In the Thick of It

It's that time......Thanksgiving is now a distant memory and Christmas is a mere few weeks away.
YIKES!

But back to Thanksgiving - we had a small gathering at our house. Tiffany and her girls made it down from the Range on Thanksgiving afternoon just in time for dinner.

Dani was home (much to the puppies delight - they do love her so).
It was a smallish gathering, but the food was good and it was a nice way to spend the day.

I have been busy getting some projects done (so I can start the holiday knitting - can you believe that I haven't started yet????).

First up is a cardigan that I knit out of Rowan Felted Tweed called Peasy (you can find it on Ravelry).

One piece construction, and the fit is great! Now to find a nice top to wear underneath it.

Tiffany's baby will be here any day, so I started a baby blanket a week or so back. I'm done with the body of the blanket and am working on the never-ending edging. I am loving how the yarn (Tanis Fiberarts) is knitting up and the pattern (Rosebuddy from KnitSpot) is very well written and easy to follow. I hope to get this all knit up by the end of the week and then will get it blocked this weekend.

I have a spinning project for a friend that I need to bucklet down and finish too, but I'll leave that for another post.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a shot of Wilson and Jojo together - she really looks like she wants down, doesn't she????

Winter Wonderland??

Our nice, beautiful, long fall weather has come to a screeching halt!
This was our back yard yesterday morning. All in all, it looks like our area got anywhere between 7 to 10 inches of snow.

Our shop parking lot was a mess yesterday - quite a slow day at the shop. I think quite few poeple just decided to stay indoors yesterday. We held a class yesterday morning that was to have 5 students and only 1 made it in.

It sure is pretty outside though! I'm not sure how long the snow will last, it is of they heavy, wet variety that tends to melt quickly.

I did manage to finish up the plying on my polwarth roving. I navajo plied the yarn and ended up with 452 yards of fingering weight yarn.

The color is way off in the photo. It is actually a purple/silver color. I'm thinking of knitting it up into a neckwarmer.

Last Sunday we took a trip up to the Iron Range for my daughter's baby shower. Although it was a long drive up and back, we had a good time. Wilson did some handy-work for her while we were there, and Dani drove up with us. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos!

Sleepless and Heartsick

Yesterday, I found out that the business next door to me is closing as of today. They aren't able to finish out their lease. I can't tell you how hard this has hit me. As tired as I was last night, I could not get my mind to turn off so I could sleep.

I know how much time, effort, money, personal sacrifice and so much more goes into running a business. The owners next door are nice people who tried very hard to make a go of their business in the bad economy and having to deal with unsympathetic property owners/landlords who refuse to work with you. It's no secret that the business owners in our shopping center have been struggling since our anchor tenant pulled out 4 years ago. The surprising thing is that the owner of the center does not seem to care how many more businesses have to shutter their windows and close down their business.

I'm broken hearted for my neighbors.

Yes, I do still spin and knit!

Yes, I do still spin and knit! Actually, I do at least one of the above every day. (Hmmmmm....you would think I would have more finished projects to show off, huh?)

I finished a sweater a week or 2 back -

This is the Effortless Cardigan and I used Madelinetosh Tosh DK yarn. It was a quick and easy knit. I love the one-piece construction patterns.

I'm also spinning up some Polworth that I got from a fiber club that I'm in. The color is a little off in the pictures. It is actually a purple/silver colorway. I'm spinning my single pretty fine and will navajo ply when the singles are spun.


It's the end of October - it's very hard to believe because our October weather has been spectacular. I don't remember an October as nice as this one. I, for one, am ready for the cold weather though. Cold weather should equate to busy times in the shop and I'm ready and waiting!!!

Yesterday, Wilson and I spent a good part of the day with the youngest daughter. It's always fun to hang out with her - lots of laughter all around.

The oldest daughter has about 9 weeks left to go in her pregnancy. I've got a little sweater all knit up, but it still needs to be seamed together.

I'll leave you with a pic of the pups! My buddies.

Another Saturday off....

....and I did it again!


The first 3 photos were taken at the tattoo shop (Leviticus Tattoo in Minneapolis, done by Kurt).

This one below was taken last night -


After it goes through the entire healing process, I'll take some more photos.

Do I love it? Yes, I do. It far exceeded my expectations of what I had in mind - the detail is absolutely lovely, and the colors/shading are fantastic.

I wanted cherry blossoms, but I also wanted them done with an asian influence. I think Kurt nailed it exactly! He drew the tattoo free hand right on me (no stencils), and went to work. All in all, a great experience - and quite relaxing too - I was right next to their huge koi tank, so I got to watch the huge koi swimming as I was being tattooed.

