High Fiber--Sisters, Spinning and Swimming

 

Today you will get to read more about our vacation in Oregon, including the quilt show at Sisters on July 9th.

 

This was my favorite, but there were a number of quilts that were close to beating this one out! On top of that, some of the ladies from Gees Bend were there, signing their book and occasionally breaking into song. Here are some of them in front of The Stitchin' Post, the quilt (and yarn) shop that sponsors the show.

 

 

The quilt show was a girls' bonding experience with my new DDIL, who is a knitter, but not a quilter. She enjoyed the quilts, though, and was impressed with the variety.

These two little girls proved that life doesn't have to hand you lemons before you could make "Lemon aid." I think they were giving away more photos than selling their product, though.

 

 

Haven't had enough? You can see all the photos I took at the quilt show here.

 

For you spinners, the Tour de Fleece started shortly after we left on our trip. Stanzi, my beloved Kromski Sonata spinning wheel went along. Together we completed 88 gms. of Stroll spinning fiber from Knit Picks.

 

It was some I had dyed recently using food coloring. Here's what my finished yarn looked like. My three-ply was 150 yds and 15 WPI, so close to the fingering weight I was aiming for.

 

 

Remember the little supported spindle I picked up at a friend's garage sale? I'm still looking for a good support for it, but a plate works fine, and I'm getting a very fine singles from it. I can even use it as a drop spindle once some twist has built up. This is some of the 100% merino I had left over from the Pacapoo I blended before Christmas.

 

 

Last week I mentioned my trip to the Beaverton Fresenius dialysis clinic to help Eevi Emminger, founder of Mitts of Steal, deliver fingerless mitts to patients. The pair I had just finished was snatched up by this patient, hot off the needles, and a hot colorway, too. This is the only photo I have of these mitts. I used Lorna's Laces sport weight superwash yarn.

 

 

Another knitting project, Daphne's Bees' Knees cardigan from Mary Scott Huff's The New Stranded Colorwork, is coming along. I'm using Knit Picks Stroll tonal and bare, and some old Knit Picks Essential from my stash. Since this photo was taken, I have finished the body and am ready to start on the sleeves, but I got sidetracked with some socks to work on during my trip to Portland for Sock Summit next week.

 

 

The pups go to the groomer tomorrow, thank Heaven! They are quite scraggly from all the fun while camping, as you can see from this photo taken at Suttle Lake, near Sisters.

 

For cuteness this week, though, I offer up this photo of the newlyweds in front of their new vacation home:

 

Yes, we went with them on their honeymoon. (Actually, they are planning a "Minimoon" to Crater Lake later on. This was sort of a dry run for setting up the tent.) They have no air mattresses, so they borrowed the seat cushions from our dining area in the trailer. Very comfy!

What's on my needles: A sock using an angora yarn I'll tell you about later.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is presently empty, but awaiting a very special fiber for an unknown project.

What's in my hoop: Same old thing. I need to get a grip!

What's on my spindles: Same as last week. Ashford Mulberry on my Golding, the Louet Corriedale on my KP Turkish drop spindle and the merino I talked about above on my little support spindle.

What's on my iPad: From the Nook app, I'm reading Scandal on Rincon Hill: A Sarah Woolson Mystery by Shirley Tallman. From Audible, I'm still listening to The Shelters of Stone by Jean Auel.

What's my app of the week: Must be the photo app that came with my iPad. We just got the professional photos from the wedding taken by our niece, Amanda Howse Photography, and oh, my! (She lives in the Seattle area, but is willing to travel.

What's in my wine glass: Il Valore Marchese De Petri Sangiovese 2009. Tasty!





Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the iPad and its big brother, the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

 

High Fiber--Elevating Fiber to a Higher Purpose

The snow is melting, as you can see by the lower level of the pups' snow pile:

We will get more snow before spring...and after it as well. Soon there will be days when I can take my spinning wheel out to the deck to work in the sun.

In knitting news, I finished these for Mitts of Steal.

These are in progress:

As promised, here's progress on my shawl:

This one uses the some of the yarn I spun during the Ravelympics last winter.


Vintage Stitchers met this week. Here's a sample:

Janet started this at the "Daisy Chain" class we had last month. It looks very different from my two '30s versions using the same pattern!

My "Floral Bouquet" from the same book is coming along:

Sarak arrived at her destination and is now at the Florida Keys, hopefully having a good time.

I updated the IOS on my iPad, and it upset my Photogene app, so this will be a shorter blog on terms of photos. My app of the week is "Earthquake Lite." Following the earthquakes in Japan and the resulting tsunamis has been interesting, although sad. The devastation has been mind-boggling. That story continues.

My reading hasn't changed since last week, although I'm further along in both books. I'm saving my spinning for an upcoming trip.

Happy fiber fun, everyone!


Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the iPad. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Farewell and Back to Normal

Miss Daphne and her family are on their way home.

You will see in the photo the felted diaper bag in use, Karen's new felted bag she got for Christmas lying in a bin, Daphne in her BSJ. David isn't wearing his scarf in the photo. Here it is in use:

We had a wonderful visit with both granddaughters, shown here, using my iPad to check their Facebook pages and email:

I got some Daphne time, too. She really likes to be held and cuddled. Here I am with her, keeping her happy so her mom can have a rest.

We will see them again in July for the wedding of their uncle. The tree has been put away and all the baby stuff that stays here has been collapsed ready for storage. As soon as all the boxes of wrapping paper and ribbon are stored away, we will be back to normal. Whatever that is!

I got one more knitting project done during the holidays. We went out for a sushi lunch and then to a movie, and somehow my purple knitted hat got lost. Hand knit, but just acrylic, and I had had it a long time, so it wasn't a big deal, but I needed a hand-knit cap to wear! I had the yarn--Andean Silk in cranberry--and so I CO right away. I finished it last night.

It's the Claudia Hat by MJKim. It's so much warmer than my old acrylic hat! I also got a few more inches done on the second sleeve of my La Boheme Cardi. Soon I can join the sleeves and body and start on the yoke. That's the fun part!

I missed out on one of my New Year's Resolutions for last year: Learning how to knit backwards. Well, it moves forward to this year. Last year was one of the busiest of my life, and this year promises to be busy too, with DGD1's graduation from HS, the wedding and Sock Summit! I have lots of spinning, knitting and quilting projects planned or in progress, though, so it should be a fun year!

Happy New Year, everyone! Happy knitting, quilting, spinning and crocheting!