I am testing out blogging from my new 100% awesome new Atrix 4g! I love this little gadget. I haven’t got any knitting done today since I have spent the whole evening setting up and playing with it. Pictures and more later. :-)
Category: Miscellaneous musings
Birthdays, stash and dyeing
Here’s my only purchase from the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair last weekend. I rarely buy yarn at shows but I finally bought my first Socks That Rock from Toni of The Fold who was in the booth right across the aisle from mine.
I decided I would try one skein of Lightweight and one of Medium weight. The yellow-green one is the Lightweight in the color Lenka, and the blue-green one is the Medium weight in the color Pretty in Blue. I’ll probably make them both into socks. I’m thinking toe up socks from one of Wendy Johnson’s books, since I have them both and am in a toe up sort of mood.
I have done a bit of actual knitting, but haven’t gotten new pictures yet. I finished the left front of my Sprossling and started the right front.
In other knitting news, I am in denial about my Mystic Midsummer Wreath right now and haven’t touched it since the end of clue 1. There is this funky stitch near the end of Clue 1 that I started to suspect was wonky and since it will require either ripping back three loooong rows and re-knitting or trying to work down each of 22 repeats three rows, both of which make me want to hyperventilate, I am ignoring it altogether. It’s not that I can’t do it, but I hate fiddly, and this will be very fiddly. 
It’s time to get some more dyeing done for the late summer and fall shows. I spent today mixing up dye stocks and combining colors to do some hand paints on Monday.
The weather looks great on Monday and since Saturday is Elijah’s first birthday we’ll probably take tomorrow off.
These are some of my measuring cups.
It sure looks prettier when it’s all on the yarn than it does here, huh? 
Oh, I started a new book over the weekend too. It was the Free Friday download from Barnes & Noble on 5/13/2011. It’s called Four Corners of the Sky and is a good example of how these freebies can introduce you to authors who you might have otherwise missed out on. It’s not my usual genre, but I am enjoying it. Check it out!
Okay that’s it for now kids! Look for first birthday pictures and probably some more dye stuff. I promise the rest of the dye pictures will be prettier and will actually have some yarn involved. 
Thoughts on The Hunger Games
I finished this series on Tuesday but since I had to pack for our trip to the Chicago area for Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair, I didn’t get a chance to post my thoughts until tonight.
First of all, as I pointed out previously, I had mixed feelings about the books and more particularly about the characters, all along. It was a fun series and very quick to read, so I do recommend it..but..you knew there was a but coming right?…I was not as wowed as I expected to be. There was so much hype and raves about them that I really expected to like them more than I did.
So what was my problems? Well for starters Katniss’s continual clueless behavior and her fickleness drove me nuts. Okay she is 17 and maybe the author was purposely trying to make her be like many 17 year old girls would be. Makes sense and it’s not really a bad thing in that respect. However, I guess that I may have related to some aspects of her character in a way that reminded me of things about myself at that age that I would rather leave behind and say good riddance to?
Second thing that bugged me was that the whole ending seemed too blah. Okay so they lived happily ever after. Yay. Really? That’s it? Meh. Do I have a better suggestion? Well no I don’t, but for some reason it just left me flat. Sorry.
Okay, so what did I LIKE about the books? I did want to keep reading them to see what would happen. I liked that they touched on issues of freedom and tyranny. I guess it was meant to be for young people, so I should except it for what it is. I am glad I read them and wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading them.
I’ll leave you with a sweet picture from our travels today and will post more show pictures later. I have no idea why he is wearing headphones. 
Babies in wool…
Is there anything cuter than babies in wool? and most especially wool soakers?
I have used cloth diapers for all my children. I found out about using wool diaper covers in 1999 when my 7th was a baby. I have tried many different styles and even designed quite a few of my own, but this one is hands-down my favorite. I have made it many times. It’s the Butt Knits Traditional Wool Soaker (Ravelry link) by Amber Perry. What’s so great about it you ask?
