Fish and Cats!!! Oh My!

DH has been playing with his aquarium this weekend. I must say the fish are having the time of their lives and so are we. This Pearl Gourami above is swiming in front of his new aeration device. I do love the sunset coloration of this fish particularly while it is basking in the limelight of DH's new Sunglow flourescent bulb.

Another star is the Gold Veil Angel which is our second oldest fish which is in the pucker mode...LOL.

Alas we can't forget to display our cats. This pic was taken just before Bennie nudged Ruth off the ladderback chair. As you can see she is comtemplating a jump.

Obligatory fiber news....I've been spinning some Mohave fiber from Ashland Bay which I hope to show you soon. Durrow has had a bit of attention in the knitting department.

Knitters Go for the Gold in Little Rhody!

Well..... Stephanie's influence has come to roost in Little Rhody. Today's Providence Journal Lifebeat section displays Team College Hill and a picture of four young women knitting their personal best. Believe it or not today I was asked by a friend if I was involved in the KO. I laughed and said..."I'm only in the cheering section of Team Boston!" Just ask Stitchy Mc Yarnpants.

I'm off to bed to sleep my personal best!!!

The Wheel's Whole Again!!!

If you remember this you will appreciate what is before you. After searching on Ebay several weeks ago, I found an antique flyer and bobbin which according to measurements appeared to be a fit for my new/old wheel.

When I received it in the mail, I excitedly began to try to fit it to my wheel, but first I had to find an old belt to cut up to recreate the leathers. With my brother's help I was able to get this New England Flax wheel to spin!!! He was able to refit the flyer and move it to the front closer to the orifice which in turn allowed the bobbin to fit properly. He also made a hole in the leather next to the front maiden. After securing the leathers with wooden matches minus the hot stuff, I was in business. She probably hasn't been spun on in years which is why she creaks and groans. I 've been adding oil to the usual places so that should improve her sound!

Here she stands.....a whole wheel. Next fall I hope to take her to the Hearthside Historic house where I demonstrate spinning with Sue and Sandy.

Odessa Self Portrait

Here's a not so great pic of moi wearing Odessa. This self portrait took only 12 shots ...LOL.

This is springtime at my house!!!! Thanks to Judith of Knitagarden I was able to force these Forscythia to enjoy a taste of spring.

I plod along knitting the loooooonnnnnggggg ribbing of Durrow. The yarn is scrumptious, and I long to begin the aran design sleeves. We are never happy with our knitting projects are we. We complain that this section is boring or I can't work on this now because it's charted and I have to concentrate. Or my arthritis is kicking up and these needles hurt my hands. But ....ohhhhh....when the project is done we are more often than not thrilled.

Of you get a chance check out Judy's blog for her newly dyed yarns. Her colors are wonderful as always.

I hope to get a picture up of Marisa's finished Scoop. I tried to upload it today, but the pic wouldn't cooperate...arghhhhhh!

Odessa is Finished!!!

A delightful and satisfying knit! That is my description of this project using Rowan's Kid Classic yarn and some purplish beads taken from my bead stash.The yarn is composed of lambswool and a bit of mohair...lovely to touch and very warm. Today is going to be in the 20's and a hat like this will keep me warm.

DH has been making the charts in the fish world. He's been raising some lovely Gourami in several varieties....blue, pearl and gold.The gold ,Trichogaster trichopterus, is displayed above. Do you know how hard it is to take a pic of a moving fish?

Marisa's Shawl

Marisa surprised me with pictures of her Adagio Shawl made with Sue's hand dyed yarn. It's lovely and again proof that mothers and daughters share knitting genes!

I continue to work on the Odessa hat which is nearing completion. I'm also toiling away on the body of Durrow.

Want a neat graph of a Celtic alphabet for knitting initials or for cross stitch? Check out this site.
You just type in the words and get a graph to print.

Lovin' Odessa

Odessa is a fun knitting experience!! Just enough beads not to frustrate a knitter and a lovely swirl that allows you to read your knitting quite easily. I just love knitting with Rowan's yarn. The color is not accurate on the monitor; it's a dark eggplant plyed with a black singles.

