musindigo

It is.  In May.

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.  :)

Tags: Canada, dyeing, finished, knitting, life, millspun, oceanwind knits, projects, roving, snow, wip, wool, work in progress, yarn

Finally completed the shop update (a little later than sooner).  As usual (typically, with boys in the house) there have been a few unpredicted events around here;  the most notable being the teenager developing an inclusion cyst on the side of his face which had to be attended to.  Thankfully, he is on the mend and it probably will not require surgery at this point in time.

I’ve also been trying to pretty up the gardens outside while the weather co-operates but we are still under frost warning for tonight.  Hopefully the trend will soon give way to more springy temps which stick around.  It’s been a roller-coaster ride lately.

A few new introductions:

A fingerless glove pattern - “Whither Mitts” and its companion yarn, “BFL Sport“:

As well, a few new things in spinning:   Learn-to-spin-kits, Exotic Drop-Spindles and Fancy Batts.

Last but not least - sign ups for the Oceanwind Knits Fibre Club ‘09 are open!  See all the details here.  6 options available.  Shipments begin in July.

All of the newbies can be browsed in the ‘new’ section of the shop.

I’ve only got one skein remaining of the new ‘Seabreez‘ - the lace vultures lovers gobbled it up at the Frolic.  There will be more as soon as I can get my hands on some new base yarn stock.

I’ve also managed some non-work knitting which I am keen to share - hopefully next time around.  And, spinning, too.

Happy Spring!

Tags: boys, dyeing, finished, life, oceanwind knits, patterns, spinning, yarn

Are these not just the cutest?

They are like little pets.  Colorful bits of hand-dyed, hand-carded mulberry silk, in several colourful flavours.  :)  I would like to keep them all for my personal little pet collection but I will be carding them with some hand-dyed alpaca and merino and bringing them to the Frolic next weekend.  Time is flying.  It will be here fast!

Now that the weather is finally getting nice - yesterday was the first day since last fall I felt was balmy enough to hang freshly dyed out to dry.   And the warmer weather is adding a bit of energy that’s been lacking around here - all the long snowy days kind of get to you after a while.  Now it’s spring!  I’m hoping officially here since I have mosquitoes instead of snowflakes dancing around the front porch (yes, this is Ontario - from snowflakes to black flies in less than a week).

Today I saw a butterfly which I also feel bodes well.

I can see my dad putting his snow-blower away for the winter across the road… I think that’s a good sign, too.

I am really looking forward to the Frolic.  Many new vendors this year, too, although I don’t really get to shop (which is probably not a bad thing for my pocketbook since the takings are usually phenomenal).

The last several months have been spent putting things together.  I’ve got several new designs and lots of spinning goodies this year.

I thought I would share a few tastes of the new lotus shawl (still not officially named… it will come to me sometime soon in the middle of the nigh, I’m sure).

I will have kits for this at the Frolic in hand-dyed laceweight merino in lots of spring colourways.

So, I’d better get back to knitting, dyeing and carding… still lots to do!

I may, a little later, park on the front porch with the laptop for a change of scene… always a sure sign of spring around here.  :)

Tags: dyeing, finished, knit design, knitting, lace, oceanwind knits, patterns, projects, roving, spinning, yarn

Just a few new things posted to Oceanwind Knits today.  More soon!

Check out what’s new.

Tags: dyeing, lace, oceanwind knits, wool, yarn

So it’s nearly the end of March.

Yup, occurs to me today.

I guess time flies when you’re busy. I should know that by now!

OK. So, since last time, I’ve (obviously) been rebuilding websites but, what else? When I try to analyze, it’s all a blur so it’s hard to say, specifically.

We’ve had our share of bugs (again - I think working from home has lowered our resistance to some bugs now that Sam is in JK - poor Sammy had pneumonia + ear infection a little while back).

Boys finished hockey last weekend. It wasn’t a stellar year for Ben’s Bantam team but I guess every year is different.

But I do know there was a usual flurry of dyeing and designing and knitting and spinning.

This is the first skein off the Ladybug, hand-dyed merino, 2-ply, about fingering weight.

It’s fairly even but there are a few spots where it’s a little oddly plied since I am still getting used to the wheel.  But, getting used to it is fun.  :)

This is the first (still unfinished) skein of 50/30/20 alpaca/mohair/wool from Wellington Fibres, spun on the Victoria.  It comes pin-drafted so it practically spins itself!  It’s awesome.  I love it.  188 yds/70g, light fingering.  I have a lot of it.  I am pretty sure I will have enough for a large lace project once it’s all spun up.

Then there is this stuff (which is as amazing as it looks, believe me)- Australian Merino, intense deep colours, soft and smooth.  Just perfect (really).  It’s from Spiraldyed by Jacinta Leishman.

It doesn’t really show up well in this photo, but spun up, it’s just gorgeous.  I have one skein plied, 320 yds/96gs.  I’m hoping to knit a rectangular wrap of some sort from it.

So, how are all those sweaters coming, you ask?  Believe it or not, I have buttons in hand for the Tangled.  I do not know what the hold-up is, other than I like to be in a certain mood (calm is always good!) to place and sew on buttons and I haven’t felt that lately.  But, one of these days, there will be buttons.

