Speed of Light

These last two weeks have gone by at the speed of light. I had mentioned a blog or so ago that my sister was keeping Thing 1 and Thing 2 for me for a week. One blissful week of having a clean house, no cooking to do, no refereeing [sic] and uninterrupted fiber fun. The week flew by and on Friday the 13th (how ironic!), the kids returned home with my sister and grandmother in tow.

Denise, my sister, and I had planned on taking my grandmother around town, to the lake and anywhere else she wanted to go. A fun "girls weekend" kind of thing. Then, I received this weird phone call. This husky, male voice asked, "You got any cars in your driveway?" I had no idea who was calling and I said something very witty to the effect of "Huh?" and the less patient voice replied, "This is your father. If you have any cars in the driveway, move them so that I can back the camper down."

In a complete and wonderful surprise, my dad and stepmother, Joan, drove from Mississippi to Virginia to surprise us with a visit. Fortunately for us, my grandmother was out on the back porch when Denise and I started squealing like little girls and dancing around the kitchen. Dad was 20 minutes away from my home and on his way.

Denise and I played it cool, moved the cars, set the table for dinner and sat down to eat like nothing at all was going on. I heard the front door open when Dad and Joan came into the house. Dad walked into the kitchen, leaned up against the island and said, "What are you eating?" My grandmother didn't see him or realize that he was there. I said, "Grandma, that guy over there is talking to you." She looked up and over and when she saw Dad, she squealed, "OH MY GOODNESS! EDWARD!!" Her face broke into one of the brightest smiles I have ever seen in my life.

We had a GREAT family reunion that weekend! Sunday arrived and to my complete shock, Dad told me that he was now going to take the kids for a week or so. At this point, I'm flabbergasted, but nevertheless, packing their bags. LOL

Week Two begins....

I spent most of the week cleaning Andie's BLACK HOLE of a bedroom, but I did manage to finish and start a couple of projects. (Now you're thinking...finally some pictures to break up this unending text! Me too.)

The completed "Crayon Blanket."

I started (at long last) Grandma's Christmas shawl. (I've tried and failed at Swallowtail several times, so I found this "you can't fail" pattern online).



Before I knew it, it was Saturday the 21st and lo and behold, look what was in my mailbox! Marianne sent me Peace Fleece for my upcoming birthday. Marianne: Thank you, thank you so much! The color is beautiful and I cannot wait to see it "bloom" as you described. I am so touched you would even think of me when you are in the middle of moving not one, but two houses. You're amazing and I appreciate both you and the fabulous fiber.

Kamchatka Seamoss (blue/green heather) Peace Fleece DK weight:

Sunday morning was spent S'nB'ing with Dianne, Linda, Nikki and Dianne's mother. That was a very good time and I enjoyed myself thoroughly! We had lunch, chatted, laughed (remember the country of "Malasha"/Malaysia?) and of course, knitted.

Sunday evening, I went to Jim & Linda's and then brought Baby No. 3 home!

Jim's explaining his latest innovations to the wheel (and boy! were they awesome) and I'm asking question after question.

(See "Village Idiot Grin" shown above).

Queen of Spinning? I think not...more like court jester and the above photo proves it.

Linda and Jim also sent me home with the "practice roving" on the left and the Stony Mountain Fiber/"When you're comfortable spinning" roving on the right.



And to cap it all off, Jim even packed the car.

There simply are enough words to express my gratitude. The wheel is beautiful, the skill and craftmanship with which it was made is immeasurable and the people, Jim and Linda, are a gift, a pleasure, a blessing and priceless.

THE LAST TWO WEEKS ROCKED!

- - - Postscript - - -

The kids are now home, the fridge is empty, the floors are dirty,

the litterbox needs emptied, but leave me alone....

I'm sitting and spinning. :D

Eye & Heart Candy

Here, my friends, is the "Heart Candy."

Jim wrote, "Today, I completed your wheel and Linda took it on a test drive. She was pleased with the wheel and the latest innovations. [I] ...had fun building the wheel and incorporating the new features into this model. We hope you will like it. Here are a few pictures of the wheel. You and Linda can determine when you want to take possession. I am looking forward to seeing you operate it."

Jim said things like, "We hope you like it," and "...had fun building the wheel." This is just another indicator of what amazing, kind and generous people Jim & Linda are. Me? I'm floored - - positively floored. The offer to make me a wheel was a complete surprise and I certainly didn't imagine that the wheel would be completed in a mere two weeks. Just two weeks! Once again, they have knocked my socks off and left me overwhelmed by being the wonderful people that they are. Jim and Linda - THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

Now for the "Eye Candy"....

The "Windy Meadow Wheel.".

