Summer has flown.  I’ve probably said that other years, too, but I haven’t checked.  Other years I was dyeing so much I hardly had time for anything else, much less a vacation.

This year that sort of schedule was out of the question.  So, knowing as much, in the spring, I decided to plan a vacation.  Planned vacation.  Foreign concept.

It was wonderful.

It wasn’t far from home, but it was on the lake.  We rented a cottage within a nice grove of trees and near enough to the lake to enjoy the breezes and, despite having WiFi access, basically forgot a lot of cares for a week.  I learned some new guitar pieces and worked on the fretboard, because, unlike at home, I had fewer interruptions.  And I did not feel guilty about playing guitar for hours on a lazy afternoon.  I can even play a few riffs of Pink Floyd now (this is quite a thing with the teenager).  Folks napped, in the evenings we puddled in the lake, and spent some of our time out for dinner with friends and in Coffee Culture enjoying the AC and, of course, the coffee.

It was a really good idea.

And since then (that was early July) it’s been sort of the usual whirlwind of activity around here, trying to stay on top of the schedule.  I’m well enough now I can think about getting back into dyeing more regularly (when it cools off - today we are blessed with a humidex somewhere near 40C which makes everything, including us, feel sort of like limp lettuce) and I’ve started a new venture with a friend.

Crazy, maybe.  But Anne and I have spent a lot of time over the last few years discussing various knitting projects, and also contemplated what to use for spinning yarns when we had a specific project in mind.  We came to the realization there really isn’t a lot around the ‘net about such things related to hand-spinning, and in respect, decided to launch a new online magazine, the Ennea Collective (we have a Ravelry group here.  We are very excited!  Very.  Our plan is to launch in October.

And (I can hear all the folks chuckling and rolling their eyes at me, because, well, y’all know how fickle I can be about fibre projects) I am learning to weave.

Yes.  I quite like it so far.  We inherited a LeClerc Fanny, older model, from a resource centre in Victoria.  It’s sat in a closet for nearly 6 years.  I decided it was time to shed some light on it and see if it needed parts (it didn’t, aside from a few new cords for the main roller at the top).  It didn’t have any shuttles so I had to order some of those, and some bobbins and hooks, but really, all told, it was ready to weave right out of the closet.

Above is my first project (now off the loom but not quite finished yet).  It’s a guitar strap.  I thought it was a good way to get a feel for things, and I am.  I decided, since I was warping  anyways, I could make two straps.  So I made one for myself and a second for the teenager and he actually likes it.  The yarn is typcial sock merino, bits of mis-dyed or leftover Oceanwind Knits Merino I found in the stash bins.  I also decided, you know, since I tend to be like that and not just satisfied to go the simplest route, I would like some stripes in the warp.  So it’s striped in indigo and gaia.

Next up:  yeah.  Because I don’t always like to go the simplest route, Noro Sekku.  Most folks who weave are probably slapping their knees right now because they are laughing so hard they might fall off their chairs, since they will know how Noro Sekku will make quite a fussy warp.  And I did, too.  But, I thought, oh heck.  It will be so nice.  And it is.  And it will be.  The warp and I have had a few conversations (not terribly friendly conversations) but we’re getting along better, now.  If I ever use it again as a warp I am going to warp from back to front, and wind it immediately on the the beam before it has time to lie around marrying itself while waiting for the reed and heddles to be threaded.  I swear it waited until I was out of the room and said ‘ok, she’s gone, tangle time!’  Live and learn.  It’s how I get through the day.  ;)  Luckily I had a second set of hands (thanks hubby!) who could wind the beam while I stretched the warp as long and as straight as possible.  Otherwise it just coiled in front of the reed.  Oy.

Pretty, tho, eh?

It’s all plain weave.  I contemplated doing a herringbone sort of thing but with a warp which had a mind of it’s own like that, I decided to just use the KISS principle (you know, since the loom was now threaded and beamed, not KISS principle for the actual choice of warp yarn ;)).

Here’s a shot of the loom itself:

One more thing from this summer:

New shawl pattern!  Isle.  Available on Oceanwind Knits or as a Ravelry Download, knit with one skein of Asherah Laceweight (merino/alpaca).  The pattern includes instructions for a beaded version as well as a traditional version.