I’ve finished the body of Wisteria and am working on the sleeves.

And, I’ve managed to sneak in a Noro sweater (in soothing stockinette) which is nearly off the needles.  With any luck it won’t take me too long to finish off the bands and sew on buttons.  ;)

I am working on a few new designs, too:

This one, above, is nearly off the needles already.  I may actually get it published before my deadline (which is the DKC Frolic in Toronto, the last week of April).  In any event, I hope to have them both debuting at the Frolic with kits available, along with a few other goodies.

Hopefully I will have at least one shop update before then, too.

Hope everyone is well.  Happy spring!

Tags: dyeing, finished, knit design, knitting, lace, oceanwind knits, patterns, projects, roving, spinning, sweater, wool, work in progress, yarn

…fly-by blog posting (with lots of pics but I still feel bad).

Time just goes somewhere these days - I’ve given up trying to get ahold of it… I just try to make the most of each and every minute. I suspect things will balance out a little in September, provided, of course, the Little Monster and his new school get along. It will be interesting to see how it all goes. He’s been attending daycare in preparation a few hours a week and is completely addicted (begs to go ‘bucket car’ - back in the car - a LOT - pretty hard to tell the little guy when it’s not a ‘bucket car’ day - thankfully, school happens a little more often than one day per week and I hope he will dig it as much as he does daycare).

I’ve got quite a bit of ’secret knitting’ on the go, too, so I tend to kind of keep quiet, lest I let the cat out of the bag by accident. It will be quite nice to be able to share all of these projects on the go which are happening ‘behind the camera’ rather than in front of it.

I have managed to throw some spinning in (for variety, you know). So with this note, the first pic:

Handspun merino - fingering weight. And another view:

Here’s a shot of the roving, pre-spinning:

I’m really please how it turned out. My hands have finally given over (I can’t think of any other way to describe it) from the neurotic focus I’ve had so far and it’s much softer and more even than my earlier spinning. I’ve also started work on some absolutely amazing natural gray icelandic, currently being spun worsted (I haven’t uploaded pics yet) and slated for a sweater which is going to outlive me by many many years - if I ever get it knitted, of course.

On the dyeing front, I have much new to share - these (among others) are available at the shop for those of you who are interested:

‘firestarter’ merino lace yarn and

‘mocha’ mulberry silk hand-dyed roving… these mulberry silkies are so yummy I really want to keep them all and sleep with them and carry them around with me. They are simply scrumptious.

It would also seem, given the amount of it which is showing up in my dye-pot these days, ‘Seaglass’ is the new ‘black’ :

…who knows… sometimes I just go with the flow. I have to say I like it, tho.

I will be at the Waterloo County Knitter’s Fair in Kitchener in September, which is always a grand time. Please pop in if you’re in attendance. :)

It has been a challenging summer in a lot of ways, with family visiting in July which was very fun (but who feels like working when you can hang out at the beach and on the front porch lol) and odd wet weather which has caused me to rethink some ‘dyeing days’ and postpone a few things, and lately, on a more sad note, several funerals to attend.

MrBear and I did manage to steal a night away at the Waterview Resort (in Wiarton, absolutely awesome if you’re in the vicinity) - the first night, I think, for ourselves, since the Little Monster came along. It was quite novel lol.

In any event, it’s lunch-time, and I have been keen about that for a little while now, so I am going to grab it while it’s still warm. Hoping everyone is well. Are you enjoying the Olympics?

Tags: dyeing, knits, knitting, life, roving, spinning, yarn

Around here, mrBear (or DH or Dad) is known as the übergeek, along with a few other adjectives, given his military background with the CAF and UN forces, not to mention a background with Environment Canada, as well as a rabid and I mean RABID competitive streak, especially when it comes to hockey… let’s just say, hockey games in our house are not generally rated PG ;), especially if the Vancouver Canucks are involved.

Although he is a fairly balanced individual, it is not unusual to see him with his brow formally furrowed over something or other, either in analysis or as a response to something around him.

He is not usually known for excited little bounces on his heels and clapping his hands together with glee, as in the kind of reaction you might expect from someone much less his senior (and we won’t discuss specifics, but mrBear was on the ‘net back in the early 80s, before it was even really invented, and his military career began in the 70s)…

Last week, I did a typical run to the post office, dropping off mondo parcels for post and picking up our mail in the process.  As I walked through the front door I hear the usual ‘anything good in the mail?’ which usually means, ‘I hope I didn’t get any bills today’ :P.

Nope, only ‘this’, I said, and handed him a package suspiciously shaped like a CD.

“Oh, oh!  Cool…” … ripriprip… “…neat”…  “OH!”… bounce bounce clap clap… “Look!  Stickers!”

“Oh, where can I put one?  … OH, right here, on my MONITOR!”

*insert amused snickers from mrsBear*

Apparently, this is all it takes.  ;)

I am a little more complicated:

More soon (I hope!).  I wish blogging via telepathy was an option, I certainly would blog more often.  ;)

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Tags: dyeing, life