Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2007

Man was that ever fun! The boy and I drove up into Maryland Sunday morning to check out the Sheep and Wool Festival. We saw so many different kinds of sheep. Have you ever heard of Jacob sheep? They're cool! They can have 4 horns, two that wind around their ears fairly typically, and two that wind down around their jaw. This one only had two.



And they are so cute when they're little!



This one is a Corriedale, check out those cheeks.



Good times were had by young and old. We saw llamas.



And I think these are goats.



We watched a sheepdog demonstration.



And saw a lady spinning angora straight from the rabbit.



And, of course, we had to check out the alpaca. The one on the left is a huacaya, the one on the right is a suri. They were so soft.



There were also some who'd been sheared. This one is also huacaya - just with less hair.



It was a lovely cool spring day; we had lamb for lunch (gyro for me, burger for the boy), a couple of oldfashined sodas, and a great time. And for the record, I didn't buy any yarn. I did buy a little fiber and a drop spindle, but no yarn.

Mini List

1. Leaving town tomorrow, little sister's graduatin' (yay)
2. Work has been nuts lately, and way high pressure (boo)
3. I have mastered the biscuit (yay)
4. We're going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival on Sunday (yay)
5. I don't see much of the boy during the week on my current work schedule (boo)
6. I'm tired, and my feet hurt (boo)
7. Tomorrow is friday (yay)
8. Gray's Anatomy is two hours tonight (yay)
9. I broke a sock needle (boo)

yup, that's it for now.

Formula for Summer

A warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings
plus
hand and power tools yields:



plus
three pallets of cinder blocks, twenty bags of sand, and 30 bags of gravel
plus



plus
another warm sunny Saturday
plus
two twenty somethings . . . and hopefully it will look like a lot of tasty food growing in the back yard.

Green, Yellow and Pink

If you haven't heard of Project Spectrum, check out the website.

Basically, it began to prompt bloggers who make any kind of art or craft to explore the color wheel throughout the year. This month and next the theme colors are pink, yellow and green. Hmm . . . that sounds familiar . . .



And I found out that the little girl I knit this for was born in the last few days, happy and healthy at around 6 lbs. Congratulations, mom!

To be brutally honest, I'd forgotten about this, so I don't have much in the way of new creations . . . but I thought I might make a photo scavenger hunt of it. So, for your viewing pleasure:

Grr . . .

I've been stalking a book at the library for over a month. A very cool friend recommended it to me. It was due back at the end of March. Now the library catalog says they don't have any copies of that book in the city library system.

I will find the book, I will!!

You're spoiling me!!

I have the greatest secret pal ever! Just look at what showed up in the mail this weekend:



My secret pal made my night Saturday. I went to check the mail and there was a cute little box with my name on it. Inside I found the two hanks of lovely heathered yarn and everything else you see there. The little bottle is lavender scented bath oil, very yummy! The bar of soap has a strong sweet and spicy scent; I think it is destined to live with my socks, to make them smell nice. What you don't see is that in the two days that I've had them, the chocolates are all gone. Very tasty. I'd like to thank my secret pal, she's awesome!

In other news, as I am a glutton for punishment, I signed myself up for another swap, for which I'm knitting this:



My pal for the Hogwarts Sock Swap is gryffidor, can you tell?

All in a row . . .

I had a bit of trouble with this sock. I put the stitches on a holder (read: dental floss) so I could make use of the needles. Once I put it back on, the stitches didn't line up anymore. I must have forgotten something. Or else, the stitches had a dance while they were waiting for me to come back. Either way, I frogged the cuff I had started, and began again. At the time I was taking pictures I had finished one pattern repeat. I have now finished two of the 16 row repeats. I love how organized this sock looks - twisted stitches are so well defined. I'm using Knitpicks bare superwash merino fingering weight that I dyed a while back. I'm just loving the way the colors blend. This is great knitting when you just need life to make sense.

