Coming back down to Earth...

So the last month has been all about Stitches West 2011. Scheduling time off from work, knitting for it, planning, looking forward to it, etc. I love seeing people that I don't see very often, enabling people into some wonderful yarn or fiber and generally reveling in the creative atmosphere that is Stitches.

Because I was working in the Purlescence Yarns booth, I wanted to knit with yarns they were going to be selling. Since they were bringing over mostly Cascade Yarns, I took a look in my stash for something to work on.

Behold: Red Pogona by Stephen West
1 skein of Cascade Heritage 150 paints in red (col. 9958)
US 6 (4mm) needles





And: Cowl (imaginatively named, huh) based on Mulberry Merino Cowl
1 skein of Cascade Eco Cloud in medium gray (col. 1810)
US 10.5 (6.5 mm) needles

Love, love, love this new yarn! It's very squishy and soft and I'm going to make another one, but casting on fewer stitches to make a closer fit for me. The original one is going to a friend.

Also had time to cast on and knit about half of Lost In Transit scarf from 1 skein Cascade Heritage Silk (col. 5639)
US 6 needles


That knitting was using up stash. You'll be shocked to know that I did not acquire much yarn to replace what I just used. In fact, I only bought one hank of yarn at the show. Okay, so I bought more than a pound of fiber instead of yarn...

Clockwise from the upper left:
4 oz. of merino/silk in that nummy blackberry purple from Redfish Dyeworks
2 oz. of merino/yak/silk in Supernova from A Verb for Keeping Warm
2 oz. of baby camel/silk (natural color), also from Verb
2 oz. of yak (natural color) from Rabbitworks Fibre Studio
(another shot of the previous 3 fibers)
400 yards of Toe Jam sock yarn (alpaca/mohair/silk/merino) in Bloodlines also from Rabbitworks
2 - 4 oz. braids of merino from Judy's Novelty Wool (her website is very bare-bones). One braid is Teal, the other is "Henson Reunion '04"
and 4 oz. superwash merino in Patronus from Sunshine Yarns.

Another acquisition happened too, but I didn't pay for it. The Boy had promised to give me a fast flyer for my spinning wheel, but hadn't gotten it yet. So he came to Stitches, ostensibly to buy some yarn to make his girlfriend a scarf, but also took care of this outstanding debt too. So now I can spin some of this lovely luxury fiber into laceweight yarn.

Much as I've tried to get my body to pull out the wheel and spin some of this stuff, today has been all about letting my brain rest. Maybe I should head to bed soon...

Time flies when you're having fun... or Who Took My Year?

How did that happen? I blinked and it's almost the middle of January, and I haven't posted since September! Where does the time disappear to? Did someone else need it more than I did?

Okay, I need to recap what I've been doing (mostly for myself because I don't think anyone is left out there reading my rambling).

In my crafty life --

There has been knitting:

In October, I finished 3 hats for Shanti's Mom's Ships Project to put hats on the heads of sailors on her ship. Those are down the left side.

From next column clockwise: Fingerless gloves for The Dork, Bryony tank, Handspun Scrunchable Scarf for me, Striped scarf for Hubby, Purple socks for me, Hawthorne shawl (yes, it takes the entire width of our queen-size bed).

In progress now: a Pretty Thing cowl in cashmere!


Quilting:
Only one this year, but there are a couple more in the works that I can't show you yet. Remember I had bought some blue fabric back in 2008 for an ocean themed quilt? Well, I added to the fabric stash... and then this:

Blue batiks

became a quilt/playmat for Reuben Jeffrey James Miles
 

Spinning:

Ahhh, spinning! I've done more spinning in the last year than I've done in a looooong time, and that includes the Tour de Fleece. That's because I enrolled in SpinU, a 12-week intensive class at Purlescence taught by the incomparable Sandi. We did all kinds of spinning, from understanding the basics of worsted-style and getting our hands to do woolen-style spinning, to working with long- vs short-staple fibers, to various art-yarns. I've got a better understanding of my wheel and how to get it to do what I need.

My favorite spinning was the laceweight cashmere/silk and camel/silk blends in the upper left photo. (I loved working with the good stuff!) And, The Dork Boy says he's getting me a high-speed flyer whorl for my spinning wheel so I can more easily spin the finer stuff.

In other crafty things, my sister-in-law made this embroidery for her mother (my MIL):

Lovely!















School has been busy and we're heading into what I call "research season" starting with the 3rd graders this week. We're also involved with accreditation reports for the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC), and I'm heading a committee. Add to that supervising a part-time librarian (who used to be my boss - she's semi-retired), and I'm sometimes silly busy.

In the home improvement area, we've had 2 fences go down in a windstorm before Christmas. The backyard was quickly repaired by our neighbors who propped it up. The side fence, which we knew was a problem, will be replaced probably in the spring when it's warmer. There also have been washing machine problems, a replacement water heater (tankless!), a new-to-us TV, and some reorganization and destashing of stuff. Another run to Goodwill needs to happen soon.

The holidays came and went too quickly. I blinked and the time between Halloween and the New Year whizzed by.

Other than that, I'm looking forward to Stitches West, which will be in just a few weeks. Hmmm, what can I make before then...?

Whew! I guess I was pretty busy, wasn't I?

Fibery Goodness!

Took a dyeing workshop up at Purlescence on Sunday. So.Much.FUN!

Brought in a pound of unknown wool that I had found at home. Found out later that it might by Romney wool. I measured it out into 4 ounce sections and braided each one.

My inspiration was the Four Seasons of my garden.
(From the top of the center pic)
Spring - poppies, ceanothus & iris
Summer - yellow coast sunflowers, tomatoes
Fall - pumpkins, butternut squash
Winter - not as much color, sky, paler greens

I'm really thrilled with how they came out. After cooking and rinsing, the colors were more blended and muted than I thought they were going to be. Now, what to spin from it?

Did some yarn too - bottom center.  (Surprise, I made something purple!)

MUST. FIND. MORE. FIBER. AND. YARN. TO. DYE!