a week when that will be scheduled and then make my boob appointment after that. Always something new on my health. I just wish there was something newer in my fiber world.

Speaking of GOOD stuff, my new granddaughter came a little early on December 3. Another perfect kid. I have managed to knit a row here and there these last 6 months and have almost got the body of a cardigan done for her. Thank goodness she’s small because I won’t finish it for a while yet. I’m using the Yarn Harlot’s “Daisy” pattern without the hood. I like it a lot. I knitted it mostly while visiting my step dad when he was asleep.

Another GOOD/BAD thing was Xmas this year. In November, my stepdad was failing more and was in a LOT of pain so I talked to his doctor and got him Hospice care. I got a call Xmas Eve morning that he was getting worse, so I managed to drive the 30 miles through a nasty blizzard to get to the “home”, since for the last 3 years I’m all he’s had. Anyway, I got there about noon and rocked him and did my best to comfort him until he died at 4 am Xmas morning. Hospice had most of the “comfort drugs” there already, but they wanted him to get some Ativan for anxiety, too, so that didn’t get there until 8 pm instead of 2 pm, because it needed be brought by courier and the blizzard was still raging. The Ativan sure helped him a lot. He became lucid and frightened a lot, but between me and the drugs, he died as peacefully as possible. I am so thankful he is no longer suffering.

Since I can’t knit very much at all, I’m just “watching” the MMarioKKNits MMystery Knit-A-Long . This baby is beautiful. If they figure out what’s going on with me soon enough, I’m going to get into it ASAP. I’ve got both the yarn and beads ready to go, just need to get my hands back. I’ve always said that you can kill me, or take away all my mobility and most of my senses, but NOT my eyes or my hands. Well, I’m not dead, but my eyes and hands are not very good. Gotta get fixed soon. I have fields to plow, fences to build, gardens to plant, animals to get, looms to finish, fiber to spin, granddaughters to teach....

I guess this has been a mostly blather blog today, but for those of you would wanted an update, this is it. I HOPE the next one is me telling you that I’m back on track and there will be more pictures of cool fibery stuff.

Summer’s Over…Hurray for Fall!

2009-09-01T20:10:00.009-05:00

Am I Back?<< >>Update for all you guys who asked

First of all, I want to say “Happy Birthday, Scrunchie! Grandma loves you”.

I just got done listening to this last Saturday’s Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me show on NPR. This particular show was a compilation of some of their favorite show segments and it’s really a good one. The first story in the program is about hand knit sweaters for chickens, but the real story is Mo Rocca’s comments during the segment about his hating homemade sweaters because they are so itchy. Hit this link: Wait, Wait if you want to listen. Make sure to go to the August 29, 2009 show. After you listen to at least the first 5 minutes or so, which is the part of the show that the sweater stuff is about, there is a video where Mo Rocca meets some folks from Ravelry who give him a sweater and Franklin Habit give’s Mo his “It Itches” book. That link is at: Wait, Wait Extras and click on the Knitter's Revenge story 1/2 way down the page. I personally found this whole thing hilarious.

Since my hands are so messed up and there’s no way I'll be able to knit anything for my new grandbaby (or anything else) before the end of December and I have high hopes of being “fixed” by the 1st of the year, that I’ve signed up for a new KAL. It’s run by MMarioKKnits at MMarioKKNits MMystery Knit-A-Long. I like the folks on the list, so this should be a fun KAL. I think it’s supposed to take 8 weeks, which is just right, to my mind.

Okay, this last part is personal health stuff and so those of you who don’t want to read about why I’ve been “missing in action” for the last 15 months, feel free to go on to other things. There have been a lot of questions coming in about my long absence from blogging. So, here it is for anyone who wants to know.

Today is my granddaughter’s 5th Birthday. Time flies. It’s true, the older you get, the faster time goes by. I never thought I would be 50, either. Old age is NOT for wimps. In my case, I was a mentally and physically active person until I hit 40. For some reason, every part of my body started rebelling. Turning forty and feeling like crap makes you start thinking of your future, and so I was determined, by age 45, I would fully turn my life around, you know, start making healthier lifestyle choices, get more exercise, realize some dreams, etc. It’s not like I was making horrible choices and doing stupid stuff, it’s just that I knew I could do things better and, then I would magically make myself feel better. So, I got all the surgeries that I had been putting off, quit drinking alcohol, cut back and almost quit smoking, cut back on processed foods, etc. For some unknown reason, I kept getting worse and by the end of 2003, I was getting pretty bad. Maybe I needed all those food additives and preservatives… Who knows? I became a grandma in 2004 at age 45 and I was unable to do much "grandma-ing" because I was in bed most of the time with debilitating pain and fatigue. This has really pissed me off.

Another problem with figuring out what is wrong with me is that I was adopted when I was an infant. There was no familial medical history given, so as far as I know, I might not even be human :) Now THAT wouldn't shock in in the least. The only thing I know is that I was 21 inches long and weighed 5 pounds - 1 ounce and had some digestion problem that kept me in the hospital for 2 months before I could be taken away. Two weeks before my adoptive mother died, she told my nephew that my "brother" was born to a prominent Minnesota family that caused a scandal so he was given away for that reason and I was either kid number 5 or 6 and I guess they didn't need another mouth to feed, so that's why I was given away. That's all I know. I was finally able to save up the $300 to send into Lutheran Social Services to see if they could dig out a medical history for me. There's no guarantee, but it's got to be tried. Hell, it costs over $600 for a chance to maybe meet the family, but that's just too steep for me and I DO know that nobody from my biological family has allowed my birth certificate to be made public so chances are I'm a secret that they want to remain buried. BUT, I have a son and 1-1/2 grandchildren that deserve to know if there is some weird genetic traits or diseases out there hiding in our biological line, so that's what I am fighting to find out.

Anyway, I was tested, probed, operated on more, misdiagnosed with a plethora of crap, until I finally said “STOP the Madness!” and did my own research. I added up all of my signs and symptoms, and realized I had obvious endocrine issues and decided to see an Endocrinologist. In June, 2008, I had a bunch of tests and it was found I had below-normal cortisol, ACTH, and a bunch of other endocrine hormones that were pretty low. I had 2 more tests to confirm those tests with even lower-level results. The Endocrinologist’s diagnosis was that I had gone through menopause. Hmmmm. No shit, Sherlock. I had a complete hysterectomy in 2002, so I already knew that. So, I talk to my PCP and he’s thinking that I need to see a different Endocrinologist and get my pituitary looked at because all the blood tests pointed in that direction. I got a brain MRI and that confirmed I had Empty Sella Syndrome, which is basically a deformed pituitary gland and it can either be totally benign or it can cause pituitary hormone issues. The second Endocrinologist said I was fine and that the low ACTH and Cortisol hormones were caused by my taking narcotics to combat the pain. Hmmmm. This confused me since I had all of the problems long before I started taking any narcotics, but you gotta believe the specialists, right?

SO… I go to plan B. Since there is nothing “wrong” with me except for low pituitary and adrenal hormones, pain, hair loss, low-body temp, heat and cold intolerance, weakness, etc, yada, yada, I figure it’s got to be all in my head, Right? All I needed was some mental and physical therapy and I’d get going again. So, I went through 3 months of intensive therapy. I was told that I was not crazy or depressed, I was doing all of my lifting and work correctly so I wasn’t injuring myself that way. I could, with enough pain meds, exercise, so that was good except for the pain. I could perform biofeedback stuff and make all of the “numbers” get into the perfect zones except for the “pain” probes. I did yoga, reflexology, and any number of non-traditional treatments. After a few thousand dollars, several hundreds of miles driven, and a lot of time and effort, the only thing I was doing wrong was taking some narcotics for pain relief and that if I stopped taking them, all of my pain and problems would disappear.