Better Sunday

My mood improved somewhat on Sunday, thankfully. I had the day off (which is always nice), and since Wilson was headed over to my daughter's house to do yet some more repair work, I stayed at home for a bit with the pups, then headed over a little later on in the morning.

Since we both drove separately, I ended up heading back home mid-afternoon and sat out in the gazebo with the pups. It was a beautiful day.

When Wilson got back, we headed out yet again towards Northfield. On my drive on Saturday evening, I passed a local alpaca farm. After a quick call to find out if they had any fiber available, we headed over and got there about 15 minutes before they closed. The owner was quite nice and gave us a tour of the barn. We got to meet the alpaca and also the miniature donkeys that they have.

I did pick up an alpaca fleece. This should keep me busy this winter! (Wilson loved the color and has even requested that I knit something up for him out of it!)

Eh, Just Eh.

I've been feeling kind of "eh" about things lately. Yesterday, I got in my car for my 5 minute drive home from work and just kind of kept going. My 5 minute commute turned into almost 2 hours, and if I had had a full tank of gas, I'm not sure just how long I would have been gone.

I'm tired.

The Number Six

Happy 6th Birthday to my granddaughter, Kylie!

Celebrating the Number 70

Sunday was my father's 70th birthday, so we made the trip up to their home near Cumberland, WI. The drive was spectacular - the leaves are changing in a hurry up in that area, so it was quite scenic.

Another reason for the trip was for Wilson to help get the dock in. Of coure, late September equals cold lake water! My husband is quite a trooper though. He jumped right in to the lake without any waders or anything. (Of course, knowing that he was going to be helping with this, he did bring a change of clothing along.)

It was a lovely day with good company, good food, and good made from scratch chocolate cake!

On the fiber front, I finally finished up some yarn that was on one of my wheels for quite a long time. I ended up with approx. 1040 yards of a two-ply laceweight.

Now I hope to get back to the loom and finish up my towels, then get it warped once again for some holiday towels.

Another Weekend, Another Drive

After a quick run into the eye doctor yesterday morning, then a longer run into the vet with Josie (ear infection, bacteria infection and yeast infection, and 3 medications), the weather started to look like it was going to clear and become pretty nice, so Wilson and I headed out for another little drive.

It's no secret that I have been starting to weave, and in my email inbox yesterday was an email from a lovely little shop called Color Crossing in Roberts, WI. Since I know that they carry weaving supplies, Wilson agreed that it would be a nice drive to head out in that direction. The owner and staff were lovely and very welcoming! Wilson got to look at some looms in the shop, and also in the studio area. I ended up getting two small fiber bumps for spinning, a magazine and a nice little handy caddy that I can put my notions in on my work table.

After Roberts, we headed into River Falls and walked along Main Street. On the way back, we alsso headed into downtown Hudson and walked Main Street there too.

On the way back into the cities, we took the chance that the weaver's room at the Textile Center would be open and as luck would have it, they were! Picked up some unmercerized cotton for a set of towels that I hope to weave for Christmas gifts.

An early dinner was had at the Longfellow Grill, then we headed home.

All in all, a nice day and time well spent with Wilson.

Today will be a "working at the shop" day for me.

Lovin' Early Fall

My favorite time of year is early fall. The air takes on a crisp feel, but the sunshine is still nice and warm and the humidity levels are gone.

This past weekend was a spectacular early fall weekend. I worked at the shop on Saturday, but had Sunday off, so the Mr. and I went on a little road trip (again). At least once every fall, we tend to take the loop down through Red Wing, to Wabasha. There we cross over to Wisconsin and head to Pepin and Stockholm.

Wabasha was lovely - what a cute little river town. There were corn stalks, pumpkins and goards all over town, but what surprised me is that there were NO smashed pumpkins anywhere.



While we were driving through Pepin, we discovered that they were celebrating Laura Ingall Wilder days in town. People were lining up along the road for the parade and there was a little area in town where people were in period costume. There was one woman weaving there and I was able to take her photo (with her permission). I didn't get her spinning wheel in the photo, but she had a Kromski Majurka!


In Stockholm, which is a quaint little town that thrives on tourists - but in a tasteful way - I noticed some of "nature's lace".


All in all, it was a great little road trip. I highly recommend the route. In a few weeks, the fall colors there should be spectacular!

Of course, I did manage to get some weaving done too! I'm loving this project though I have 2 small threading errors. I chose just to leave them in - one will probably even out when the towels are washed, and the other is close to the selvage.