February Sock Club Socks

Pattern: Inside Out (Rockin' Sock Club 2007, Blue Moon Fiber Arts)
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Monsoon
Modifications: A few . . . I knit the toe in stockinette instead of garter stitch, I did not rib the sole, worked an eye of partridge arch support panel, knit the heel with an eye of partridge heel flap . . . I knit the foot on 1's and the cuff on 2's, and while they're a bit tight to get over my heels, they feel marvelous once their on.

I have a bit of yarn left, not much, but I probably could have worked another half-a-pattern repeat at the top of the sock. I'm thinking about knitting baby booties out of it, to keep giving to the crisis pregnancy center. Now to find a pattern.

Shetland Triangle

I think I'm going to work on making the finished object posts a bit more official. So here goes.

Shetland Triangle, from Wrap Style (Interweave Press)
Yarn: 1 hank Knitpicks Bare Fingering Weight Merino, dyed with Jaquard dyes
Modifications: repeated the body pattern two extra times before starting the border, because I still had yarn left

I love how this turned out. I'm thinking about blocking it again, because I think I need to stretch it a bit more. I can attest that blocking is indeed a miracle process; when I cast off I had a lumpy mass of wool, but after it was blocked and dried, I had a drapey shawl. I'm actually a bit jealous. This is for my grandmother, so I have to let it go. I intend to knit three more - one for each grandmother, by Christmas. Thus far, this is all I have. No idea if I'll finish the other three on time. Thankfully the pattern doesn't take all that long. The other question is whether or not to change patterns at some point. I have found a few patterns that function the same way, but with a different stitch design. I had a great time dyeing the yarn. Perhaps what I need to do is dye some yarn to knit myself one; I really do like the slight variation of my hand dyed "solid" colors. Maybe a thicker yarn, to make it warmer, a bit less frou-frou, and more me. A tanish shade perhaps? Hmm . . .

Days like today . . .

My prayers tonight go up for anyone anywhere who spent even the briefest of moments wondering where their son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, nephew, cousin, friend, spouse, or parent was and if they were safe, or even alive. And for the young man who was so miserable that he sought to end his life and the lives of so many others.

God is not without a sense of humor

and I have proof!

"A nor'easter (also northeaster) is a macro-scale storm whose winds come from the northeast, especially in the coastal areas of the Northeastern United States and Atlantic Canada. More specifically, it describes a low pressure area whose center of rotation is just off the coast and whose leading winds in the left forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to other extratropical storms. They also can cause coastal flooding, coastal erosion and gale force winds." -Wikipedia

We're supposed to be having one of those today. I got a call yesterday asking if I could come into work a little after noon to do hourly weather cut-ins (where we update folks on the weather sitch by breaking into regular programming, we're angering golf fans today) because the weater was supposed to be so bad all day. I'm sitting in the control room now - and guess what! It's bright and sunny outside!! What the deuce??

So . . .

The fellow who runs the station website is thinking about letting me write a craft blog. I'm thinkin' he's crazy. Any ideas? A title? Good topics?

So far I'm thinking of working up posts on (in no particular order):
1.Knitting (General)
2.Crochet (General)
3.Spinning (General)
4.Sewing Clothing
5.Quilting
6.Making soft toys
7.Faux Finishing
8.Furniture Making and Finishing
9.Crafting for Charity
10.Christmas gift ideas
11.Other gift ideas (birthdays, anniversaries, mother's day etc . . .)
12.Good gifts for crafters
13.Sock Knitting
14.Lace Knitting
15.Filet Crochet
16.Mosaic Tiling
17.Baking (General)
18.Bread Making
19.Dyeing
20.Collage
21.Some dish specific cooking (making pasta, pie crust, pesto etc . . .)
22.Making purses and bags
23.Knitting finishing techniques
24.Interviews with some local store owners and crafters

Now, to be brutally honest, I don't know too much about quite a few of these things, but this can serve as a motivation to research and learn myself. I may spend some serious time at the library/on the web. If anyone just loves any of the non-knitting stuff, and wants to share their wealth of knowledge, please do. Suggestions for websites etc . . . would be wonderful.

