Kind of feeling lazy after this long weekend.......

Sat out in the backyard and visited with friends.New pictures of what's blooming in the yard.

When we were busy working around the yard, the girls got their couch time outside.

Went to see the Canada Day fireworks.

Saturday went to the downtown Farmers Market. Bought some cinnamon buns, and was looking to see if there was anything for sale fibre related.So Sunday it was the start of Tour de France. One of my favourite things to watch in the summer. In my last post I mentioned I started up with Tour de Fleece, Ravelry group Team Canada for spinning. I'm hoping it will get me back in the habit of spinning more frequently.
Here's a few pictures of fibre from my stash of which I'm hoping to at least get a couple bobbins of 2 ply each.

The above is super wash merino/tencel destined for some sock yarn, and the two pictures below I'm hoping to get a consistant 2ply in a DK weight, 12-14 wpi.

100% Black Alpaca top.

For now, I'm starting off with a partially filled bobbin with 100% Alpaca bought in roving form from my local yarn shop.

Happy Spinning!

Come Join......

It might be fun. I'm looking forward to it.
Find me on Ravelry in the Tour de Fleece Group, look for the Wild Card Groups and join up with Team Canada.

Finished Plying.......

The Icelandic is done. Some close-up shots. I can't get enough of the close-ups. Reading other blogs and seeing close-ups of spinning just makes me ;). Click to make them bigger.

A little bit closer now.....

7 wpi=#5 (Bulky/Heavy Worsted). Amount of fibre 11 oz./311g purchased from Paradise Fibers. After spinning, and washing the total yardage is: 187.4m/205yd, weight 11.9 0z/337g.

There is a discrepancy here because I never weighed the fibre before spinning. I checked my receipt and I ordered what they had left at that time and that was 11 oz. After processing into yarn you can see that I've weighed in with more than the 11 oz. Bonus!!

Before ordering this I never worked with Icelandic fibre and I have to say I was a bit shocked when it arrived in the mail. I opened that package, stuck my hand in the bag, and immediately knew that it was not anything that I'd be able to wear close to the skin except for socks or slippers. So the fibre has been sitting in my closet since July 2008, and I thought this is what I'm going to practice spinning some thick singles on. I tested the singles to see how strong they were by just trying to rip a piece off, and couldn't believe the strength this fibre has. I could totally see combining the Icelandic with some other fibre for sock yarn.

So I'm now testing gauge to knit some felted slippers. I'll post pictures later showing how it felts up.

 The weekend started with this.......

My lilacs finally opened up to the little bit of sunshine we got on Friday.  It quickly turned to this Saturday early morning.......

 Sleet, mixed with a bit of hail.  All the planted pots were put in the garage, and what plants I have planted outside basically fended for themselves.  

 Construction is still ongoing down in the basement, but on Sunday I finally (Finally!!) got to put the jumbo sliding hook flyer on my Ashford Traveller double drive.

 I have some very sturdy Icelandic Top that no way can go against my shoulders or neck.  So I started spinning thick singles which I'll double ply and knit up for slippers which I'll felt for hopefully even more strength.

 Love the jumbo bobbins for spinning thicker singles.

Everything goes that much better when a venti decaf vanilla iced caffe latte is sitting at the ready.  Who else is addicted to this stuff???

More Spinning......

I was browsing through my blog entries and realized I hadn't posted pictures of the finished navajo plied merino/silk blend from Aurelia. I finished spinning this last month, but with the basement reno and the furnace installs I just plain forgot. Bought this fibre from Aurelia Wool in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada when we were travelling to Vancouver, B.C. to see DD. 80Merino/20Silk, Spun to 12 wpi which on my chart means DK weight. Colour: Pink Parade. Total weight:96gr/3.5oz. Total metres: 211.5m/231yd. This was wonderful to spin. It's sooo soft, and will be wonderful knit up for anything close to the skin. Oh and I discovered something....when you have the flu try to avoid stranded knitting.....I came down with the flu last week Friday and after a couple days laying in bed I decided to try finishing off some Latvian mittens I've been working on. Well after ripping it back three times I thought I was finally on track, but eventually realized after knitting the entire body of the mitt, there was still three huge errors......so again ripped it back all the way and started again. Flu-brain, yuck. Some thumb shotsA week later and I'm still feeling the effects. With regret I'm having to say that we never made it to Phoenix. I was so looking forward to some warm temps and relaxation, but when you're sick you don't want to leave home. I don't know what was worse the flu or letting my DH and my sister and her family down by not going. Either way I'm feeling somewhat normal now, and the flowers from DH did help :) And my other sweetheart that has become even more clingy, and loved having me sick in bed because I was a great source of heat for her. I swear she would love living in a warmer climate.

