Better late than never

(edited for spelling on 12/17)

Judith MacKenzie was judging fleece at Black Sheep Gathering this year. Sitting in the gallery was like getting a class for free, she was so generous with her comments and knowledge. We spent a total of five hours with her, learning about why one fleece is better than another. She was thrilled with the quality of the fiber this year and mentioned over and over that they were all so clean. She only found need to reject one fleece for dirt and moved several out of certain classes because they were not qualified for that particular class even though they were wonderful. One of those she had a helper put over with the blue ribbon winners as a potential best in show winner.

Here she is unrolling a fleece that she said was perfect.
Unfortunately I didn't write down the fleece type.
It's huge, though, so we know it's not a small breed.

Judith will be teaching at the Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat again this February in Tacoma at the Hotel Murano (formerly the Sheraton.) She is also the guest speaker at the Banquet on Saturday evening. Her subject will be tracing the story of the American Bison. Fun and well worth the cost of dinner.

Gansey Socks

Back interest

Knitter: Peggy
Pattern: Gansey Socks, designed by Beth Brown-Reinsel in 1995
Yarn and Needles: Alice St*rmore Scottish Fleet in pink; #2.5 2-32" Addi Lace
Project Notes: The project served 4 purposes --

1. Something fairly straightforward to work on at the retreat

2. Refreshing my interest in Gansey knitting

3. Using STASH yarn left over from knitting Jade St*rmore's Beadwork sweater (pattern found in Winter 99/00 Interweave Knits) a few years ago (2004?)

4. And in so doing, giving me socks that match a sweater I love to wear.

My Beadwork

Autumn Shawl

The maple in the front yard is creating
a play pen of leaves for the cats,
Austin and Ferris
(they're bad boys, these cats)
2-ply spun on my Betty Roberts
Russian Olive double drive wheel
A lump of damp shawl

Preblocking

I brought in some leaves to compare.

Stretched on blocking wires.

And done!

Spinner/Knitter: Rebecca

Fiber: about 5.7 oz of Corriedale cross, color #32 lot 2 from Reflection Farm.
Project Notes: The fiber was spun early in 2006, about 830 yards of 2-ply. For the knitting, I used a #5 needle and the 10 stitch lace chart called Horseshoe from one of Barbara Walkers books. I used the chart throughout and included a border of lace with #8 seed beads. I've used Horseshoe Lace before in my Scalloped Lace Wrap, a pattern available at a couple of local yarn stores. The Autumn Shawl knitting began October 14th and was finished October 29th. I am very pleased that the FO reflected so well my original vision for the roving. yea!

Arrow Lace Socks

The Book:
Socks
from Interweave Press

On the cover: Arrow Lace Socks
The book is still available even though it
was published in 1997. For the spinners amongst us,
each pattern is based on and knit up in handspun but
commercial yarn can be used with good success,
as follows:

Yarn from The Artful Ewe, one of our favorite LYS's. Heidi does a masterful job at her dyeing and the resulting fiber and yarn is fabulous and very economical. This sock yarn is 75% Superwash and 25% nylon. We added a picot top with #8 24k gold plate seed beads. Knit by Rebecca for her buddy Pat B. for the "Friday Knitters 2007 Sock Exchange." (Photos of the results of this event will be posted at the end of the year.)

Sock yarn is 3-ply 100% Blue Faced Leicester from Wool2Dye4. Knit by Rebecca, this yarn was given to me by my buddy Pat B. the day the Friday Knitters got together for dye-day earlier this summer. This creamy yarn turned into a successful purple. Same 24k beads because they were just wonderful on this color.

Sock yarn from The Artful Ewe (in a different red colorway) and these were knit by Peggy with the same24k beads because we love them!

All socks knit between September 7th and October 18th.

Reflection Farm Rovings

Last April four of us (Linda, Natasha, Rebecca and Peggy)went to Puyallup (pronounced Pew-Al-Up, emphasis on the Al, for those not from around here) to Shepherds Extravaganza in order to over-indulge ourselves with Corriedale Cross roving from Reflection Farm. We posted on this before but we now have photos of colorways from all 4 stashes so we're playing catch-up. There isn't a website for this event but there is a pdf for the 2007 entry form so hopefully they'll have something new for 2008 sometime soon. In any case, we will post the dates for the April 2008 event as soon as we know. There are classes, sheep and other fiber critters to view and a lovely market. It's a small fiber event which is under-advertised but well worth the trip.