My PCP and I dropped my narcotics dose by half and, of course, I didn’t have any improvement. It wasn’t as though I was taking giant dosages to begin with. The next step was to go to see the Big Guns, Plan "C", because by this time, I was mostly bedridden. Don’t believe anyone that tells you that they would love to be able to lie around every day and read, sleep, and watch TV. They are liars. Anyway, I got an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN at the beginning of May, 2009. After 11 days of testing, seeing 5 or 6 specialists, and spending 10 nights in a hotel, I found out I have low ACTH, Cortisol, Growth hormone, and assorted other low levels of hormone things. The same results from the tests I had in Duluth 10 months earlier. Big surprise. The Endocrinologist said that Hypopituitarism is rare, so I most likely didn't have it, and my problems were from taking narcotics for pain. My Mayo Internist didn’t really agree with him, but he’s the “specialist”. So she gave me an Estradiol patch and said it would help me with my temperature intolerance and the loss of muscle mass. I started cutting back on the narcotics for pain to see if that is what’s causing the pituitary problems. A month later, I sent in more blood tests and my ACTH and Cortisol levels are still below normal. I kept weaning myself off of the narcotics. I went back to see the Internist at the Mayo and, since I was getting worse, she doubled the Estradiol and prescribed me Wellbutrin because that is supposed to improve my “energy” level. Then, new issues arise… I feel like puking all the time. I had to go see my PCP and he said to wean myself off the Wellbutrin and if that didn’t work, to get rid of the Estradiol, and he also gave me a prescription for some killer anti-nausea stuff called Zofran. It's an anti-nausea drug for chemo and radiation patients and it works great. By this time, I am off the narcotics, the Wellbutrin, and the Estradiol and am still getting sicker. I called the Internist at the Mayo to let her know that I had to quit the narcotics, Wellbutrin, and Estradiol and also to ask her how long I had to wait after quitting the narcotic to check my ACTH and Cortisol levels. She wanted to talk to the Endo doc and my PCP first and would call me the next day. So, I talk to her the next day and it was like speaking to a stranger. She told me I had to wait until the end of September and take a 24-hour piss test to check my Cortisol levels again, which was totally different from the tests she had mentioned me getting when I spoke to her the day before. This test will tell them nothing about my ACTH level, so I’m not sure WHY I need to take it. Anyway, something was very different for some reason and I needed to find out what had changed down there at the Mayo. So, I made an appointment with my PCP to find out exactly what had happened since the Internist had spoken to him before calling me back the next day. I’ve been seeing this PCP for 32 years and we know each other quite well. I came straight to the point and asked him if he thought I was crazy, or depressed, or attention seeking, or had Munchhausen Syndrome, or was a hypochondriac. He said that he knew I was sick and that I was just looking for answers so I could get myself better. Hell, he was the one who said that the blood tests pointed to a pituitary issue in the first place. Well, that made me feel so relieved that I started to cry, which in turn, pissed me off. I HATE crying. Then, after he passed me a box of tissues, I began thinking of the "side effects" of having below normal levels of these hormones and I asked him if, even though my ACTH and Cortisol was below normal and that might be caused by the narcotics I had been taking for the pain in the past, could I still have a "crisis" if I had some trauma, like hitting a deer, getting a tooth pulled, or having surgery? If that was the case and I hadn't been "officially" diagnosed by the Mayo's Endo God, what should I do in a case of trauma or stress? He said, “Wave your wrist that has the Medic Alert Bracelet on it at the medics”. Hmmm… I guess I need to get me one of those Medic Alert Bracelets. I sure wish somebody had bothered to tell me how serious this condition was no matter what was causing it. I was only concentrating on fixing it, not worrying about "what if''s". I mean, it's not like I was told I had cancer or something like that. I didn't think it might kill me. He gave me a nice drug called clonzaepam for "stress" and to help me sleep. It works pretty well. At least it shuts down my mind enough so I can focus and fall asleep. So now I wait for 4-1/2 weeks until I go back to the Mayo for my “last stand”. Wish me luck. The thing is, this can be fixed so easily and safely. I just don’t understand why any doctor would make a patient suffer for so long with a disease with potentially life-threatening consequences like this, but unless I can find a doctor to write out the prescriptions that I need, I’m screwed. The Internist has claimed to be on my side and maybe she or my PCP may be willing to go over the Endocrinologist’s head, but with malpractice problems and whatever liability reasons out there that I would know nothing about, I haven’t broached that subject with them yet. There are a few places that I have been in contact with that I have had some preliminary work done where I can get the treatments I need, but they are out of state and don’t take insurance and I was hoping to get the help I need through “normal” channels. But, I am ready to go to “Plan D” as soon as possible if “Plan C” falls through. I can get a loan somewhere and really, what’s money worth to me if I have an adrenal crisis and die? I can either spend $2000 to get well or $2000 to get cremated. That’s a no brainer in my opinion. It just shouldn’t had to be this painful and difficult or take this amount of time to resolve such an easy (if rare) disease. So, that’s the story with most of the gory details omitted. I have many friends and acquaintances that are suffering with these "invisible" type illnesses and I have been on my soapbox trying to advocate for them as best as I can, but it's an uhill battle. Plus, this medical crap is just plain boring to write and read about and nobody really wants to hear about it.

Anyway, I hope to have some fibery stuff to write about soon. Take care and enjoy this beautiful time of year. The snow and cold will be coming soon enough (I don’t mind it because I like winter, too) but I know a lot of people hate it. I’m sending all of you good vibes and hugs.

Am I Back?

2009-08-26T08:39:00.009-05:00

I need a Time Stretching Machine << >> Summer's Over...Hurray for Fall

I hope so. Not sure if anything I have to say will interest anyone, but it’s kind of therapeutic to at least attempt to “see” people. I don’t get out of the house except to go to doctor appointments or emergency problems with my step-dad. Hope you all had a great 15 months since I last “saw” you. Fall is my favorite time of year, so I’m hoping to have something good to blab about.

As a side note: My motherboard fried and I have lost a lot of comments, addresses, etc. If I did not answer somebody's comment or email, I am truly sorry. I DO reply to everyone I can, so please forgive the machine and myself.

As of Monday, I have become a college widow. Hubby, Ray, is back in school. I envy him. I LOVE learning, however the academic world is geared for wayward teens or young 20’s type people and NOT middle-aged broads like me. The usual Academic Hazing leaves me cold. I still kind of wish I was going with him, though. My husband and I met in Sept, 1992 at the University of Minnesota – Duluth in an 8 am Calculus III class. We were in our 30’s and had to sit in the front of the class so we could see the blackboard. They probably don’t even use blackboards anymore. Anyway, we both kind of stood out from the rest of the 18 to 20 year-olds. Ray and the Professor were pool/drinking buddies. We all smoked cigarettes before and after class getting our nicotine fixes and got to know each other. One day, Ray asked me if I wanted to meet up with them at the Reef (a college hangout with bar and pool tables) and I said yes, but I had to leave early because it was my grandmother’s birthday. I went, had a beer, and was sorry to leave. Two days later, I met Ray for drinks and we had a great evening. Two days after that, I had him over to my place for steaks on the grill and he never left. We shacked up for the next 5 years, got married, bought the farm, and we’ve been blissfully happy the whole time.

I met a lot of great people going to college, even though I was 10 to 15 years older than a lot of those people. The Math professor lived with us for a time before he moved on to a different university. Another friend is teaching at a community college in Illinois, one is teaching Micro Biology at a college in southern Minnesota, one is an MD working in Wisconsin, one is a Great Lakes Biologist., one has a good computer job at a hospital and her Biology Teacher husband is raising the 2 kids. Ray and I kind of took a different tack for 10 years, but he is back at school and should have a “real” job in a year or so. Me, I am a couple of credits shy of 3 degrees: 2 classes for a Math major, 4 classes for a Physics major, and 4 classes for a Computer Science major. Never could make up my mind, but at age 50 and crappy health, I’m never going to get a job whether I finish any degree or not. Having over 260 university credits to your name doesn’t mean anything anymore. We see our MD friend often, but I don’t keep up with the rest as often as I would like. I’m hoping to do so now that the computer that took me 11 months to build is almost done. Now, if I can only salvage the address book from my fried computer…. It’s not putting together drives, Motherboards, processors, etc. that is difficult. It’s loading in all of the software, updates and all of the files I’ve saved that takes time and effort.

Speaking of old farts, I turned 50 this June. I had big things planned by the time I turned the big 5-0. Aw, well. You know what that say about the best laid plans… I did go out for a bowl of soup with my nephew, his partner, and my husband. That was nice. Of course all of the farming, fiber, and weaving things that were to be up and running by this year haven’t even been started and, to be honest, there is a real chance that they never will. It’s looking like I will never get better than I am now, so there is a real chance that I will need to sell off everything and…. It’s impossible for me to look past the current minute, hour, or day. It’s been a long, hard 5 years or more since I have been going downhill and, at this point, there is no light at the end of my particular tunnel. I’m still fighting as hard as I can, but I should have an answer one way or the other around October 1.

Since I got so ill and lost my main computer, I’ve been unable to keep up with most of the blogs I usually read. I’m hoping to get back to reading them and commenting again. Living in a 4 room pole barn with no windows is like living in a cave. Not being able to be outside makes me feel like a fungus. I am so out of touch. I HAVE kept up with a lot of the political happenings. Lying in bed day after day with a laptop that is very hard to type on doesn’t leave much else to do. I have been so fascinated and disgusted with the whole process. With all of the information access, I have been overwhelmed by the nastiness of the political wrangling. I am shocked by all the bold-faced lies and disinformation being spewed by a lot of our elected officials in all branches of the government. It makes me very sad, because so many people are in dire straits and the people who are supposed to be looking out for us common folk are only looking out for their own interests. The good part about all of this information access is that we peons can organize and send letters and petitions to our congress people and possibly be heard, for better or worse. I just don’t have the strength to do more, but I do all I can.

I did manage to go to the Minnesota Shepherd’s Harvest in May. It was kind of a freak reason for getting there. I had to be at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester for some tests. We weren’t sure how long I would be there and we ran out of meds, so I contacted a friend who was going to go to the Fest and she brought down our medications. Since we ended up at the Mayo for almost 2 weeks, it was a good thing we were able to get the meds. The Fest was only 2-1/2 hours from the Mayo so we met her there and made the exchange. It was really nice to see the Spinning gals even for such a short time. I miss them. I could only handle a few hours walking but managed to pick up a few things.

Just for fun, I bought a bag of Cotton Bolls. I thought that it would be a fun thing to demonstrate at the county fair that I spin at.

I bought some more Black Diamond Top (Carbonized Bamboo) to add to my previous purchase so I would have enough to actually make something from it.

I got ½ pound of Camel down to play with for only $14. That should be enough for a Smoke-Ring or two.

As I go through this stupid, debilitating illness, I am really hoping to think about the stuff I truly love and chatting with all of my cyber-friends again. I have found that life is sooooo short and the truly important things have nothing to do with one's self.

Take care of yourselves and please accept a large amount of hugs and good vibes from your's truly.

I Need a Time Stretching Machine

2008-05-31T14:03:00.007-05:00

Are We Still Here? << >> Am I Back?

Hi, All. Time Flies! I don’t know where it has gone…It’s true. The older I get, the faster time passes.

I have had another eventful month and a half. I had a bunch of doctor appointments for my stepdad and myself. He’s good, I’m not. That’s a relief. I still have to get him in for an eye check and a colonoscopy. I think he’ll be done for a year then. Me, I still have to get my mammogram and see my endocrinologist for a bunch of tests. Plus, I’m finally going to have my first session at the Pain Management Center on June 12. I filled out the paperwork a month or so ago. I am really looking forward to it. I hope they can help me out. Whoopee!

We’re still working on getting the stepdad’s house in order. I have to go and spend a week or so just packing up stuff I want to keep. We’ve pretty much have gotten the whole place sorted. Goodwill has been getting a lot of nice stuff, too.

We had some more excitement with my stepdad. He got out of the home somehow and wandered through the woods and fell in a creek. He was fine. Luckily, some people found him and guessed where he might be from and got a cop to pick him up. What a nightmare. His ID still had his old address on it, so I had a new one done right away. Another thing I didn’t think of…I didn’t think that it was a big deal that he wouldn’t remember where he lived because I never thought he could get out of the home unsupervised. Well, the nurses at the home are sure going to be more careful from now on. I wasn’t mad…Just relieved that he was okay…but the supervisor was sure unhappy, as well she should be.

