Shasta Daisy's spinning pad

New blog site!!!

2006-12-29T12:38:00.000-08:00

I think I may, very possibly, be a horrible blogger!! :)

I have a new blog site (for quite a few months). So, anybody who's been avidly reading this blog, can go to the new site to play catch up!!! There are tons of new pics and postings! Enjoy!!!

ShastaDaisy3000's new blog!

Any questions??? Email me!

New breed of sock: Introducing the "Swatch Sock"!!

2006-10-26T10:56:00.000-07:00

I created the "Swatch Sock" out of a need to create useable swatches that do not involve squares being saved for the occaissonal oddball afghan that gets made once every 20 years.

I tested a new lace pattern (multiple of 4), a cable pattern (multiple of 4), and a nifty new stitch to reinforce the heel (the area I wear out the most on all socks) area. I think the stitch could be used to reinforce the whole foot and toe also!!!

I started out with a 44 st circular caston with 2-ply lilac Shetland handspun sock yarn (18wpi). K2, P2 for 13 rows. K next row.
Change color where desired. Begin cable pattern [Row 1: *(K2, yo, sl1, k1, psso) to end of row]. Repeat Row 1 for 4 rows. Begin lace pattern [Row 1: *(K2, yo, sl1, k1, psso) to end of row. Row 2: *(yo, sl1, k1, psso, k2) to end of row. Repeat these 2 rows for desired effect.]. Work in lace pattern and cable pattern until you're ready to begin your heel. (Here's a tutorial for the type of heel I knit without the reinforcement stitch.)

Knit 4 rows. Now follow the reinforcement pattern [*YO, K2, pass yo st over 2 just knit* rep to end of row] for your heel (or foot & toe if you desire).
It doesn't matter how you do it and the stitches don't have to be lined up or anything. I like it's look without lining up the stitches.

Anyway, bottom line is I know what the stitches look like now; I know what gauge I've got to work my final object in; and I have another pair of neato socks to wear (or sell)!

Get some fiber and get spinning!!

Some more WIPs...(one used to be a UFO)!!!

2006-10-24T09:26:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer! You should know that there are always the few oddball abbreviations we all come up with to describe what we're doing. So, on that note, here goes: UFO=Unfinished Object; FO=Finished Object; WIP=Work in Progress. Any others you come across are not my responsibility to translate as I probably don't know what they stand for anyway!
This is a picture of the ubiquitous UFO that became a WIP! It is the "Tubey" pattern from Knitty.com and as a challenge from C4G on her WittingSpeaving yahoo group, I've been working on it on 'UFO Mondays'!! Thank you C4G!
The next photo here is of my Halloween quilt. I got this awesome panel from Ben Franklin Crafts with some orange owl background. It's completely reversible. Bob is doing his infamous 'Kilroy' immitation while displaying it.
Even though it looks finished, I assure you that the upper left corner is not sewn shut as yet and I've not cut and sewn the hangers for it yet. (Actually, at this writing, the whole thing is done and has been hung in our doorway to the upstairs as functional decor. It actually does a wonderful job of keeping the warm air downstairs!)

This last pic is a crocheted afghan I'm working on. It's being done in some yarn I've had hanging around for about 7 years that I picked up at a LYS closeout sale. Two rows are being done in burgundy followed by one row in 'holly & ivy'. I'll be sure to post when I've got it finished!!

Get some fiber and get spinning!!

Study in Green shawl is finally finished!! YAY!!!

2006-10-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I have finally gotten this wonderful shawl finished!! It's 6 feet long on the longest side (the side I'm holding) and is 4 feet long from top to bottom point! I had to wear my new leggings (I think that's what you call them!?!) and little black dress to show it off!!
The 2nd view is with my hair tucked in to show off the many shades of green better. I handspun most of the yarn while it was being knit. It's knit of Shetland wool singles, mohair and soysilk plyed, Cashgora & silk plyed and was finished with 2 rows of single crocheted edging.
I acquired 1-1/2 pounds of camel fleece from a wonderful lady in Canada. It arrived in very neat little bat/blankets that were very easy to wash up.
What I've got here is one of the wee blankets stretched out. I've been spinning right from the blanket. It spins very nicely and is going to be the weft of a rug when I've finished spinning it.

