A little of this and that

Trying to get some things finished to start new things... Let's see I am almost done with FebruaryLady sweater...Done in Dream in Color Classy Some Summer Sky.

And spinning up some Black Magic Woman from http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=58716 . Her stuff is just amazing!! I have plans for this when its yarn!!!

This stuff spins like a dream and it is just so pretty!! One of the girls, Amy, from my Sunday knitting group made a shawl from this and I just had to have it. I have 8 oz of wonderful fiber to spin up and then knit.

Also I am knitting a cardigan from my wildberry.

I am not showing picture though, you will have to wait until its finished. But I am very happy with this as yarn and how its knitting up!! The colors are just amazing on this, its blue,green, purple all in one!! This picture of the yarn does NOT do it justice, the colors just are not popping in the picture. The sweater I am doing is this http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTbristow.html. The cables are showing up quite nicely too! I was not sure if they would with the dark color, but they are. So anyway that's about it for now. Hopefully next time I will have finished the cardigan and have pictures.

Quite Amusing

Yes I also did the Amused sweater from Knitty, it seems to be quite popular. Anyway I did it in Dream in Color Classy in Giant Peach. The yarn is wonderful I must say. Great to work with and just nice all around. Plus it's super wash so that makes it even more wonderful. So here is my version of it.

It is not quite so orange but the color is close. I did a smaller ribbing on the bottom, only a couple of inches not as much as the pattern and also joined it higher up than the pattern. But yes this is an easy knit and just love it!!!

Not enough time...

You know when you think there will always be time for .... whatever it is your thinking??? Well sometimes time runs out. When I came home today from being with my knitting buddies I found out a very dear friend passed away.
You see my friend Hope moved upstate a while ago and kept saying for me and hubby to come up and visit. Well we never got there but said this summer for sure we were going to get there. But time ran out, Hope had a massive heart attack and passed away yesterday.
I met her at the Massapequa Diner way back in the early 80's, we were both waitresses and lived a few blocks from each other it turned out. Well we became fast friends and did so much together. In fact she was with me when I went for my blood test to see if I was pregnant. We were always there for each other and through thick and thin.
She left waitressing and worked for the Red Cross, taking blood and then went into nursing. I believe she was what they call a nurses aid for private home care. I always gave her so much credit, she overcame all and any obstacles life handed her.
I will miss her very much, but I am glad for all the wonderful memories I have. So Hope, I love you and will never forget you. Be at peace my dear friend.
So to everyone I say, no there is not always time. Sometimes it runs out, so do the things you want to do and be with the people you want to be with. The rest will fall into place somehow, it always does. So if you want to go do something or see a friend don't let housework, yardwork , or something else that can wait get in the way. Because you just never know.

78 Coupe Deville

For some reason that's what I think of when I made this batt on my drum carder, George, that's his name. Why you ask, its simple really. When hubby and I were first married we were going to by this car, a 78 Coupe Deville. Oh how I wanted that car, it was black with a sky blue interior. The seats were baby blue velour and the combo has always stuck in my mind. So when I was

playing with the fibers I had I made up this....Images are thumbnails and click able for close up.

It looks much more blue spun up than in the batt. And of course being a "Caddy" I added a bit of glitz to the batt. But just a bit, not to overdo it. So I made 1oz of this just to practice and use my drum carder and I think I need to make more. I have plenty of fiber, its some super wash I bought to practice spinning on and still have lots left. I think this needs to be a scarf for hubby.

Oh by the way we did not buy the car because my mechanic at the time said it needed work and was not sound. But I never found another one like it or forgot it!!! So here's my tribute to a most beautiful car that was never forgotten!!!

Rice Pudding, easy peasy recipe!!!

So I made some rice pudding and it's an easy recipe and a few people wanted it, so here it is....

1 cup Carolina rice, yes it has to be Carolina.
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 gallon of milk
2 cinnamon sticks more if you like it REALLY cinnamonny I use 3
1 stick margarine or butter
Put these ingredients in pot and cook for about 45 minutes, while stirring, till THICK.

