What I've been up to

It's almost Christmas, and I've been doing some crafting.

I have 3 baby wraps on the Megado loom that I'm really trying to finish up by the end of the year.  I actually cut one off to wash and see how it looked.  I'm using 100% superwash merino wool for the weft on all 3 of these, and I wanted to see how it washed up.  I will admit to waking up in the middle of the night with a panic attack about this.  The weft is a hand-dyed wool, and sometimes hand-dyed yarns have a tendency to bleed.  Add in the fact that this is a very dark, midnight blue, and I really panicked thinking about the blue bleeding all over the beautiful rainbow gradient warp.  I am so happy to say that Tanis Fiber Arts yarn is really color set! No bleeding at all.  Whew!

I've been doing some knitting also.  My daughter asked me to knit up some hooded cowls for my granddaughters, so I have those almost done.  I'll post photos after I get the buttons sewn on.

I've been knitting socks, socks, and more socks too.  Footies also.  There is just something so comforting about knitting these, although I probably have more socks and footies then I will ever need at this point!  I also knit up a cute pair of super toasty warm, lined mittens.

I needed a bunch of Christmas gifts for my knitting group, and with being on a very limited budget, I knew that I had to handcraft some type of gifts, so I decided to make a bunch of key fobs using some of my handwoven fabrics.  I like how they turned out - there were 5 different kinds.  The extras ended up going into my etsy shop (www.stringalongfiberarts.etsy.com).

Josie is recovering well from her surgery.  We love her, no matter how she looks.

And Koby is as goofy as ever.  He's slowed down quite a bit due to his back and hind leg issues, but he's a happy guy.  Can't ask for more.

December

I'm having a hard time believing that we are now in December.  I can not believe how fast the days fly by.  Now that I'm home all day, I thought that maybe the days would seem longer, but that is just the opposite of what has been going on.  W is amazed that I'm not bored, but I have too many crafts that I love doing to be bored, plus I get to spend more time with my dogs!  :)

Josie made it through her surgery.  She scared us coming out of it and also when we arrived to take her home with a bad reaction to her morphine, but she's been home for a week now and is healing up. I'm finally able to come to terms with what needed to be done.  She had another mast cell tumor and this time it was in her ear.  Unfortunately, they need to be removed and removed with wide margins around the tumor so it doesn't come back.  So, to make sure that they got it all, she had to have her ear amputated.  She has a ton of stitches which will be removed next week, and has been wearing her cone, but she is such a little toughy and is doing just fine.  We've stopped with the pain meds - she just doesn't need them anymore.  While she was under, our vet recommended that we also have her nostrils enlarged to help her breathe, so we did that too.  She looks different, but in my eyes, she is still beautiful, funny, and one of the loves of my life, so I am so thankful that she is still with us.  The tumor ended up being a low grade one, and they did end up with clean margins, so that is great news.

Tiffany and the grandkids came down for this past weekend to celebrate my grandson's birthday.  He is SO into Spiderman and wanted Spiderman apples, so I couldn't refuse, and made some up for the kids.

Saturday we went downtown to see the new Holidazzle Holiday Market.  What a disappointment and such a money pit.  Don't waste your time, if you have kids along with because there is very little to do for the kids.  Basically, you pay admission to get in and EVERYTHING inside also costs money.  Overpriced food and drink and a very small area where all the little buildings are crammed into.  I hope that they do away with this plan for next year and go back to having the parade.  We actually didn't stay long there and headed off to Macy's where we had much more fun.

Sunday was spent at home with the whole family having birthday cake and the opening of the birthday gifts.

I've been spending the last two weeks or so warping up the Megado for another run of baby wraps.  With the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Josie's surgery and the family down this past weekend, it's been taking much longer than it should have.  I finally have all the heddles threaded and need to sley the reed, so I'm off to head back upstairs for some more "work time".

Thankful

As the holiday season is starting to ramp up into full swing and Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I just wanted to say that I am very thankful for my family, friends, and pets.  

I consider myself very lucky that I am able to stay at home after the closing of the shop.  My husband works hard, and money is tight, but he makes it possible for me to be at home.  He's a great guy, my best friend and I love him so much.

My daughters, parents and grandchildren are all in good health.  Love them!

My pets are getting older, and we had some unfortunate news from the vet regarding Josie that we will address on Monday, but I am so thankful that they are here.  (It's too hard for me to verbalize about Josie, but she will be having a major surgery on Monday for another mast cell tumor.  I pray that all turns out well for my baby).  My dogs are my company here at home and I love them dearly.  

