About Life, Knitting, Jewelry, Being a Working Mom, Raising Kids
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Oh boy, oh boy.................... yup, my boy............ he's such a troublemaker. It's just in his blood!!! His sister showing him how to get into trouble but then not knowing how to get out of said trouble finds him often stuck in situations where he then will need help............ we seem to be rescuing hime quite regularly!!! Behind our sectional last night..................... stuck in the corner:
And here is fingerless glove #1 from the handspun that I blogged about yesterday. I really, really love how they are turning out.
Second try was a charm. I could have used 2 extra stitches in the thumb but design lesson #2 (aside from the silly gauge lesson yesterday) is that if you choose to do a 2X2 rib you can't just increase by 2 stitches, you have to go for 4 and that would have been too much. I hope to get #2 done tonight and then I hope to get back to spinning this lovely, lovely fibre that I picked up from the Loopy Ewe a little while back:
It's a merino and one hank of the fibre is dyed in the purples and the other hank in the pinks. They coordinatre quite nicely. It's by the Dyeing Arts - currently sold out. I'm just taking the basic approach and spinning the purple one one bobbin - almost finished the purple. And then I'll spin the pink. And then I'll 2-ply them together. This spinning project was put on the spinning wheel upon the request of Little Miss - she loves just the right colours - just like Mom. :-)
Sometimes I really want to be selfish.............. sometimes I am a little selfish but most of the time, I consider my family around me and their needs before I stalk off to do something on my own that affects hubby and the kids. Right now, I'm in one of those funks where I really, really want to be selfish but I just can't get myself to go there. I already had one selfish day last weekend doing the Arts Alive Festival and leaving hubby to deal with the kids all day etc. I was selfish when I wanted to go see the various fibre places on our vacation when I made everyone take time out in their day to follow me around aka drive out of our way to check out all the fibre goodies etc. I do get my share of time. I do wish I had more time just to myself though. Anyways, to make a long story short, I REALLY, REALLY want to go to Gibsons Fibre Fest. Just for the day. A while ago I thought I could take the Friday off and hop over there by myself just for the day. Well, I've already taken a couple of Fridays off so I really shouldn't take another day off. I like to have a nice bank of vacation days available for the school year in case of emergencies or "just needing to have a break". It's starting to get busy at work. And, of course, most importantly, I really can't justify the ferry cost for just myself and my car and then still think I could afford to spend some money. We're trying to save money and not spend it so buying fibre and yarn is all part of that. Now, having said that, I still keep thinking that it would be fun to head over there with the family on Saturday but of course, there are swimming lessons for the kids and they already missed last week and other stuff like that - so realistically, unless I was really selfish again and went off on my own, Saturday is also not an option. So having written this all down now, I can totally see how it's not feasible and not a smart idea and so I will just enjoy my weekend at home, spinning and knitting with all the lovely fibre I already do have rather than going out there being tempted by even more. I'm most sad though that I won't get to see Shelley at Fun Knits. I missed her in Victoria and was really wishing I could catch up with her at Gibsons and judging from her blog there's some awesome fibre on the way to Gibsons.
Okay, whine over........................... maybe I'll be able to indulge by going for a short little drive over to Port Moody to check out the new yarn store Black Sheep Yarns. Maybe I can manage that? Hmmm, it says that they are open on Sunday. :-)
Last night I started a pair of fingerless gloves, my new obsession, using some handspun merino from Copperpot Woolies. The colourway was called Splash and it's a blend of bright pink and lime. It started out as this:
We had a bit of a love hate relationship at first on the spinning wheel. I wasn't quite sure how to blend the two colours well and how to best handle this type of super soft pulled into roving batt. The first bit was uneven and it seemed to want to be way overspun into little curly bits etc. Eventually, I did get my act together and we became fairly good friends. The end result is this:
I was very pleased in the end. It's about 16 WPI and I have about 222 yards, 2 ply. So I got the needles out last night. Of course, I didn't really do a gauge swatch. Hmmm......... wrong.... I know, I know.... I got past the thumb gussett etc. and once I was working all in stocking stitch (I'm not following a pattern - just from my head), it kind of got a tad big. I was trying to see if I could pretend they would be fine but no... i ended up ripping. Now I'm back to knitting some ribbing again but that's almost done. The lime and the pink are quite toned down now in the 2-ply form and knitted they are even a bit more subdued. I think it's very pretty though.
Arts Alive was good. It was HOT, HOT, HOT. I think it probably slowed down some of the shopping. People were just too hot to #1 come out and #2 to linger. I'm not complaining though and it's a festival I would definitely consider doing again. I didn't get any pictures.