Flowers and Tea Cozy Versus the Blizzard

If you live in New England, chances are you experienced some snow this weekend due to the Nor'Easter that hit today. It could have been worse so I won't complain. At least we have reason to wear our woolies in the frozen weather. Due to these frigid conditions I thought some flowers were needed to perk us all up. My amaryllis displayed her colorful finery at our house. Thanks to a dear friend I also enjoyed some outstanding tulips. We need this boost of color!!!

Another savior of the February freeze was my sighting of numerous cardinals late this week in the wooded grounds where I work.. The darling males sat puffed up and reddened in the cold sun of Friday afternoon while the brown-red females chirped with their golden sunset beaks! It was all too much to absorb...this glorious riot of warm colors in a barren landscape.

I've been remiss in posting this week so I offer my tea cozy. Perhaps I post about my work on the incomparable Odessa by Grumperina soon......

Felted ( Fulled) Bobbles Scarf

For the last few weeks I have been knitting a lonnnngggggg boring scarf of stockinette stitch thanks to two people. The first is Gail H ; she wore a felted scarf to our guild holiday party that I just had to make. Then Barbara T sent me this wonderful Lion Brand pattern and I was off.

Above you can see the tying of some baubles to create interesting shapes while the scarf felts ( fulls) in the washer.

Here is the scarf after only one cycle in the washer.

I really like this technique!!! Maybe I'll explore more of this!

The Meme

Four jobs you've had in your life:
Nurse’s Aide
Teacher
Watch Band Packager
Cashier

Four movies you could watch over and over again:
La Strada
The Seduction of Mimi
Pushing Hands
King of Hearts

Four places you have lived:
Providence
Providence
Providence
North Providence

Four t.v. shows you love to watch:
Fawlty Towers
Last of the Summer Wine
Masterpiece Theatre
Barney Miller

Four places you've been on vacation:
Paris
San Francisco
Quebec
Pennsylvania

Four websites you visit daily:

Google
A Slew of Knit Bloggers
A Slew of Knit Bloggers
A Slew of Knit Bloggers

Four of your favorite foods:

Pasta
Cheesecake
Fresh Baked Bread
Chocolate

Four places you would rather be right now:
Trinity Repertory Theater
MOMA
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
The Grand Canyon

Four bloggers you are tagging:
(Don’t feel you must do this...)
Paula
Kristen
Laura
Judith

Inspiration

As much as I enjoy posting about my fiber work , I also love to post about the knitting of others. They inspire me in every way! In the top left corner you see the the beginnings of the wonderful Inishmaan by Carol M using her Irish wool. At the top right is Paula's own aran design using wool/silk hand dyed by Paula herself. The second row reveals the work of my daughter, Marisa. She is now working on the sleeves of Scoop and finished a wonderful prayer shawl for a special person.

From Bobbin to Skein

Last night I finished spinning the Alpaca/wool/angora fiber. I'm loving the flecks of angora and the overall softness of the yarn. I have to ply the second skein. what shall I make with it. I think I'll have at least 500-600 yards.

Round and Round

This collage depicts the circularity of our lives. We spin round and round, and we teach our daughters as well. Upper left corner shows Carol M's work; next to her is Carol R's purple varigated singles and then my Alpaca/wool/ and bunny. Middle row left is Sue's blue and purple mohair spun on her Hitchhiker; next is Sandy's wool followed by Patty's neat wheel. The bottom row hosts Paula's electric spinner filled with some lovely plying; next is Phoebe knitting a sock followed by Paula helping Phoebe. What a challenging first project, Phoebe!!!!

Yes....the joy of Saturday's Spin In at Sue's......

Two Kinds of Joy

Well....this is my brandy new antique wheel!!!! I am so excited about it that I could scream. My dear niece's husband brought it over after I returned from Claudia's blogger get together Sunday. My nephew's father heard that I was a spinner and gave me the wheel!!! I'll have to find a flyer, bobbins and a whorl for it, but I still love it. I am just soooooo lucky.

The other joy this week is watching my Amaryllis bloom; it helps to cure the winter doldrums for me every year. My mom and I always start forcing bulbs every January and discuss their progress. This morning she told me that she already has three blooms while I have only two blooms.

What a Special Sunday

Who says the Internet has replaced face to face contact? Sunday was a testament to the chance to develop new communities because of the web. Thanks to Claudia, a gracious host, Judy and I were able to meet a number of knit bloggers and blogless folks, eat and share some knitters' lives.

