Fiber and Pups...With a Twist

The spinning for Tour de Fleece is done. I finished the second bobbin of the lovely Waimea Rooster merino/Tencel fiber from AlohaBlu. Here are the two bobbins, within 1 gm of each other in weight.

Then I got out my expensive lazy kate.

My wheel has a lazy kate built in, but I like to place the bobbins at least a few feet away from my wheel while plying, so the twist has a chance to even out a bit before the singles get plied.

Here’s what my yarn looked like before washing.

I got 20 WPI (wraps per inch, so fairly fine yarn, in the fingering range). I had 880 yds before washing. 

Dusty had his first haircut with our regular groomer. The breeder groomed the pups regularly while she had them, so they would be used to grooming. Here’s what he looked like before:

He looked much better after

Here’s a photo of Dusty and Rocky after their day at the spa.

It didn’t take them long to get dirty again.

I didn’t make it to Vintage Stitchers this week, but I dropped in on Joanie, along with Dusty and Rocky, so she could meet the new pup. She had just returned from a trip to Idaho, and brought me a souvenir.

Ha-ha, very funny! However, it’s a nice guidebook. It has a skull and crossbones beside each mushroom that’s toxic to humans, but doesn’t specify which ones are toxic to dogs. However, if I can identify the offending mushroom, I can Google it to find out if it’s toxic to dogs.

What's on my needles: The “So-not-my-palette Cardigan” working on the first sleeve, very little progress this week. Delectable Pathways quilt put aside for now.

What's on my Featherweight: No sewing until I get home again.

What's on my wheel: Just finished the Waimea Rooster Merino/Tencel from AlohaBlu, but plan to spin something new when I get back.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished The Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury, also from Audible. Now reading The Heiress of Winterwood by Sarah Ladd. Interesting story, but the narrator leaves something to be desired. I think she would be better reading children’s literature. It’s a Regency novel, and it also bothered me at first that she has an American accent, especially since they mention the war with the American colonies. I got used to her reading as the story went on, though, so it’s OK. (It’s Christian lit, if that influences you. It didn’t bother me.) Still reading Remember This by Shae Buggs on the Kindle app on my iPad, making some progress, now that things have calmed down a bit on the puppy front. 

What's in my wine glass: Amberhill Secret Blend, a red, 2014. It’s my second-favorite wine.

What's my tip of the week: If you’re training your puppy to do his business in the backyard, take him out every time he wakes up, finishes eating, has been playing vigorously for 10 minutes or so, or just for some exercise. Tell him what you want him to do (we use “make potty,” and then ask, “more potty?” if we think he might have some more serious business), then praise him if he does it. Don’t take him back in the house right away, unless it’s because he gets to eat, and he’s hungry. If they enjoy being outdoors, dogs will learn to put off doing their business to get to stay out longer.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Cold Weather, Good Life!

Snow arrived in Park City last week. That's Sunny, checking out the snow on the front deck.

We usually get a light snowfall in September. This year it was unusual, though. We had five  days of  light to medium snowfall with some accumulation on rooftops and shady areas. It's gone now, but the temperatures have stayed unseasonably cool at higher elevations...like our house.

Vintage Stitchers met at Ellen's, in spite of the snowfall. The ladies from Salt Lake City braved the canyon to get to us.

Show-and-tell included Rebecca's wall hanging, all finished except for the binding. 

Here's the back:

Ellen's Hawaiian quilt is about done, too. She purchased the kit when she was in Hawaii on vacation with her daughter.

Ellen also showed off this quilt made years ago, origianlly intended as a back for another quilt. Her son's girlfriend liked it just as a quilt top, so Ellen bought enough fabric for two backs, and this one is going to the girlfriend. Lucky girl! (Brenda did the quilting on her longarm. She does a very professional-looking job!)

I've started Appliqué Panel #3 for the Delectable Pathways quilt. I just have a couple of stems and a leaf done so far. It isn't really enough to show off yet.

During the week, I found myself in need of a take-along project, something that would fit in my purse. Socks are always a good project of that type, so I went to my stash and picked out this Panda Silk sock yarn, 52% bamboo, 43% Superwash merino and 5% combed silk. For a pattern, I dug out (I didn't have to dig far) my two Charlene Schurch "Sensational Knitted Socks" books and picked out the "Broad Spiral Ribbing" pattern from the newer book, More Sensational Knitted Socks. I took them along when we went to the theater Wednesday evening. I'm calling them my "Green Tea" socks. 

The Christmas Waffle sweater may be done by this Christmas. I've finished the body to the armholes, and I took my needle tips off the cable to use for the first sleeve.

I'm doing the sleeves on two circular needles. I found it a bit tricky getting started, though. The pattern calls for a provisional cast-on. I used the invisible cast-on, which is a type of provisional cast-on. Using two circular needles makes it difficult to tell if it's twisted after you join to work in the round. I had to knit several rounds before I could tell that it wasn't twisted. What a relief! (I get to do this all over again for the other sleeve, though.)

The llama seems to spin up nicely. I'm plying my share of what Lynda and I prepared. Here's what the singles looked like:

It has been too cold to work on the raw fleece further. The first step (cleaning) has to be done outside. We expect it to warm up again, though. 

One big event this week was dealing with DH's new iPad. Years ago, DS1 gave us an iPod, and that started events in motion. DH used his name, password, etc., to set up an iTunes account. He never did anything with it, though. I was the one who always loaded up the iPod with audiobooks when we were getting ready to take a trip. When I got my iPad 3 1/2 years ago, I synced to the iTunes library we already had on his computer, and then moved it to the old gimpy laptop when DH gave that to me so I wouldn't have to touch his desktop. When that died, DH bought a netbook for me to use (although it was still his) to sync my iPad. Two years ago I finally had enough money to get my own computer, a MacBook, so I opened my iTunes on it. (Are you still following me?) It was my iTunes, and I had added lots of stuff to it over the last few years. However, Apple never forgot that it was his originally, so when he set up his own account with his own new iPad, all the stuff in my library showed up. He deleted it several times, but every time he opened up iTunes, there was my stuff, including all my PDFs of knitting and quilting patterns. I also noticed that all my PDFs were missing from my iPad iBooks library, except for two knitting patterns and a weaving book. We called Apple together on Saturday and talked to a nice technical support person named Dave, who walked us through our "separation." There were two things he couldn't fix for us, though. One was the organization of my PDFs in files. My files are still there, but all the documents are in one folder. I'll have to sort that out myself. The other thing was all my stuff in DH's iTunes library. He will have to keep it or delete it, as he sees fit, but nothing I add to iTunes from now on will go into his library, and vice versa. Whew! I'd like to give Dave a gold star!

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms, Christmas Waffle and Green Tea socks

What's on my loom: Hoping to warp soon for a scarf. 

What's on my wheel: Plying the llama. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Peter West by D. E. Stevenson from Audible, one of my favorite authors. Now I've started The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson-Burnett (author of Little Lord Fauntleroy and The Secret Garden). Very good, so far. The eBook The Hannover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner is on my iPad Nook app for bedtime reading. Listening to the Fiber Hooligan podcast and the Knit Picks podcast.

What's my app of the week: Apple Radio! I discovered this little gem since updating my iPhone to iOS7. Love it! You can put in the name of a performer you like, and Apple will make you a radio station with that performer and similar ones.

What's in my wine glass: FoxhornVineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. The big bottle, which I thoroughly deserve!

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.