The Skein Winder


The Lazy Kate and Skein Winder



The wheel in all it's glory!

Oooooohhhh Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Pinch me, I must be dreaming!

I had a perrrrrfect day and there's pictures to prove it. Last Saturday afternoon, my daughter, Andie, and I went to visit my sock sister, Linda, and her husband, Jim, at their home for a spinning lesson.


[We break now for crowing] Yes! Yes! I have spun fiber! [End crowing].


I sat down on the spinning chair and Jim expertly described the mechanics of the wheel. I knew "terms" from my reading, but to actually see it done clarified so much. For example, the mystery of ratio became clear, single versus double treadle mechanics, and how/why the fiber gets twisted as it's spun. I now understand plying, how to achieve fiber thickness, what a Lazy Kate is and a multitude of other things.


Then, Linda taught me how to spin. "Now you do it," she said. I broke the fiber numerous times, I spun at the speed of a snail (when I wasn't breaking the fiber) and I had an absolute ball! It was so much fun and as if the spinning weren't enough, Andie and I got to visit with the adorable critters that Linda and Jim have adopted. The flock includes a goat, a ewe, ducks, chickens, two sweet little dogs and a rabbit.

To cap an amazing day off, Jim and Linda made my day/week/month and year. Jim offered to make me a wheel.

I am getting a wheel!

Jim is making me a wheel!

I am sooo incredibly thrilled!

When they offered, I was floored, misty-eyed and just so surprised and delighted. Jim's wheels are lovely, handmade, strong, and an original. Here and now, four days later, I still go weak at the knees and smile like the village idiot when I think about this.

Jim and Linda: There are no words to thank you enough for both the lessons, the visit, and the wheel. Andie and I had a day that we will remember and cherish forever! THANK YOU!

Odds, Ends & Goodies!

This is a photo-heavy blog. I've been knitting furiously lately due to several impending births and the Christmas holiday season. That said, I'll let the photos do most of the talking....

The most recent Christmas gift bowls:


The three bowl styles(Ginger, Mesa and Standing):

Three new baby hats:

A new baby blanket (this is nothing more than a giant dishcloth/168 stitches at longest point):

Finishing touches on Miss Chicken:




And now, the goodies! Dianne greatly surprised me with souvenirs/gifts from her trip to Pennsylvania (The Mannings yarn store). She brought me the beautiful chunky Mauch you see below, as well as the Andes sock yarn. Thank you so very, very much! I cannot wait to dive into them. Again, thank you, thank you!

And for Nikki & Marianne. Here's the eye candy hubby. :) LOL

P.S. Thing 1 and Thing 2 are going to my sister's home in Maryland this Monday for a week. Hmmm, what's a mother to do when a) she doesn't have to cook, b) pick up after kids, c) clean the bathroom, and d) launder six tons of clothing? I shall be soooo lost...NOT!

What I've learned so far....

Thanks to all of you and your generous referrals, I've been able to get in touch with a number of people and learn a lot more about the assorted spinning wheels. Given that Marianne, Julie, Michelle and perhaps others are also entertaining the idea of a wheel purchase sometime in the future, I thought I'd share what I've learned thus far.

Lara was kind enough to send me to http://www.warmthreads.com/. She purchased her spinning wheel, a Kromski Sonata, there and was very happy with the entire experience, as well as the wheel.

Gretch sent me to Cabin Cove where her friend, Dave Daniels, now owns a magnificent portable wheel, a Journey, which looks a lot like the Indian charkas (the boxed style). It's a gorgeous piece of work; no doubt about it. Gretch also mentioned that Dave spins on a Kromski too.

Robin, Catie & Nikki said, "CyberFyber!" Dave Simpson is owner/operator of http://www.cyberfyber.com/ and his site is wonderful. He gives wheel "test drives" and is located outside of Newport, VA (Blacksburg).

Here's the tally thus far:

Lara - - Kromski Sonata

Robin - - Kromski Sonata

Catie - - Kromski Minstrel

Linda - - Beautiful wheel made by her husband, Jim. Hmmm...what are your thoughts on polygamy, Linda? Jim? ;)

Nikki - - Ashford Traditional

I want sit and spin* before I commit to any type, but realistically speaking, I'm thinking Ashford or Kromski. They're just beautiful imho.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

P.S. Have the words "sit and spin" changed for you over the years like they have for me? As I child, I adored the toy and would spend hours turning the handle and going around in circles. In college...well.....my daughter reads the blog on occasion and suffice it to say, I sat and spun in a different manner. Here and now, it's a wheel and some fiber. ;)

The irony of it just struck me as funny.
I'm weird that way.

I. Am. Frustrated.

I want a spinning wheel.

