biggeek

October 17, 2007

Oh dear.....It's been far too long...

What is wrong with me? That I could be away from this wonderful blog for so long?

Am I in a knitting slump? Sorta. I mean, do you really want to read about my measly two rows that I complete each day on my sock? Heck no! So I decided to wait and update when I had something worth while to say.

Here goes:
These socks just keep dragging on.....

Good thing is I am in the home stretch now. I am at the toe. It won't be long now!

I did ply the red wool/alpaca blend for the husband. Looks mighty fine if you ask me:

I hope I have enough for the scarf I want to make him....

I have been holding out on you. I made a purchase a couple of weeks ago.....

eeek! Ain't it sexy? No? yeah I agree, but it will make spinning much more enjoyable don't you think?

Posted by beth at 12:37 PM | Comments (16)

October 01, 2007

There I go Blogging again...

Or should I say NOT blogging.
Where did last week go?
I mean it's not like I didn't do ANYTHING at all!

I worked a little on my friend's other sock. I made another Calorimetry for pete's sake. I even did a little spinning:

This is from Spinners Hill. I got this at the Hemlock Fiber Show. It is for the husband. These are his colors. It is a wool/alpaca blend. I am hoping to make him a scarf. He knows about it. It's very hard to spin and knit with him around so I figured I would let him in on it. This is spinning up gorgeous!

I feel my other cat Suki get's the raw end of the deal. She is a bit camera shy. I got some good pictures of her this weekend and thought I would share a couple:

Suki Kitty, she's so pretty the Suki Kitty.

This next picture is the way I usually see her:

But it's usually by her food dish.

Posted by beth at 12:27 PM | Comments (13)

September 18, 2007

Ahhh...It's that time of year...

Crisp autumn days, and

I love this fiber festival! Why? It is just the right size for me. There were a lot of people there, but it felt like I could actually look everything over and not grab or worry something wouldn't be there when I went back for it.

I went to this with girls from the guild and fun was had by all. At least I had fun. The weather was iffy, but at least we didn't get soaked.

I was good this time. I only brought a certain amount of money and spent it all. NO credit cards were used! I was tempted, but glad I walked away with just a few nice things:

Yum.... Angora and wool!

Mohair, wool, very bright roving from Steam Valley. Love them!

not the best picture of this, but it is from Spinner's Hill and it is wool and alpaca. This is going to become a scarf for Mr. Big Geek.

And this is my absolute favorite of the day:

This is wool and silk! I forget the vendor I got it from but the color way is called Wild Iris. I love the colors! I think it does look rather intestinal, colorful, but still.....

They had a few demo's going on at the festival. There was an elderly gentleman showing us how to use an antique sock machine!

He said that his mother bought one in the 1920's and paid $60.00 for the machine. She would make socks and her husband would sell them at work for something like $1.50 for 8 pairs! Holy crap! Well, I am sure it didn't take too long to produce a pair of socks. I like to do mine the old fashioned way.

Then there was a table set up of a group of people knitting in a circle:

I really wasn't sure what they were doing until we looked at the sign in the middle of the table. They are trying to make the world's biggest sock! Can you believe it? Anyone could knit on it! I really need to see this when it is all done. The were still working on the leg.

I have to say for me the funniest part of the day was when I bought some "fried dough". What's a festival with out it? Well you know they dump a ton of powdered sugar on that stuff right? Yeah, well it was a windy day. Yep! All over me. And NOPE! NO pictures!

Next up:
Progress shots on my Cascading Leaves socks and new project news!

Posted by beth at 12:28 PM | Comments (14)

August 13, 2007

Guess what I did this weekend?

Mr Salt (Corn) and Ms. Pepper (Broccoli) over saw all production and were very happy with the end result:

About a pound of fiber and yarn. Some super wash merino and some just merino. Phew! Now I gotta spin it.

Posted by beth at 12:46 PM | Comments (13)

August 10, 2007

Oh my! I won another prize!

Yes, it is true.... I am either very lucky, or I just enter a lot of contests! I think the first. I don't enter a lot, but you do have to play to win right?