Busy Busy Weekend........

In between working on the basement I managed to get some knitting done.

Also some spinning was managed. The 80 merino 20 silk fibre from Aurelia is finally done, and I'm navajo plying. I stopped in at Fabricland and picked up some material to make a kitty and scotty dog stuffed animals. Just a little something for DD and Nathan. DD is missing the kitties at home here, and is desperately wanting a pet of her own in Vancouver. She has terrible allergies and I'm thinking somehow maybe this will alleviate those withdrawals of not having a kitty to cuddle. The Scotty dog will be for Nathan. Just because :)

Next came the books I ordered from Knit Picks. They have a book sale going on until November 4 and I couldn't resist. In Cables Untangled, there is some awesome patterns, and reference to cable stitches. Interweaves Knitted Gifts, is wonderful! There's several patterns I'm wanting to knit up, but one in particular 'Ballet Flats' by Marta McCall. Also if you are a Fair Isle Knitter Alice Starmore's book is an awesome reference book as well it has some wonderful timeless patterns.

Saturday was our 25 Wedding Anniversary which was spent out at a concert with some friends. It was different as the kids aren't home anymore and weren't with us to celebrate, but we had a great time anyway. The next day Sunday was our turkey day. The plan was to have our Thanksgiving around 6:00pm but when DH brought the turkey up in the morning something was off. I mean really off. I kept smelling something, and in the pit of my stomach I was hoping what I was smelling wasn't the turkey, but it was. Bugger. I ended up phoning Costco as I bought the thing only the day before from them. Costco's good that way with returning things, and they told me to bring the turkey back with my receipt and I'd get my $ back. Turns out that a half hour before I got there another lady brought her stinking turkey back as well. So I don't know what was going on with the fresh turkey's from Lilydale. After standing in line up there we ran to Superstore and got a frozen turkey, and Thanksgiving supper was served at 8:00pm instead. With a great bottle of Chenin Blanc from Quail's Gate everything tasted great.

Monday was DH's 52 birthday. Again just the two of us celebrated after a day of working in the pit called our basement renovation. Some progress was made after we did a major backtrack with the insulation. We ended up taking down all the framing which we just finished doing to put in pink rigid insulation to bring up the R value to 20. One of those things that we had to do so there'd be no regrets later on. My camera has this neat feature to take panoramic pictures. (Click to Embiggen) Framing is just about finished. Next comes hooking the electrical back up, and then drywall.

Oh Lord Where Do I Begin........

You think I was on a sabbatical or something, but it was just life in general. I've missed posting and any spare time I had was spent reading all the wonderful blogs I've been referred to and inspired by. It's like getting addicted to a soap opera or something these blogs. Sheesh.

So here's a list of what's happened since my last post in March. Keeping it short and sweet.
-The estate my DH is executing was probated in February '09, and it continues to this day. Don't let anyone tell you this is a swift thing to do. We've already passed the one year anniversary and we're still dealing with it on a daily basis.
-March '09 my DD moved to Vancouver B.C. to be with the one she loves. She's the last of my children to leave home.
-April was just lost.
-In May we went to Florida for two weeks. That was nice. Would like to go again. Experienced rain like I never have in my life. I can now appreciate what they go through in a hurricane.
-June we were devastated to hear from our daughter that her true love Nathan at the age of 28 has testicular cancer stage 4. It spread up to his lungs. The same cancer that Lance Armstrong had.
-In July we went to Vancouver to visit DD and Nathan, and it was wonderful seeing them. Our hugs have a certain desperation to them since this hit us. After getting back from the trip I was home watching the Michael Jackson Memorial on tv, and went downstairs looking for something to start for dinner. To my shreaking panic discovered our 200 US gallon fishtank had drained onto our basement floor. All but four inches which was enough for me to scoop out and save our Koi and Goldfish.
-August basically has been a month of running back and forth from Home Depot buying stuff to fix our basement. In between fixing our house we bought another home which my DS and his friend are renting from us. It needs some upgrading which also demands more trips to Rona/Home Depot.

