This week found DH and me on a snowshoe outing with a special purpose.
As you may know, my DSIL, Eileen, passed away October 4th. She wanted her ashes scattered at the top of one of the local ski resorts, on the snow. We had to do this before the resort opened but after there was snow to snowshoe on. Friday the weather was good, there was plenty of snow in the chosen spot and all the family and friends who wanted to go were available. Each of us had the opportunity to toss some of her ashes to the breeze. When it was my turn, I thanked her for being my sister, as she was really more of a sister to me than a SIL.
Several members of the party stomped out her name in the snow, first in block letters and then in cursive. But not until after some Keystone-Cop-like maneuvers while they decided how to do it. We decided that we really needed Eileen for this, as she was always the one to organize and direct. (Who will do it now?) Maybe she took charge herself from wherever she is, because it finally went together and got done.
We went to lunch afterward. It was a wonderful snowshoe, a good workout and a good catharsis for us all. DBIL will be at our house for Thanksgiving. It will be good for him to know that he has family who will be missing her the same way he does.
If you read my extra blog, you know I have been dyeing merino (from Judy's Novelty Wool), carding it and some black alpaca from Free Spirit Fiber Arts and blending the fibers with poodle clippings from Rocky and Sunny's last grooming appointment. The resulting fiber is 42% alpaca, 42% merino and 16% poodle hair.
Now, you may know that poodle can be spun like wool all alone, as can some other types of dog hair, but you need a longer staple length for that. These clippings are very short, some as short as 1/4", so I sandwiched them between layers of the other fibers, already blended and ran them through the drum carder a couple more times. Then I spun the fiber and got a single that looked like this:
It's rather lumpy because I didn't card it much after the poodle was incorporated into the fiber. That's OK, because this will be a type of novelty yarn. I call it "Pacapoo." Then I Navajo plied it and got this:
It's incredibly soft, and I know it will be warm. It will be a hat for DH to wear skiing. His hair is very thin, so he needs something to keep his head warm.
I also started the new Baby Surprise Jacket using yarn that I spun from the KP Super Wash merino and nylon (Stroll) spinning fiber I had dyed with Koolaid. I'm really happy with how the colors play in the garter st. Here's what it looked like when I last took a photo:
I have done the bind-off for the neck, so I am quite a bit further along than this. I'll post the photo of the finished jacket when it's ready. This sweater is much bigger than the ones I made earlier in the year, before Daphne was born. It will be more like 1-yr. size. You follow the same pattern, but use thicker yarn and needles. This is more like worsted-weight.
Vintage Stitchers met this week, but I will post those photos next week. The quilts I finished last week have gone to the quilter. I'll take photos of the finished quilts when I have them back.
Another activity this week was entering my knitting library into my Library on Ravelry. I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. It's so easy to take my iPad to my fiber studio, enter the name of the author and then click on the right title, and the photo of the book cover appears on your shelf:
I still have more to do. Great to work on while listening to the Knit Wits Podcast! If I can stop laughing long enough to get some work done! That's it for this week. See you next time!
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