A Few Sheep Shy of a Farm

I have a migraine today.

We were suppose to go to playgroup this morning but that just isn’t going to happen . . . not when I can’t see properly out of one eye and the noise of one toddler is killing me . . . not a chance.

 MIL agreed to take him shopping with her so I can go lie down, which is where I’m headed next.

 Yesterday I managed to dye some yarn finally, got a small amount done so I’ve got yarn for some orders that have been waiting and for two of my test knitters.  As soon as its dry I’ll be able to send it out, probably Monday.

I’ve also made progress on the little guy’s socks.  He wanted to try the second one on when it was only 4 rows in and then didn’t want to give it back! He really does seem to love his handknit socks.  I’m currently working on the heel on the second sock so I expect to have those finished in the next day or two depending on what happens with this headache.

I’m also starting the socks for my Hogwarts sock swap pal.  The yarn is dyed, and I wasn’t sure at first that I liked the color but once the yarn had dried and I got a better look at it while winding it the other night I’ve decided I like it a lot.  I’m going to knit both socks at the same time to see if I can get them done quicker that way . . . . and have them actually match.  If I can function well enough to do math later I’ll try to cast them on today. 

Chicken update

Progress continues on the coop, if I can I’ll take some photos later today.  This really is going to be a “castle” as the little guy keeps calling it! Yesterday the roof went on, nice shiney new shingles that were actually given to us by a friend who builds houses and had them leftover from a project. 

The other day they got a window so now there is some nice morning light coming in and at some point I’ll do something about getting them a second one so they will get some better light over the winter, we’ve got a few leads on some windows being given away so I may pick up a free window or two.  Afterall, it is a chicken coop so it isn’t like they need to match or be fancy, right?

Next it looks like they will get roosts to perch on.  Dom found a great design on someones site where the whole thing goes together rather like a trellis but is connected to the wall (at an angle) by hinges so you can just lift the whole thing out of the way to shovel it out.  It looked very convenient and not difficult so that is what they will be getting.

Once that is done and he finishes discussing the messed up concrete with the guys from the maker of it we’ll be back to work on the bathroom for a while.  There is so much left to do in there and it would be good if it were finished before the weather really turns . . .

Ok, I’m going to lie down now . . .

I just signed up for this and think it will be a lot of fun. For the first round its only open to 25 people and you have to dye a skein of sock yarn to swap with someone. I think I can do that ; )

I actually love doing swaps, I love sending stuff off and I love getting things in the mail (and yes, that is part of why my stash is sooo incredibly large) but its fun! And hey, there are worse things I could be doing, right?

Another dye day come and gone

I dyed yarn 3 days this past week and still have some hanging on the clothes line in the back yard drying . . . I’m just really hoping it doesn’t rain! I actually had help with the dyeing (and tons of skeining) this time as A is on summer vacation and available. She’s going away in August so I really only have help for July so we are planning to do a lot of dyeing the next couple of weeks. . . . We’ve worked on batches of the colorways that are for the LYS and worked on creating some of the new colorways that will be up this Fall. I really like some of what we came up with . . . . I’m hoping to bring the lot with me to knitting on Monday night so I can see what some other knitters think of it.

Designs on designing

The design bug has bitten me again. I’ve got a few more inches of baby toddler sock to finish up and then I’m going to start working on the next design. I’ve got a list of the things I want to work on and both fortunately and unfortunately its been growing fast than I can get to things lately. Now if I can just hold onto the momentum behind each idea long enough to get to it . . .

Tomorrow is nuts here, we’re having brunch “in town” with some friends who are passing through from out of state on their way to pick up the kids from camp . . . and then we are headed north to my niece’s first birthday party! Then Monday, A is coming back and we’re planning to dye up a whole bunch more yarn . . . off to finish that sock!

Seems the books are piling up around here again and its time to thin things out a bit . . . . so I’m going to do a Giveaway. For the next few weeks, or until I run out of books and maybe other things to give, I’m going to do a random drawing from emails received for somthing each week. I’ll post the book (or something else) on Monday and do the drawing on Friday. Books will be my gently used copies so they’ve been read but are generally in decent shape.

This weeks gift:

So if you’d like my copy of this book please send an email to:

martheme at yahoo dot com by Friday.

Yarn bits . . .

Today is going to be another dyeing day. I’m still trying to decide if I’m in the mood to create new colorways today or if I’m going to just dye up more of some existing ones. . . . looks like maybe I’ll decide after I’ve made the coffee in a minute . . .

well, off to make coffee and wind more sock yarn!

For me, I know a batch of yarn has turned out “right” when I have a hard time letting it go. This is such a batch.

I frequently remind myself that I can always make more later. Really, I can. I don’t need to stash it away for later. I can recreate a new bunch any time I choose. And yet, sometimes its just hard to let it go.

I have some of my favorites, a skein here or there, particularly the sock yarns, just waiting for me to have time to do something with it.

Right now I’ve got 8 lbs of this stuff, 1 lb of each, just waiting to be adopted by someone, to go to a new home where it will be loved. I just hope it goes quickly, before too much of it finds its way into my own personal stash. Afterall, the business stock and my stash live side by side and sometimes its hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

the toddler and I are off to playgroup this morning . . . today we’re meeting at the park! He’s going to love it!

Yesterday I dyed up a big batch of yarns, 8 lbs of sock yarn and 4 lbs of Decaf (part of that is a special order). One lb of the decaf I didn’t like how it turned out, I was trying something and it didnt’ come out has I had hoped. So that is either going to be over-dyed with something dark or just sold as “seconds” on the site, I’ll decide which after it dries and I take another look at it.

At the moment, our bathroom is about 1/2 torn down but luckily the tub is still connected, even if the plumbing is hanging in mid air. I’ve got it full of buckets of rinsing yarn at the moment and I’ve got to try to get them out and spun and hung to dry before we leave for playgroup. Now I’m just debating between trying to hang them outside and just using the drying rack inside.

I’m really quite happy with this latest batch of colors. I’d been stuck when it comes to dyeing “warm” colorways for a while now, hadn’t had my “dyeing Mojo” working on those colors . . . but yesterday the stars must have been aligned because I got a great batch of stuff. I did each lb of sock yarn in a different grouping of colors so I’ll have 8 new colorways to post in a few days. I’m shooting for posting/sending the newsletter no later than mid-week. Actually, I’d really like to send it for Monday Morning but I just don’t know if I’ll get photos before then. Guess we’ll see how the next couple of days go . . .

Okay, I haven’t had any coffee yet so I’m going to go brew some up . . .

Oh, and check this out! Our state is actually considering a Ban on Pit Bulls! If you lived where I live, this would be very, very happy news indeed!