Posted by Shasta Daisy via Picasa!

Freshly warped loom and progress on UFO shawl!

2006-09-13T12:18:00.000-07:00

It took me 3 days to warp my loom to weave 2 scarves simultaneously. I think maybe I've gone nuts. It's warped with 10/2 cotton at a sett of 4 epi (I have my reasons, however strange they may be.) and 70 inches long. I had to wind the warp on my warping board for each scarf seperately. My hands couldn't take any more than that. I'm very grateful to everyone who let me know I could keep the warp on my board for a day or so, so I could rest my poor hands.

This is the scarf being wove on the right hand side of my loom. The weft yarn is spun from was spun from natural colored Romney wool plyed with KA dyed cherry red Romney wool. It is a commissioned piece to demonstrate to the breeder that she has excellent wool for spinning. The person who owns the sheep breeds just for show and meat. In my ever-so-humble opinion she has fabulous wool that she could be selling to the handspinning community!
This is the scarf being wove on the left hand side of the loom. The weft yarn is spun from Shetland wool and Jacquard acid dyed in a mix I like to call flax blue. I really need to start keeping notes on how I mix things when I'm playing. It's really a good thing I dyed 5 lbs. of this stuff!!

I will be adding some accent weaving in each scarf because I'm experimenting. The weft yarn fibers will remain the same, but the colors will be changing.

This is yet another progress pic of the "Study in Green" shawl for anyone who's been following it.
I've 2 and a 1/2 more balls of handspun to knit onto it before it will be finished. I have been averaging about 3 rows a night (it takes a good 10 minutes just to knit 1 row). Thank God it's on a 36" set of circular needles!

Get some fiber and get spinning!!

My first woven blanket is finally finished!!

2006-09-08T08:29:00.000-07:00

The following pictures are of an Autumn lap blanket I designed and wove on my loom in
progress! It took me well over a year to finally get this work of art finished. The finished blanket is 46 inches long and 20 inches wide.

The loom itself underwent 7 structural changes while the weaving was in progress. I was very afraid that the changes would cause adverse affects in the blanket, but am happy to report that after washing and drying, it is fantastic!!! Click here for a pic of the loom. Click on the photo album titled "Everything Else" on the top right.
I tried to get close ups of the warp threads because I used some moss green in the warp threads to demonstrate summer leaving and autumn taking over.

Where the loom is becoming better suited for my purposes, I need to work on my finishing technique. I'm okay with the finishing of the warp threads, etc., it's the weaving in of the weft threads (on the sides) that I need to get better at.
A better close up demonstrating the effect of summer leaving and autumn taking over. It's the sole reason I used some moss green warp threads. This blanket reminds me of what this area (particularly, my neighborhood) looks like in the fall.

This last is my loving son trying to pass himself off as Kilroy! He was also petting the lap blanket because it's very, very soft!

Some of what I finished this month!!

2006-08-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

I made a weave-it frame following instructions I found at Roger Stark's (this link has been fixed - thank you to those who pointed it out) website. He gives very explicit and wonderful directions for making them. I modified mine a wee bit (I can be pretty rough with things.) to handle a lot of wear and tear. I also deviated the dimensions of it. Mine is 4" by 12". I used outdoor finishing nails because there is usually a lot of humidity here. I used corner brackets to hold the frame together after I glued it.

The next pic is of the frame being warped with some scratchy wool I spun up. When I get all the squares done and assembled, I post pics of the rest of the process and the finished whatever! I actually don't know what the blocks are going to become at this time.

I finished my DLH's merino/silk socks. They are very springy and absolutely scrumptiously soft!!! If they weren't so darn huge, I'd wear them myself!!! I'm almost embarrassed they took so long to knit.
This is a knit card box I got the pattern for from another one of those free knitting sites. It is knit in one piece using mitred knitting theory. I learned I do not have to knit them on DPN's like the pattern says, thank God! I did this up with yellow cotton (obviously) on US #6 circs. The pattern says to us US #5 dpn's, but my gauge knit up better on the US #6's.