Am I nuts?? Y'all have read my blog, you know I don't express myself well on the page. I think I may be calling in the services of my mother, as I did in highschool. I might should ask if she's ok with that, huh.

Hogwarts Sock Swap Questionnaire

1. What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

2. Shoe size? Women's 10 1/2 to 11

3. Foot Length? 10"

4. Foot Circumference? 9"

5. List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.

a. Brittany 5" (all I have are US 1.5 2.5mm, but I love them!)
b. Knitpicks 6" US 2 3mm
c. I have a third kind, inherited, as in I think they were my grandmother's

6. Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?

I would love to try other wooden double points, something between 2mm and 3.5mm, lenght is not so important.

7. If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference? I honestly love them both, no preference.

8. Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Absolutely, That would be really cool!

A plea

No, not flea.

I have recieved, from the wonderful mavens at Blue Moon Fiber Arts, a skein of their Socks that Rock lightweight in a colorway called Undertoe. For. Free. (soon to be available to the general public, I think) I am so very grateful, and excited. As part of the sock club, they held a colorway naming contest. The theme was tides, and being a pun nerd I thought Undertoe was a great name for sock yarn. Aparently I wasn't alone. My name ended up drawn from a hat for a free skein of yarn. I will take a picture of it soon, still working on the staging area.

That said, I have a problem. I really like the colors in this yarn - it's pale purple/lavender which gets a little pink at times, tan, and a foresty green. My problem is, after seven or so attempts to start a sock on a variety of needle sizes, stitch counts, and stitch patterns, I cannot defeat the striping/barber polling. I just want to see the colors blend together in my finished piece. Aparently, socks that fit my feet are not the answer. And socks that are just slightly larger and would fit my mother aren't it either.

So my question, for all the knitters who might read this, or for anyone who just happens to have an idea, is what should I knit?? I have around 360 yards of light fingering weight superwash merino, that apparently doesn't want to be socks. Anyone else tried something fun with Socks that Rock that caused the angelic voices to start into the Halleluja chorus when you cast off? I'd kinda like to keep this yarn close, since I won it for naming it. I just don't know what to do, but the frogging needs to stop, now.

Fellowship time is precious

Sometimes it's what you really need.

I meet with a group of kids from church on monday nights, but tonight I had to leave early because I had to be back at work earlier than normal. One of the members was apologizing that we hadn't gotten into the meatier parts of our time before I had to leave, but tonight, when I was tired and still had a shift left to work, the hanging out and telling stories and laughing was what I really needed.

God's good like that.

In which our intrepid knitter questions . . .

. . . everything she learned in driver's ed.

So I'm driving from work to the store tonight, for some much needed grocery shopping. We were out of All Bran (do we sound 70 yet?) and in need of a gallon of milk. Cruising down the street behind a green Celica, I come up to a light going from yellow to red. I stop. So long Celica. Behind me is a silver Scion. Behind me. Traffic on the cross street comes to a stop, but our light hasn't turned green yet. Silver Scion pulls up to my right, as if to make a right turn when the light turns green, but before it does, silver Scion is off in front of me, down the street. Did I miss the light change? No, just changed. Huh. So on I go, now behind the silver Scion. Come to another red light; silver Scion is behind green Celica. Same trick. Silver Scion pulls around green Celica while it waits for the light to change, and heads off having effectively cut in line. Six blocks later, I pull up next to silver Scion in the leftmost left turn lane (I am in the second left turn lane). The light is red. Cross traffic slows to a stop, and silver Scion is off, a full second and a half before the light changes.