I have had some fiber fun! On May 11, four of us from our spinning group went to the Minnesota Shepherds’ Harvest and Llama Magic at Lake Elmo, MN. I was only going to buy some oddball fiber if I found any…Which, of course, I did.

I got 1-pound of white bamboo top, 4-ounces of white Optim fiber,

and 5-ounces of the most beautiful white Pygora fiber. All nice stuff. I’m looking forward to spinning it someday (sigh). I’m still spinning up the light brown Alpaca fiber that I’ve been working on for at least 4 months. I have about half of a bobbin done of what will be a 3-ply lace weight. It seems I’m only spinning once a month at the spinning group meeting. No time otherwise.

I went to Mexico, Mo and Topeka, KS for a week with my husband . He spent 2 days building a rudder for his plane and then we visited some friends for a few days. We went through Lawrence, KS on the way home and stopped at the Yarn Barn. Nice place to visit and spend money.

I got a pattern for this neat swirl pattern shawl/stole from JoJoland,

2 skeins of ‘Heaven’ lace-weight yarn that is 45% Tencel and 55% merino. Don’t know who makes it but it’s gorgeous. Each skein is 120 grams with 3100 yards. So, I have 6200 yards of beautiful light blue ‘shawl’ to knit up. Another project, but it was 40% off…What’s a gal to do? I bought some 000 straight needles and a 000 addi Turbo circular needle to knit it with and

some practice cotton. I’m going to play with a doily or two before I use my ‘Heaven’.

I got my fleece from Maple at Northstar Alpaca’s from her ewe Cardigan…

Cute name and cutie sheep…It’s a lovely dark shade of brown and weighs 2-pounds 10-ounces in the grease. It looks and feels so sproingy and soft. I soaked it overnight in cold water. The water was the same color as the fleece. Good for the garden. Now it's waiting for me to rinse and dry.

My Norwegian sweater is on hold…It’s gotten to the point that it doesn’t travel well, and the only knitting I seem to be doing is when I’m riding in the car. I’m knitting the Hemlock Blanket from Jared at Brooklyn Tweed for a friend’s baby that will be born in the next 2 weeks or so. It’s about 3/4 done. I’m using machine washable undyed worsted weight merino from Knit Picks. I plan on doing some dye-painting on it when I finish knitting it. I think it will be nice.

The loom has got all its heddles on and they're all marked. I’ve got the Dobby half way done, but there are a bunch of parts missing and no real drawings or instructions. I THINK since the previous owner converted the manual Dobby to the Compudobby, some parts were not needed. Who knows where they went? Anyway, the plan is to put as much of the rest of the loom together that I can and then contact AVL after I get some ideas as to how much I'm missing…I’m very frustrated and not just a little pissed off. Argh!

I have to change my living schedule somehow. I have way to many things I HAVE to get done and no energy to get necessary things done much less playing with my fiber. I tend to sleep all day and then I’m up all night. If I’m lucky, I get 4 to 5 hours a day where I can focus enough to do important things like bills, banking, etc. I feel guilty spending time either reading other's blogs or writing this blog, but sometimes I’m just too foggy to do much else. I should be knitting or something more productive, but I can’t concentrate enough even for that. Last week I started a new sleep hygiene schedule. I’ve got to go to bed at 10 pm, get up at 9 am. I usually need at least 10 to 14 hours of sleep with no naps during the day. I’m hoping that 9 hours will be enough if it’s “good” sleep. Just like a “normal” person. This way, my 4 to 5 “good” hours will start around noon. Then I can make phone calls and appointments during the day time. What a concept. I’m bound and determined to do this. Once I get the sleep thing tackled, then I’ll be able to start some sort of walking therapy and some weight training when I start the Pain Management Center. I turn 49 in June…By the time I hit 50, I hope to be well enough to get into fiber production for real again. That’s my goal. All that plus I WILL quit smoking this year. I can hardly breathe anymore. I got hooked on smoking by my baby sitter when I was 7 and the first time I tried to seriously quit I was 10 and couldn’t do it. It was easy to steal smokes from my parents and buy cigs from machines in those days. Through the years, all my babysitting and lunch money went for books and cigarettes. I’ve never been able to quit. I have tried every smoking cessation aid out there. The last one was Chantix. It made me puke, but I didn’t care if it helped me to quit. Well, after 7 weeks of puking every single day, I still hadn’t quit. The only thing that kind of worked was those Commit Lozenges. So, I’m going to buy a bunch and quit…Not try, but QUIT!

Well, this has turned into a long blather…Hope spring has sprung well for everyone. Today was the first nice day that we’ve had and I was able to spend some of it playing outside with my grandchild. It was a good day. Tonight is downtime and knitting before I hit the hay…Gads, 10 pm seems early. I hope the internal clock resets fast. Take care all and I hope to have pictures of the dyed baby blanket up soon.

Are we still here?

2008-04-12T11:43:00.012-05:00

Slowly Moving Forward << Main >> I Need A Time Stretching Machine

Hi, All. Happy 3 days before Tax day! It's such a mess here that I decided to get an extension. My paperwork is so disorganized that I gave up rather than do something wrong. Too busy doing important stuff to worry about the IRS :) Not really. I think that this is a first for me. Ah, well. Things will get sorted out.

FINALLY have my step-dad in a good place! I'm hoping that he will be good and there will be no problems until such time that he needs a nursing home. He now lives only 6 miles away from me and in a very nice house. The whole house is for dementia patients. There are 10 large bedrooms with baths and beautiful living and dining rooms. He seems to like it, but he is still packing his things every day. Nothing I can do about that.

Speaking of dementia, I thought I might bring up something I never thought of and would like to warn you all about. My step dad seems to have a real fascination with sex now. I got a frantic phone call from the last home telling me that he was taking ladies to his room and having them "fondle" him. He was scaring these poor old women and didn't realize he was doing anything wrong. His conversions are also loaded with sex. He's all over me when I come to visit, too. I can easily handle him, but it got me to thinking about people taking care of their elders in their home with children around. It would be devastating to have a grandparent molesting the kids. Something to keep a sharp eye on as it seems that preoccupation with sex and inappropriate language and behavior is very common.

I just heard from Maple at Northstar Alpacas. I am getting a fleece from one of her Babydoll Sheep. It's name is Cardigan...Guess what I'll be making with it? I can't wait to play. She sent it out today. WooHoo!

I'm still putting together the loom. It's getting closer. Lot's of little things to get through. Right now, I'm hanging the harnesses with 125 Texsolve heddles per harness marking each heddle bunch a different color.

Harnesses 1, 5, 9, 13 are yellow, harnesses 2, 6, 10, 14 are blue, etc. I've gotten 8 harnesses done and 8 to go. It takes me about 45 minutes to put together and mark 1 harness. Slow but sure.

Getting a little farther on my sweater.

This is 7 inches into the armhole. 5 more inches to go.

Last but NOT least:

I won the Theme Guess for the Secret of the Stole ii ! The name of the stole is Savannah. This pin is just gorgeous. It's made by Robbie B. at Ruby Vegas Designs . I'm just thrilled. I stayed up one night and worked for hours trying to figure out the clues. It was worth it. I still have a way to go before I finish the stole, but it will get done.

Well, back to the grind. Bill paying and more paper work on the agenda today. Take care, All.

Slowly Moving Forward

2008-03-14T00:47:00.010-05:00

It's Hit the Fan << Main >> Are We still Here?

Hi, All.

Well, things are a little better in some ways and worse in others. I got my step-dad moved to a "locked" unit at the assisted living joint. I HATE it and he's not loving it either, but more importantly, he's safe. I'm trying to get him in a place that's closer to the town where I live. There is a great place that I wish I had brought him to in the first place. I thought he would be happier in his town, but he doesn't know where he is anyway, so I told him I'd like to move him closer to me and he said that he would really like that. So, as soon the the nurse I'm supposed to meet gets over her "bug", I will be making arrangements if they have space. I Hope this will be the last move for a while. The legal stuff is out of my hands and moving along. My step-dad's beautiful house is pretty trashed. He did some major damage to the kitchen and bath that will be a major project to repair. I think I will clean the place up and have a realtor friend come by and see what she thinks that I need to do to make it marketable.

I'm struggling with my illness and it gets a lot worse with all this stress. I can't do more that a few hours of work a day and then I'm off to bed for two to six hours. My "schedule" is all over the map. I wake up and don't know what day it is or if its night or day. It's not too bad if I don't have to be anywhere at any particular time, but really hard if I have to be functioning for meetings and appointments. Makes me think of the Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times." Lately, my life has been really interesting. I'd like to have a party and go crazy with my spinning friends for an afternoon. Maybe in April. We all need a break.

I've had a chance to knit a little while waiting around for appointments and such. It's a big project to haul around, but it's all I'm knitting on at the moment.

I've finished the underarm gussets and am now working on the chest.

Here is the pattern that I have put together for the chest and shoulder area.

My loom came on Monday, February 25th. The only thing that was broken were some pegs on the sectional warp beam that will be easy to fix.

The instruction manual was also missing the "Parts Identification and frame assembly page. But I managed to put together the frame anyway.

Unfortunately, I had to stop and wait until I got the page from AVL so I could I.D. the rest of the parts. There are a LOT of parts. Sheesh! It took me three different days to put it together this much. It may take a long time before I'm weaving on this baby. That's okay, though, because it's fun to look at, even just the frame. The only thing I can see that makes it look "used" are a bunch of puncture marks on the frame. Looks like some kids got after it with something sharp. Other than that, you'd never know it was 14 years old. I'm very happy.

It's Hit the Fan!

2008-02-29T21:38:00.007-06:00

Some Knitting << Main >> Slowly Moving Forward

Hi, All. This has been 6 weeks from Hell. I have had more things go wrong in my life and don't expect any let-up for a while.

The care taker for my step-dad turned out to be a thief. He also totaled my step-dad's car and left the house in a complete mess. My life has been full of Police, Banks, Attorneys, etc. Then, I got a call this morning telling me that my step-dad has to move out of the assisted living place because he wandered off last night this this breaks their rules. He's fine and I have hired a Senior Care company to sit with him at nights at the assisted living place, but he has to move out soon. I'm not sure why they have this rule since the place is supposed to take care of people with dementia and Alzheimer's. They wander, don't they? Anyway, I've been run through the mill with no end in site. So, to Sue O. and other's who wondered where I am, I'll be blogging more very soon. I have gotten a lot more knitted on my sweater and a new loom (which is currently in pieces all over the place until I get a day to keep putting it together).