I like the seamless construction which is very practical and fun to knit. Mostly though it’s that they fit so well and are easy to adjust if you need to. They are generous and roomy in the right places. I like the ribbing in the wet zone too.
My favorite wool for soakers is believe it or not Lion Brand Fishermen’s Wool. It’s really durable and softens up nicely. It’s not prone to pilling when knit at the slightly tighter gauge I like to use for soakers. Finally it’s a very practically priced minimally processed wool. I mean, we are talking diaper covers here. I don’t feel I need to use fancy expensive yarn for these, but maybe that’s just me 
What do I prefer for cloth diapers? Well I have tried many different types of fitted and flat diapers. I have even, as with covers designed and sewn more than I care to admit, but in the end I have come back around to my tried and true diaper service quality pre-folds. If it possible to love a cloth diaper, then these are it. Easy to use, inexpensive, easy to care for, quicker to dry. Perfect. I have been using cloth remember, for over 25 years, so I think I speak with some experience on the subject. I use pins too. Always have. I don’t find them hard to use at all, but do get the good quality ones that you buy online where you can find the good pre-folds. Here’s my favorite place online. Good people and good stuff. 
This n’ That Thursday
Clue 1 was sent out yesterday for the Mystic Midsummer Wreath shawl. So, yeah, it’s crescent shaped and cast on from the bottom edge using two strands and a cabled cast on. I am making the medium size which requires me to cast on 429 stitches. Yep. 429. Gah! I swore and griped, and hated every minute, but now that we are past that, it’s all good. 
One good side to a bottom up shawl is that of course at some part you start decreasing and it goes faster at the end. Love that part.
Oh, I told you how I got the new Simple Touch Nook, right? I needed a sleeve for protecting it in my bag. I really wanted to get another Oberon for it like my other Nook, but the only sleeve that will fit is the large sleeve, which I thought was too big for such a petite little thing. The small sleeve is evidently just a smidge to narrow. Bummer. They are saying they won’t be making a sleeve custom sized for the new Nook. Sigh. So anyway, I did find one that is in no way as lovely, but it will do for the time being.
I also needed a new light for my little beauty since my much loved Mighty Bright light didn’t fit well for the little fella. I did a lot of looking around and decided to give the Kandle II from Amazon a try. Two thumbs up for this light. It’s light weight and stays clipped well. It does the job pretty well. It’s not perfect, since the illumination fades some towards the bottom of the screen, but it’s not too bad. The Mighty Bright was more adjustable in this respect, but it worked much better on my original Nook 3G with the heavy Oberon cover, and not on the new one with no cover. I find that I prefer using it without a cover.
As for the battery usage; I am still using the first charge on Day 12. I have used it several hours a day and have still had the Wi-Fi on 24/7. As you can see I am at 26%. I have used it for reading and browsing for at least 24 hours I bet, which is about right on for Barnes and Noble’s claims. The 2 months on a single charge assumes 1/2 hour a day usage with Wi-Fi off, so 30 hours. With the same usage and 3G always on with my Nook 3G, I charged it about every 4 days. I usually charged it when it reached 25-30% remaining, so really could have easily gotten 5-6 days out of a charge. I didn’t really mind that even, since it rarely inconvenienced me. Heck, I have to charge my phone every day practically.
Check out the clarity of that screen though. Sweet!
Remember when I showed you the room changing chaos the other day? Well here are the results. These are the best shots I could get in the bad light in this house. 
This one is the “neater” of the two.
This is unfortunately about as good as it gets in here. 
Two down; one more to go
I finished reading Catching Fire on Sunday afternoon and immediately started on Mockingjay. Here are my thoughts so far. I go back and forth on how I feel about the main characters, especially Katniss. Just when I start to like her she acts in such a way as to make me regret my affections and think she’s a nit wit again. LOL! However, that plot has thickened finally and at the end of the second book I was eager to see what was going to happen next. So there’s one thing it has going for it.