Am I nuts?? Green means go, right? Silver Scion had Florida plates, he's going to have a rude awakening when he discovers both that people in this town generally run red lights as they turn red not green, and that his Scion is no match for a "real" car in a colision. Part of me is smug, is that bad?

News on the job front . . .

So, I started working full time hours this week.

Instead of going in from 2:45 and working 'til 7, then turning around and working 9:15-12, now I go in at 11 and come home around 7. I've been running the audio board for the 90 minute newscast for a couple weeks now, and it's getting easier. I really struggled with audio for the 11pm news a couple months back, and I've had some of the same problems getting accustomed to the 90, plus it's three times as long. My awesome boss moved me to the newsroom camera for the 90 today and the rest of this week, for a break. And hopefully, I'll get to be in the camera rotation from time to time, just to break things up a little. I honestly get really weary of dealing with the craziness of the 90 minute newscast for 5 straight days. Unfortunately, for me to do anything else during the 90 means someone has to run the audio board - and today that was Nathan. He's not completely thrilled, but I think if it's more like one or two days a week, it won't be so bad. And overall, I think it will lead to more clean shows and less mistakes.

Now, bear in mind, I do not have a full time job, yet. I've taken over someone else's duties, and I'm training to direct, so I work 40 hour weeks (or 50, next week), but I'm not a full time employee. All thoughts of that have to wait until the change of hands actually happens. I'm also still making the same hourly wage, but 40 hours each week is a decent increase for me. I hope to have more good news after the sale goes through - so about a month or so.

In other news, I hope to have some sock pictures up soon, but after that it may take a little while before I post more knitting or baking pictures. I have plans to set myself up with a mini-studio for shooting those things. A couple of light fixtures plus a TV tray and some black fabric should do the trick. Maybe now I'll have an excuse to find a pair of 150 watt daylight balanced cfl's . . . toys!

I'm a huge sap

but this was just too cute!! Happy Saturday!

Change

I've never dealt well with change that I didn't make myself.

Case and point - when I was about a year and a half old, my parents decided to rearrange the living room furniture one day, while I was napping. When I saw the new set up I burst into tears, and threw impressive tantrums for a few days. So they decided to move it back. Apparently I must have gotten used to it, because I started the whole tantrum process all over again.

I guess I hadn't realized how accustomed I've become to the patterns of my day, but between visiting family and new job stuff starting next week, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

And I'm a cave dweller - when the outside world is more than I can handle, I retreat into my cave until I can cope. When you live in a two bedroom apartment and have house guests - you don't have a cave, or at least, it's not really your cave for a while.

This too shall pass.

Just Three Words

The rules are simple. Answer each question in three words. No more, no less.

01. Where is your cell phone? left rear pocket
02. Boyfriend/girlfriend? neither, I'm married
03. Hair? growing it out
04. Your mother? quite close by
05. Your father? kinda miss him
06. Your favorite item(s)? wool and cameras
07. Your dream last night? did not dream
08. Your favorite drink? scotch and drambuie
09. Your dream guy/girl? married to him
10. The room you are in? lots of buttons
11. Your fear? sucking at life
12. What do you want to be in 10 years? cool farmer mom
13. Who did you hang out with last night? very cool chicks
14. What are you not? quite awake yet
15. Are you in love? see number nine
16. One of your wish list items? huge canon lenses
17. What time is it? two twenty one
18. The last thing you did? made phone call
19. What are you wearing? my comfy jeans
20. Your favorite book? not just one
21. The last thing you ate? yummy bran muffin
22. Your life? goin' pretty good
23. Your mood? pretty relaxed now
24. Your friends? darn cool people
25. What are you thinking about right now? knitting a sock
26. Your car? George the truck
27. What are you doing at this moment? typing three words
28. Your summer? no summer break
29. Your relationship status? see number two
30. What is on your TV screen? news channel three
31. When is the last time you laughed? five minutes ago
32. Last time you cried? I can't remember
33. School? maybe later thanks