And there you are.  Summer synopsis.  And, as usual, I hope to be back more regularly.  This year, the little dude will be in Grade 1 and in school every day.  *thud*

Whatever will I do with myself?  Hm.

The one I was using did the job but it’s five years old and a little shaky and flaky at times.

So, as luck would have it (but these days, it’s not terribly hard to find some suitable deal, I find), a company I like to deal with had a deal on the camera brand I like (Fujifilm) when I started looking for a new one.  I’ve had it for a little while and really appreciate some of the features like the anti-shake and fairly decent video capabilities, as well as its ability to to function in lower light situations than my old camera which did its best work in natural light.

I first bought my previous digital to capture still life shots, mostly of florals, and because we were expecting the little guy.  I used to do watercolours back then, and coloured pencil work, but I haven’t really done any at all since the birth of Sam.  However, he is going to be in school full time this fall so I’m hoping I can put my typical knitting startitis aside every once in a while and maybe sit still long enough to produce a few watercolours or other paintings now and again.  Having the new camera  has also woken up a little spark in me sort of aiming in such a direction as well.

So while I haven’t taken gardening shots, really, for years (it’s hard to think about photography when you have your eyeballs thinking about different colourways of hand-dyed yarn every waking minute), today and recently I’ve captured a few shots from the garden which some day might become some sort of floral still-life paintings.

But even if they don’t, I’m sure I will quite enjoy the photos on their own.  I haven’t really done photography seriously since university when my old Pentax ME was still working.  I like how the shots come out nicely clear and detailed and I really like the brilliant colour.

And, I’m pretty impressed with my garden this year, and what I’ve managed, considering I’m not always feeling like gardening but it really has come together nicely enough.   Sometimes I think gardening is more about have time to really think about it than anything.  And with this year being a little on the tough side at times, the little crisp spots of colour go a long way.

I’m happy to report some knitting has made it off the needles.

A little lacey shoulder shawl I’m pleased to have knitted out of one skein of the Asherah alpaca-merino lace.  I’m working on a beaded version and a pattern will be available soon.

Back to gardening…

The roses are nearly finished.  They took a beating the other day when we had downpours, but a few are still showing off nice punchy colour:

I didn’t count the blossoms but I’m betting on around a hundred or so.

And, the Silver Lace is going absolutely nuts this year:

I know vines are not everyone’s cup of tea but I really appreciate the extra shade this one allows.

And, my prized white hydrangea.  A few weeks back, it looked like this:

Today it looks like this, slightly mangled.  Yesterday it was sprawled all over the steps to the right due to heavy rain.  :(  It’s now held in place by a little netting at the bottom and I hope it’s enough to help it stay upright.

Unfortunately, there were a few broken stems.  Several blossoms have come into the house with me where I can enjoy them.

This one resides in a anniversary glass gifted in honour of my parents’ silver anniversary.  I thought it was a pretty combination.

And, no, it’s not my anniversary (that was last month).  But, it’s June.  It’s bound to be someone’s anniversary.  Happy Anniversary.

And I know other folks in different parts of the continent are guffawing about SNOW in May.  (Bad word, snow).  So I’m trying very hard to enjoy our heatwave here even though it slogs me out and makes me feel about as energetic as a snail.

However.  It has been too long since I’ve last typed so despite the heat I am typing.  And I also dyed today because it’s about time I do some of that too.  Especially since it’s nummy new limited edition mill-spun alpaca-merino laceweight I just retrieved very recently from a local mill.  They did a fabulous job and I can’t wait to get it up in the shop.  50/50 alpaca merino.

It’s gorgeous to knit with (I’m working on a pattern in it) and wonderfully soft.  Great for next-to the skin wear.  And it will be very pretty for lace knitting.

As of late it’s sort of been touch and go.  Physically, things are a little better due to new meds.  The trick is finding balance between meds and activity.  Sometimes the meds are the culprit keeping me from moving about and sometimes I overdo it and the meds don’t do as good of a job.  I’m getting there!  Just being able to get into the dyeroom is thrilling.  And I am quite happy to not have to deal with negative temps (again, my sympathies to those of you who are still stuck with frost and other bad words).