The main conflict of this book in comparison with the games in the first book, is that if it’s possible to be more tragic, it is. Mainly this is because they all are supposed to have gained their “freedom” and are friends. Note “freedom” is really unknown in the realm, but they had it as good as it gets. Even the citizens of The Capitol aren’t really free, since they are in slavery to their own decadence and debauchery. For the Victors to have to go back in the arena and kill each other is beyond despicable. One thing that confused me is this concept and practice of alliances. I mean, in the end everyone has to die except one, so are these alliances remotely realistic? I can’t see getting chummy and trusting in these people who you have to kill or be killed by them. Is it just me?
Anyway, I am assuming that the Capitol stands for a totalitarian regime which, in order to maintain control, is using fear to keep it’s citizens under control. At the close of Catching Fire, all hell apparently breaks loose when Katniss’s rebellious act in the arena prompts an all out assault on the helpless citizens of district Twelve. This leads into the opening of book three, which I have only read a few chapters of, by my first and obvious thoughts are that District 13, where the seat of the Rebellion lies, is just another form of totalitarianism. The regime plans out every minute of every day for it’s inhabitants. I haven’t read enough yet to know why they go along with it, but I am assuming they don’t feel they have any other options and their survival depends on what the “state” gives them. Hmm…sound familiar? There is certainly no freedom here either. I guess it’s still to be revealed if anyone has any ideas for whether there even is such a thing as freedom and if it’s worth the price. Stay tuned.
Okay on the knitting front, I am slowly plodding along on my Sprossling and when I have enough worthy of a picture you’ll be the first to see it here. I am also almost finished with a wool soaker for Elijah. Also, I will be starting my Mystic Midsummer Wreath on the 15th when the first clue is released.
I do have a few pictures for you today. As promised, I got the buttons on my el Air and had Joanie snap a few quick shots outside, and do mean quick. It’s in the 90’s here and a wool sweater is not something you want to have on outside right now. 
We have some moving going on in the house this week. Some of the girls are changing room-mates. I took a few pictures of the before/disaster for posterity. Will post hopefully greatly improved living quarters updates as they develop.
BEFORE
This one I took on a whim today. It’s our wedding picture on my nightstand. We will be celebrating our 23 anniversary this September. I still see us that way in my mind, but at the same time I know we have grown up in so many ways that I barely remember those two in the picture. 
on to the woodshop…
Okay this is the final installment of a sneak peek at our workshops. Let’s just get right into it shall we?
We’ll start with the table saw.
This is the bigger lathe where all the bowls, darning eggs, and nostepinnes are turned.
These are the hand tools used with it, and no I don’t know what they all do, or even what they are called so don’t ask. 
Here is the smaller lathe used for the small, fine turning, such as the Shawl Pins.
Sanding and planing station
Chop saw and jointer
Stash, stash, and more stash. See knitter’s aren’t the only ones.
And just for fun, this is the walnut co-sleeper that Jerry built for the baby.
That’s it for now! We are in Wooster, OH tonight for the Great Lakes Fiber Festival so I’ll probably have some pictures from that later. We are a bit worried about the water we saw at the Fairgrounds when we were driving past this afternoon on the way to the hotel. 
Hope it’s not a problem for the show this weekend. We haven’t heard anything to the contrary. 
No more rain okay? We had enough of that last night in Nashville. Our power was even out all night. Thankfully it came back on this morning after I left. Okay, bye for now.
Dye studio pictures
Before I start on the part about the workshops a brief update on my reading; I am more than halfway through the Hunger Games and it really is as good as they say it is. The main character, Katniss is likeable and easy to get to know. I am enjoying it a lot, but I won’t comment too much more until I am further into the series. So, there will be more on this topic later.
