Crazy Weekend for Us

It was back to school shopping time for us this weekend, since school begins again on Tuesday, August 1st. I can hear all of you up there above the Mason Dixon Line saying “OMG” that’s way too early! Well, you know, it is, but then again they get out of school on May 27th or some crazy date like that, so they still get their full two months off. It does really make us crazy in that we can never take a vacation in the warmest months in the North. We did take them out of school for the first few years, but when they got into Middle School we gave up because it was way too much hassle!

Anyway, that was all a big preamble to say I haven’t made much progess on my Mermaid socks, and as you can see any progress made on my doily doesn’t show:



But I did get some stitch markers made today for my sister (Hi ya, Donna!). These are made with Argentium 20 guage headpins, and the longest length I can find are 1.5” in this guage, which makes it very, very difficult to make a maker bigger than a 5.5mm needle (US 9). But, the tarnish free is worth it I think.

So, that’s all from here, but want to show you all how big Bailey is getting 26.3 pounds at 7 months. We were trying really hard to get a good picture of her, but she is so, well, memememememe, pet me! I love you, love you, love you that we did manage to get one of her looking like quite the wild dog (right) but she's really not, as you can see from the left photo!

























Oh, and I just can’t ignore my baby, Nitro:


His leg is in the Ott Light reflection, right behind my head if I had been sitting there! – Yeah, I guess he loves me, or it could be the light. . .

Slots anyone?? . .

Chris and I took a ride over the KY state to try our hand at the slot machines at Caesar's Palace in Elizabeth, Indiana. Well, we had no clue on what to do, and the slots were jammed packed, so we tried a few and lost around $40. Not too bad, we went expecting to lose. This morning we went back to try our hand today. . . well, first I won about $30 and so we used just that ticket. Now, in hindsite, I think we should have stayed at one machine, but we would use $5 then move to another machine. . . all in all we lost $60 and decided we are just too cheap to really play these games right!

On the way up there and back, I worked on Lucy Neatby's Mermaid socks:




They are coming out pretty well, except I wish the wavy cuff, was a little more wavy!

The only other thing that happened this weekend is we got a rug delivered that finally finishes off the living room:





This rug is 90% wool, so I am hoping it will last a lifetime, it has taken me a long time to decide on this, and actually I had finally decided on another color. Chris on a leap of faith chose this one. Please excuse my messy room, I was trying to show off how well the rug goes with the hardwood floor! I think it looks really good, now we have to replace that furniture!

We also got our land plot delivered to us, so we now will own 2.85 acres! We are very excited and making plans for the horse barn now.

Took a Boat Ride and Finished a Sock

My beloved sister came to visit us this weekend, and I believe a great time was had by all. First we had to abate the fierceness of our crazy dog, Bailey. We don’t really know why, but she is deathly afraid of strangers, and I’m sure you all know, that a scared dog is a scary dog. But Daddy –O (that would be dh, Chris) got the upper hand and got all under control, so Bailey is not afraid of Donna any more, and I think that Donna is not afraid of Bailey either.

We took a ride on The General Jackson, a river paddleboat, that had a show (Tim Watson) that was really funny, I have to give the man his due, he can fiddle like nobody’s business! It was blistering hot, 90 degrees + and humidity in the 90’s too, but we had a good time and we didn’t melt, and to prove it here is a picture of Donna, my daughter Caryn (Queen) and me in the middle.



So, after that excursion, instead of going south to TN, we went north and headed to The Shaker Village in South Union, KY. It was another blasting hot day, and there was no air conditioning of course, at the main house. It’s a pretty amazing life style, but certainly not for me! Just imagine doing everything separate from the men including going upstairs! They had some gorgeous wood-work and furnishings, but I am only showing a picture of the spinning wheels and this loom, which keep in mind was probably built somewhere around 1858 or so. . . I don’t weave, but this looks like a bear to work on. . . what do you think?



And, last but not least, I taught my sister how to do two socks on one magic loop, and although these are not her socks, I finished mine! Yeah! Now, tell me the truth, are these ugly or what??!! Good grief!

What I did on my summer vacation!

Well, I can't hardly believe that it has already been a week since I last posted. You know I really kind of like this staying at home thing. The problem with that is the fact that you then have a reduction of funds to use for all the hobbies I seem to have acquired! I really don't like asking dh for money as he is a major Mr. Thrifty and can't stand to spend a dime unless it is vitally necessary. Of course, I tend to then lean the other way and spend too much, but never more than we can afford. . . he has tried to explain to our son, Bryan, who is working this summer full time in a a copper tubing plant, that he needs to find a happy medium between his type of spending and mine! I thought that was pretty funny, but actually Bryan is almost a bigger tight-wad than his Dad! HOW is that even possible? Well, he always has Mom to fall back on, now doesn't he?

So, Mom, that would be me - spent some money on this kit which took a freaking month to get to me, so I don't really recommend this vendor unless she has gotten better with her communication. She was teaching a class, and then didn't let me know the item was in the mail. . . gheesh - Anyway, I loved this bracelet and made it up this week:


The biggest problem with this bracelet is the swarvorski crystals are attached with fire line, well the jump rings do not all close exactly (I guess due to operator error, and the fact that closing and opening jump rings hurts my fingers after a while!) so the blue stones, had to come out. I tried figuring out how to link them with wire, but didn't get anywhere with that either. So, darn it, right now it is being worn avec sans blue stones!

Then I spun up 8 oz of the Elektra and now have only four oz to go to finish! I only have the three bobbins, though, so I will have to get this plied up and then I am undecided on whether or not to spin the full four oz on one bobbin and then ply from a center pull cake - I always mess this up, or just spin two oz on each bobbin and then ply -


I also read a book this week and saw Pirates yesterday! All in all a good time was definately had by me! So, when can I retire??? Take care, everyone see ya next week!

Spinning Lesson for the Day . . .

Ok, I’ve decided, finally, that I can not stand working with carded fiber. Well, maybe that is a bit harsh. I should qualify that statement by saying I can’t stand working with my carded fiber. I bought a cvm lamb’s fleece that I had my heart set on making lace weight yarn with – well here is the inside of one of my batts:




The spinning was not fun, and I was constantly stopping to try and pick out the neps in this mess. So, being anal and also, trying to remember how much money I spent on this fleece (a lot) I decided to comb the rolag. Well, it is a big rolag, so part of it:



It is making a really nice soft nest and I am loving spinning up this stuff. It is just flowing out of my fingers. I am still trying for lace weight, but there is still a lot of lanolin in there (yes, I did wash before carding, but I can never manage to get it really, really clean) but, you know I really prefer spinning it this way versus a dried up commerical processed top!



This is the end result and I am now a very happy camper! Anyone want to buy a Louet Carder?




I also plied up the fiber I had on my bobbins for this wool/mohair you’ve all heard me talking about. Pretty huh? I now have 648 yards of this – with a little more than 4 ounces left to spin. It’s been a very productive weekend so far!