Fiesta!

I figured it was time to get the Baby Wolf Loom warped again and decided that I would do something a little more ambitious other than a plain tabby or twill weave.

I went through my drafts that I have and decided on some Fiesta Towels.

The other weekend, I grabbed my warping board and got started. The warp ends are about 4-1/4 yards long and I needed 360 ends. I'm using some 5/2 Cotton that I picked up from my shop. I hope to get 4 towels out of this warping and will make them in several different colors for the weft.


Over several weekends, this is what I have done -




Here's a close-up of the heddles threaded.





Yesterday, I finally finished getting this all warped. On Labor Day, I had discovered a threading error that I made (I got off on my pattern mid-way through.) Of course, that meant that I had to take almost half of the warp threads out of the heddles and re-thread them. It wasn't too bad though - I do enjoy warping the loom, which surprises me - I always thought that would be the worst part of weaving.

It's now the unofficial start of Fall here in Minnesota though things are still nice and green. Here and there, you will spot some fall colors starting to emerge. Ponding season will be winding down and soon it will be time to bring the fish inside to the basement.


Our pergola has been overrun by our grape vines this season. Underneath all of the leaves, we do have a boatload of grapes. We never harvest them though - we just leave them for the birds to enjoy.



The weather this weekend has been spectacular, so I think the Mr. and I will be taking a little road trip today to enjoy the scenery. I'm not sure where we will end up, but it will be some time spent together which is always in short supply.

New Beginnings

Despite all the crapola that has been happening in my life, there have been some good things happening for my daughters!

My youngest daughter purchased her very first home!

The Mr. helped her out in searching for homes, meeting with the home inspector, going through the walk-thru and even taking time off of work to attend her closing with her. He also spent a good portion of Labor Day weekend painting the inside and making some minor repairs.

Good Job, Dani! I'm so proud of you. Homeownership was just a dream for me at your age!

My oldest granddaughter, Kylie, started her first day of school!

I was able to talk to her the morning of her first day and she was so excited! I can't believe that she is old enough for school!

And I won't be able to post any photos until probably sometime in December, but it looks like I'll be getting a grandson around that time!

d.e.p.r.e.s.s.i.o.n.....

I'm feeling blue today.

There has been lots of negative energy funneled my way lately, and I'm at a loss as to how to deal with it. Let's just say that there are some mean-spirited people out there that seem to get quite a kick out of messing with someone's livelihood. Unfortunately, I'm 99% certain that I know who this group is. I'm working on getting 100% proof and then I'll have to probably take this up through legal channels.

Add that to numerous things happening around the homefront and it sometimes gets hard to stay upbeat and positive.

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love my dogs. Quite simply, they are family. Unfortunately, Koby's sight seems to diminish more each day. Gone is the spunky, funny, get-into-everything dog. And frankly, it makes me quite sad. He's not an old boy either, which makes this all the more depressing for me. He'll turn 7 in November. I'm committed to do everything to help him though. He is fine in the house in that he knows where everything is and gets around quite well. Outside terrifies him though.

Here's a photo of him taken this morning:

How can you not love a dog that looks like that????

My husband's job continues to be slow. I know he worries about money and making ends meet. We're trying to cut back on almost everything that we can. We've been working on a mortgage refinance since May and still haven't gotten the A-OK on that one. Our appraisal on the home came in so low that it's been tough getting this one through. We have one car broken beyond repair that will be sold off for parts, and the Mr. traded in his SUV for a more economical car. We don't do vacations, I don't buy clothing and/or shoes, we basically live "bare bones" right now and still it doesn't seem to be enough. Add all of this to the "group" that is intent on trying to destroy my business and it is stressful and depressing.

I'm trying to ward off the depression that I feel enveloping me right now.

Lovely Weekend

I had a lovely weekend - after working for too many days in a row, I managed to get both Saturday and Sunday off from the shop.

Wilson and I went for a nice drive on Sunday. He traded in his 4-Runner for a Camry (lower car payment and better gas mileage), so we took it out for a long drive.

We went to Taylor's Falls to start out with. Even though it was hot out, it was a beautiful day for a drive, so we ended up crossing the river into Wisconsin and took the scenic route home. It was good to spend the day with Wilson. With my work schedule, we don't get a lot of time to do things together anymore, so I jokingly referred to our day trip as our vacation for the summer.



I also got all my warp ends cut for my next weaving project. I'll try to get the loom warped up sometime this week, but I'm not making any promises. I think this upcoming weekend might be pretty busy since my youngest daughter is purchasing her first home tomorrow and it's going to need some painting inside! Congrats Dani!!!!