Otherwise, I’ve kept myself busy with my usual round of weekly startitis projects (see flyby photos below).  I did manage to finish a few things (or halves of pairs of socks, that sort of thing).  And one shawl is finished.

I don’t have pretty pretty pics of it yet - but here are a few pics:

Specs:  Daybreak by Stephen West.  Medium size, yarn is Oceanwind Knits Merino in various shades.  I think I used 3.75mm needles.  It’s gotten a lot of wear already.

Other bits of recent fibre-y activity (in no apparent order - just pretty fibre pictures :)):

hand-spun merino (Lakehouse Loft) - Wanida sock (Cookie A)

Sylvi

hand-spun corriedale (Lakehouse Loft)

wensleydale roving - potential spinning

wensleydale roving (more) - spinning in progress

Traveling Woman (in hand-spun corriedale from above)

And, due to aforementioned heatwave, plants are coming alive and blooming and just generally growing like mad.

I totally love poppies, don’t you?  This is a shot of the first one to open.

This last photo is Sam’s magic bean plant, which grew from ‘just popped out of the seed pod’ to about 4 inches, as you see, overnight.  Magic, indeed.  :)

So, there we are.  A sort of fly-by update but a blog post, nonetheless.

Hoping to post the new yarn by the end of this week.  :)

So, I am delighted to show you this:

I’m betting you thought it was languishing in the UFO pile.  In actuality, I’ve been wearing it since last October.  My tardiness in posting any FO photos was the result of not having the photos taken until a few days ago.  I happened to be wearing it when a friend came to visit, the weather was perfect, and hubby had a few moments to take the camera.

No, I’ve not completed a hand-spun sweater just yet.  But, I will.  Someday.

For now, I have this one to enjoy.  :)

Pattern:  The infamous Tangled Yoke Cardigan, Eunny Jang.  Yarn: Celestial millspun alpaca/wool/silk by Wooly Wonka Fibres.

So, there you have it.  A finished sweater, knit by myself.  :)  Total love.

99 (or so) to go.  ;)

I cried when they put the freezing in.  Not because of the presented pain but because of what had lead up to it.  The last six weeks have been rather painfully challenging on many different levels.  And all I could think was, while the freezing was being injected, now I won’t even be able to KNIT.  It was sort of a final blow.  The poor women performing the biopsy didn’t quite know what to think watching this over-40 woman fall to pieces over a small little procedure.

I am back to knitting, even though it is painful.  I just cannot imagine getting through a day without it.  So, I guess I am hardcore.  What can I say.  The location of the biopsy means I have pain shooting down the fingers and up across the back of the hand, and sometimes up toward the elbow.  But, it’s lessening on a daily basis and the hope is once the stitches are removed, it will be more comfortable.

The good thing is, I made it into the dyeroom for the first time in a long time before this past Monday.  So there are a few new goodies in the shop.

And before that, I’d spent a good chunk of the last month or so petting some new fleece wool I’d ordered from a wonderful little farm in MA, Cranberry Moon.  Lisa’s farm is also a member of Local Harvest where you can oogle all sorts of goodies, from produce to hand-made items to wooly goodness, from various farms around North America.

Before my hands got really sore, I’d developed a new affinity for hand-carding.  Previously, before I’d started having mobility issues forcing me to slow down and smell roses a little more than I’d been known to do, I’d not had much patience for hand-carding and combing.  Everything flew through the drum-carder.  But I ordered this fibre with hand-combing in mind.

Gray Romney, Black Cotswold and some White Leicester Longwool, gently washed but still in their glorious locks.  Yummy.  I have ideas to use it all in combination with other fibres here to make several sweaters.  I will likely dye the Longwool before combing.  I know it’s going to be a long-term project (or should I say ’several’ long-term projects), especially now that I’ve been slowed down somewhat by this issue with my hands.  But I’m healing so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can start playing around with the combs and carders once again.