Take care and I hope you are all having a better time than I am.

Some Knitting

2008-01-24T08:57:00.001-06:00

Dyeing's Done << Main >> It's Hit the Fan

Hi, All. Everybody keeping warm? We've been in the deep freeze up here in Minnesota. It's been way below zero degrees F every night for at least a week. A warm up is supposed to come soon. That will be good because I have to keep filling up the LP in the main house where my son is living and the electric heat we have where we are living is incredibly high priced. We are planning on putting in a Geo-thermal heat pump, but that won't happen for a year or 2. Good thing we have lots of wool long-underwear. I even wear my felted hat inside. I haven't made any fingerless mitts yet and I sure wish I had. I guess I just have to keep my hands moving with knitting and spinning so they keep warm.

We got my step-dad moved into the assisted living place. He's okay with it most of the time. He's kind of bored and wants to go places, but the staff wants him to stay there for a couple of weeks and get really oriented before he goes out much. It's a good idea because he gets so confused when things change, even the scenery. I'm going to spend the night with him on Sunday. We'll have popcorn and watch some movies. He'll really like that. Plus, I have a bunch of things that I want to do to make it more homey. Hang pictures, etc. It's really a nice apartment. Full size kitchen a huge bedroom, a big bath, and a good sized living/dining room. Hell, it's nicer than my place.

Here is a headband/swatch for the Norwegian Sweater KAL. I'm very happy with the way it looks. It fits both myself and my husband, but I promised it to him before I made it, so I'm out of luck. Rats. It sure feels nice.

Here's the sweater I made for my granddaughter before washing and blocking. She loves it. She slept in it the first night. The yarn is pretty but I have to say that it's not holding up well at all. I felt was a little loosely spun, so I should have knit a more dense fabric, but I was following a pattern and knit to the pattern's gauge. Next time, no loosely spun merino for kids. The pattern is from the November 2007 Creative Knitting magazine. I used KnitPicks Swish superwash wool on US size 8 needles.

I have some good news to report on my AVL loom. I got a sale flyer from the company 2 weeks after I ordered my loom. The loom was 20% off, so I wrote them and asked if I could get some sort of rebate or credit since it was only 2 weeks since I ordered it and 4 weeks before they will ship it. No problem, they said. They credited the balance of my loom to reflect the sale price. Now THAT sure is nice. I will spend a lot of that for software and flying shuttles. It's nice to know that this company is a fair dealer.

I've been ordering books lately. When it's cold, I spend too much time at the computer and look at my "wish lists". I haven't done more than glance at the books yet. I order them and then I'm too busy to read them when they arrive. That's okay. They eventually all get read. I read knitting, weaving, and cookbooks like they were novels. I ordered lots of fiction that I've been waiting for to come out in paperback. I prefer paperback books because they are smaller and easier to take along. I used a 25% off coupon at Barnes and Noble to get Donna Druchunas' Arctic Lace book. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I have a few ties to Alaska, and this looks like my kind of book. Lots of history. I've never been a buyer of strictly pattern books. I have enough stitch libraries and technique books to make my own patterns. I really like the history of the techniques and the stories behind the patterns. I'm also am for the Selbuvotter book by Terri Shea to arrive in a KnitPicks order. It should get here today. I hope so, because I need the cables so I can start the Norwegian sweater.

The Secret of the Stole ii started this week. I've got the first clue 2/3rds done. I also won a random drawing prize on the first day! WooHoo! Don't know what it is yet, but it made my day. My camera is dead (I left it on. DUH!) so no pics. Not too much to look at, anyway. I'm using the leftover yarn from the last Secret of the Stole. Waste not, want not, but it's kind of boring using the same stuff. I'm sure it will be nice, though.

I suppose I better get my butt moving here. I have some errands to run and I really don't want to go out in the cold. I have to pick up my prescriptions, though, so I don't have a choice. BRRRR.

The Dyeing's Done

2008-01-04T06:32:00.000-06:00

Dyeing For Norwegian Sweater KAL << Main >> Some Knitting

Hi, All, Happy 2008. Hope everybody made it. :)

I've been busy. Yesterday, I ordered my Reconditioned AVL loom. Here are the specs:

1994 60" Full-Frame Production Dobby Loom 16 Harnesses, Polyester Heddles, Compu-Dobby I,Mechanical Dobby, Dobby Bars, Peg & Peg Wrench, 4-Box Flyshuttle, Overhead Swing Beater, 1-Yard Sectional Warp Beam. It should ship out on Feb. 18.

All I can say is WHOOHOO!!!!

I've got the yarn all dyed. Here's all the skeins. It turned out better than I hadp hoped.

These four pics are one ball that I shot from four different sides.

The colors just leap right out. I think it will look pretty good when it's knit up. Now I am just waiting for the KAL to start. We will be making a headband "swatch". I still have to pick up which motifs I will use. I have the "Starmore" Fair Isle book and "The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting" to look through. Too many choices.

I've been working on the grandkid's hoodie in my off moments. It's coming along slowly but surely. Pardon the awful colors...I took this last night around midnight.

Well, it's off to the salt mines. I've got to ratchet up the organizing here if I'm going to have any room for the loom. It's going to be a loooooong month and a half. Can't wait. Take care, All.

Dyeing for Norwegian Sweater KAL

2007-12-30T22:36:00.000-06:00

Almost Done << Main >> The Dyeing's Done

Hi all. I hope everybody had a good holiday.

I have been resting up so I could tackle the dyeing of the contrast color for the Norwegian Sweater KAL. Things take me three times longer to do these days. I thought I could call my friend to see if she wanted to come by and do some dyeing while I had all the stuff out, but the times I felt up to doing it were in the middle of the night. It took me an entire evening just to wind of the one pound of yarn into 4 hanks. That took me out of commission for a couple of days. Then, it took me most of yesterday just to get set up.

I stared playing with the colors around 6 pm and it was 4 am by the time I had painted the skeins and had them wrapped for steaming. I was toast and I slept all day today until 5 pm. I'm not sure if leaving the "uncooked" skeins full of acid will be good for the yarn, but we'll see. I finally was able to get them steamed by 9 pm. I'm letting them sit until tomorrow and will wash and rinse them then. I'm hoping to have gotten the jewel tones I was looking for. The color on the bottom photo look pretty close to the actual colors. I think they will look good no matter what color they turn out to be. I did take notes, so I should be able to recreate it if I want.

When I first started dyeing, I made 64 half-ounce samples of the mix ratios of my three primary colors and their values. It sure has helped me when I have wanted to do dye certain colors. Saves a lot of time and supplies. I still want to take the time to do more samples. The basics are good but not near enough. That might be a good summer project so I can do it outside. Right now, my worktable is the concrete floor, which isn't so bad, but all the cups of dye just wait to be kicked over while I'm working. I lucked out last night.

I'm hoping to hear about the loom I was looking at first thing on Wednesday. I left another e-mail of questions, but they are on holiday until the 2nd. I'm really excited and impatient. I will post pictures and info as soon as it's "mine". I don't want to jinx it. :)

Well, I hope all who celebrate New Year's Eve have a safe and happy time and to all, have the best year ever.

Almost Done

2007-12-23T22:35:00.000-06:00

I Have Returned << Main >> Dyeing For Norwegian Sweater KAL

Well, the holidays are almost over for me. Nothing fancy this year. The only holiday cooking I've done is making a few batches of my nut brittle. Everybody I know loves it, so I love giving it away during this time of year. I've just been too sick to do anything more. I'm on my third bout of antibiotics and I am hopeful that this will be the last. Neither my doctor or myself are into taking antibiotics, but I've been sick since the beginning of September and the infections just keep moving around but not leaving. I'm really sick of being sick.

Since my grandkid's mother is doing something on both Xmas Eve and Day, I had my son and grandkid over for the big feast tonight(Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, and cottage cheese with oatmeal cookies for desert). We watched the Simpsons Movie after dinner while my husband slept. It was a nice evening. Tomorrow morning I will bring over some presents for both of them. My step-dad is off with his care-taker, so I will go into town and see him on Thursday and bring him a couple of presents.

I couldn't finish the grandkid's little purple hoodie in time for Xmas, but I'm getting there. I have the fronts and back done. I may get it done by next weekend when I'll see her again.

I'm gearing up for the Norwegian Sweater KAL. I've pretty much figured out the colors that I want to do, so I just need to take a day and dye the yarn. I'm really looking forward to doing this sweater. I hope to get that done this week since I think we are going to knit a headband/swatch the beginning of January and I need the yarn done by then. Plus, I need to go through my two Fair-Isle books and start picking out some patterns to use. I love the design part of any project the best.

I'm seriously looking at getting a different loom. My old one has gotten kind of trashed from being stored way longer than I had anticipated. Also, I'm not sure if I can manhandle it any more. I've gotten so wimpy and I'm not sure if I will ever get all my strength back so I'm looking at a loom that will be easier for me to use. I've been doing research and talking to other weavers about the loom and I think I'll be happy with it. I'll be contacting the company after the holidays. I'm pretty sure I will be telling them to send the loom my way. I'm pretty darned excited about it.

It's snowing again today. According to NOAA, as of today, we've had 30 inches of snow this December and 3 feet for the season so far. It's definitely a white Christmas here. I love watch it blow. It's so bright outside, even at night. Lots of reflection from even the smallest light source. Helps to keep my spirits up even though the actual daylight hours are so short.

Hope all are having a safe and warm holiday season. Take care.

I Have Returned

2007-12-13T15:26:00.000-06:00

Rambling Again << Main >> Almost Done

It feels good to be back. I have been buried here. I haven't even caught up on reading the blogs I usually read. My aggregator says I have 2258 unread blog messages. Well, I'll get around to them.

When last I wrote, I was in the middle of moving out to my pole barn. Well, that has happened, but after a 5 week hiatus of being really sick. I'm still sick, but I seem to be able to do a few more things. Also, hubby came home from his 5 week hiatus, so there was a lot more progress. I won't go through the gory details, but things are looking up a bit.