I want a spinning wheel badly.

I do not know what type of spinning wheel to purchase.

Herein lies my problem.

How the heck are you supposed to choose?!? Shopping for a wheel is not like buying a sofa. There's no "Spinning Wheel Super Saver Outlet" (would that there was one) where you go into the giant showroom and park your bum on the benches of twenty different spinning wheels and decide which one fits you best.

For example....let's try out this "Ikea" wheel made of PVC and a wheelchair wheel.

(It's actually a "Babe Fiber Starter Single Treadle."

Or do you say "Damn the mortgage!" and shop "Ethan Allen" for this little work of art, the Kromski Polonaise.

I suppose I could go "Pier One" and buy a Nepalese charkha like this one.

(Did I mention my boss is going to Nepal on vacation this coming October? Believe it or not, this charkha only weighs around 8 lbs. Our conversation (me begging) will go like this, "Pick one of my children to keep - - either one - - just bring me back one of these." In all honesty, she'd probably buy the wheel for me and insist I keep the kids a la The Ransom of Red Chief).

In all seriousness, how you know which one to select? Louet? Ashford? Bayley? Kromski? Schacht? and many other notable names. This is making me nutty and I'm starting to look like this....

Babies and Christmas

Those have been the focus of my knitting lately. I'm finished with Mason Dixon for a while (unless more pregnancies pop up) and once the bowls are done, I'll get back into my swallowtail shawl, a new chicken and some other things.

I've also done a couple more bowls. I used a mix of Emu Finlandia, Cascade 220 Tweed, Manos del Uruguay, Lamb's Pride and Tahki Donegal tweed. Once they're felted, I'll post a photo. In the meantime, keep cool and happy knitting.

Lighter Fare

I found these online and decided that you might enjoy a giggle....

"What the F**K?!?!" Wednesday

From the Roanoke Times newspaper... and including my pithy editorial comments

Firearm allegedly found on bus

A school resource officer, who was driving the bus of sixth-graders, was put on paid leave.
By Courtney Cutright 981-3345

Cpl. David Mays, a school resource officer at Staunton River Middle School, was placed on a paid administrative leave Thursday after allegedly leaving his loaded gun unattended on a charter bus, Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown said. No, the gun was definitely there and photographs exist to prove it.
Mays, who has been employed by the county sheriff's department since 1999, also moonlights as a bus driver for Linkous Christian Tours of Bedford.
According to Brown, the incident occurred Wednesday evening at a rest stop outside Charlottesville on Interstate 64 when Mays was driving a group of sixth-graders back to Bedford from Paramount's Kings Dominion in Richmond.
"Cpl. Mays took his weapon off to go to the bathroom," Brown said. Do you really believe this? My theory is he took it off for the three hour road trip and simply forgot it. However, if I were the sheriff, I'd never say, "My officer forgot his gun with a busload of children milling around."
A chaperone and a student photographed the weapon in an unsecured compartment near the driver's seat, Brown said. The images were turned over to the sheriff's department Thursday.
The incident, which Brown called "totally unacceptable," is under investigation by the sheriff's department.
"The weapon should be secured on the officer or in an appropriate locked container," Brown said.
He also said carrying the service weapon was not in conflict with the department's policy until it left Mays' possession.
It is unknown whether the tour bus company has a policy regarding employees' use of firearms. No one from Linkous Christian Tours could be reached for comment Thursday.
"We regret what has transpired in the last 24 hours," said the school system's public information officer Ryan "Please don't sue us" Edwards. " I can also vouch for the fact that Cpl. Mays has a genuine love for children." Brown added that Mays is distraught over the incident, which was brought to the school system's attention Thursday morning.
Edwards said complaints were also presented to the school system regarding Mays' behavior on the bus. He was unsure if the complaints over the officer's behavior were brought by the same individuals who reported the unattended firearm. I think that's pretty much a given folks.
Edwards said Principal Linwood Roberts spoke to all parents who chaperoned the trip and "a majority were supportive" of the officer.
Approximately 50 sixth-graders and 10 chaperones were on the trip, in which students were being rewarded for behavior and good grades.
Mays requested the day off from the sheriff's department to take the students on the field trip, Brown said.
It was not the first occasion Mays made such a request, Brown said, and there have been no previous complaints against the deputy. [End Article]

------------------------------------------------------

After 36 hours of "stewing," I finally calmed down and gained a bit of perspective. Here are my thoughts on my daughter's bus ride to Kings Dominion:

1. Mays forgot his gun. Regrettable, but accidental. No responsible adult and certainly no off-duty Bedford County police officer (we've got a great police force here) would ever deliberately leave his loaded weapon on a bus filled with children.