So that's that list.......The saving grace for me has been, which I'm sure you can all understand, is The Lord above, my DH, family, my spinning, knitting, and not to be forgotten the new blogs that I lost myself in inspiration, and keeping up with the lives of the dear blogs that I've gotten to know over the years.
-Smoking Hot Needles
-Gypsy Spinner
-Susan in Stitches
-NovaMade
-Spin, Knit, and Life

The new Blogs which blow me away by their photography and inspiration:
-Alicia Paulson
-Posy
-Apron Thrift Girl
-Allsorts
-Anna Maria Horner

On to fibre news....here's some of the projects that I've tried to finish, some that are finished, and new ones that keep getting in the way.


Market Bag for Nicole. Having fun coordinating fabric for these bags. Probably having more fun shopping for fabric. Another dangerous stashing hobby started.








This was my first try at making this Market Bag. McCalls Pattern #5822. It's been used more for carrying around my knitting and not groceries. I still have a ways to go in combining fabric.








A sweater pattern (Berroco Pakuna) I found in Vancouver at Birkeland Bros.Wool Ltd.







I'm finally using my natural colour Alpaca handspun for this project and I couldn't be happier how it's turning out so far. Progress has been slow, but almost finished the back. These pictures are of the front and side.




A bit of embroidery from the Babylock Esante. I'm making some bookmarks for my Niece and Nephew. Actually the sewing machine is making them I'm just programming and changing thread.





Some 2 ply handspun from Aurelia in Merrit B.C. We stopped in on our way to Vancouver. It was my first time at spinning something with so many colour changes, but I had read somewhere to separate the colours and have one spun up with all the colours combined which you can see in the one bobbin. Whereas the other single was spun up with the colours flowing one into the other. Which I then plied together. This yarn is going to be knitted up into Fiddlehead mittens with a black yarn anchoring it. Pattern by Adrian Bizilia which I purchased off of Ravelry.





More handspun by Louet. Dark Blue Faced Leicester. This reminded me very much of spinning Alpaca. I had to have more twist when spinning singles. My goal with this was to try Navajo Plying which really frustrated me just watching people do it. Until I found this....Sarah Anderson Navajo Plying. I love how I can take a spool of single spun and spin right to the end of the bobbin with no leftover and the result is a three ply. Wonderful!

More of the same spinning update............

I just love this colourway from Bountiful. Now 2 plied.







A close up of the alpaca staple requested by Jody. (Gypsyspinner)......Purchased in Valemount during my last visit.








Recently I was inspired to look back at my history in rug hooking. It all started with Phyllis (Spin, Knit, Life) mentioning another blogger Robin (For the Love of Fiber) who is a rug hooker besides many other talents. I loved rug hooking back in the day, and actually it was the first thing that I had ever started regarding a fibre craft even before knitting or spinning.
The only thing I have to show for it is .............

I even joined the guild and got a name tag............





But alas, it was unfortunately a craft that fell by the wayside because of family commitments, and the meetings were a long drive away. The meetings were an important aspect because that's where the strip cutter was. I don't know if that was the proper name for the machine, but it would cut strips out of the wool used to hook into the backing fabric. It was a craft that I first spotted, while on holiday, in a mall in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. We were walking through a shopping mall, and a couple ladies from the local guild were working on projects. They had also set up some tables showing some beautiful finished pieces of rug hooking. I had to stop. I was compelled, and made a commitment to myself to start something as soon as I got home.

Well that was nearly 20 years ago, and yes as a young mother I got myself signed up with the guild and went to the meetings and really enjoyed meeting most of the mainly senior ladies. We just recently renovated one of the bedrooms into my craft/sewing room now, and one of the things that had to go to make room for wool/yarn was my wool fabric for rug hooking. Gosh in my next life I'm putting in a request for a bigger craft room..lol.

Too many crafts, and too little time.