I also fell in love with some cheerfully dyed BFL locks from Tumble Creek farm, discovered through the Oregon Wool site.

I did get a portion of these carded and spun - single-spun in a sort of gradating sequence, in February.  The rest will be carded in with something at some point, to make a sort of multi-coloured flecky (for lack of a better word) sweater yarn I have designed in my head.

I haven’t decided just yet if I’m going to use it just on its own - the locks were incredibly crimpy and springy.  I have ideas to possibly ply it with something earthy like a gray merino.  I’m betting it would knit wonderful socks or maybe a nifty cowl.  Or mitts or maybe a beret.

Anyways, always good to have a little wool insurance for the future.  :)

As well, I managed to finish up half a pair of socks:

One Rattlesnake Creek Sock knitted in Wooly Wonka Fiber’s yummy Aerten Yarn.  I cast it on a few hours after hearing of my father’s death.  Amazing what such a small project can do to help you make it through.

And this is not all of it, the therapy.   I am still working on the hand-spun Kelmscott as well as spinning up batts for a Fylingdales cardigan.  But I will save some things to show you in another post.

ETA:  I nearly forgot this - Cleopatra.  For Anne’s Shakespeare in Lace 2010 Club.  All finished up, too, as of last week.

There is one line in particular running through my head from the hymns sung at Dad’s funeral.  This is not surprising, given I am sort of a hymn junkie.  I often have hymns running through my head.  But this one sums it all up quite tidily:

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Wool therapy, doing its job.

We all have our days and nights which get the best of us.  And, those of us with online businesses sometimes do not have the same luxury of outpourings about personal frustrations and happenings as folks who just hang out online.  Or, at least, I don’t feel like I should be sharing every detail about my personal life with clients and customers.  Maybe that’s just how I am.

However, this last week has been one of extremes.  So rather than sit here thinking, ‘If only they knew…’, I’m going to share, so you do know.

Just over a week ago, my father passed away in the wee hours on February 4th.  Aside from getting the news in that sleepy, just-awoken state at 3 am, it was also an extra shock to my system because he was intended to be coming home on or about the 6th.  He was recovering from heart surgery which had gone well.  All systems were pointing to success.  I was very much looking forward to him being home because my own health issues had kept me from being with him in the hospital.  But, for whatever reason, reasons even the surgeon couldn’t define or figure out, his heart stopped abruptly, never to beat again, even after intervention and trying additional pacemakers.  Medically, it’s a mystery.

But, as I’ve mentioned several times over to people attending his visitation and funeral, and to steady my own deep sadness and anger and frustration, we do not get to choose the moment when we go.  I tell myself and others, it was his time.

My father and I were close.  We were also neighbours who lived across the street from each other.  We saw eye to eye on nearly everything (politics aside) and just generally enjoyed each other’s company.  We helped each other with projects and talked each other through frustrations and worked out problems together.

The day after my father’s death, I developed some sort of staph infection (source unknown) in my right hand and arm, adding more physical pain to my already broken emotional self.

It’s going to take a long time to heal.  I am working my way through grieving and helping my boys through it, as well.  The infection is healing, too.  I am thankful it didn’t become systemic.

Life for those of us left behind does go on, as best as possible.

I also have the advantage of having gone through the grieving process before when my mom passed away ten years ago, so I know what to expect and hopefully how to ride it through.  My husband has been the rock through everything and his support and take-hold approach have been incredible.  I also have the support of many family members and friends.  I will manage.

And I have my knitting.  I am ever thankful during times like these I am a knitter.

At the other end of the scale, I am being favoured with what has become known as ‘the Harlot effect’.  Stephanie chose to knit one of my sock patterns and blogged about how much she enjoyed it.  It has been an eye-opening experience.  Knowing those socks are going to grace thousands of feet on the planet just blows me away.

Watching all the orders flowing through my inbox through tears has been ever surreal.

But, I do want to say thank you.  And I hope folks enjoy knitting them as much as I did.

And, being opportunistic, I decided to take advantage of the few extra dollars floating about and purchased a new LCD TV for my family.  We are sports fans in this house and a new TV will make the experience more enjoyable.