I can't find the site where the pattern came from, but when I do I'll be happy to post it.

Get some fiber and get spinning!!!

The Spindlers t-shirt & "A Study in Green" shawl.

2006-08-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's a very good thing to very afraid when you open a surprise gift from someone you don't know. Sometimes it's just plain silly.

At the time I was gifted this fantastic, awesome Spindlers t-shirt, I was asked my size. I complied and said, "I'm an all around medium in just about everything. When I opened the package, I lifted out and saw what appeared to be a very dinky, tiny, little t-shirt that I was never going to be able to wear. The label claimed it to be a Large!!!

They warn you about this t-shirt style size at CafePress!!! The warning reads that this style of t-shirt runs on the small side and to be safe, if you take a medium, order a large. Anyway, as you can see, it fits me quite fine and I'm as pleased as pie with it!

(Would you believe that my photographer is actually belly-aching about how small I made the picture!!!!)

On my previous post, I tried very hard, several times, to add a picture of the melon colored wool I was spinning up on my Babe, but blogger had a very difficult time allowing me to do this.

I finally gave up on adding it to that post which is alright because I had to pull it off the wheel to spin more Shetland, silk and mohair for my new "A Study in Green" shawl.

The next pic is the shawl. The starting fiber is mohair plyed with soysilk. The second stripe is a single of Shetland. The third stripe is a single of super-super soft mohair. I will continue to photog this as I'm spinning and knitting it as I find it quite interesting as it's progressing. I am very amazed at all the different color variations you can get from Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid (1 pkt per 2 ounces of fiber) with different fibers.

Adult mohair dyes a light shade of grassy green while the soysilk barely takes up any of the dye at all. It did take some, but not very much. The Shetland splits a lot. I got shades from pale grass green to teal blue with it. Yearling mohair tended to yield a very even shade of apple green. I've not done silk as yet. I used the silk to ply with some of the Shetland for addition towards the end of the shawl.

Lastly, here is another low water immersion experiment with Berry Blue, Black Cherry & Cherry (all KA flavors) and Romney fleece. I pre-wet the wool, stuffed it into a large ceramic bowl, mixed each color with 1.5cups of water and poured it into approximately 1/3 sections. I've no clue what I'm going to do with it yet.

Get some fiber and get spinning!!

I really do Wish I were an Octopus!!!!!

2006-08-02T09:33:00.000-07:00

Yep. You're reading it correctly. Think about it for awhile. If I could be an octopus, I could do tons of things simultaneously, instead of the way it all gets done now. It really would be wonderfully awesome and fantasmagoric!!!

As I mentioned in my previous post, it is extremely rare for me to acquire fiber and know, really know, what that fiber is going to be used for. Due to the plethora of free knitting patterns on the web (most of my favs are at Elann.com) I am always finding something gorgeous that I'm dying (or dyeing) to knit. I finally found a lace shawl that I'm willing to knit. (I'm not really big on knitting large lacy things.) It's called the 'Flower Petal Shawl' and you know where it's at!!

I was gifted with several bags of raw fleece. Though I had to throw out some of the fleeces (horribly matted from storage and way unsalvageable), most of them are usable. They are mostly Romney, varying from lambs (hogget) fleece to 3yo fleece. One of the fleeces was from a hogget Coopworth! I was very tickled with scouring it and it now sits in a storage bag while I figure out what to do with it (I will sell some of it). When the Coopworth was finished, I started in on one of the Romney fleeces. It turned out to be wonderously soft, springy and in need of a dye job.

I dyed this using a low-water immersion technique and 3 pkgs of Orange Kool-Aid to achieve this color. It's wonderfully easy, light & fluffy to card into rolags. It drafts easily and spins like a dream.

Woohoo!!!!! I've successfully learned how to graft!

2006-08-02T08:32:00.000-07:00

Grafting! Otherwise known as 'kitchener stitch' has always eluded me. Even though I've been knitting for nearly 35 years, I've never been able to even comprehend this wonderful technique. I finally mastered this (IMHO) with help from the wonderful staff at Knitty! I thank them for publishing the wonderful instruction accompanied by awesome step-by-step pics!!!