I had one pair of earrings there that I had just made up the night before that I was sure would sell. Simple, basic, sterling silver, fun, will go with any and every outfit............ but no takers.......... one person who liked them and wanted to maybe come back for them but didn't. So I'll show them off to you:
I put them in the shop yesterday. I made a few pair and one of them will definitely become one of my favourite pair for my fall wardrobe.
I also played with more stretchy chainmaille goodness. Learning how to do this weave, the Half-Persian 4-in-1 wasn't that difficult once I found a You Tube video but figuring out how to close the bracelet into a continuous loop was a tad more difficult. With the first few, I spent 2 or 3 hours on each trying to figure out how to get the pattern to flow. Eventually I got it and now, I've got it down to 10 or 15 minutes to figure out the proper ring arrangment to get it to look perfect. Here is an array of colours that I've created:
and a close-up detail shot:
I like them............
Now it's time to start on a strategy for my fall and winter craft shows. They will keep me busy in November but of course, I have to prepare well in advance, especially with my busy fall work schedule.
Enjoy the week. Our summer weather seems to have vanished but Little Miss seems to be in luck with her soccer camp. So far she hasn't had to endure a downpour. They've happened late at night and early morning.
Off I go to see if our tires got marked.......... I'm parked in 2-hour parking today.
The Pic-Knit last Saturday was a fun event and I spent just a little bit of money on some fibre aka I took an amount in cash and I didn't pull out the credit card. I even put one blob of very pretty fibre back when I figured out it would go above my self-allotted cash budget. I also met some other Ravelers who I had been chatting with on Ravelry for a while. There's always that moment of recognition and how do you actually find the people that you "think" you know from you on-line adventures. Well, when I found a group of knitters, and recognized one by a picture and asked her if she was who I thought she was and then intorduced myself with my "real" name, the name that my Mom (actually my Mom's doctor) picked for me at birth......... there was no glimmer of recognition.................. not until I said "I'm Mommyknits on Ravelry" and then there was that recognition and that oh, you're mommyknits, oh she's mommyknits........ Just too funny!!! Our personas are built around our screen names and the image we portray in our ravatars. But to say the least, I stepped out of my comfort zone, met a few other knitters and sat and knitted and chatted for a while. Always a nice thing to do.
While I'm talking about local events, this coming Saturday, I will have a booth at the Langley Arts Alive festival. I'm not ready for it but that's what I always think. One of my newest items on display will be a necklace I've been dabbling with. I have about 4" left to go to finish it. It's a labour of love. Here's a glimpse. It's a dainty chain made from niobium and sterling silver - as usual - in my random colour scheme.
Hopping over to fibre and spinning.................. I've just spun this beautiful merino/silk blend from All Spun Up. It's my finest spinning ever and I love, love, love the result. This yarn is so soft. I don't know what it will be yet but it will be something pretty.
I've also been working on my Norwegian Woods whenever I get a chance. I'm getting close but yet so far. The rows are long right now that I get a maximum of 2 rows done every time I sit down. Silly me.... when I finished my first skein of yarn and had to join, I decided that I should string the beads for the cast off row and just push them along as there wasn't that much left to go but pushing those beads along is slowing me down big time. I'm trying to work on it a little bit each and every day.
The kids are having a fun summer!!!
This was a fun day at the beach................. eating sand and all. :-)
I don't know if anyone local aka local to me aka the Lower Mainland reads my blog but if you do, I'd like to direct your attention to an event next weekend, August 9th at the Surrey Museum. It's called Pic-Knit and looks like it might be fun.
Follow this link for the details.
This is a copy of the text:
Join a summer picnic of knitters, crafters and suppliers at the Surrey Museum Plaza. Pack a lunch, watch the experts in action, and learn tips and tricks in our mini-workshops to inspire your own modern or heritage yarn craft. Tour the Museum’s Textile Studio and the Hooser Library to view our extensive collection of looms, weaving samples and rare textile books.
I'll be there. Looks like a fun day and definitely a stash enhancing opportunity. :-) Don't know yet what time but I'll be there. It will be around noon because we have swimming lessons for the kids in the morning. I'd love to meet up with some people if anyone is interested.
Well, I'm almost done with the vacation report. Our first stop was a stop just outside of Merritt, BC at Aurelia Wool Works. Andrea kindly waited around for us to make our arrival and we enjoyed our visit. I love her little studio filled with goodies. I was blown away by the big drums (for lack of a better word) of dyed roving on the top shelves surrounding her studio. Her stuff is all imported in from New Zealand and there are some absolutely wonderful finds in there from Corriedale and basic Merino to some lovely Merino/Silk blends. Her top knots of mixed fibres and colours are also quite fun. The kids also enjoyed their visit as they got to check out the chicken coop and JR loved that the rooster crowed for him several times. Little Miss got to collect a freshly laid egg. It was a very enjoyable visit. I love shopping for yarn and fibre on line but there is something to be said about the hospitality of the fibre arts community and I trul experiecned that hospitality during this trip. It was great. Everybody was nice and tried so very hard to accommodate me and our rumbunxious family........ I felt welcome everywhere and it was worthwhile planning my trip ahead and contacting everyone to find out when I could come see them etc.