I also think it’s going to be rather therapeutic.

Especially, since the 2010 Winter Olympics are nearly here.

You know who I will be cheering on.

I know.  That’s what I thought, too, when I first started making these little nests for carding.

It’s really a nice soft yummy rich brown alpaca.

It’s part of my latest spinning project, which is, again, to spin enough for a sweater.  The red mix from the last posting is working out very well -

(That’s a shot of the unblocked right front of Kelmscott).  I’ve knitted both fronts, actually.  Back next, then sleeves.

Anyways, digressing.

The alpaca above, plus this -

-DT Crafts kid mohair locks, which I’m hand-carding in the evenings (quite therapeutic, actually), and

from left to right around the clock:  green cotswold, light gray shetland (I find it’s just dandy with just about anything to add a little earthiness to a yarn), the brown alpaca and blue corriedale.  I’ve divided up all the fibre into its requesite amounts, into twelve sections, to make 24 batts.

So far, it looks like this (the mohair hasn’t been added, yet) -

All told, it should work out to about 24 oz.  Which should be more than enough for a sweater in worsted in my size.  I’m aiming to spin a 3ply worsted weight-this time.

It’s good timing, too.  I need a distraction.  My dad is lined up for open-heart surgery later this week or early next.

And, I’ve got about 6 weeks to kill before a CNS appointment at a neuromuscular clinic (but I’m thrilled to have that appointment booked).

In other news (good news) - Oceanwind Knits is finally on Facebook.  I feel like I’m a little late to the party.  But, I’m happy to finally have time to enjoy the fun interactions on Facebook.  I’ve really not taken time to participate in before now.  I’ll be posting updates as new things are added to the shop (a few new yarns went up the other day, by the way).

So, pop by, if you’re on Facebook, and say hello.  :)

Like this - Freckleface ‘Gypsy’, 80/20 merino/silk roving

spun into

this 3-ply light fingering weight, 104g / 415 yards (I also wound up with 69 yds of 2-ply laceweight).  Isn’t it interesting sometimes how the yarn really isn’t at all like the original roving?  I did deliberately attempt to break up the colour runs in this, however, splitting each third of roving into quarters before spinning.  I am quite tickled with it, actually.  The plan is to knit a simple lace scarf (like the Raha Scarf by Nancy Bush) which would leave me enough left for a cowl or some fingerless mittens.

And then, I decided to spin up a little batt leftover from a show in the fall.  It had a mixture of fibres, alpaca, merino and silk.  I typically forgot to take a photo pre-spinning since it was one of those sort of impulsive projects started on a whim one evening.  I plied it with a single of gorgeous Wooly Wonka  Silverback Roving - alpaca, bamboo + angelina (just absolutely divine stuff - too nice to spin, almost).

It turned out quite sweet, if I say so myself:

I spun it so it would transition from a rich seaglass blue to a gray blue to golden (72g / 283 yds), light fingering laceweight, plied looser than normal for lots of drape.  Currently it’s being knit into a lacey cowl.  I had the project in mind while spinning and it’s proving to be a perfect match.

And, most recently,   this -

-showing 3 of 8 skeins spun over the holidays (finished on Jan.3rd).  This is an ultimate achievement for me.  I’ve always wanted to spin enough yarn for a sweater.  This is the first time I’ve managed to do so.  It’s quite a mix:  about 50% red fibre (alpaca, border leicester and tunis) + 40% shetland + 10% green, blue, rust and black corridale which I carded together.  I spun it sportweight, softly with a deliberately drapey yet stretchy hand.  I’ve got about 520gs and close to 1400 yds.

Because I want to knit

Kelmscott, which I’ve been totally enamoured by since it first showed up on my screen in the Winter’09 Twist Collective.  I’m not sure I will knit the collar since it’s quite formal that way.  But, we’ll see.  Currently, what you see above is total progress on the sweater (2″ of one front).

The red roving project, as it came to be known, was quite an undertaking but a nice quiet focus amidst the crazy holiday activity, which was a good thing, given the need for deliberate focus has become imperative as of late.  It is nice to be able to find the time to focus on such large-scale projects  because in recent years I’ve been far too busy to really allow for such things.  (And, of course, I’m a fickle knitter and spinner, prone to startitis to begin with).  But, not these days.