This is the first grafted section of my Icosa Welt Ball pattern. I even managed to get the hole in the center closed up following the instructions in the pattern. Sorry everyone! You have to buy your own pattern. At least I'm kind enough to provide a link for you!!!

Anyway, besides working on the orange triangles, I've finished plying my charcoal Jacob singles with the 30% Merino, 20% Tencel singles and have skeined the yarn for storage (206 yds. so far). I've still one more huge bobbin of it to skein. I have woefully discovered that I should not be allowed to buy fibers on eBay, unless I am able to anticipate how much I will need for an actual finished project. Your average project requires approximately 1200 yards of 14-16wpi yarn. I do not consider socks a project because I've always got a pair on the circular needles. They're just there to pass the time whilst viewing the news in the evening or the very early morning. I would never allow this beautiful yarn to become nothing less than a vest or sweater!

Now the problem with the concept of buying enough fiber to complete a finished project is that at the time I fall for a color, texture, etc., I've no idea what I want it for or what I want it to eventually become (besides yarn stash). The ideas for the projects occur as I'm spinning the fiber. It is extremely rare for me to actually know what a given fiber is going to be used for (this occurred recently: wait for my next post). In this case, the charcoal Jacob roving, I've tons of. No worries there. Thank God I was able to search though my past acquisitions on eBay to find where I purchased a measly 3 ounces of merino/tencel in peacock colorway!!! For those of you who are curious, it's Annie May's Spin and Wool!

Get some fiber and get spinning!

Someone please stop me from reading old issues of Spin-Off and other things!!!!!!!

2006-07-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

OMG! I think sometimes I must be completely insane! (Hmmm, maybe that's it... this requires more thought.)

I am just finishing up a neat little lace bracelet thingy that can be found in the current issue of Knitty called Perdita. My version of 'bluebell' is done in Maroon crochet cotton thread and peacock white glass beads. I actually blocked it, too!!

Anyway, I started knitting the one called 'Lily of the Valley' in snow white thread with peacock grass green glass beads while reading an old issue of Spin-Off (Winter 2001 - "Romancing the Shawl"). I set aside the white wristband thingy on the front porch (it's enclosed and also serves as my spinning and weaving studio) and starting rummaging through all my spun yarn for just the perfect yarn for the shawl described in the article.

I found a skein of apple green mohair plyed with soysilk that I spun at 14 - 16wpi. I wound it into a ball on my noste and put it in pretty pot I junk-picked on the way home from the store!! The yarn seems to be just the ticket for the size 8 circs the pattern calls for. I've got that started and going on my office floor as I type.

Very near by, on the right corner of my desk, sits the 7th triangle of the ShiBui Icosa Welt Ball in vivid orange (If you recall, the first 5 are done in light purple.). I'm doing my ball in multiple colors and in cotton. (Yes, I've taken pics of these too!)

While I was knitting on the shawl, the postman (boy) (Te-he) arrived at the door delivering a copy of Annie's Attic. Just what I need, another knitting/crafting catalog to fill my head with all sorts of ideas!! Definitely!

This isn't the first time I've gone goofy over a shawl. I'm saving my pin money to be able to afford the Morehouse Farm Merino Gorgonian Shawl Knitkit. I saw that featured as an ad in the current issue of Knitty and just had to have it. After deciding that I hated the colors they offer it in, I wrote and asked if it would be possible for them to offer more colors. They now offer more colors. I've almost got enough and I'll be ordering mine in the earthtone; moss.

Now, anyone who knows me understands the last line of my sigfile:
Spinner, crafter, weaver & knitter (Gee, I wish I were an octopus!)

Ahhhh... The great knitting emergency and other things...