In separate bowl mix
1 pint heavy cream
1 tsp (more if you like) vanilla
1 egg

After pudding is cooked add this mixture and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Also at this point I add raisins. Raisins are just if you want them. I add just about a handful. Put in large bowl or foil pan, at this point I take out cinnamon sticks and sprinkle cinnamon on top. Let air cool for a few hours and then put in fridge, serve when cold or warm if you want.
Like I said easy peasy!! Enjoy!!!

Where oh where are my blog posts??

So I am still trying to get my blog posts to show up on Ravelry and no luck!! Just got a new feed from Casey so lets hope it works. This is really quite annoying!
Anyway still spinning and knitting, and now I have some fleece!!! Yeah!! Some lovely BFL/Romney and even though its a bit dirty on the edges, it spins up quite nicely. I am spinning from the lock after brushing the tips and fluffing it up some. So after I get some spun up I will ply and then clean the skein and see what I get. My friend Lisa aka TsockTsarina, spun some up and its lovely. There is more fleece coming too!! All together its about 5 1/2 lbs of the stuff! Oh the dye pots will be going this year for sure!!
And I am still spinning my Wildberry, boy I have a lot of that stuff!!! I have to say that yarn is just incredible!! I am just loving the colors of that, and I am glad I did 3 ply, it just makes a perfect yarn. I am thinking I will have enough for a lovely sweater, something with cables! Just have to finish spinning it first.
Oh I got my drum carder!!! It's a Strauch Petite and its wonderful!!! I was lucky enough to find Janet from http://www.the-wheel-thing.com/ and she let me put it on lay a way!! I got it Friday and it is such fun!! Haven't really played to much with it but I cant wait to start blending fibers, colors and some glitz too!!
Soon there will be some pics of things but right now its late and I am just to tired to play with the camera.
So here's to having my blog posts show up I hope and lots of carding, spinning and knitting/crocheting.

S is also for Spinning...

So aside from my knitting, I have been spinning some yarn. Images are clickable for closeups.

The first batch is some colonial mix called Wildberry. I have been spinning this for a long time and have decided to do a 3 ply and glad I did. The colors are just so subtle and wonderful. I still have quite a bit of this to spin up but hopefully by the time I am done there will be plenty for a lovely cabled sweater.

Second batch is some Seawool mix I got at Rhinebeck from http://www.yarnsforever.blogspot.com/, she has the best rovings and yarns!! This is 70% wool 30% seacell. Spins like a dream and I did a very chunky overworked Navajo ply. Wanted something big, bulky and funky. It will be a cowl.

The third batch is a combo of BFL and merino from 2 different rovings. One was from MDSW and the other was a gift from a swap. Not sure what the yardage is or what its going to be but it will be something. So that's some of my spinning escapades. Now I must run, some wildberry is calling me!!

S is for......

Scarf, sweater and socks!!! In other words some FO's.

All are thumbnails and clickable for closer viewing. First the scarf, the basic 1x1 rib in Noro and I love the color changes. This is easy and mindless and warm!! Its the new Noro Tayio, cotton, silk, wool and nylon. Great yarn!!

Second my Wisteria sweater. Easy knit and the yarn is Araicania nature wools, I believe that's right. The pics really don't do this justice, it looks better in person. It's quite warm and comfy to wear too!! Washes nice but does pill a bit, I am hoping that stops.

As for the socks, the yarn is Neo from http://holidayyarns.com/index.html. I just love this yarn!!! It knits like a dream and wears incredible!!! The colors are so delicious, I really need more of this stuff!! I just did a simple sock to show off the yarn and am extremely happy with it. I learned 3 things on this sock, Turkish toe cast on thanks to http://www.tsocktsarina.com/blog/, Lisa swears by this and if it's good enough for her than it's good enough for me!! Then the short row heel, again thanks Lisa for showing me that one!! And last but not least the E-Z sewn bind off, great for stretchy bind offs for toe up socks. So this was a good learning experience as well and a great pair of socks at the end of it!!

So that's 3 of my FO's in knitting. I have some yarn that was spun up but that comes later, after all that is under Y for yarn, hee hee!!

And very soon there will be the tale of the fiber-napping and its safe return, but if you want to know all about it go here http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/long-island-knitters/50401/3001-3025, this starts at post 3002 and goes on. Funny funny stuff!!!