Late 2009 brought some changes (as every year does for most of us) which are going to carry on into 2010.  In a recent post I mentioned about seeking medical advice for some unexplainable oddities.  Hence the required focus and balance.

For a while, I thought it was related to the stress of having a busy schedule and not quite enough downtime.  I expected, given some time, things would just sort of clear up and I would wake up one morning feeling just fine (has not yet happened).  I thought a weekend away would work wonders (it didn’t).  It became loud and clear over a period of short months I would need to change my expectations of what I generally was used to business-wise and how I conducted daily activities.  Time to face facts.  I’m told it’s likely fibromyalgia + something.  Or it could just be something. The ’something’ is proving to be difficult to nail down and receiving specialist treatment is proving to be a time-consuming process (that is, getting to see a specialist is taking long).

Because all of this is happening behind the scenes, so to speak, and because I’ve received requests, I just wanted to let folks know I will not be offering clubs this year (as far as I know); I have also elected to not reserve booth space at any shows.  This is quite disappointing since I very much enjoy meeting folks, never mind it’s fun seeing other vendors who I’ve become friendly with (and never mind the enjoyment of adding goodies to my stash - but perhaps I will be able attend some shows and just enjoy the shopping side for once).

I will, however, be continuing to dye in small batches, fill small wholesale orders and I will also continue to publish designs.  Although some things will take longer to put together than they have in the past, other things may come together more quickly with the schedule being less jam-packed.

It has all been rather eye-opening.  I am quite used to walking miles with the dog and working 10-14 hours in a day if required, filling gaps with personal activities.  This, at the moment, is a thing of the past.  A balanced schedule is a requirement.  No more willy nilly.

I am grateful to family and friends who have stepped in to help me to continue working.  I am grateful I’ve been working from home for years which has enabled me to jiggle things a bit, rather than forcing an abrupt career malfunction.

And, the major upside is more time to spin and knit since I’m being forced to slow things down (ironic, isn’t it?  getting more by slowing down?).  This is something I’ve wanted (what fibre addict wouldn’t?).  So, I’m taking it.  I’ve always believed in being opportunistic.  And, IMO, the therapeutic value is priceless.  :)

And, I am expecting with some time, some sort of treatment may become available.  All of this could, at some point, become a non-issue.

So, in a nutshell, this is how 2010 begins.  C’est la vie, as they say.  Onwards and upwards.  Knit (spin, dye) on.

Happy New Year to you and yours.  I’m looking forward to the Olympics.  Are you?

I’m sure you agree.

Too bad my youngest has some sort of aversion to them and refuses to wear them for more than a few seconds.   We’re working on him (bribing with doughnuts and other goodies).  He might come around.  Otherwise, they are cute all on their own, even if they’re not attached to a pair of five-year-old footsies.

And, I have a new hat for the holidays:

Knit in the aforementioned Kandinsky hand-spun.  It is a little wild.  But, I love it.  And the hat looks pretty good on, too (considering I’m not really a hat person, this is quite a compliment to myself ;)).

Pattern is a variation of the It All Comes Together beret.  Photos are pre-blocking.  It has smoothed out with blocking and the colours really seem to pop.

Wishing everyone a merry holiday!  Be safe and warm.

I like it.  Nice bursts of colour.

Specs:  2-ply, spun worsted at 12.5:1; plied at 14:1; wheel:  Ladybug.  98g / 267 yds.

I’m planning to knit it up into a Woodland Trails Cowl. (It’s a little thin but if it doesn’t work for this pattern, it will work for another cowl, I’m sure).  Right after I knit up some of these.  (Go see, they are too cute for words).

By the way - new yarn available at Oceanwind Knits:  Superwash Bluefaced Leicester sockweight (among other things).  :)  It is super super soft, with a litte nylon for extra durability.

If you’re like me, you’re stuck in the middle of endless snow squalls.  Great knitting/spinning weather.  (It has to be good for something).  Drive safely!