2006-07-08T10:58:00.000-07:00

The great knitting (needle) emergency:
I started knitting the Icosa Welt Ball Pillow a month or so ago. I ordered the pattern from KnitPurl in Oregon and am just tickled with the pattern. I'm learning more knitting skills and more little tricks. I started the pattern on size 3 dpn's and as the first triangle got larger and larger, I discovered I needed a size 3 circular needle to continue onward. In order to do this, I had to steal my size 3 circ from a project that I work on at night when I can't sleep. Needless to say, that caused a knitting emergency in that I now require another size 3 circular needle.
I posted a trade on the Spindler's Yahoo Group site and traded 4 ounces of white Jacob fleece for another circular needle (for those who wonder why I didn't just go out and buy one, the postage is equal to what I would have spent in gas). Thank you Diana P for trading! I love trade day!!!

I usually have up to 4 different knitting projects going at the same time. The 4 that are going at present include the ball, my DLH's silk/merino socks, a shrug inspired pullover sweater called Tubey, and a pair of silk shorts designed by me. The shorts are what I knit at night because I don't need a lot of light to do the pattern. The socks are kept in the kitchen. The ball either stays in my office or goes outside with me when I'm not in a spinning mood. The shrug gets worked on in the living room/dining room when we've got company (no they never mind, they understand that knitting, spinning, etc. is intrinsic to my nature).

What my son finished spinning:
My son has declared he is finished spinning his first spindle of dyed red Shetland wool. He is currently working on some Merino and Corriedale he acquired for his birthday from my stash, on one of his polymer drop spindle creations. He has graciously donated it to me for a strange little art project I'm obsessed with (no pics yet!).

What I finished spinning:
I finished the Colonial Merino and have started the Mulberry Merino. The Colonial will stay on it's spindle until I've finished the Mulberry. The goal is to ply them together for some funky sock yarn. I'm using my handmade cedar burl spindles for both as they're wonderful for spinning finer wool.

I still have gray/brown Jacob on the Babe going. When it's finished, it will be plyed with some Turquoise? Merino/Tencel that's waiting on a bobbin. I've still got black Jacob on the Navajo spindle which will be plyed with some white Jacob that's parked on a TP roll. Lastly, I've got some wonderful light-violet Shetland being Andean plyed on my plying wheel.

Get some fiber and get spinning!!!

The Giant Smiley Flag!

2006-07-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

The Saltire was first:
Awhile back, in celebration of St. Andrew's Day(30 Nov), I made a flag to display, bearing the cross of St. Andrew (patron Saint of Scotland), also know as The Saltire. A lot of people around here haven't a clue about who St. Andrew was! This is a very shocking thing to me as I live in a 'very Catholic' area (then again, perhaps I shouldn't be shocked at all).

So, here's a pic of our home with the Saltire displayed (I hope appropriately). The gent on the porch is my DLH!

Anyway, to demonstrate the ignorance of such things, here are some of the inquiries I've received:

"Is that the flag of Sweden (Norway, etc.)????"

"Is that a gang symbol? Then, after explaining that it's the cross of St. Andrew, "What gang are you with?"

"Who is St. Andrew?"

"Why do you have it hung crooked?"

After explaining I made it using my sewing machine (because I'm too cheap to buy what I can make), "Oh, where did you buy it?"I got very annoyed and decided a year of oddball comments was enough and created something that would ultimately shut everyone up (I hope)!!! The Ultimate Smiley Flag was created on 1 July 2006! My DLH & I went to 'Wally World' and acquired a yard of bright yellow cotton fabric and 1/2 yard of black cotton fabric. I had the smiley face cloth in my fabric stash and used it for the background (I want to get some more.). The whole thing took an hour to stitch up and I put it out during a clap of thunder (It didn't rain, but it sure smelled like it was going to.) and stood back to admire it for awhile.

I can't wait to hear the questions about this one!!!! So far, all anyone can manage to do is stare. Frankly, that's just fine & dandy with me! I do believe I'll get back to my spinning & knitting!

Get some fiber & get spinning!

Busy days & gaming parakeet...

