Hitchhiker love

I took my Hitchhiker with me to the inlaws last night. It took a little while to get it figured out, but I think I'm liking my new little wheel. Single treadling produces a pretty decent single, and I'm getting there.

What I'm not sure of is if the noises I'm hearing from the wheel are noises it should be making. There's a definative sound made each revolution and it was loud enough to wake my brother- in -law from a late nap.

I think what I'll do there is have my husband take a video of me spinning on that wheel and we'll send it in to the maker and see what he thinks.

I bring Daisy home this afternoon - hopefully a much more sedate puppy. She's wild at times and it's just normal Brittany excitement.

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Ok - so how was spinning on my HitchHiker?
Well I've not used a single treadle wheel before and my grandmother's single treadle sewing machine is still on the farm and likely another aunt or cousin will end up with it (and that's fine - I think I talked to my grandmother about it years ago but I have enough fiber arts stuff here to choke a horse. I might even see if my MIL and SIL are interested in some of my fiber stash for their contribution to the Etsy shop... we're getting closer to it happening.

Are we at the weekend yet? I wanna spin

Daisy (My over active Brittany Spaniel) is off at the Vet adjacent to the Humane Society today.

It's Spay the Puppy day and she knew something was up when we passed the Dog Daycare without stopping. Next week she will get to play with all the other dogs, but for the next few days it's limited time outside and crate otherwise. I'm looking forward to her being able to finally interact with the other dogs and coming home pooped out. She needs it. I need it.

What I'm surprised about however is that I made it out without bringing home a cat. We lost ours to old age last winter and I'm feeling the missing the kitty love...

So that knitting I mentioned I had to finish - I'm almost there and it's not one of my better jobs. I have outgrown my KK loooms and will be looking to pass them on soon I think... I've asked for an adjustable loom from DALooms.com for christmas from the hubby.

Here's the current project keeping me from spinning however. If they don't fit Garret they will be lanolinized and sent to SoCal as there are moms there with little ones who have lost their entire stash of cloth and covers in the fires.

The Quarter is on it for reference for size.

I still don't have admin access to my own computer here at work. Talk about frustrating. The new boss seems pleased with me though, so that's a goodness.

I'm definately looking forward to tomorrow. If it's sunny I'll take the wheel outside and sit on my porch this weekend and spin, and let Garret hang out with me in the excersaucer while Tessa plays outside too. I'm also going to go berry picking for natural dye stuffs before the kids wake up on Sat AM

We also are giving the kitchen a complete shakedown this weekend. I'm getting rid of all our old pots and pans and putting away the new stuff. (Freecycle here we come again.) Once that's done I can put in a Peapod order as I'm finding I don't have time to go grocery shopping with everything else I have going on.

Show and Sell

I'm committed to my first craft show and will be doing it with my elder SIL and MIL, with soaps, hand made wooden toys (dyed with food grade colors vs lead paint), baby supplies, soaps, and hand spun / hand dyed yarn - I'll be bringing Beaky (my larger spinning wheel) and doing a demo as well. Table cost wasn't much and if I generate enough interest then I'll do more of these.

I have been asked to teach Spinning at my local S&B next week. There are several women who have wheels but don't spin as they have never learned.

It's kinda unfathomable, but there ya have it. I was asked how I felt about teaching people and wasn't I concerned about competition. It's a dying art, and if I can help another spinner along then that's awesome. I'm not a master but willing to share what I know and if others decide to sell their stuff as well - hey it helps the economy. I'm all about seeing the little guy succeed.

Making Yarn is an ancient art, but no two spinners will have the same exact product, and what I have to sell might not be what someone I've taught later has to sell.

Rhinebeck tools, and being taunted...

So - I went to Rhinebeck yesterday. Oh dear god I really should have taken 2 days. I'll know better for next year.

I did get my second wheel - I went ahead and got the HitchHiker and am now going to learn how to use it. I understand where the persnickity part comes from as you have to use your whole foot like a sewing machine treadle to spin with it.

Along with stocking up on some of the fibers I don't normally have close access to, I also got my first Golding Drop Spindle. It's sitting in the corner of my cube here at work, just taunting me.



and yes - that's an ounce of Bison Down beside it... now to get through the things I have to in order to be able to play.

Post Rhinebeck Blues.

I woke up painfully early this morning - at 5:30am due to a wrong number that wouldn't quit calling me, but it was so worth it. I got a long hot shower, got dressed, spent time with my dog and got ready for the day.

We went to the NY Sheep and Wool festival, and I was in heaven. For the second day in a row I heard "OH MY GOD - YOU CLONED YOURSELF" (with regards to Tessa.) Saturday's was at the CT Faire, where my Daughter has fallen in love with belly dancing. Today's was from Rhiannon - firebow's other half.

I picked up my first Golding Drop Spindle, after drooling over them in Spin Off Magazine all year, and got my HitchHiker Mini...