So here is my stash that I brought home from Aurelia Wool Works:
So after this trip, do you think I have enough to spin? I think so....... and there are some goodies that I haven't shared yet. If you wanna make friends with me over on Ravelry (mommyknits), I have all my fiber stash up to date. Not all my yarn stash is up to date (only about half of it probably is) but most of my spinning stash. Oops, I forgot, there are a few more things that I have photographed but not put up on ravelry yet................ fibres........... of course.
Back to regular programming after this post.
Oh, while I'm still in the past, I should probably show you the socks I made on vacation:
These are the Spring Forward socks from the summer '08 Knitty. I used some stash Opal Handpainted yarn. The pattern was the most perfect pattern for a long road trip. Easy to memorize but interesting enough from keeping me from falling asleep. I did enjoy this pair. I love plain old stocking stitch socks but these have kind of inspired me to make some more patterned socks again.
Have a great weekend!!! It's a long weekend up here for us so I'm happy!!!
I will now jump to day 1 of our summer vacation but before I do, I should show you a wonderful family picture that my good university friend Cathy took of us at as a family at the Atlantis waterslides in Vernon.
We had a lot of fun that day even with JR's lack of any sort of fear in water. He's a danger to himself!!!!
Now back to fibre tourism and day one of our journey. Going in backwards order, stop #2 was Twist Of Fate Yarns in Kamloops. Erynn just recently opened a little store front on the bottom floor of her lovely home and it's great. Yarn and fibre abound and I did a nice bit of shopping. Also at her store, you can find some of my shawl pins, bookmarks and cell phone charms. Whether from out of town or in town, her shop is easy to find from the highway and it's worth while if you're looking for some unique hand dyed yarns and fibres. I had fun. Here's a mosaic of all the goodies that came home with me.
I don't remember, off hand, everything but they are listed in my ravelry stash pages. If I remember correctly, the two in the top row are both wonderfully squishy superwash wool. I can't wait to spin up the red on the right. I think it was called pommegranate passion. The middle row are two bags filled with lovely merino. I think the bottom left is also a merino. The yarn on the right (the only yarn I bought all trip) is this awesome hand dyed bamboo in wonderful watery type shades. It's a lace weight. I am not sure of the yardage but it will become something pretty at some point down the road.
My next blog post will feature my last fibre stop - or the first fibre stop on our journey.
In the meanwhile, I'll leave you with a picture of some pretty earrings that I made for the shop the other day:
They are made from a stone called Lepidolite Jasper and adorned with swarovski crystals and topped off with sterling silver ear wires. Pop on over to the shop once in a while. I don't show everything new off on the blog here. I often forget!!! Getting older, you know.
Until later.............
Before I step back in time to talk about other fibery loveliness that came home with me on my trip, I'd like to show you what I just finished:
Here are my finished Spyrogira fingerless mittens from my very own handspun. Can you say "Uli is excited"?
Next on the needles using handspun will be those socks out of the handspun I showed off yesterday. I think I might cast on tonight. I'm spinning some stuff right now that's not going so well. It just feels like the fibre, a BFL, has experienced a bit (quite a bit) of felting somewhere along the process and the pre-drafting was even hard. It's all very compressed with lots of really tough sections. I will use the resulting singles to practice some navajo plying.
Now back to fibre shopping on vacation.................. aka fibre tourism (I love that expression)
My last fiber stop in the Okanagan was a stup with Sharon from Homespun Haven in Armstrong. Sharon was kind enough to open her home based shop/studio to us after dinner on a Sunday evening. I was so pleased with her kindness. She has a lot of goodies in that "above the carport" little shop of hers. I'm thinking I bought more but I must not have all the pics uploaded but in my stash there is some Bamboo fibre in the bright turquoise as well as Merino/Tussah Silk, Corriedale and some Merino. There I also got an Ashford Niddy Noddy that will give me 2 yard and 1 yard skeins. The 2 yard skeins are coming in helpful.
And last, but not least, I would love to show you two new listings I put up in my shop this morning. They are both key chains but one is a new style for me.
Off I go. Next on my fibre journey will be my report on Twist of Fate in Kamloops.
Today marks the end of my vacation. Back to work I go............. I wish I was still at home. I have so many lovely new fibery things at home and there is so much organization and tidying left to do that I'm not quite happy with being back into the "real life" routine quite yet.