2006-06-30T13:48:00.000-07:00

I went downtown today, via our public transit system, to fetch the newest copy of Interweave Spin-Off (do the banking and pay some bills) only to learn that the News Depot hasn't gotten it in yet!!!!! GRRRR. Oh well! I've still got some old ones I bought off eBay to continue perusing until I am able to get the new one. In the meantime, I purchased two very interesting publications: the May/June '06 issue of "Handwoven" and the June/July '06 issue of American Craft. The issue of Handwoven definitely has some super awesome ideas for me to try when I re-warp my loom. Lots of colors to try & new ideas to make use of. I'm not too keen on merely doing scarfs as I've no real use for them except as ornamentation. I'm more into shawls, lap blankets, rugs and fabric I can sew with. I eventually want to weave a vest on my loom and I finally found an issue of Spin-Off that showcases exactly that project. The American Craft mag seems to cover all areas of art and is more a pictoral publication than anything else. That's nice to peruse every now and again as it's easier on the eyes when you don't really want to read anything.

After walking all over downtown and doing some knitting in public (I didn't realize that people are so compelled to stare!), it was back to the bus to go home again and rest a wee bit. I do need the rest after what my son and I did yesterday! We got all excited about some free grapevines someone had posted. All we had to do was dig them up and bring them home. Well, we got to the guy's house and there were indeed tons of vines, but no grapevines to be found anywhere. His vines were a strange type of ivy that our park system has been struggling for years to control as they choke out every available bit of space they can get their tendrils on. This activity not only kills off the desirable natural foliage, but can injure and harm trees. Knowing that, you can just imagine what those vines will do to someones home/garage! We freed up some of the gentleman's garage facing and fence line and suggested he thin them out vigorously in the fall so they don't get so overgrown next spring. We did get to go home with some snowball bush stems and some wonderful rose bush starts!! All in all, the day was not a loss, but I'm paying for it now.

As promised, here is Mitzi Bird playing with my son's gameboy!! It's one of those rare occasions I was able to snap a few pics of him doing something out of the ordinary. He flew into my office, landed on the corner of my desk, waddled over to the gameboy and wah-lah started playing.

Here's the second shot and if you look carefully, you can see
some of what he's playing. I think it is one of those Super
Mario games.

Experimental Weaving...

2006-06-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

I started weaving on one of those really old (believe me, this one is really old! It's metal!!) potholder/loop looms. My grandmother gave it to me when I was really little. I found it a few months ago when I was digging in one of my craft storage areas. I was quite shocked to find it after not seeing it for about 20 years.

I'm using it as a small pocket/lap loom to weave afghan squares. I'm using some handspun apple green mohair plyed with cornsilk yarn. I cold-forged an aluminum weaving needle to use with it as none of my weaving needles were long enough to please me. It's working out pretty darned well, IMHO!

This is one of the finished squares. I want to use my 'scrap' skeins
(i.e. skeins not large enough for projects requiring more yarn than 1 ounce). I had enough yarn left to string it up for one more square which is being worked now.

This wee pic is a shot of our many flax plants growing just outside the side door of our home. We wanted the soil to be fallow this year (I usually grow tomatoes there.), but I couldn't stand to see it go bare. My son decided that a flax experiment was in order and after our failed cotton experiment, I said okay. I love seeing real blue flowers. They're absolutely gorgeous!! Lord willing, we intend to process and spin our small flax crop because curiousity is just too unbearable without at least trying. If it doesn't work, we've got enough seeds to last us a lifetime, even if we eat some of them.

Part of the yarn process on my new wheel!

2006-06-22T09:34:00.000-07:00

I've never really cared much for photojournaling, ordinary journaling, or diaries, but I began to consider it more and more when my DLH gave me the new spinning wheel. It is a real pleasure for me to be able to spin 'super fast'!!!

I didn't snap any pics while spinning the singles, but I decided I should take a few of the process from at least plying the 'Brown Sheep' roving single (which incidentally, behaves like Merino) and bleached tussah silk single to the beginning of the knit object. Plying the yarn was as much a pleasure as spinning the singles. Prior to the wheel, I always spindle spun all silk and plyed everything on a top whorl drop spindle. Spinning it on the wheel was, indeed, so much a pleasure that I've just got to get my hands on some more silk roving very, very soon!!!!!!!!

I usually Andean ply most of my wool singles, unless I'm dying the finished yarn. I tend to dye fiber in any form, whether it be uncarded, carded, roving, yarn or finished object. This fiber combo was begging to be dyed in the yarn stage.