Tom Golding got a good chuckle as my first fiber to be spun on it will be Bison, so soft, so expensive, and so going to be a holiday present in finished knit form I thinkI called Gaelon after getting the drop spindle and he asked me if we still had money in our bank account - as he'd thought I'd bought a Golding Wheel.

Urm - pretty but I'm not sure that is the kind of money I'll have floating loose for a while.The builder of my HitchHiker gave it a quick once over (I bought it used from someone else) and pronounced it fit, although he suggested I give it another coat of oil some time soon, and an impromptu lesson on how to use that wheel...

I can see how people would think it's "persnickity" and if you don't have experience with a treadle sewing machine, it can be a bear to ge the hang of.I will be spinning through holidays at the inlaws now and for that I am quite happy.There are some things I still need to pick up, but I didn't go crazy and stayed rather under budget. I did pick up some more exotic fibers - stuff I don't normally have access to, including Llama and Yak.

I'll have to tell ya'll how the Yak spins up.Mean while - I'm hoping the Bison spins nicely. In it's planned finished state I'll be doing something pretty special with it.

Um Wow?

So, at the suggestion of local Alpaca farm owner, I found a S&B group close to home. 5 blocks away from home actually.

They meet on Tuesdays from 7-9PM at Starbucks.

I showed up and most everyone was there - and they were delighted to see a Spinner.

Newsflash to me. I'm better than I thought; and was even asked if I'd teach.

To quote Tim Allen.... "Arooo?"

I graciously said I'd not be teaching at this time, but thanked people for the kind compliments.

I'm going to see if I can build up enough stock to participate in a little craft fair in December.

This group does a lot of charity knitting. I'm only so so as a knitter, but I'm more than willing to donate some hand spun to be made into scarves and hats for this years Christmas collection.

I don't plan on giving up the other group I go to, but I don't get there often and that's where I actually do knit at. I'll probably go this group and spin.

now to get that little Hitchhiker after all LOL.

Tessa's Halloween Bag

I have found what I'm going to work on over the next few days.

A Candy Corn Bag. As seen over at Purlingsprite.com.

Things I'll need for it

Orange wool
White wool
Yellow Wool

I have some predrafted, and some I need to blend into a batt, but I have the wool ready and on standby to be turned into a lovely lovely bag for Tess. Now to just see if she can even handle the concept of Trick or Treating this year.

I like it - can I have one Dear Hubby?

As a fan of Alton Brown I can say that unitaskers are no good.

So - having said that - I have discovered what I want for my next spinner.

Yep. Dremel powered electric spinning wheel. Come to Mama Baby!

Inbetween jobs and loving it

This has been a quiet week. We went to Salem Mass last weekend, and the kids loved it. Hubby wants to go back next week - I'm all for it but HE drives as I want time to catch up on my knitting.

Monday we went to the Mystic Aquarium... what a lovely lovely day with some great new friends - gals I knew online but hadn't met in person yet.

The rest of this week has been spent at home. I've been prepping wool - washing some Jacob and Suffolk fleeces (OMG*DIE the Suffolk was uber gross and will need much carding due to way more veggie matter in it than I was initially told was in it), carding some merino/mohair blends, and spinning some Coopworth on both the drop spindle and plying some on the wheel with some hand dyed lavender Merino. I'm a little unhappy with the Jacob - it's a really short staple, and I may just buy processed Jacob roving in the future...

The Merino and Mohair are both carding up beautifully, and I'm expecting that I'll have a couple of bats put up soon for spinning. I may card up some Merino Batts from the scoured Merino I have and hand paint the batts like canvases...

Yes - I'm spending some of this down time on fiber and fiber prep.

I need a swift, badly. Hopefully on Saturday when I go to the Guild's first meeting of the season I will be able to get one. In the mean time - I will be skeining up some yarn I plied earlier this week (the Coopworth/Merino ply) and setting the twist on that. I don't think it's going to need much at all as the spin on that is a pretty consistent spin.

I've not stocked my online store yet as I've not been fully satisfied with the quality of my spinning. I'm sure those of you who are crafters out there can understand that.

I'm going to be posting some of my yarns up on the shopping cart software that comes with Irissphere - and listing them at tester prices, with shipping being a flat rate. I need to get some of this stuff moving in order to justify actually doing an online shop. My earlier stuff has a tighter spin and is not as loose as my newer stuff - but that's the way it goes when you are learning. I figure using this vs doing the etsy shop will give me an outlet to see if my stuff is good enough or not for sale. If it is - then I'll list in Etsy... if not - well I've got a hobby that's building up a large byproduct collection LOL.

My next big project is to get the kitchen into shape... I have a bread maker that is currently neglected, and a refrigerator in need of cleaning. Once I get that done I can determine what I'm doing about getting a deep freezer and buying out Aldi's (as in stocking up for winter with stuff I can toss in a crock pot.)

My Ravelry invite came over the weekend, I've been familiarizing my self with the site, it's pretty neat! Hopefully I'll be able to get my personal stash listed in there soon too.