Over the next little while, I'll be blogging about all my fiber related explorations while on our trip to the interior of BC and anything else fibery and knitting related that happened in the last few weeks. I figure I might as well work my way backwards and start at the end of the vacation.
Last week, once we got home from our road trip, I had the absolute pleasure to go on a yarn crawl with Brenda from Close to my Heart. We started out in Langley/Surrey and headed into Vancouver.
Our stops included Knitopia in Langly, 88 Sttiches in Walnut Grove, our house for a quick visit to see all of my vacation stash enhancement, Birkeland Brothers on Main in Vancouver, Three Bags Full also on Main and Maiwa Supply on Granville Island. We also stopped for a yummy lunch at Solly's Bagels just off Main Street and some other take-home goodies.
I think I was pretty good!!! At Knitopia, I fell in love with these two wonderfully hand dyed rovings - a 50/50 blend of merino and tencel. I didn't start spinning them yet but they won't be in my stash long. I just love the subtleness of the colours. Yet, the colours are beautifully saturated. I think they will make some lovely goodness.
Given that I wasn't going to spend much money at all, I stayed self controlled at 88 Stitches and just looked at all the loveliness. I also kept my wallet in my purse at Birkeland Brothers.
At Three Bags Full we met up with Sivia Harding. It's always such a pleasure to see Sivia. I was also excited to meet the owner of the store who was excitedly waiting for her own Ladybug to arrive. I was tempted by some lovely Yummy Yarn rovings but I resisted because I can get her stuff if I go to the Coquitlam Farmer's market and I might just have to stop by there again before it finishes at the end of the season. Reminder to self.............. go check her dates at the market. I did pick up this wonderful skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in the Lava Lipstick shade. Another skein of almost solid but very lovely colour shadings.
I also picked up a WPI tool. No shopping at Maiwa either although I did pick up and put down several shades of pencil rovings from Skacel.
JR is my cool dude of summer:
I'll end it here with one last picture of my final Tour de Fleece spinning project. My goal was to come close to a 2-ply fingering weight using a superwash merino. Here is my skein:
Although it's not quite fingering weight. On my WPI tool it's 18 WPI and the little card that came with it put that just into the sport weight category. So.... I'm close. I'm calling it a successful Tour de Fleece. This skein, with one or two exceptions is a very evenly spun skein and I will actually cast on and knit a pair of socks with it since the goal was to generate a skein of sock yarn. I have 354 (or thereabouts) yards and I think I've got enough.
I could show you finished socks and more stash but I'm going to cut it off here now. Tomorrow is another day for more blogging!!!
We're home................ and I'm just giving you a small preview of all the fibery goodness I'll be chatting on about in the next little while. Here is a picture in our last hotel room of how my stash grew while we were on our little road trip.
No longer does it all fit to the one rubbermaid tote I limited my stash to a little while ago. It has now expanded to two, very full tubs. They are overflowing with the new goodies, as well as all the things that arrived in the mail while I was gone and the bit of stash that I added when Brenda and I went on our yarn crawl yesterday. So, stay tuned.......... my Bugsy will be getting a serious workout....
Coming to your from Sun Peaks........... vacation day 1 was a great success. I haven't taken any pictures yet but it was a nice day.
We set out about 8:30 in the morning, did the traditional stop at Timmies for an XL Double Double and a 20 pack of timbits and off we went.
Our first stop was at Aurelia Wool & Weaving. It's off the beaten path and out in the country and the kids had a blast meeting some chickens and the rooster and JR especially loved the loud coccadoodledoos from the rooster. Little Miss got to bring in a still warm egg from the nest. That was their first highlight of the trip. My highlight, of course, was the absolutely beautiful fibre and when you see all the pics (if I ever take a pic of it all) you will have to agree with me. I bought Corriedale and Merino and the most gorgeous Merino Silk/Blends. I also got a couple of her top knots in fun blends of colours. I left there with a BIG bag.
We moved on into Merritt where we had lunch at the McDonalds. Then we drove on to Kamloops to check out the new Twist of Fate store. Erynn has done a lovely job and I had a fun time there, too. I bought one skein of lace weight - a hand dyed bamboo in watery shades of blue and lime. The rest was all fibre. Another big bag followed us into the car.
Then we headed up to Sun Peaks. I really love the European flair up there. Of course, the place we're staying, Sun Peaks Lodge, is owned by Germans so I get to practice the language a bit, too.
We met all of Evan's cousins and family etc. and Little Miss had a blast with her 2nd cousins. There were 24 of us who attempted to go to the same restaurant, many of the kids........ it was crazy. There are 2 other girls who are Little Miss' age and she was having a blast getting to know them.
Today, the sun is shining and there's a craft show and a quilt show in the village. The kdis can't wait to get to the pool. This afternoon is great-grandmas birthday party.
We're having a good time!!!
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