Some of these batches have been spun since we acquired them and so we've included photos of the resulting yarn.

But enough talk! Show me the FIBER!

Color #62 with a 2-ply sample

Lovely, but no color number can be found...

Color #1 lot 7

Color #58

A different lot of #58
#58 2-ply hanks from the second lot
Color #83

Color #61 lot 2

Color #78 lot 1

Color #11 lot 7

Color #5 lot 3
Singles of #5 lot 3
2 ply hanks of #5 lot 3
Color #44 lot 6
#44 lot 6
Singles on upper spool
2-ply on lower spool
2-ply hanks of #44 lot 6

Alice, the creative dyer/owner of Reflection Farm, is quite accommodating with individual dying requests, so if you like one of these she may have it on hand or she can recreate it, but keep in mind that dye lots can differ quite a bit. If you want something specific, she'll be happy to try it for you.

Boy Socks

I told David I'd knit him socks only if he promised to not tell anyone who did it. You know the problem: knit one person some socks and then everybody wants some. He's a very sweet graduate student in the department at the UW where I work, saw me knitting one day and pined for some hand knit socks with "red cuffs, heels and toes and crazy yarn in between." It took quite some time to knit them. Boy Socks go on forever!
Knitter: Peggy
Yarn: Opal in the leg/foot and the red is Fortissima Socka mit Bamboo, both purchased locally at Village Yarn.
Pattern: Basic stockinette with more stitches for The Boy, size 2 needles.
Note to Self: "No more Boy Socks."
Big Doily: It is called 'Willow Basket Lid' and the pattern can be found on page 99 in Traditional Lace Knitting by Furze Hewitt, published in 1997 by Kangaroo Press. This was a gift to me, knit years ago by Rebecca in #5 cotton. I keep it under glass on my end table.

Vintage Tile

There was a lot of yellow, gold, orange and brown when I moved into this house in the early '80's and that's because it was built in the '70's when those colors were big in clothes, home decor and kitchen-ware. Sadly, I don't do those colors. This entry hall is one of the final 'original features' to be dealt with.

Before, minus baseboards

During

There are approximately 175 big tiles which are 7.5"X3.5"X .25" thick and there are many smaller edge pieces which were cut to fit. These are the survivors of my Special Tile Removal Tools ~ a hammer and a big screwdriver.

Huge Stack of Tiles
and good color match
to the actual color

What, you may ask, am I going to do with these lovely vintage tiles? I am offering them to you, for free. It's this, CraigsList or The Dump, but it seems a shame to throw them into a landfill when so many people do love vintage 1970's stuff. So, if you live in the Greater Seattle Area and have a need for tiles, let me know (twinsspin at yahoo dot com) and we'll figure out a way to get them from me to you! Next stop: CraigsList. After that I will have to seriously consider the dump.

Got wood?

These trees had to come out because of safety issues, not 'just cuz'. I love trees, and didn't want to spend thousands this way, but these trees (plus some from the green belt which have fallen onto my yard and thankfully not my roof) really need to be removed before they do massive damage. Fear of trees is big in this neighborhood. The winds are strong off Puget Sound, the trees fall often and usually onto something. Winter is coming and it's time to deal, again.

Below, a brief pictorial history of what 5 men with chainsaws and a wood chipper can do in 5 hours.

Two ginormous Douglas Firs

at least 115 feet to 125 feet tall

Close-up view from deck

Two guys with really big...ummm...
chainsaws (yeah, chainsaws) cutting off limbs
as they climb.

I missed seeing the Christmas Tree Top
come off, but this is about 2 hours after
they began.

Big pieces came off fast.

This is the back yard under the trees
before they came down ~
you can see the 2 trunks and how
close they are to the house.
This is the same space after
they came down:

Side yard before,
with Sequoia and a tilting Douglas Fir

Working on the Fir

These two needed to come out ~
the Fir because it was tilting further each year
and the Sequoia because the Fir damaged it.

We have so much wood!

September has come and gone, so cleaning this up now prepares us for the rainy season, and the gray days ahead when it will be too nasty to work outside. If I heated mainly with wood I'd be set for the next year or so, but as it is, I'd be happy to give most of this away to neighbors with stoves and fireplaces. Life is abundant!