Life's been good to me so far (pics)

I've got some cool things to share I'll try to keep it short vs writing a novel ;-)

We got a small stack of letters in from the IRS Saturday afternoon in the mail... Good news - they accepted my amended returns, and I need to contact them to get the new figure as Gaelon opened the mail (his name on them too and he got everything out of order and I'm kinda OCD about stuff like that) but the gist of it is we DON'T OWE 26K ANYMORE and we likely have paid what we do off already. If we haven't - it is going to be covered easily by the check in 2 weeks that will have 17 days of vacation time included in it.

*Wild Grins*

Spinning has been faboo, and I need to adjust the drums on my drum carder, and wash some wool up so I can card and then spin it (OMG what a deal on some lovely lovely lovely Jacob Wool that I have raw) I'm finally starting to get consistent with my spins I think and have gotten the knack of Navajo Plying. I've not been to Knitting in a dogs age, but I may be going bearing a skein or two for a certain friend and getting her opinion on my work (and then leaving it in her care to become something lovely - she's been knitting purses lately and I bet some of this stuff would felt all pretty like... hee hee.)

From the news of the weird... I wonder what this kind of fleece is like to work with... and shearing has got to be a real pain in the arse, and OMG the fleece is likely soooooooooooooooo icky.... it's the pig that thinks it's a sheep. For real...

I've gotten to a comfort zone with my spinning to start the research on where I want to go next with fiber arts... We eventually want to have some land and we keep coming back to the idea of doing a barn conversion... it's so damn appealing, and depending on where it's set at would affect what we did. It's still a couple of years away but I'm feeling reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllly good about us not just settling and putting out into the universe what I need and going from there.

Life treats us kindly when we ask for what we want and then take steps to assure that we can handle what comes to us. I am hoping that where ever we end up that I can have a room for crafts with lots of southern exposure, something where I can set up my wheel(s) and other spinning/dying supplies/equipment as well as eventually getting a loom. Yep - Weaving will be on the plate next, although I plan on starting with much smaller looms than a big old floor loom. I'd rather walk before running. The idea of weaving my own tapestries, baby wraps, etc from yarn I've dyed and spun my self - it's heady. I won't be able to get the big loom for a while, but I'll be growing a dyers garden next year and have a small loom on my list for Christmas this year.

Thursday night I took Tessa out and left the boys home. Garret got some much needed one on one time with Daddy and Tessa got a girls night, as did Daisy... while Daisy was getting a bath, Tessa and I went to Friendly's for ice cream. Yummy. She likes Cherrys... and kept asking the waitress for more, and then when we left she took my credit card to the register and said "I pay for my Ice cream and balloon now please." Cuteness - not just a natural defense for kids these days.

Garret's been a doll. Teething like mad though. Doesn't matter to him what he chews on as long as his mouth gets some relief.

Last night we hung out with Tessa's godfather. His wife got to meet Garret for the first time... and she seemed pretty upset that Tessa cried when Tara tried to say hello to Tessa. There's a whole history there that's ugly and lets just say when you go poof from a child's life they remember. Tessa was very much the unhappy girl when she had to say goodnight to Uncle Brian, although she was very happy to go home, as she was tired and it was later than I'd expected to be out with the kids. (Gaelon went to the movies with a different group of friends and I didn't want to try to find a sitter so I made alternate plans.)

Saturday - I took Garret with me, and went to lunch with my friend Donna and another friend Dan, he's best man in her wedding, and while her sister is technically maid of honor, I'm basically it without the title... suits me fine. Lunch was awesome, poor Dan was a bit flustered that I nursed at the table, but whatcha gonna do - Garret needed to eat too and I've never been one to hide out in the bathroom or a corner to nurse... and since I'm not out for Mardi Gras beads ( my days of being a thin sexy young thing went by when I stopped being a young thing ;-) ) I really don't care to be all flashy. So he saw a whole lot of Baby sling and back of a platinum blonde head, but no boobage LOL.

I think this is the first real pic of my shorter hair I have out on display. Needless to say - I actually like it this length, and it's all back to it's natural color - including gray hairs. I needed to actually look as close to my age as possible when interviewing for jobs this time, or there was a risk of not being taken seriously. I don't get taken serious in the professional world as often as I'd like because I look younger than my 38 years.

Sat Night - Dinner with Lonnie, who I've not seen for maybe 4 months. She's always a treat and I enjoy her company. I wish Tessa hadn't been so overstimulated, and I'm sure Gaelon kinda came across as overbearing, but she'd really given him a time of it, and we probably should have stayed in but we had some errands to run before dinner and then getting the chance to see Lonnie was presented and we went for it. She and Garret hit it off well, when Garret wasn't chowing down himself. My poor single friends - the whole exposure to nursing in public has to be culture shock for them... if nothing else though, hopefully I am helping normalize it for them so it's not so shocking when our other friends or they themselves have kids.

Life has been good lately. I thank the powers that be profusely each day when the day is good. On the bad days - I'm trying to figure out what lesson the universe has in store for me that day. There's got to be something.