The move from the house is 90% complete. All I have left to move out here is my yarn stash (at least 200 pounds, no lie) and my books (too many to even think about counting). We're still trying to organized stuff, but it's slow going. That's okay because I have new appliances to play with. I have a new smooth-top convection range. It only cost about $150 more than the non-convection, so I went with it. One thing nice about the oven part is that the bottom heating element in under the oven floor, so I can clean up spills without fighting with the element. Also, there are no buttons or dials to clean around. That's one of the things I look at when buying stuff. How easy it is to clean is right up at the top of my requirements. I have a new front-loading washer and dryer, too. My old ones are over 32 years old and need fixing. I LOVE these things. I can have it spin only for when I wash fleeces and I can stop and check stuff when using it to felt. I am very pleased.

I've built us a new king-sized mattress from 2 king-sized 4-inch Memory Foam toppers and a good mattress pad. It is the best mattress I have ever slept on. My husband had built a platform for a Sleep Number bed, but I needed some relief before I had the money for it. I think we won't be needing it now. I got 2 toppers and 4 pillows for $300. I just hope it lasts for a while. We'll see. I can still get the "Sleep Number" bed if it doesn't. For now, it's bliss.

On the knitting front, I got 1/2 way through the Secret of the Stole KAL, but I just hated the fabric. I have since pulled it all out and next time will use smaller needles with that yarn. There is another "Secret of the Stole-ii" KAL coming out in January. I may use the yarn for that. BUT, I may not participate in it because there is another KAL I really want to do and I can only work on one at a time. The one I will most likely do is from the Ethnic Knits yahoo group. The owner, Donna Druchunas, who wrote "Arctic Lace" and "Ethnic Knitting: Discovery", is doing a design to finish KAL of the Norwegian Sweater from the "Ethnic" book. I have the yarn and will be dyeing the contrast colors for it. I'm pretty sure that this KAL is where I'll be spending my time this January.

I have knit a 6+ foot scarf for the man who has been taking care of my step-dad. He's a tall guy and it looks great on him. He's happy with it.

The pattern is called the Cabin Cove Journey Scarf by David Taylor Daniels. I loved knitting it. Easy, yet elegant.I've started knitting a cute little hoodie for my grad-daughter from a pattern in the November 2007 Creative Knitting magazine. It will go fast, so I think it will be done long before I start my Norwegian sweater.

Speaking of my step-dad, I finally got an apartment for him at this great assisted living place. He'll be able to move into it the middle of January. He's been packing to go "home" for the last few months. I don't know where home is to him, so maybe it will be easier for him to move to this place. I hope so. The last thing I want to do is upset him. He and his care-giver have been going to this place for social activities every week and he really has a good time. Things are looking good on that front.

I haven't done much spinning in the last 2 months. I spun some Black Diamond fiber at my September spinning group. I think I liked it, but I didn't spin much and messed it up trying to Navajo-ply it. So I tossed it. I was too sick to go to the October group but I did manage to make it in November. I have actually spun for a day here at home, too. Amazing.

I LOVE spinning this stuff. It is from a neighbor's first batch of commercially processed rovings from one of her alpacas. Her place is called StoneCroft Alpacas. I've only spun raw alpaca that I had cleaned myself. Nice to spin, but not as nice as this. It's gorgeous. I'm spinning some pretty thin singles to get a 3-ply DK weight. Navajo plying has it's place, but when I'm not trying to match colors I prefer plying with 3 bobbins of singles. It just works out better for me. I have around 2 pounds of this color. I think I will probably work up one pound for this batch of yarn.

Well, that's all I can remember at this point. I've been sitting here since 3 am and am finally getting tired. Take care, All.

Rambling Again

2007-09-29T11:57:00.000-05:00

How I Got Here<< Main >>I Have Returned

WOW!!! What a week I've had. Got a LOT of stuff accomplished.

First off, let me just tell you I was a dumbass last night. I have probably injured myself (mostly my right wrist) by moving a 74 lb box full of engine parts that was delivered and left on the sidewalk while I was in Duluth yesterday. Lightning was all around again and I didn't know if it could get wet (husband is still on the West coast and probably will be for another week), so I tossed it on a big piece of cardboard and dragged it into the pole barn. By yanking it properly for my back but NOT for my arms, I think I popped the tendon out of place on my right wrist and my left elbow, and I can feel a chip of something floating around so I think I damaged the end of the radius. I've got the wrist splinted now and since I'm seeing my Doc on Monday, I'll have him check it out. So, this weekend I'll be laying low and doing paperwork and bills and getting the place safe for the grandkid's visit on Sunday.

I managed to get the whole floor scrubbed down and move all my husband's crap to the sidelines. Then I moved out most all of the furniture except for the bed and couch (too heavy to move alone) and the computer stuff since I need the Mr. to do the wires for the routers and modem. I could do it, but I don't know where the wire is. I have plenty of other stuff to move yet. I managed an all nighter (11:30 pm Saturday until 12:30 pm on Sunday) putting together an improvised Melamine Island out of 2 laundry Base cabinets for the kitchen area. I also managed to drop one of the boxes that held a base cabinet onto my foot. Broke a ton of blood vessels and it hurt like hell, but it's healing up quite nicely. No broken bones that I can tell, but some numbness that won't go away. I've also moved a bazzillion boxes of crap out there. I'm going to need to spend a few days just emptying them and sorting the stuff and putting it away in the proper place before I can haul out any more.

In the down time I managed to take my step-dad into the doctor and bring him to visit an assisted living facility. He said it was nice, but he didn't think he was ready yet. He IS, but doesn't know it. The doctor is sending him for a driver's license evaluation. If he looses his license (which he most likely will), he may change his mind. I feel so sorry for him, but he's a danger to himself and other's. His dementia is getting worse and he's drinking heavily on top of that. He has a room-mate that I pay to look after him and keep him from driving, but the room-mate will be leaving by the middle of November at the latest, so I have to get my step-dad out of that house. On a fun note, I get to get a stool sample from him on Monday. Sheesh! I guess that's TMI, but it causes me a LOT of stress and that makes my disease flare up worse. But, since I'm all he has in this world, I have to take care of things for him. We'll get by somehow, him and me.

I ordered books today. I got all five of Treasury of Knitting Patterns , A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Charted Knitting Designs: A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns , Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns, and Mosaic Knitting by Barbara G. Walker. I've always wanted the, so.....I also ordered 3 Certificate of Excellence workbooks from The Handweaver's Guild of America . I got the ones for Dyeing, Spinning and Weaving. I am not going to try and send in the stuff and get any certificates. I just want to improve myself.

I managed to get some more knitting done on my Wing-of-the-Moth Shawl. I'm one row away from the starting the border. I have to say that this is an easy and fun knit.

Oh, Crap...Phone call.....Mother of grandkid is sick and I have grandkid in 1/2 and hour which means I have to kid proof.....Take care all.....

How I Got Here

2007-09-21T11:11:00.000-05:00

Hi from extremely soggy Minnesota...The power has been getting knocked out all over the place. There's too much lightning to be on-line much so I'm posting in between storms. We've had many modems, phones, and one computer fried by big-ass surges coming through the phone line. This old house has a bunch of leaks and there are buckets and towels all over the place. I feel like the wife in the movie "The Egg and I". Which brings me to finally answer the many questions I've gotten on why and how I ended up here.

I fell in love with the country and farming while watching the "Egg and I" and "met" Ma and Pa Kettle when I was a child. Actually, that movie and Ma Kettle somewhat shaped my life. After I saw it, I really wanted to move out to a farm. Well, being about 8 years old at the time, I couldn't manage that, but I did do everything else I could, like teaching myself to sew, knit, crochet, weave, bake bread, make soap, garden, etc. Life took way too many turns on my way to the farm, but I am finally here.

I was living in a very beautiful place in a house I had built with my late husband. It was located on a sand bar called Park Point (officially Minnesota Point) that was connected to Duluth by a lift-bridge. When I first moved there in 1982, it was NOT the place to be. It was all old, ratty houses that the banks very seldom gave loans out for. Anyway, my husband had lived there his entire life so I moved there. The people that live there are great, but if you hadn't spent your whole life there, you never belonged. We spent 2 years tearing down and building a new house while living in it. Not fun, but it got done. I swore that I would never do that again. Argh! Our back yard was the beach and Lake Superior. I LOVED the wild storms and unpredictably of living there. Six years later, my husband died. I went to college for the next five years, during which I met my current husband. During the 16 years I had been on the Point, people from the big cities and the "richer" areas of the country began buying up property, tearing down the ratty houses and building McMansions, driving up property values and real estate taxes. Traffic and taxes became unbearable for me. The serenity of walking out my back door to the lake was ruined by scores of strangers walking through my property to enjoy the lake themselves. I didn't begrudge anyone for wanting to be by the lake, but I hated the trespassing, garbage and vandalism to my property and the continuous traffic on the only road that went down the middle of the Point. My taxes went so high that I couldn't afford to live there any more and I had to leave. My dreams of being Ma Kettle were still alive and I began looking for land. One foggy, rainy Sunday, my guy and I were out looking at land and houses that I had found in a real estate mag and I saw a for-sale sign pointing down a dead-end road. We drove down the road. We found 3 driveways and some vacant land. It was too foggy to see anything else. There was no sign indicating which house was for sale, so I wrote down the number of the realtor from the sign at the end of the road and went on to find the house that I found in the mag. Well, nothing I looked at that day tripped my trigger, so I called the number of the realtor that I written down. I met her two days later and she showed me several places and then finally the place that I originally called about. We drove up the loooong driveway to this place and we were surrounded by goats. As soon as we got out of my car, the goats jumped up on it and begged for treats. We walked through a useless fence, shooed the goats away from the door and walked in. The place was built of logs in 1893. It was one of 7 houses that survived the 1918 fire that wiped out thousands of homes and killed over 450 people. There was no plumbing or electricity. No one who had lived there ever wanted any. The owner hadn't lived in the house for over 2 years and whoever was taking care of the goats had let them live in the house on occasion. Very little updating had been done through the years. There are places where the hand-hewn logs and boards are still visible. The only insulation is the moss that they crammed into the chinks. I fell in love. I talked to my guy and within 2 weeks, we were married and a month later, we had the house, a barn, and 80 acres, 45 miles from the city where I had spent my entire 39 years of life. 8 months later, after fixing up my house to sell, digging a well, bringing in electricity, and putting in a mound septic system, we moved onto the farm. 1-1/2 years after that, we had running hot and cold water, a flush toilet, and gas heat and a stove. Then there was the building of the 64 X 30 foot pole barn, which my husband built 95% by himself. I am currently in the process of making the pole barn livable so we can move in there, temporarily. Unfortunately, the old house is way too far gone. The foundation is falling in and it would cost way too much money to fix it up enough to be safe. Plus, I have developed some major health issues and will eventually have problems with stairs. So, we have decided to tear down the old place and put a new one on the same site. It breaks my heart but I have no choice. We have tried to give the structure to many historical societies, even one in Finland since this is was built by Finnish immigrants, but even a free house costs too much to move. We have some friends who would like to tear it down and rebuild it on another site, so that's what we will do. I am glad it will have a new life.

