A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

Happy Monday!

Okay, so this weekend didn’t go quite as planned, but overall it was fun anyway! We never did go to the Gardner Museum on Saturday . . . we almost went to the Peabody-Essex Museum but it was getting so late it seemed pointless to go . . . so we wandered around a couple of antique stores in Marblehead and then the guys decided we really should be in Rockport so we headed up that way and had dinner (which was okay, but not great) and strolled around a few galleries and shops. All in all it was a fun and casual afternoon and evening.

Sunday I tried to get a few things done around the house, which turned into very few things getting done. I did read a little more of HP and worked on some of my knitting projects (includining the secret one) and I had my Aunt and cousins over for dinner which was fun.

I did start trying to spin this chocolate colored “wool”/llama blend fiber that I have a pound of. So far I’m not overly impressed, but I am learning something about picking fibers. I was in a sort of fiber induced daze when I went to NH S&W and wasn’t using all my senses when it came to buying stuff . . . . this fiber has what seems to me like a lot of guard hairs in it and it is either older or just not well processed or something because it isn’t spinning very nicely at all. In fact, its actually work to get it to spin! Now I’m glad I only bought a pound of it and not the 2-4 I was considering buying at the time!!!!

Silkworm Update:

Well, we are on the final stretches of silk production! As of this morning there were 5 worms that hadn’t started to spin yet and the first of the moths has hatched!!!! As soon as I manage to get my act together I will add the pictures I’ve been taking . . . .

Guess that’s it for now . . . more later if I think of anything . . . .

T.G.I.F.

Happy Friday Everyone!!!! Now I don’t want to jinx it, but they are actually predicting good weather here this weekend!!! So very exciting!

Last night I went to the spinning group at Mind’s Eye, we had a blast! Such a fun group, If your not there you are definitely missing out! Unfortunately, when I got home I found that DH hadn’t put the A/C in the window while he was home during the day! Yuck!! So even though it had cooled off outside the inside what terribly hot and stuffy! Thank goodness the downstairs neighbor was around! He came to my rescue by carrying in and installing the A/C for me, at 10:00 pm no less! Thanks to him I was actually able to get some much needed sleep last night!

Tonight we are headed to a friend’s house for DH’s god-daughter’s High School Graduation party. We haven’t seen them for a while so it will be nice to visit and catch up. Saturday we will be doing the usual errands and what not in the morning and then we are meeting friends at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the afternoon. This truely is one of my favorite places anywhere. I just love the calm, cool atmosphere and the beautiful garden, not to mention all the fabulous works of art to be seen everywhere in the place. If you have never been, I highly recommend it! After that we are headed to their place for dinner, which I’m sure will be lovely as they are wonderful friends and great hosts. Sunday I’m planning to get some knitting done, a bit of cleaning around the house, the ususal laundry etc. and perhaps even some spinning! If we can get the yard mowed (currently standing hay, much to the delight of the bunnies) I might even take the wheel out there and work on it! Hmm, some homemade ice tea, let the bunnies out for a run and work on the jacob fleece I’m spinning . . . this is sounding better and better!

On the knitting front:

The purple purse to match the tank top has escaped from my head and onto the needles. I’m thinking of keeping it simple, just a rectangle with a triangular flap and a button or something to hold it and an i-cord strap.

Secret project part 2 is coming along nicely, I love the texture of the yarn so that makes it easier to pick up even in this heat . . . . I’m not rushing too much since it will be too warm to really use it for a few weeks yet . . . but I’ll keep you posted.

I want to start on the blue top listed at right, but I’m hoping to spend some time working on that purple shawl first. I’d like to get that finished off before I start another bigger projects. If I can stick with it and get that done, then I can do something new and then I can take out something else from the UFO pile . . . my plan is to alternate if possible between the UFOs and the new ideas so that maybe the UFO pile will shrink. I also really want to start on the holiday projects. I’ve started getting some ideas but I need to get a few done if there is any hope of it happening in time. I know I can’t be the only one who waits till September and then doesn’ t have things finished. How many of you have given someone a ball of yarn wrapped up nicely for Christmas? I really hope not to be doing that this year! We’ll see!

I haven’t picked up Marianna’s socks for a while now. I only have 1 heel and a cuff to go (they are toe-up) but I just can’t seem to knuckle down and finish them. Maybe this weekend I’ll find an hour to finish them off. Not that she will be able to wear them in this heat, but it would be nice to finish them while they have a chance at still fitting!