Finally got to a spinning guild meeting!

So I finally got to go to the spinning guild meeting. I work on Wednesdays so I never got there, but this month I took the night off. I am glad I went too, I learned quite a few things and there may be a workshop I can go to as well. But let me just say, winter is not the time to sit in a barn!!! Even if it has walls and such!! Man it was just cold in there, even with the heat on.

But I did get to see my spinning teacher Tabitha again, haven't seen her in a long time. And I got to buy some wonderful "kitchen sink" roving too!! Its greys, blacks, browns and just sooooo soft and wonderful.

I also finished spinning my sea wool from creatively dyed, I bought that in Rhinebeck. So hopefully I can do the Navajo plying and get that twist set and be ready to knit it up by Sunday. I am thinking either cowl or scarf for that. The colors are just great.

I also know I have to post pics of things that are finished, sorry! I have just been really busy and keep forgetting to do that, but I hope this week!

Friday I have the knitting guild and for that I am on coffee duty and teaching a class. So hopefully that goes well. I am teaching an entrelac scarf, it seems that everyone thinks entrelac is really hard. Funny I thought the same thing until I did it, then I realised its not hard at all. In fact I did a stole of entrelac and it is one of my favorite knitted pieces. The yarn is Noro and that yarn does all the striping for you, just LOVE Noro, any Noro.
So that's about it for now. I shall be blogging again this weekend with pictures I hope!

Just a quick update

So here it is 2009 and my first blog entry. Anyway just a quick update:
First off its snowing and looks really pretty. Not much snow this year so far and that's OK!! I have to post some FO pics, maybe tomorrow or Sunday. I did get my Wisteria sweater done and my socks are just about there. Also I have a scarf just about half way there. So lots of knitting and crocheting going on. On the spinning front, I have some yarn done in some pretty blue/lavenders and that has to get posted, just finished doing some sea wool and plied that. That has to have the twist set and dried then posted. I still have more sea wool to spin just not sure if I want to Navajo ply it like I did the last batch.
Son is still in Tennessee and so far so good. I also have 2 grand bunnies!!! Gatsby and Belle, 2 lop ear babies!! Lets hope it stays at 2!!
On a sad note my cat of 18 years has passed away. Her name was Taz and she died Thursday night in her sleep. She really did have a good run though, quite a few times we thought she wasn't going to make it through the night. And about 10 years ago she drank some anti-freeze so we thought that was it, she was really sick, but she rallied back and gave us more time. So rest in peace Tazzie we will miss you.
As for the rest well nothing much going on, winter you know. Just working and knitting/crocheting/spinning.
I will try to post more often this year and be a bit more consistent. Now if I could just get my link for Ravelry to work to show the posts!! I have tried everything and just cant get it. I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong, but I know its something.
So till next time....Be well

A most excellent night!!

On Friday my hubby said on Sunday after the KLO not to make plans we were going out. Oh by the way, the KLO is my Sunday knitting group at Panera's. It stands for Knitting Liberation Organization, hubby gave us that name. Anyway so at about 5:00 on Sunday, we head out, where don't know. So we are driving east and just keep on going and going. Where do we end up?? Here ... pics are thumbnails and clickable for a better view.

He took me to see the Montauk light house all decorated for the first time for Xmas!!! It was just stunning!! A sight that I will never forget and always be in awe of. You see we love Montauk and we go there a lot. In fact we spent our honeymoon there, 26+ years ago.

And on the way we saw such lovely decorations and lights. The one house, blurry picture, was all lit up in clear lights and just incredible! And of course the windmills in their Xmas finery. The little towns and villages along the way were quite lovely as well. Also it was a very nice warm night so that helped too.

Then after seeing this wonderful sight we were off to dinner. And were did we eat?? At the same place we ate on our honeymoon!!! I believe its called Shang Wongs?! In the heart of Montauk, its a bar on one side and restaurant on the other. In fact we sat in the same booth!!! The place looks the same and the food is very good.

So thank you babe for a most excellent night!! I have to say that was one of the best nights I can remember. Although there have been many great times along the way this past 27 years, this is in the top 5 for sure!!! So for anyone who can get there before they take down the lights, do go. I am sure you will find it is worth the trip, I know we did.