Also, I ran across link on Facebook to the newest Journey album, Eclipse, just released today on Amazon as a MP3. I think you can also get the CD at Wal-Mart. If you like the heavier guitar driven stuff from their late 70’s material, then I recommend you give it a listen. I was listening to this tonight and I swear the hairs were standing up on my arms. I didn’t much like the last release (Revelation) since it was too like the era of material which I didn’t like as much even when Steve was still with the band. I also had a hard time with a Journey without him. They have found something again in this album which just moves me though. 
Okay now for the promised workshops pictures. We’ll start with my dye studio which doubles as the finish and lamination area. These are my propane tanks which are pretty self explanatory.
These are my burners and dye pots. Jerry built those racks for steaming hand painted skeins.
Here is my dye stock containers and some left over dye previous sessions that will be used next time. We also use those 3 1/2 and 5 gallon buckets for mixing stock and custom colors.
Here is my lovely industrial sink and washing machine for spinning rinsed skeins. I am beginning to wonder now why I thought it was such a good idea to share the seamier side of production dyeing. It’s not exactly very photogenic is it?
My triple balance scale, respirator, notebook, and other miscellaneous stuff. This is where I mix and measure stock and colors.
The view out the studio door to where I set up the dye pots and burners.
Our yarn drying station, as known as good old fashioned clothes lines.
See, pretty cool, huh? I’m sure the neighbors think we are nuts though. 
Okay it’s getting late so wood shop stuff later.
Inside View
Or really more outside than in. I was playing around with the camera today after most of my packing was done for the Kentucky Sheep & Fiber Festival, and a blog post or maybe more started formulating in my mind. Why not share a little about our workshops and how gorgeous Tennessee is, especially at this time of year.
Let’s start with some pictures of property. It’s about an acre just 6 miles north of downtown Nashville. It’s an older subdivision built on farmland in the late fifties. Most of the homes are still resided in by the original owners I believe. We bought it in 1998 and we were only the third owners.
Here’s a view down the drive, with a bonus shot of my pretty truck. 
I washed it yesterday.
The children have been studying birds so we washed and setup a bird bath for observation. It’s already had a few visitors.
Next is a view of the backyard from the side yard looking towards the back of the property. That’s Mountain Laurel shrub on the right. I wish I had thought to get a shot of it last month when it was flowering. Maybe next year.
These are our peach trees. It’s mostly squirrel food, 
but they sure look pretty while they last. We have gotten a few of them, but you have to be on your toes to catch them ripe but not nibbled.
Moving on to the backyard, here’s a cool playhouse that Jerry built about 7 years ago which was designed by an architect friend of ours, Matt Smith, during a brief business venture with them. It was dubbed Oberon’s Tower for the King of the Fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Here’s our storage shed where we keep un-dyed yarn, extra shipping boxes, work tables, and temporarily our oldest daughter’s worldly possessions while she is living with us for a spell. 
Here’s the view from near the storage shed looking back towards the house. That little white framed door with the windows, in the left side of the picture, goes under the house to our finish/glue area and dye studio space. More on that later.
Here’s the view from outside the dye and finish studio looking back towards the Tower through the peach trees.
I’ll leave you with my two youngest girls having a water battle. Stay tuned for more of the workshops in the next post.
Tired, but it’s GOOD tired…
We had a much smoother and productive day today. I m making quick post before getting the baby ready for bed so I can unwind after a busy day of making ready for our road trip early tomorrow morning to Minnesota. I am feeling much better at the close of this day than I was yesterday. Maybe it’s just that some days your perception just gets off and others you can take the setbacks in stride.
I started watching a movie last night on Netflix while getting a bit of knitting done. I believe it’s a fairly new release. It’s All Things Good with Ryan Gossling and Kirsten Dunst. I watched about 2/3 of it before I turned it off to do some reading before sleep. I am really looking forward to watching the ending tonight because it is pretty good. A little bit love story mixed with some psychological twists. I think I’ll try to get the collar on my Bel Air done while I watch.
Sorry to cut this sort of short but the baby needs a bath. I’ll try to get in a post from Chicago tomorrow night.
Here’s a shot of my “rig”. I just love my pretty red truck. 