So, all in all, I have much to be thankful for!

In "business" news, I've been working on more baby wraps.  I finished "Graffitied Rainbow" and this one was sent off to a momma in Texas.  

I warped up the Mighty Wolf for some more dishtowels and wove up a bunch.  My friends in our knitting group ended up purchasing all of these!  

I've got another warp that I'm tying on to this existing warp to weave up some more of these.  

A week or so back, I had the desire to do a little bit of spinning.  My spinning cupboards upstairs in my second studio are stuffed with spinning fiber.  Although it's really pretty when it's unspun, I just have too much!  I decided it's time to do a spin-down.  This one that I spun up is from a club that I'm in from Enchanted Knoll and was a 65/35 Merino/Silk top.  

Otherwise, that's about it for now!  Tonight will be getting the stuffing ready for the turkey.  We'll be having a small gathering tomorrow since my older daughter and her kids can't make it down for Thanksgiving.  As I said, there is lots to be thankful for - this year and every year.  

Quick Summer Recap

So, we closed up the shop right before Memorial Day Weekend.  There have been no regrets about closing - no pangs of remorse, no missing the store, etc., so this definitely was the best decision.

This past summer flew by and I enjoyed every minute of it!  I think my husband and I did something together every weekend.  At the beginning of the summer, we got caught up a little bit on our gardening chores.  It's not so bad to do when you have a partner helping out.

I got serious with my weaving this summer.  I made my first baby wrap sale, "Rising From The Fire".

I just recently finished "Tickled Pink" for a customer.  This one ended up being 5.6m long (at her request for a long wrap).

I participated in a towel exchange, so wove up 5 towels.  I've yet to receive any back, so I don't think I'll do another exchange, but I did save back one of mine.

I took another weaving class this summer.  I went with a friend to Sievers School on Washington Island in Door County, WI.  It was fun to get away, although a little stressful, since Koby was very sick right before I left.  Luckily, he recovered, and two days into the class, I was finally able to relax and enjoy the experience.

Right now, I have this warp on the loom for another babywrap.  Even though it's just cotton, the colors just glow.  Warping a gradient is a pain, but the results are so worth it.  (I use the warping wheel when I warp on my Megado, so I think it's a little easier.  Still time consuming though.)

In August, W and I got to talking about being able to go away on the weekends.  It's tough to do when you have pets, however, so we decided that we would just have to take them along with us, so we made the decision to get a travel trailer!  We're starting out small, and are already talking about upgrading in the next two years or so, but we had such a great time camping and can't wait for next spring.  We have found that we really prefer the State Parks, because the campsites are more private and roomy.

I've been doing some knitting and spinning.  I sold off some of my spinning wheels.  I decided that I really didn't need any "travel wheels", so sold my Sidekick and my Lendrum.  I did end up getting a Hansen MiniSpinner, so when I do need to take a wheel with me somewhere, this will be the one.

More later, with some camping trip/weekend trip highlights!

One More Week

One more week, and then I'm FREE!!!  I am ready to be an ex-LYS Owner.  I did love this at the beginning, but I am seeing more and more that it was a good time for me to exit out of this job.

I'm looking forward to a summer of being able to spend more time with family, more time in the yard (I really need to get my gardens under control), and more time at the looms!

I've been working on a babywrap on the Megado and am at the halfway point with this one.  Allowing for shrinkage and take-up, the weaving length of this one will be about 5 yards long.

Warp chains ready to go on the loom.

Warp in the raddle.

Weaving!

I have a nice sized stack of handwovens (mostly towels) that need to be hemmed, so I'm looking forward to some time to sit at the sewing machine too.  There just hasn't been enough time to get things done, so things have been piling up.  

What's on the Loom?

I'll admit, I haven't had too much time to be working on any weaving projects, but I do have both looms warped with projects on them.  

One of the yarns that I was introduced to at the Weavers School was the cotton from Lunatic Fringe.  While I was at the school, I came home with one of their towel kits.  I did manage to eek out a little bit of time to get one of these kits on the Megado.  As I'm still getting used to the loom and the weaving software program for the dobby, I thought I would start with something a little more mindless to start.  

On the warping board.  Fun, bright colors!

The Louet Megado has a built in raddle.  Very convenient and I like the fact that I can stand with good posture while I'm spreading the warp ends in the raddle.  