Oh by the way the pictures were taken with a cell phone because he didn't want me to get suspicious so we didn't take my digital camera. That is why that one picture has the cingular symbol, its a reflection off the window LOL

A time for change

First off, Happy Holidays to all!! No matter what you celebrate I hope it was wonderful and joyous. I for one had a wonderful Christmas and am planning a quiet New Year with some friends. Nothing fancy just some snacks and Yahtzee!!
And for this new year I will try to be a better blogger and even if I have no pictures a paragraph or two at least once a week. I have been very bad at keeping the blog updated this year. I really must get with the program.
Also for this year I am really stepping back from the craziness of everything. I mean really we as a society are just out of control!!! We have become such selfish greedy people that nothing is good enough anymore. I mean really how much bigger, better or more do we need??! When that poor man got trampled at Walmart on black Friday I was just sick. To trample someone to get to what, a TV or a game, what is that important?! So this year my family and I really concentrated on what was important, being together and having family time. I made sure I enjoyed the Christmas decorations and the baking. Usually its hurry up and just get the house done, and start the baking, lets go!! But this year every day the tree was lit and so was my village. I really enjoyed looking at them this year, usually I hardly turn them on at all. So this year is a year of stepping back and taking stock and just being satisfied with what I have. I think we need to go back to what is important and to less is more. I mean really, do our children really need all those video games, what happened to books and board games?? And since when does a 10 year old need a cell phone?!! And no I do not need another pair of shoes, or another purse, and my husband does not need a 52" t.v. After all he doesn't watch the 22" one he has, so why do I have to have a huge t.v. in my house that no one will watch?? And my car is 8 years old but works great and I love it, hubby's car is 13 years old and so far so good, but will need to be replaced soon. And if I know him it will be a good used car, not brand new, he wont take that kind of loss on a car. And thank goodness!! After all if it works and gets me where I need to be, than its great, I don't care that its not new. So rather than go into debt for material things I think this year I will do with what I have. If I don't have the money for something than I will wait until I do or just do without. So for all those that need to keep up with the Jones's go for it, I for one am backing away, I will just go at my own pace and be happy for health and family and good friends.
OK off my soap box now, but I was just really bugged by this stuff this year.
So to all have a very Happy New Year and may it be filled with peace, love and health. And lots of laughter, family, friends and wonder!!

Finally its done!!

I can't believe it took me so long to do this but it did. I started this in May when I got back from MDSW and just now finished it!! I just got caught up in other things and then had very little time to knit. But after seeing this in 2007 at MDSW I new when I went there this past May I had to have it. Its from http://www.tessyarns.com/ It's the windowpane tank in micro ribbon. I am very happy how this turned out I have to say.





The pictures do not do this justice at all. The colors are really very vibrant and just beautiful. So finally I finished it with the help from my Sunday knitting group!! Thanks Lisa, Helen, Melanie, and Rena!!! For the help, the encouragement and just being there!! I don't know what I would do without my Sunday knitting pals. There are a lot more of us but that's who was there today. In fact this is who we are http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/long-island-knitters/50401/1-25 This group is as my friend and co-worker Frank would say... The Bomb-Diggity!!! Besides knitting/spinning/crocheting/or tatting, I have learned a lot!! This is a VERY intelligent group and quite honestly, there are times I am quite confused! Other times we discuss embalming fluid, dry ice and one legged Nazis, go figure!!
So thanks again and I shall be wearing it on Sunday for all to see.

It's BLUETIFUL!!

So I re-dipped my fibers in the indigo vat and I just love the colors!!! The pictures don't do the color justice, they are really darker and richer than they show. But here they are...
So the top is superwash merino and it shaded so perfectly, can't wait to spin that up. Next is Lisa's BFL, she spun that up and when she heard I was going to play in the indigo vat she handed me the skein and said here try this, so I did and I am glad to say she likes it!!! The next one is cormo and it is dark like the BFL and just beautiful, or should I say Bluetiful!! The yarn in the next picture is knitpicks lace weight, oh that is just the perfect shade of blue. I am going to do another skein of that and see if I can match it. So that's what I have been up to. I have some more superwash in the vat now and am planning to throw my yellow dyed samples or at least some of the samples in to the vat and see what happens. This has been a blast!!