Here is a pic of the yarn going onto the niddynoddy:

These are pics of the final processes. The dyebath was done with Berry Blue Kool-Aid and a tablespoon of vinegar. I soaked the 4 ounce skein in cold water. Then I mixed the KA, vinegar and 4 quarts cold water in my dyepot. I plunked the skein of yarn in and turned the heat onto the lowest setting. Two hours later I turned the heat off and let everything cool to room temperature. I hung it up to dry on the front porch (has 4 large screen windows) and began the socks after winding it into a center pull ball on my nostepinde. The yarn is 16wpi, which is perfect for knitting socks for my DLH!!!

Get some fiber & get busy spinning!!!

These are my children!!!

2006-06-14T08:14:00.000-07:00

These are pics of some of my children!!! The grinning child in the purple, Harry Potter t-shirt, with a yellow bird on his shoulder is Bob. He is 13 years old and has a lot of hobbies. He spins, knits, plays outside a lot, rides his bicycle everywhere, is a voracious reader and most recently, started building models. He's working on a P51-B Mustang warplane right now. He finished a Russian tank two weeks ago. I'm hoping he shares on his blog!! Bob also cares for Lucy, Edwina & Suzie. Lucy and Edwina are Golden Comet laying hens and Suzie is a New Hampshire Red.

The yellow parakeet is Mitzi Bird. He is two & a half years old and has a 'Napoleon complex'. He doesn't have his wings clipped so spends a lot of his time free-flying around our home. He's partial to sitting on my shoulder while I'm spinning, eating with Ditta or Clifford (in the case of Clifford, he scares Clifford away from his bowl so he can perch on the edge and nibble his kibble), harassing Bob while he is doing schoolwork and loves to terrorize Clifford.

The large yellow dog is 'Clifford the Big Yellow Dog'. We got him when he was 11 weeks old and about a foot tall. His orginal name was 'Bubba' and I told Bob to give him a name because I certainly wasn't willing to call him Bubba!!! Bob looked at him and said, "His name is Clifford, Clifford the Big Yellow Dog" and that's what it reads on his tags. He will be 8 years old on the 4th of July!!! Clifford was raised mostly by our cat, Ditta.

The Sealpoint Siamese cat is Ditta. Soon to be 12 in August, she is the grand dam of the palace. She taught Clifford how to bath exactly like a cat and it's rather hilarious to watch the first time. She is a very tolerant spirit that gets along with everyone. She lets Mitzi Bird sit at her food bowl and eat with her, as well as, allowing him to groom her tail when she's finished eating. I'm forever trying to get it on camera, but am too slow on the draw yet.

The wee doggy to the right of this scribbling is the amazing "Princess
Vanity"! She's our family's baby. She will be 3 in December. She came to us as a rescue animal at 2 weeks of age. She was a bag of fur and bones and I had no idea when she wet my lap that she was on the verge of dying. After some TLC, a lot of hand feeding and medication she pulled through to become her magnanimous self! She is a Husky/Collie mix that is a very wondrous supply of spinnable fiber twice a year!!!

She loves hamming for the camera and seems to know that's exactly what she's supposed to do when she sees it. Old Navy was doing a contest for a new mascot and I entered her, but I think she must not have had enough charisma to make the cut for voting. Oh well!! She's my favorite mascot for anything!

Bob is knitting!!!!

2006-06-12T13:18:00.000-07:00

Bob is learning how to knit. His first project (I wish I had photographed it!) was a scarf. He made it for the little girl across the street. He is now working on a sweater in a basket weave stitch. After the scarf, he didn't want to do plain old knitting and wanted something with a little tooth to it.

I told him that if he doesn't get busy at it, he'll have to rip back a bit to make it longer so it'll fit him by fall!! This is the back of the sweater! I hope he starts the sleeves soon!

Scottish Blackface Fleece

2006-06-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

These are the pics of my new 'Babe Fiber Starter' from the previous post! Now, on to the Scottish Blackface fleece!!!