Here are all my warp ends spread out in the raddle with the lease sticks still holding the cross.  Now it's time to thread the heddles.  

The Megado has texsolve heddles.  For a loom that has 16 shafts, these lighter heddles will be great!

The next step is sleying the reed.  

Here's a back shot of the loom after everything has been done and my warping is finished!  

And we're off and weaving!  I will get 4 towels from this warping.  I've been playing around with different shuttles - finally ended up using an end-feed shuttle (not shown in this photo) for these towels.  

Officially Closing Shop!

It happened!  The closing sale for the business started on April 4th.  I can truthfully say that I am so relieved.....now the only worry is that I'll be able to sell off the majority of my inventory.  Let's face it, I have enough knitting yarn to last a lifetime, and as I'm gravitating more and more towards weaving, I probably won't be knitting as much as I used to.  So many customers have asked whether I saved yarn for myself before the sale started.  Believe it or not, I didn't set anything aside.

I've had so many well wishes and great comments from customers, both old and new, and that has been rewarding.

Rough.....

The last few weeks have been rough, to say the least.

The shop was flooded over 2 weeks ago.  This wasn't due to a broken water pipe, overflowing toilet, etc., but due to the weather and the thaw.  Unfortunately, while originally the landlord told me that they were taking care of the repairs, they are now backing down on that statement.  Of course, this statement was made to me after the flooring was totally ripped out - not just the damaged area, but the whole damn floor.  So, we are down to concrete and I WILL NOT BE PUTTING NEW FLOORING IN ON MY DIME.   If this had been discussed prior to the removal of the whole floor, we would have just replaced the damaged area which was probably 1/10th of the entire shop.

On top of that whole mess, my youngest daughter really needed me during a very bad time.  She came into the shop to see and talk with me about something serious that was going on with her health-wise.  Due to the fact that I had knitters in the shop, yet again, I really wasn't there for one of my daughters in their time of need and that sucks.  My family life and family relationships have suffered due to the shop and it's time to end that.

The shop days are numbered......The events of the last few months have put any love of owning a business to bed.  I am at the point where I hate going in to work everyday and it is getting harder and harder to get out the door in the morning.

After the shop closes, I'm going to attempt to earn some extra spending money through my weaving.  My first venture will be trying to market and sell baby wraps.  Let's face it, I have the equipment and soon I will have the time.

My husband is being very supportive of this decision and I can't wait to have more time to spend with my family.  The clock has started on the end of the shop and it can't come fast enough at this point.   I am totally at peace with this decision and won't have any regrets for closing the shop.  Life is too short, my family is too important, and the demands placed on the LYS Owner is ridiculous.  I could tell you story after story, but it's best if I just keep that to myself.

New Year

So….once again, the blog has gotten away from me again.

It's time to recap 2013.

Looking at my Ravelry project page, I think I completed over 30+ projects.  I know that there are some that aren't listed, like my plain jane socks that I knit and some weaving projects that are done but just aren't hemmed yet.

The highlight of my year was the trip that I took out to the Pacific Northwest with my husband.  I attended a week long weaving course in Coupeville, WA, and my husband did sightseeing off by himself while I was in class.  We stayed at a refurbished firehouse which was like an apartment - it was our "home away from home".  The weaving class with Madelyn was great, I fell in love with the area and we are starting to make plans to move out there someday.

One of the things that I never mentioned on the blog is that I got another loom.  I added a Louet Megado to my herd of looms.

This is a 16 shaft, electronic dobby loom with a 44" weaving width.  So Much Fun - but I really need to find time to be able to work on it (that may be happening this summer!).   I have a second warp beam on order, but that hasn't arrived yet.

We had to do some room shuffling again, so now I have two studios upstairs.  Right now, I have an 8-shaft Mighty Wolf, a Wolf Pup, and a 4N4L Baby Wolf (at the shop) in addition to the Megado.  

I haven't done much spinning since the Tour de Fleece this summer and my spinning fiber cabinet is pretty full with some beautiful batts, so I will be getting back to that soon also.

My youngest daughter got engaged over the Christmas holidays!  So, I am knitting her an Evenstar shawl for her wedding veil.

We had a health scare with Josie in December.  She was diagnosed with a Mast Cell Tumor, but luckily the pathologist's report came back ok.  It's not benign, but they were able to get nice, clean margins so we should be ok.

Otherwise, I'm working (too much), Wilson is working, and there's not a lot of time for other things YET.  As I alluded to earlier, that might change in the near future.  We'll see.