To dye or not to dye, natrually that is!

So I am trying my hand at natural dyeing and I have to say I am learning a lot!! Dyeing naturally with flowers and such you don't always get what you think. Also I did an ALL natural indigo vat and what an experience that was. For those of you who are not familiar with it you have to use stale urine for the fermentation of the vat to get the indigo going. So fat I have this to show for it.

I will be re-dipping these at least once more but so far I like what I see. The colors are like a washed denim. Very interesting this sig vat. The last picture on the bottom right is some BFL that my friend Lisa, the Tsocksarina, http://www.tsocktsarina.com/blog/, gave me to throw in there. She spun the yarn herself!!

Anyway as you can see there is quite a bit of shading so to speak and I like it.

Also in my dyeing experiments was marigolds. And this is what I have. A very BRIGHT yellow. The one is coopworth, a bit brighter than the other which is superwash merino.

The dye liquid was really very pale but once I put the roving in it got very bright. In fact when

marigolds where in the sun it looked like there was no color at all in the water, surprise!!! So now I know, yellow, marigolds with Alum mordant=very bright and pretty!!!

So that's my dyeing experiments so far. On the home front, my son moved to Tennessee, but that's a whole blog post in itself and I am not ready for that yet. I am still having some difficulty with my only child leaving the nest and so far to boot!!! But he is happy and his girlfriend is an absolute doll!! So we are lucky to have her as part of the family.

So happy knitting/spinning/crocheting/dyeing or whatever it is you do!!! Till next time.

Some things are not what you expect!!

From this......The lovely lavender geraniums that I have all over to this.....
The color started out a nice hot pink in the beginning and then went to this. I would say its a burn orange in liquid form. So I put some roving in some small jars that I had pre mordant with alum and cream of tarter and what did I get????

I would describe the colors as golden honey, the darker one which was coopworth roving and the lighter one as blonde mink. That roving was merino superwash. Both started out natural. The lighter one is shaded quite a bit, not sure if you can see it really in the pictures but its there. I have to say I LOVE both colors but certainly not what I thought I would get from lavender geraniums. But that's the beauty of natural dyeing you just never know. And the dyeing was done solar!! The mordant was done on the stove though. I have many of these plants so I think I am going to do a very large dye pot of this in the near future. I really have to get much more and much larger dye pots. This dyeing is just way toooooooo much fun!!
On a funny note.. My poor DH the other day says to me ....You know when I came home from work I opened the fridge and freaked out. Why i asked?? I was at work when he came home. Because he said, I saw this big bowl and it was red inside and I had to open it to see what was in there. I looked at him kind of strangely and said why, its just cut up watermelon. Then he says yeah I saw but I thought it was .... YARN!! I thought you had one of your concoctions in the fridge!!! LOL Can you imagine??? That's bad when your family is expecting to see a dye concoction and yarn in the fridge and it wouldn't surprise them!! But they encourage my fiber adventures and never give me a hard time about it.
Right now I have worsted weight in logwood purple with tin mordant on the stove cooling and then in a few days I will add the indigo to the urine vat. My DH was nice enough to contribute every morning to help the cause, though he thinks that's a bit nasty as he says. And I have some small jars of roving the was pre mordanted in alum/cream of tarter in marigold dye liquid. The marigolds gave of a weak yellow so we shall see. The sage yuck threw it out, the primrose really the same as the marigold, the stella di orio lily not so good and the creopsis an orange but then again who knows. I have tiger lily in a jar and its a lovely orange, and my red lily's cant remember the name of them and that is a strange color. Kind of red orange. I am still collecting flowers for the lily dyes and leaving them in the sun, we shall see. So that is my dyeing adventures so far.
Have to go, the dye pots are calling me!!!

Fresh brewed yarn!!

Just some pictures of the coffee yarn and the jars. The coffee yarn I am quite happy with. One skien I forgot to moisten first and its a bit lighter, but I still like it. The jars are almost there, just a few more days I think.