Current picture of old house. I screened in the porch a few years ago.

Old Finnish style barn. The bend in the middle of the roof is intensional. It funnels the rain and snow melt away from the ends.

Husband in front of the polebarn a few years ago. It now has a floor with in-floor heat and is insulated and finished with metal inside and out.

The current situation is work, work, work. My disease makes that very hard, but I'm pushing ahead with the help of my pain meds. I dropped my husband off at the airport on Tuesday for Seattle, I have made arrangements for my step-dad, and have spent the last 2 days working like a madwoman. I'm waiting for the meds to kick in so I can get to the hardware store and get back at it. I WILL be moved into the pole barn by the time my husband gets home on the 30th.

So, here I am...My dreams have become reality. Plus, my mailing address is Kettle River and the city has a festival call "Ma and Pa Kettle Days" every August. Can you say "Destiny"?

Secret of the Stole Swatch

2007-09-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

Hi, All.

It has been a bad couple of weeks for me. The step-dad problems are escalating exponentially and I have pneumonia. Long story. All I have been able to accomplish on the fiber front is my swatch for the Secret of the Shawl KAL.

I'm using Alpaca Cloud in the Tide Pool Heather colorway. I like the weight, color, and the way it knits up, BUT it is kind of scratchy. Amazing to me since it is made from baby alpaca. Anyway, it's very inexpensive and it won't be worn next to my skin,so I'm okay with it. The photo doesn't show the correct color. It is more blue.

Well, I've got more step-dad fires to put out, so I best be off. Take care, All.

Shawl Update

2007-08-31T13:30:00.000-05:00

Hi, All. I brought my car in for a fix and a tune up so I got a lot of knitting done on my Wing-of-the-Moth shawl. I had gotten almost this far when I realized I just wasn't happy with it and ripped it out. Now I'm much happier with it and it's zooming along nicely.

Sorry about the bad pics, but it's the best I could manage today. I'm about 1/3 of the way to the start of the border. With every other row getting longer, it's going to take a while. It's pretty easy to knit. A good beginner shawl, in my opinion.

The green pin is on the center line of the shawl. The reason I ripped out the shawl was that I just didn't like the YO's on either side of the center stitch. I changed it to a make-one on either side instead and I am much happier with the way it looks.

I just joined another KAL. Just what I need, but I so enjoyed reading about the Mystery Shawl 3 that I couldn't resist. The one I joined is Secret of the Stole put on by Nautical Knitter . It really looks like a lot of fun. The first clue will come out October 5th which will give everyone time to get supplies and knit their swatches. I've ordered Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks in the Tide Pool Heather color. I've never knit with machine-made alpaca before, but I like using my own hand spun alpaca so this will be nice. I am getting tired of natural colors, too, so I am looking forward to working with this.

Knit Picks has great marketing with their free shipping. Since the 4 skeins of Alpaca Cloud was less than $45 I just HAD to buy 6 skeins of Bare-Merino Lace Weight to get the free shipping. Can't resist free shipping. Ha! Not sure what I'll be doing with it, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

I've got a busy weekend ahead. It's my granddaughter's 3rd birthday tomorrow and she is coming to stay with us until Tuesday afternoon. My husband went to a great garage sale and picked up a bunch of cool stuff for her. I made her a cake today and we'll be having pancakes and sausages for supper. Her favorites. Lots of sugar so she'll be zooming around here all weekend, I'm sure. I LOVE being a grandma.

I took a long nap this afternoon, so I guess I'll be up all night. I better get cracking on getting the house ready for the 3 year-old. A local kid died a few months ago when she ate some of her mom's perscription meds that were in a child-proof bottle. Really tragic. My husband and I both take several so I always double check and make sure they are locked up. We keep them in a locked tool box. No taking any chances even though the bottles have child-proof caps. These kids can get into anything.

Have a great holiday weekend, Everyone.

New Tools

2007-08-27T16:53:00.000-05:00

Woo Hoo! New stuff! First off is my stuff from The Woolery. I have ordered from them several times and I'm always pleased.

This is some Tussah silk noils. The plan is to dye them several colors and mix them with wool for a tweed type yarn.
This is the Support Spindle by Royale Hare . It is GREAT. I actually mastered the one-handed long draw within a few minutes of using it. I can't wait until my grandkid goes home so I can actually use it.
These are the Viking combs by Indigo Hound. I have their 5-pitch English combs and love them. I wanted these to use on shorter fibers.

Then, Knitpicks had a 40% off book sale at KnitPicks . Sooooo:

I now have all of Elizabeth Zimmermann's books. I got my first one, "Knitting Without Tears" for 5 cents at a garage sale. I fell in love with her style.
I heard so many good things about this book that I thought I would get it. I all ready do socks on 2 circulars on occasion, but there is always something new to learn.
I really like the sock book by these ladies, so I had to get this one. I like the idea of "Knit-to-Fit", too. Knitting a sweater that actually fits my body is a rare thing. I'm hoping this book will help.

I really haven't had a chance to read these yet. I'll let you know what I think when I've gone through them. At a glace, they look pretty good.

Gotta run. The lightening is hitting hard outside and I have to unplug the modem. We've lost one computer and one answering machine to lightening already.

Spinning at the Fair

2007-08-23T15:03:00.000-05:00

Hi, All. Man, I've had an extremely busy time since I last posted. Taking care of step-dad, sleep studies at hospital, out of town guest, traveling to get a much needed new (to us) truck and spinning at the Carlton County fair. This was in one of the county newspapers, The Pine Journal . I guess I'm famous now. I had been spinning on my wheel and this kid was sent over to me by another spinner because she knew I had brought my spindle. This kid comes by every year and is just a joy to spin for. I hope he keeps coming and maybe we can reel him in as a new spinner some day. I spent 4 days (around 28+ hours) spinning at the fair this year. I love it. The costume gets a little cumbersome, and the weather didn't cooperate, but I had a blast anyway.

This is the yarn I spun last year which is the same as the stuff I spun this year. It's a mix of all my left-overs from combing. It works really well. I can show people all the different animal fibers in my bag before I hand card it and spin it up. I usually card up a rollag and then spin it so they can see the process. This skein is a mix of several wools, alpaca, silk, mohair, and llama plus a little chunk of blue tencel that I tried. As exhausted as this makes me, I still can't wait until next year to do it all over again.

Soon, I hope to get some pictures taken of my shawl. I have only worked on it for an hour or so, but it looks like it will turn out nice. Take care, Everyone.

Plying is done

2007-08-09T02:28:00.001-05:00

Well, the plying for the Wing-of-the-Moth shawl is finished.

I ended up with 1210 yards of 2-ply out of 10 ounces of the alpaca, wool, silk, and mohair. The yarn is very soft, shinny, slippery, and a bit fuzzy. The colors got pretty much muddied up. More blended than I wanted, but I guess that's the way it is. We'll see how it knits up. It really feels nice.

Book Review

2007-08-04T12:08:00.000-05:00

I'm a little behind but here is my review of Wrapped in Comfort by Alison Jeppson Hyde.

First off, it's an all around great book. Lots of good photos of the items both off and on models so you can really see what the garments look like. All patterns have both charted and written instructions.

The patterns include 12 shawls in which there are 1 beginner level, 4 easy level, 5 intermediate level and 2 experienced level. Also, there are 4 scarf patterns of which there are 1 beginner and 3 intermediate level.

There is good discussion of instructions: Skill levels, needles, yarn, gauge, yarn-overs, decreases, increases, knit, purl, joining new yarn, life lines, charts and written directions, blocking, shaping and construction of top-down circular shawls, neck edges, sizes, and designing your own.

There is a story for each pattern. Very well written and enjoyable to read.

The instructions are extremely well thought out and easy to understand.

All in all, I would highly recomend this book to all levels of knitters. It is a perfect knitting book.

New Take-along Project

2007-07-30T12:07:00.000-05:00

Since the Wimple is finally off my back, I have started a new take-along project. It is one of the most challenging (not really difficult, just keeps your attention) pattern. It's the Bayerische sock by Eunny Jang. The yarn is KnitPicks Bare Superwash Merino/Nylon Fingering Weight that I dyed purple last year. I'm using 2 KnitPicks size 0 circular needles instead of five DPN's. I've never tried this, but when I got the call to take care of my step dad, I just grabbed the yarn, pattern, and my folder of KnitPicks circular needles. I think I like the technique, especially for travelling. Anyway, here's a picture of the ribbing plus 3 repeats of the pattern.

I've made several mistakes, but the pattern seems to be able to hide a multitude of sins, so that works good for me. I think one more repeat and I will be starting the heel.

Wimple is Completed

2007-07-30T11:46:00.001-05:00

The wimple is totally done. The pattern is from Knitting in America. There is a reprint called America Knits. I finished knitting it about a month ago but didn't have time to block it until now. All the while I was knitting this, it smelled like vinegar. It's 3 skeins of hand-dyed, superwash wool sock yarn called Wildfoote from Brown Sheep Co in the Ragtime colorway. So, before blocking it, I decided to wash it good with synthropal. It looked like had been cooking beets. Here's what I got.