Summer is Winding Down..

...and I'm kind of glad about that.

This has been a strange summer for me this year. Almost the summer that wasn't. Here in the Twin Cities, it has been hot and humid for most of the summer, so there weren't too many outdoor activities for me (I hate hot and humid weather).

Add to the fact that due to my schedule and my daughters' schedules, we weren't able to meet up as much as I would like this summer.

And much like most everyone else, well, funds have been tight for the past several years. That makes it hard to go and do anything that costs any amount of money.

So, for all of the above reasons and more (including one with shop drama that makes me both mad and sad at the same time), my spirits have been down this summer.

BUT, this past weekend my daughter came down with the granddaughters.

We got to spend a few hours together after work on Saturday. This made my heart happy - how I've missed them.

There's a bit of good news for my younger daughter. She will be purchasing her first home in a month or less! She's excited and I'm happy for her. Wilson has been a huge help with her home purchase - meeting with the inspector for her, going with her when she was looking at houses, and more. It's great to see them getting along together so well.

And I'm still knitting, spinning and weaving too! I do have a few projects to photograph and put out on the blog. Maybe for my next post.....

What I did on my day off....

Obviously, the photos pretty much say it all!

Racing to the Finish Line

Today's the last day of the Tour de Fleece and I'm still spinning away!

Here's my bounty so far -

At this point, I have about 1250 yards of 3-ply worsted to heavy worsted weight yarn. (Pug is included in the picture for scale!). I have 3 more bobbins partially spun - they are all about 3/4's full and my plan is to ply them off tonight.

I just might cross the finish line after all!

I've enjoyed the Tour de Fleece and the Tour de France. I can't wait until next year although I do have to say that I will miss Lance.

Hot Fun In The Summer....

The last week or so has been Hot and Humid - and I don't like hot and humid combined. So - lots of indoor activities have commenced!

I'm still spinning the most boring fiber ever for the Tour de Fleece. Honestly, it's a lovely fiber (I love spinning BFL), but the undyed fiber will no doubt do me in by the end of the Tour. I've spun up one entire 8 ounce bump and I've started the second one. I have almost 2 full bobbins. The photo below shows one of the bobbins along with my "test ply" that I've been doing. This yarn will end up being a true 3-ply yarn, so as I'm spinning my singles I'll let the single ply up on itself to keep the consistency in check. I think as a true 3 ply yarn (from 3 bobbins), the yarn will be more consistent instead of how it's looking here, but all in all, it's looking pretty good.


About 2 weeks ago, we got a notice from our bank that listed our rewards points. I mentioned to Wilson that we should cash them in for something and he started checking out what we could get with the points.

I had been complaining about the old TV that we had in the spinning/weaving studio. It's one of those older TV's that's about 3 feet deep. We had it sitting on a TV stand and it just wasn't an efficient use of space. Wilson's idea for the rewards points was a 32" flat screen TV! So, since that was going to open up that corner of the room, we did some measuring and ran to Ikea to get yet another shelving unit for even more storage!

I LOVE my studio! It's cozy, and the dogs love hanging out in there. There's great light because all of our upstairs rooms have oversized windows. One of the best things is the view that I have when I'm sitting at the loom or the wheel.

It's just so peaceful when it is a fairly cool day and I have the windows open. The sound of the pond and the birds is lovely.

And here's a close up view of our bridge across our little stream.


With all the indoor time, I have been finishing things. I just finished knitting a shop sample cardigan - I'll try to remember to post a photo next time around.

I also remembered that I never did post a finished photo of my Crazyfoot scarf that I wove on the Baby Wolf. My trusty model did a fine job of showing off the scarf -


And just so Josie doesn't feel left out - here's a picture of her waiting at the fence at the very back of our yard. She's waiting for our backyard neighbor, Scott, to notice her. He usually comes over and pets her when he sees that she's standing there. Sorry Josie - Scott was a no-show this morning!

Tour de Fleece 2010

I'm once again participating in the Tour de Fleece. For those that don't know what the heck I'm talking about, it's a challenge for spinners. You basically set a goal and spin every day that the Tour de France is running.

My goal is to spin another sweaters' worth of yarn.

Here's my progress after Day 2 - almost a full bobbin.

The fiber that I'm spinning is a natural colored BFL. I think the sameness of it will definitely be the challening part. Imagine spinning undyed fiber day after day after day after day......

That's not to say that it isn't lovely fiber - it really is, and it is nice to spin too, but.....