Silkworm UPDATE:

We are nearing the end of the spinning! There are only a few dozen worms left to go as of this morning and I expect a number of them will start today. I’ve been choosing cocoons to let hatch for breeding next year’s stock; I started with the earliest spinners (definitely want the ones that go first!) and have chosen a number of the largest cocoons from the rest of them. Those are now housed in the same aquarium while we wait for them to “hatch” and the remaining worms are in the cardboard things from soda cases. I’ve given them an number of egg carton bottoms to spin on and that seems to be working well. I do have to “pick” the started cocoons out once a day so that we make room for the rest to start. Those are just placed in a basket for now. I’ve figured out how to tell when they are done spinning with out “candling” every single one with the flashlight. Once they start to change to a moth, if you pick up and gently rattle the cocoon just a bit you can hear if they are “rattling” around inside at which point you know they have started to change and you now have as much silk as you will get from that worm. I am still considering letting the rest hatch just to avoid the picking dead bugs out of silk thing (esp. since I haven’t finished the ones I started the other night which are now in a ziplock in the fridge, add that to the list for this weekend

Okay, off to work, lots to do today! Have a great weekend everyone!

Warning, I’m grumpy today!!!

I’m feeling very irritable this morning. Could be just lack of sleep (babysat until 12:30 last night) or the heat or both, but I’m not in a good mood!

That said, what is it with people and driving? Do we automatically become idiots behind the wheel of a car? Or is it just where we feel in our own space and entitled to be as selfish as possible? Someone please tell me Why is it so difficult for people to understand that if you are approaching an intersection with a traffic light, and the traffic is backed up from the next light to the point where you can’t clear the intersection, you must stop, even if your light is still green? Doesn’t anyone realize we would all get there a lot faster if they would just stop anyway instead of tying things up for the other direction?This is not rocket science!

Knitting: the purple purse to match the tank is attempting to escape from by head onto the needles!

Well, I have the other half of that class this morning, should be interesting given my current mood! I’ll post more later if I get a chance.

M.

Yikes, Bloggers back but it sure does look different!

I have lots to tell but it will have to be in installments today as I’m taking a class from 9 - 12 today so I’ll be away from the office.

We had another busy weekend, lots of cleaning/reorganizing on Saturday and we had my Aunt & cousins for the night on Saturday. The kids hung out with me while there mom went apartment hunting on Sunday. One of my neighbors who happens to be around the same age came over most of that time as well. So we had 4 kids trapped inside because of the rain all day! They actually managed pretty well with board games, movies and knitting . . .

They are all 4 learning to knit between me and my MIL and the oldest of my cousins is starting her first hat! We’re planning to do it flat with a seam, its a tweedy lime green cascade 220 in K2, P2 ribbing and it should be really cute on her! I’ll add pictures once she has it done.

I started the Secret project, part 2 over the weekend and am making decent progress, all things considered. I’ve been thinking about what larger projects to start next and I think I might try a sweater. I’d like to finish the purple shawl before I start anything else large, but we’ll see if I can hold out that long. I’m also thinking of making a small purse of the leftover yarn from the purple tank top but that is still just rattling around inside my head. . . . for now.

Oh, I did get the Harry Potter book on Friday, I found another store that had it and picked it up at about 12:03 that night. I’m actually trying not to read too fast since I want it to last a while . . . So far I’m really enjoying it and that’s all I’ll say, no spoilers here!

I had a lovely tea party with “Moxie” yesterday afternoon. We had talked about trying some dyeing, but the timing just didn’t seem right so we are going to save that for another day. She showed me her stash, and for those in the NMYFOM Group on KR I just have to tell you she’s only just getting started! And we sat on her porch and watched people jog by while we worked on our sock projects. All in all a lovely afternoon, thank you Moxie!

The silk worms are about 2/3 done spinning. I started “processing” cocoons last night. I had 207 of them ready to go, I did take a picture, I just don’t have it with me. For anyone out there considering raising silkworms, there is something to be said for the “Peace Silk” approach!!! I spent over an hour trying to detangle dead bugs from by silk and I still have a very long way to go!!!!! I’m seriously considering letting the rest hatch just to cut down on the work! And by the way, YUCK!!! Boiled bugs are just gross!!!! And don’t worry I didn’t take any pictures of that part

I finished the blue/green yarn I was spinning and I need to get back to working on the raw Jacob fleece that I started. Perhaps over the weekend . . . .

We also moved around all my yarn/fiber/fabric stashes over the weekend while reorganizing. They are now almost all in one place, neatly stacked by type. I can even get at all of it without digging anything else out of the way! I did pick up 3 very large plastic tubs last night in anticipation of the arrival of the fleeces I dropped off with Zeilinger’s at the http://www.yankeeshepherd.com/Events.html this spring. I brought 35lbs of fleece (5 fleeces) with me and we had picked up one more (for Mom’s shawl, she picked it) so I’m expecting to get about 20 lbs of roving back in the mail sometime in July!!! That should keep me busy for a while! I figure I’ll have less trouble about it if I have a designated storage set up before it arrives, so 3 119qt containers later I’m ready. Now all I have to do is find the time to spin 10 sweaters worth of yarn

Okay, thats all for this morning, I’ll stop back this afternoon to add some more. Have a great day!

Aaaaahhhhhh!

The buttons aren’t coming up!, back to the drawing board!!!!