So many blogs to read and so little time!!! I've visited with Cathy, Paula, Carole, Teresa.
I was able to touch Cathy's wonderful lavender and beaded cap as well as Teresa's swatches for Crossed in Translation. I also talked with Laurie who was wearing a beautiful aran cardigan made by her mother. I also met Stitchy and learned about the Boston Olympic Team. Colleen showed me her new swatch for a sweater she wants to make. I fell in love with Beth's Peace Fleece sweater.There were many other bloggers there, but I'm at a loss to list them all.

Stay tuned to my next post. I will have pics of my new antique wheel!!!!!

Another Day Ends

Sunset, January 19, 2006

Stashes

Here is a great use of my Stash and my camera. I took my first self-portrait successfully after 10 tries!!! This felted hat is knit in Peer Gynt yarn.


This morning I mosyed over to Laurie's blog and listened to her intelligently discuss the most emotional topic of all....that of stash size. This is the first I've heard of microstashing, but I like the concept. In fact I could divide my stash into microstashes and perhaps alleviate the guilt of owning so much fiber and yarn.

Let's see.....there is the fleece microstash hanging out in my garage mostly. This stash doesn't bother me as much since it's by its lonesome away from the twin towers of my real stash. Then there is my bin microstash....this contains rovings and yarns which are separated as to yarn weight. The last microstash is the most embarrassing...this is cones of yarn and other assorted yarns just thrown together in bags in much need of organization.

OOPS....I forgot the dining room corner...this area is the launch pad to the twin towers in the basement. When I buy new yarn or fiber, I park it briefly in the corner of the dining room. DH notices that the pile grows...when it gets too high and he complains, I move it to the basement....so I guess this is the birthplace of a microstash.

My DD has been causing me to add to the dining room corner. Look below and you can see I've caused the pile to grow higher with Paton's Classic Wool and Dalegarn Sisik...add to this she got me to buy more yarn today....EEKkkkkk.

A Collage of Knitting

It certainly has been a busy week! I went back to work after a holiday break. I also was thrilled to be back knitting at RI Handspun. As you can see we have been busy knitting up a storm.

The first row begins with Paula's ( aka the aran Queen) socks done in a lovely Border Leicester yarn. Next to Paula's sock is Rachel's scarf knitted in very even garter stitch tension using Cascade 220. I want some of this yarn...the purple and pink is lovely. The last of the row displays Patty's North Ronaldsday's yarn knitted into a Faroe shawl from The Best of Knitter's Magazine Shawls and Scarves . It is so soft to the touch...a lovely grey and blue.

The second row shows Barbara's glovettes knitted in dyed woolen yarn she purchased from Knitpicks. Then we have Carol R's Merino scarf and hand sewn wool lined jacket. Another view of it can be seen in row 3. The third in row two belongs to Sue....her tea cozy knitted in Anne's pattern is so sweet.She knit it in Plymouth's Galway.

The last row sports Carol R's Lucy bag soon to be felted. Next to that is my new purchase of Artyarns Merino. It is much like Koigu; it may be a small shawl.

A January Escape

Thanks to Cassie's post on Durrow I decided to make this marvelous sweater. Because Marisa played the Christmas Elf, R bought me some luscious Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed ( 85% wool, 10% silk, 5 % cashmere) from Webs. They still have more if you want it!!! It knits up nicely and feels warm and soft.

If you're feeling the January doldrums as I am wont to at this cold time of year check out Judith's blog for her post on seed catalogs that will remind us of the spring that's down the road. I'm starting to dream about all the daylilies I planted from the Foster Fair, a Rehoboth nursery and from Cathy's very own garden! Cathy, I should tell you that they took well when I planted them so I look forward to blooms.

Hey....check out some interesting Ribby's at the Chic Knits site. What a neat interpretation of a sweater for a baseball player!!

Gifts Revealed

Above are the felted mittens I made for Marisa for Christmas!!! They are so soft! Thanks to Carol M I decided to make these out of Garnstudio's wool and angora yarn. Marisa wore them for driving thanks to the Fiber Trends suede palms I bought at RI Handspun.

Here's the Kilmainham Scarf I made for John. The yarn and pattern are from Paula, who created this pattern after a trip to Ireland.