2. No harm, no foul. I have made my peace with the gun situation. The chaperones saved the day and I literally thank God for each and every one of them.

Remember that line about, "behavior on the bus....?" That situation, separate and apart from the forgotten pistol, still makes me simmer. How did Mr. Mays, the bus driver, behave on the bus? Here's part of an the e-mail I sent to the school board, amongst others, on that subject:

• ...Mays told the children that they were not permitted to use the bus restroom....(Note: Mays had told the children that they were not permitted to use the restroom at all during the three hour trip because he would have to clean the bathroom that night).
• ...Mays shouted at two male students, calling them "girls" because they had to use the restroom....
• ...Mays spent a significant amount time talking on his cell phone while driving the bus....
• A chaperone parent on the bus told Officer Mays to keep his eyes on the road and to stop talking on his cell phone while driving.

So folks, how the hell was your Wednesday?!?!?!

Credit: The brilliant mind of Noolie created today's title, "WTFW?" She does "WTFW?" on her blog and it's great fun to read. Check her out (and please do forgive me for pirating your title this one time, Noolie).

Sock Sisterhood

In a lovely card, Dianne and Linda wrote, "By the power vested me by NSK (Notorious Sock Knitters): You have been nominated and unanimously voted into The Local Sock Sisters Association."

And accompanying the card was this work of art. It's Blue Moon Fiber/Socks That Rock heavyweight yarn in the "Rolling Stone" colorway. I was blown away by all of it. The card was wonderful, the adoption was great and the fiber....oh the fiber....it's magnificent. :)


Thank you sooooooo much Dianne & Linda!


Now having this incredible yarn, I had to find patterns "good enough" for it. That said, I found the following two sock patterns from Fiber Trends.





On the left is "Leaf Lace" and on the right, "Hellen's Favorites." Below is what I started this weekend.

I had already begun a new pair of socks before receving the STR. Needless to say, I finished them off as quickly as I could and here's the end result. I used the Cascase Tweed and a "Bed Sock" pattern that came from my Stitch 'n Bitch Page-A-Day calendar.

Linda and Dianne - - Thank you again! I'm thoroughly loving my new sock addiction, as well as being in the sisterhood! XOXOX

Finishing Touches

What a weekend! I knitted, played, cleaned, played and knitted. The kids and I went to see Pirates 3 and if you haven't seen it, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) is absolute eye candy at the end of the movie. I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that man makes a delicious-looking pirate.

The kids had a ball "grass surfing" yesterday. My daughter, Andie, hitched a heavy-duty styrofoam wakeboard to the back of our lawn mower and the next thing I knew, my son, Skander, was surfing over the hills of our yard with his sister at the wheel of the mower. Oh well...Jamaica has a bobsled team. ;)

I spent last week and this past weekend putting finishing touches on several projects. You've seen the bibs I did for Emma & Isabelle, but here's a new pair for Saylor (a cousin's daughter who's due in August).

I found adorable polymer clay buttons, a heart & butterfly, and added them to my pink and yellow bibs below.






Note to Self: Get new digital camera. Also photographed below is a pair of baby booties (the first and only pair that I've made so far).

A couple more mesa bowls made with Emu Finlandia and Manos del Uruguay

And Miss Chicken. I plan on either putting a little garland around her neck or (if I can learn how to make one) a mini-shawl.

I also made a tomato hat with Shepherd's superwash.

I attempted to start the Flower Basket shawl, but the provisional cast-on stonewalled me. I'll give it another shot this week. I hope you had a wonderful weekend and Happy Knitting!

Weekend SEX

Stash-Enrichment-eXpedition(s).

(The title got your attention though, didn't it???)

I had a very busy, fiber-filled weekend. I'm sorry to say that one of our local LYSs', Tapestry, is permanently closing its doors at the end of this month. I visited Evie, the owner, on Friday and while I'm happy for her that she's retiring, I'm selfishly sad also. Evie's always carried very nice British woolens and Manos del Uruguay in every color. While at her shop, I couldn't resist the following:

Two beautiful skeins of Manos del Uruguay (a rust and a burgundy color), a Cascade tweed, a Donegal tweed and several balls of Rowan cotton glace.

These beauties are going to be Christmas socks. The sage-colored cotton glace will be a shawl (I hope I can do it) and the Manos is part of the "bowl-a-polooza" I've been knitting up lately.




The second expedition was Customer Appreciation Day at Yarn Theory. Jan outdid herself with finger foods, a spinning demonstration and just creating a really warm atmosphere. While there, I found these two shawl patterns. They're beautful and they're scary. :)

Flower Basket & Leaf Lace, both by Evelyn Clark/Fibertrends.

Happy Knitting all!