I started washing 2-1/2 lbs. of Scottish Blackface fleece. It's very clean, but I found the stiff short hairs too daunting to pick before scouring, so I'm washing it as is. What's in the pic is about 8 ounces of it drying in my fleece hammock! It hangs above our living room (kind of funny, we actually live in every other room, but this one), between two windows. It gets air from every direction this way.

I've kind of been sitting with a couple of the dried locks, playing with it, trying to decide what will be best to do with it. I really don't care much for using combs, so I'm sure I'll end up carding it and spinning it for weaving a floor mat or rug. The fleece came from a hogget ewe and is very soft where I've picked out the stiff hairs. It's very strong with nearly non-existent crimp. It is definitely not something I want to feel against my skin!!

Spin Happy!!

Some of the tools I use to spin wool & other fibers.

2006-06-07T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Frankenstein Great Wheel.
This is what my son (11 at the time) and I built out of scrap lumber (2x4's and 1x4's), a 24" bicycle wheel, an oak dowel, a toy wheel and a piece of binders twine, 2 years ago. Prior to that I spun my fibers on top whorl and bottom whorl drop spindles and bead support spindles.

A lot of people have been asking for detailed plans for this unit as well as a few other things I have built solo, but I'm very slow getting all this on paper. I want the plans to be usable, not cause you all to throw your screwdriver or hammer as I did many times during construction. As I get this into writing and drawings, I find myself trying to perfect it so it looks more inviting.

I have finally decided that there will be two sets of plans: down & dirty, so you can get it built quickly and get using it; and esthetically pleasing, so the rough edges are neatened up a bit.

The Frankenstein Electric Spinner.
This little number is made from the neighbor's old sewing machine. She didn't want it anymore so I parted it out and started building. This spins pretty fast, but could use a flyer. On the right, front of the unit is the sewing machine motor. At off center, front is where I mounted the external power source for the motor. At left, end of the unit I installed a rheostat to control speed as I've never been really keen on foot pedal things. I need to be able to stand to spin when my body won't let me sit.

The Frankenstein Cigarbox Charkha.
I built this when I came across the plans at Spin-Off's website. The plans are located in their back issue section under Cigarbox Charkha.

It took about a month for me to build after locating some appropriate items. The smaller whorl is made of polymer clay and wood cookies glued together. The large whorl is made from 2 cd's and a wood cooky glued together. The turning mechanism is a glass bead on a screw. The spindle is made from a knitting needle and a wood cookie. The pulley is from the hardware store. It's for a shower door. The little charkha works pretty well and I like it's portability.

The 'Babe Fiber Starter'.
My DLH bought me a Babe Fiber Starter for Mother's Day from Mielke's Fiber Arts. I waited on pins and needles for it to arrive via 'Brown'. When it finally arrived, I refused to open the box because I was working on some fiber for a customer!! I finally opened it on Sunday, May 21st and put it together on Monday. I started spinning on it Tuesday and it is quite the spinning demon! I'm trying to get a pic to appear for it, but for now it's stuck. If you want to see the pic of it click here.

Spinning Dizzy!!

2006-06-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

This is me! I typically wear my hair up, but it was chilly out.

Okay... I don't really know why I'm doing this. I think it's because I'm not very satisfied with Yahoo's 360 blogger. It let's users input one picture at a time, per entry and it's driving me bats!! On top of it, you're expected to display all other photos in an album and that's too much clicking around for me. I want to be able to post as much stuff as I want and see it all in one place.

After seeing a lot of my online friends blogs at www.blogger.com, I figure it's the best place to be! I love being able to see everything, all at once, while I'm reading about it. I'll see if I can get this blogsite figured out. I'm very thankful to God it's free!!

I made two very nice rose bottom whorl spindles and a polymer Navajo spindle with three glass hearts. The shafts of all three spindles are white oak. I made these without hooks because I prefer spinning off the tip. I use them with bowls as support spindles. They work very well and I'm quite happy with them!! The Navajo spindle is shorter than a traditional one and I can use it while sitting on the floor! :^)I've only placed one pic of the rose spindles here because they're practically identical.

Get some fiber and get spinning!!