I was still getting quite a bit of red. I was beginning to wonder if I would end up with a light pink wimple. So, I threw a glug of vinegar into the water, soaked it for an hour, wrapped it in plastic wrap, and nuked it in the microwave for 6 minutes. I figured if the dye wasn't set before, it was now. Well, here's the wash afterwards.

Hmmm. I finally threw it into the machine through 2 full cycles and the water finally ran clear. There must have been a lot of excess dye, because the color didn't change. I'm really surprised that my hands didn't turn red while I was knitting it. Anyway, I blocked it outside on some construction materials (rigid poly insulation)

Here's the finished product

(Note the lovely model in her nightgown at 3 am. who HATES getting her picture taken) I had to do a little steaming to flatten out the sides where it was folded in half. It worked pretty slick.

Back from the Ether

2007-07-27T03:06:00.000-05:00

Hi All. Whoever thinks that Minnesota is to cold a place to live, they should visit in the summer. It has been in the 90's every day for over a week and it looks like it will stay that way for a least another. When I was younger, nobody had air conditioners. Didn't need them. Well, we sure need them now.

It's amazing how much I missed my computer. I've been without computer access for a little over 2 weeks and I felt a little out of touch. I found that I could easily live without it, but I didn't WANT to. Kind of like electricity. When the power goes out, it's kind of fun for the first day or so. After that, you really begin to miss it. Anyway, I'm back for a while.

The reason I was gone is that I was taking care of my step dad. I'm all he has since my mother died last year. He's had dementia for a few years and it's getting worse. My mother had many physical ailments but her mind was still sharp. Both of them together made a working couple. Now that his "brain" is gone, it's pretty tough on the old guy. Anyway, he pulled a stunt and I decided I had to see what was going on. For the first week or so, I organized his house. They have lived there for 17 years and, although the place is neat and tidy with all their crap stored away, every cupboard, shelf, and closet was filled. So, without moving things around too much, I reorganized stuff so he could easily find and get at things. While I was grabbing rags to clean out the freezer after I defrosted it, I found this in the rag bag.

It's the first ever embroidery that I did. I used to visit an elderly lady went I was young. She lived by herself in a trailer a few blocks away. She was a rabid craft person: embroidery, crocheting, etc. I showed an interest and she taught me how to embroider on a printed dish/tea towel. It did this in 1969. I was amazed how good it looks after being a cleaning cloth for who knows how long. I brought it home with me.

After that first week, I managed to get my wheel to his house and was able to spin on the down time. I managed to finish spinning the singles for my shawl.

I think it turned out pretty good. It was a tough blend to spin, though. The color did turn out the way I wanted it. Hope it looks as good when plied.

Spinning for Shawl

2007-07-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hi, All. It has been a madhouse around here lately. I have finally gotten started on the spinning. It has been a real experience trying to get these fibers to work together. I have spun all of these types separately before, but never such a wildly blended mess. So here's the saga and what I've learned:
Here's the layered batts, more slippery than you can imagine.
I rolled the layered batts around a dowel for (supposedly) easier handling.
Here's an attempt at dizing using a very large hole (CD)
Here's some very poor top created by the above dizing.
Here's the whole mess (10.5 ounces) mixed up in a giant tub.
Here's the final mix.
I separated the whole mess into 2 plastic zip-locks.
I grab a handful, pull it into a foot or so long piece of roving. High-tech tweaking of my brake band for lace weight spinning.

About 1/3 ounce spun up. It goes real quick.

Dime-shot.

What I have learned:

A batch of fibers consisting of 33% wool, 33% alpaca, 17% mohair, and 17% silk is SLIPPERY!!!!!! It will not "behave". It will fly in your eyes, up your nose, and in your mouth. It will attach itself to your clothes permanently unless it sees a food dish and then it will then happily release from your clothes into said dish. Basically, it will get into and onto everything in the room you are preparing it in. No matter how much water I used to "mist" it into submission, it still remains wild.

The "grab, draft, and spin" methods works very well. It forces you to take breaks which lets helps defeat any repetitive stress problems. That's good because when I spin big hunks of good roving, I tend to spin until I can't feel my hands.

Anyway, this stuff is turning out very "organic" and wild, just like the moth. I think I am pleased. I hope it blooms some when I finish it. I'm not spinning it very tightly, so maybe I'll get lucky.

Sin-Off Survey

2007-06-30T12:37:00.000-05:00

Just reading the SOAR blog and they are asking spinners to fill out a survey to see how we like their mag, etc. Here's a link to the survey: Spin-Off Mag Survey ...Now, back to hauling boxes....
Oh, yeah...I got some new knitting and weaving books today...I will probably start doing some "no BS" reviews in the coming weeks. As soon a things settle down here.

Fiber for Shawl

2007-06-29T16:30:00.001-05:00

Here are the batts that I carded up for the shawl. I'm going to lay each the three colors on top of each other and pull into roving. I hope to maintain some seperation of the colors. We'll see how it turns out. Wish me luck!

Black and silver/brown alpaca
Tussah silk and grey Coopworth

Brown Cotswold and red Kid-Mohair

Drum Cards and Maintenance

2007-06-29T15:22:00.000-05:00

It's been my experience to beware of any product that claims "maintenance free". There is no such thing. It's kind of like a self-cleaning oven...There's always something that you need to clean by yourself. The problem with my Louet Drum card is that it's one of those maintenance free jobs. As I was carding my fibers for my shawl, I noticed some "drag" as I cranked it. It was weird because I tried it with no fiber on it and it still got kind of hung up at a certain point....Well, I decided it needed a closer inspection.
The problem with maintenance free stuff is that it's not meant to be maintained and therefore not really meant to be taken apart. This one came apart pretty easy. What I found was a ton of fiber and fiber dust and grit embedded in the lubricating grease on the gears and it had dried rock-solid. I was kind of surprised at the amount of dirt as I always use clean fibers and keep the card in a box when not in use. Then again, it is 12 years old. All the parts are plastic and wood except for the metal crank and pin. I was afraid to use any solvents to break up the grease, so I tried using a tooth brush and tooth picks. I finally resorted to soaking the 2 small gears in some Dawn dish soap. That loosened up the gunk enough to remove it. Then I re-lubed the thing and put it back together.

So, a word to the wise...If it says it needs cleaning, then it is built to be taken apart and cleaned. If not...it still needs to be done and it's a pain in the butt.

Busy Week

2007-06-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

What a week. I've had no chance to work on any spinning stuff, and only about 45 minutes to knit on my wimple.

Spent my birthday on Wednesday running errands for my ailing step-dad while he was in Alaska visiting my brother. Checked his house again and there was a horrible stench! I checked out his fridge and tossed some green stuff, washed his extremely moldy coffee maker and it still stunk in there. I just couldn't figure where it was coming from. Then I decided to check the oven. I found what was left of a 3 pound pork roast that had never been cooked putrefying. It had been in there at least 2 weeks. Gag!

The GOOD thing that day was when I got home, my son, who is a mushroom fanatic, gave me The Rainbow Beneath My Feet

I can't wait to go "shrooming" and trying this out.

Today, I'm going to try and comb the brown Cotswold fleece for my shawl before the grand-girl gets here. 5-pitch English combs and 2-year olds don't mix. Have a great day.

A little Humor from my friend

2007-06-15T08:11:00.000-05:00

AAADD- KNOW THE SYMPTOMS.....PLEASE READ!

Thank goodness there's a name for this disorder.Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose in the driveway,I look over at my car and decide it needs washing. As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my check book off the table,and see that there is only one check left.

My extra checks are in my desk in the study,so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of Coke I'd been drinking.

I'm going to look for my checks,but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over.

The Coke is getting warm,and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke,a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye--they need water.

I put the Coke on the counter and discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk,but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the counter,fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor.

So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn't washed, the bills aren't paid, there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter, the flowers don't have enough water, there is still only 1 check in my check book, I can't find the remote, I can't find my glasses, and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I'm really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail....

Do me a favor.
Forward this message to everyone you know, because I don't remember who the hell I've sent it to.

Don't laugh -- if this isn't you yet, your day is coming!!

Shawl Inspiration

2007-06-11T15:39:00.000-05:00

I took a picture of thisPromethia Moth last week and I just loved the colors. While I was wondering what to do for the Spun Stitches KAL it kind of hit me. Why not take the dominate colors of the moth and make a blend to spin for a shawl?

So I looked through my stash and I found some.

(Clockwise from top)Deep Brown Cotswold. Tussa Silk, Grey/Brown Alpaca, Black Alpaca, Red Kid Mohair, and a Light Grey Hogget Coopworth.

I think it will work. Then I had to figure out what shawl to knit. Well, there could be only one... Wing-of-the-Moth . Now I just have to find the time. It's been hard to locate.

Wimple

2007-06-11T14:40:00.000-05:00

I started this wimple last fall for my mother from Knitting in America as a take along project. I fell in love with it when I saw it in the book. I spent most of my time knitting on it while she was in the hospital. I didn't tell her it was for her as I wanted to give it to her for Christmas. All though the weeks as I sat knitting it in her hospital room, she kept telling me, in no uncertain terms, that it was a stupid thing to waste my time on. Well, I decided that I liked it well enough to keep knitting on it for myself. She died at the end of September. It got to be a real pain in the butt to knit on after that. I knit a bunch of other things, but couldn't seem to too exciting about working on the wimple. Well, I've been knitting on it again at doctor's offices and car shops. I'm about 1/3 the way around the bottom lace edging. It's getting there. I think I've finally figured out why I hated working on it. It's not that it made me sad because it reminded me of my mother. It's because all I could think of is "It was a stupid thing to waste my time on." Somehow, I got it in my head that it was stupid and senseless, not really practical, too. Well, you know something? I love this wimple. I still think it's beautiful. It's OKAY to make something just because I like it and it's pretty.

That being said, I am just waiting to hear back from a shawl Spin/Knit-Along that I want to join. I've never participated in any kind of KAL so this should be doubley fun to spin and knit. Probably a waste of time and certainly not practical, but by golly...it will be FUN!

Wool Blend

2007-06-11T14:02:00.001-05:00

I'm quick blended white corriedale and some grey unkown breed of wool together. What do you think of the 2 colors together for a fair Isle? There are a lot of nepps(SP?) so I'm going to give a comb on my five-pitch and see if that helps.

Plying Done!

2007-06-07T21:12:00.001-05:00

Ya know? I love spinning, but sometimes it feels really good to have all my bobbins empty and nothing really important pending.

Here is the finished product. 15 ounces of domestic wool top thaT I dyed with PRO Wash-Fast Acid Dyes. I ended up with 1281 yards/1171 meters in a nice DK weight. Perfect for the EZ Fair Isle Yoked sweater that I want to make. Now I just need to spin the "main" color. Not sure what I want to do for that. I think I do some carding and see what I come up with.

Now I need a better camera so I can get the colors right on these photos. These are close but not perfect. Well, have a good one, you all...I'm off to the hot-tub to relax. Hope this horrible weather that's been going through here is done for the night...It could prove embarassing if the pole barn blew down with me in the tub.

Airports

2007-06-01T08:43:00.000-05:00

I have changed the settings a little on the blog so only one day's worth of entries shows up. A special thank you to readers with dial-up connections since I get kind of picture happy.

I spent yesterday getting a relative onto an airplane in Minneapolis. I haven't flown since 1995 and has it changed! The aiport is HUGE. We took a shuttle bus from parking at one airport to the main airport and a train to get to the terminal. Walked forever to get to the right counter. We couldn't do the e-check-in because I needed to help this person to the gate, so I needed a pass. Then it was security which was pretty tough to do with this person. Then, we got into the middle of the airport and I was STUNNED. There are more shops and reasturants than most malls. 39 restaurants and eateries, 16 news shops, 44 stores: Body Shop, Naturally Cashmere, Author's Bookstore, etc. and tons of traveler services like massage, shoe shine, internet connections, etc. The big problem was walking through all that area and getting to the right concorse and gate. Thank goodness for moving sidewalks. Well, got him through the gate, looked at a map, found a shortcut, took the bus, got my car, and drove into traffic at 5:30 rush hour. Of course I was south of Minneapolis and needed to drive through the city and head north for 120 miles. Anyway, I made it home by 8 o'clock. Not bad, really, just more hectic than I like.

I'm still plying. I haven't had any time and today looks dismal for it, too. I'm going to try, though.

I brought the Wimple I'm knitting to the airport and it went through security with no problem. It's on one metal-ended circular. Too bad I didn't have a chance to work on it.

Well, off to the salt mines. Man! When I'm gone for one day, things really fall behind.

Plying away

2007-05-30T16:01:00.000-05:00

Finally done spinning up the pound of singles and I'm now plying it up.

It has turned out just the way I wanted it to ( how unreal is that).

It's 3-ply at 303 yd/3.5 oz. (277 m/100 g) so it's a nice light-worsted weight.

The colors don't show up really well, since it's kind of an overcast day. They are much brighter in person.

5 ounces down, with 11 more to go.

The Mailman was here!!!!!!

2007-05-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

Yipeee! I feel like a kid in a candy store. I'm not usually on to order knitting books anymore. I really have a ton and I usually only buy "Technique" book and make up my own patterns. Well, here are some of my latetest purchaces from Amazon

Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller. It's loaded with techniques and stitch libraries.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off for laughs.

Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook I got this mostly to see how the instructions and writing are to see if I want to order their new book Twisted Sisters Knit-to-Fit Workshop when it comes out in September.

And, last but not least:

4 pounds of dye and 5 pounds of citric acid from PRO Chemical and 4 1-quartand 10 16-ounce squirt bottles from Dharma Trading Co.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

2007-05-26T10:41:00.000-05:00

Last summer I got myself a WooLee Winder, which I LOVE, but the bobbins are a larger size than the ones that came with my wheel. I have this Tensioned Lazy Kate from Ashford that wanted to use .

So, I had to modify it.

I cut a board to 7-inches in length, drilled some holes for the screws and tension knob and cut some heavy clothes hangers for new longer rods. PRESTO!

Note the "hi-tech" clips to hold the rods in place since they don't have the "bends" in them like the ones from the factory.

Today is plying day. This is one pound of some domestic wool top that I dyed. I can't wait to see what it looks like. Have a great holiday weekend.

Dyeing is Fun

2007-05-23T22:50:00.000-05:00

I love dyeing. As I'm waiting for my orders from Dharma Trading Co. and PRO Chemical to get here, I thought I'd post some things I did a few months ago.

This is 4-1/2 ounces of Acid dyed superwash DK weight Merino. I think it says "Socks".

This is some Superwash DK Merino that I had left over from an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket that I mad for my friend Terri's little girl. Very comfy.

This is some Kool-Aid dyed Corriedale that I spun up and used to make a hat for my hubby.

This is some more Kool-Aid dyed Corriedale that I spun.

I thought that the purple tweed was really boring, so I plying it with some hand spun blue acid dyed Corriedale. I like it much better.

Here is a Kool-Aid dyed hand spun bulky Corriedale that I made into some of EZ's "Re-treads".

Some Kool-Aid dyed Superwash Fingering Merino that became socks.

Some acid dyed superwash fingering weight merino. I really would like to make These Socks by Eunny Jang with it.

Acid dyed superwash Worsted weight Merino. Could this be something that Cathy in Oly might like? Hmmmmm.

What I'm Spinng Now....

2007-05-23T15:34:00.000-05:00

This is some domestic wool top the I have dyed with blotches of black, teal, purple, and blue acid dyes. It seems to be coming out nicely. I'm on the last of 3 bobbins now. It comes out to about 1 pound of singles. I'm planning on 3-plying it. I have to modify my tensioned lazy-kate so I can fit my WooLee Winder bobbins on it. They are a little longer than my Ashford Traditional bobbins. I'm not quite sure what I will do with this stuff. I was thinking of using it for the pattern color in the Elizabeth Zimmermann Yoked Sweater. I'll have to spin up a natural white or grey solid for the background, I suppose. I wonder if this stuff would be too dark?

I have a ton of this fleece and I was thinking I could lighten it up by carding it with white fleece to make it a real soft, light. grey. I'll have to try that when I finish spinning and plying of this stuff. Any opinions are appreciated.

It Shrunk!

2007-05-23T15:29:00.000-05:00

I am amazed how much this thing felted. Wow. I'm pretty happy about how it turned out. I WILL change the pattern if I make another on, though. It's really too long. The ear flaps have ended up as cheeck flaps, but that's okay. This was supposed to be an extra warm hat for cold and windy days, so that works out.

The pattern is Felted Helmet Hat by Nancy Lindberg
Wool is Bemdji Woolen Mills Homespun

I couldn't figure out what the brown spot was on the crown of the hat. I blew it up and it's a wood tick. Man, I can't wait for July when they are long gone. ARGH!

Big Hat

2007-05-23T15:22:00.000-05:00

First FeltingProject

EEEK! I sure hope this thing shrinks!!!!!

Beginning Yarn

2007-05-23T15:08:00.000-05:00

Someone was asking me how bad my yarn was when I first started spinning. I remember it well.It all started when my sister-in-law gave me some raw mohair that she had gotten somewhere. This was not the type of mohair that most spinners would recognize. It looked like it had been sheared off the goat because it needed shearing, not for using the fiber. Since we didn't know any better, we thought it was great. My husband, knowing that my sister-in-law was giving me this fiber for Christmas, bought me "Hands On Spinning", by Lee Raven, some hand cards and a drop-spindle. The spindle must weigh at least 2 pounds. I was soooo thrilled.

I read the book, washed the mohair, which was actually white instead of dark gray, carded it as best as I could, and tried to spindle it. What a catastrophe. The mohair was so slipery and the spindle was so heavy, I couldn't do anything. Well, more reading followed, an Ashford Traditional was bought, and some raw wool was found, which I washed and carded, and my first yarn was born. I still use that original mohair for blending. I still love it even though it wasn't perfect.

Here are some photos of some of my earlier yarns.

My very first yarn (merino-what did I know?), and a hat I made with it. I even dyed a few minnie skeins with Kool-Aid so I could have stripes.

Here's what is left of most of my first yarns. I made socks for my sister-in-law (blended with the mohair, of course) and a bunch of other little things for family and friends.

Here is my second yarn. A beautiful Romney fleece.

And the hat I made for my husband, which he still wears when it's really cold.

All this started a little over 10 years ago and my passion for spinning (and my stash, of course) has only increased. Thanks, Cathy.

After the Fiber Frenzy

2007-05-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

My spinning group and I went to the Minnesota Shepherd's Harvest and Wool Festival this past weekend. We had a blast. The weather was great and the place was full of great people and buys.

There were 3 buildings full of vendors and many classes. 2 barns had llamas sheep and fiber goats. There were shearing, sheepherding dog, and flax demonstrations. Plus much more.

My friends and I got there right at 9am and spent 6 hours roaming around. Went back to the hotel, had a great dinner, and had a "Show and Tell" of all our stuff. Here's mine.

I got 4 ounces of Black Diamond Fiber and a silk brick from Mielke's Fiber Arts

28 ounces of beautiful Rose/Grey Suri fleece from Alpacaville Farm

23 ounces of wonderful red kid mohair from Enchanted Meadows

8 ounces of dehaired buffalo clouds from Little Barn

A 5 pound Corriedale/Romney fleece from
Lamb Lane
Ron/Barbara Zumdome
1991 315th Ave. Fort Madison, IA 52627
(319) 372-1813
Sheep (Romney, Corriedale, Suffolk, Border Leicester, Bluefaced Border Leicester); Sell breed and stock, Raw fiber, Processed fiber, Batts, Roving, Yarn; Open evenings or weekends

And some silk bells and some Firestar nylon from a local woman who was just selling some of her stash.

I'm going to have a good time figuring what I'm going to do with all this stuff. I just like looking at it.

Well, this is really hard to do while my granddaughter is wanting me to play. See ya next time.

New Blog

2007-05-23T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hi, All. This blogging thing is getting out of hand. :)
I had been getting email about people not being able to leave comments on my blog at MySpace without having to log in, etc. That is not the way I set it up, but I can't seem to change it. So, I have changed blog services to Blogger. Hopefully this will work out better. So, I am trying to bring in my previous posts here and hopefully be able to add new ones as time goes on. This is all new to me, so please be patient as I stumble along.