What did I win????

mmmmmm.... fiber...... yummm...... I love how the green is two differnt colors on two different sides of the batt. The purple is all the same color, but these are definately my colors!

How did I become so lucky? My pal Lisa was having a contest. THANK YOU LISA! That was way too nice of you! I love it! Now, what to make with it..... It is 4 oz of beautiful stuff! I will keep you posted!

I think I will lay off the contests for a while... give other people a chance.

Posted by beth at 12:55 PM | Comments (7)

July 05, 2007

The day after...

It just didn't feel like the 4th this year. It was in the middle of the week. The weather was crap. We didn't do anything. I had yesterday off. Big woop. It felt like a Sunday. You wanna know what I did yesterday? I took a big blanket to the laundromat. Suki pwacked on it and it was too big to put in our washer. So me and not so little geek went to the laundromat. WOW! How exciting!

Okay, so that is not all I did. I haven't done any spinning lately, so I dusted off the Kiwi and decided to spin up the Holiday Project Wool that we get in the guild I belong to. We have to make something out of this roving and bring it to the December meeting.

Pretty stuff huh? I believe this is an alpaca/merino blend. Guild girls, help me out..... am I right?

Here are the singles

I know that I am way ahead of my self in getting this done, but not really. See, it would be just like me to get this done at the last moment and totally stress about it. So I am half the way there. I just have to ply it and then think up a project to make. I won't be able to show you what it is until December. Can you wait that long?

Just so you know, I did take the current sock on the needles to the laundromat. I should finish this up by the weekend.

I have to. I am going on vacation next week and want to start a fresh pair!

Posted by beth at 12:58 PM | Comments (11)

May 14, 2007

Wow! Another fab weekend

Here at the Big Geek Château. I got A LOT done. Including dyeing some more fiber with the pumpkin dye that Carla gave me. Here is the fruits of my labor:

I can't say enough good things about how this came out! I LOVE IT!
(but I wouldn't want to marry it) I think I need to try a different color though.... or many different colors. Or I will have much orange in my wardrobe.

I also completed the "knitting" of my Klaralund

Now the joy of seaming...... sigh....... my least favorite task.

Posted by beth at 12:37 PM | Comments (9)

May 09, 2007

Busy busy busy...

Well there you have it. It is plyed. And I LOVE IT! Both of them! Carla was so nice to give me a capfull more of the pumpkin so I can dye up some more!

On to other news. Friday was my birthday. Yes, Happy Birtday to me. When you get to be my age, you are just glad that you wake up in the morning right? Okay so I am not THAT old, but really it is just another day. My parents and my Mother in Law came over with dinner. Very nice. A little later, Margaret and Big Lou came over with a birthday cake. My brother stopped by too. All around fun. Nothing fancy, but nice to just sit and talk and drink MORE wine. Saturday I went to a couple of garage sales and book sales. I think I spent around $15 dollars and got some cool tee shirts, and some really great books. My biggest deal was 4 skeins of Rowan 4-ply Botany in PURPLE! Enough to make the Anna socks in the fall magazine (06) YAY!!! That was $5 bucks total! Well after all that excitement this is what I did

I never take naps.

Note: I forgot that Carol came over Friday too. And she brought me a great pirate hat and lots of goodies!

How's that Carol? Hee hee....

But it wasn't a party. Really. Speak to my husband. He did all the planning...

Posted by beth at 12:33 PM | Comments (16)

May 03, 2007

I'm dyin' over here....

Guess what happened this weekend with this:

Well you take it to "DYE DAY". What is "DYE DAY?" Well it is when girls from my spinning guild get together and dye fiber! Carla came with her dye stuff and boy did I pick the right color!

Betcha can't wait to see huh?

That is PUMPKIN! And that isn't even a good picture. It has reds, oranges, yellows all mixed up. When we took it out of the dye bath and unzipped the lingerie bag, everyone gasped!

I also threw in a little roving into the Watermelon dye pot. Let's see them both together:

Oh my! The watermelon turned out "nice" but I really really love the pumpkin. I did a little spinning last night and here it is on a bobbin:

Now all I need to do is ply. Can't wait to see it all skeined up.

Carla I need more of that PUMPKIN! We must discuss.....

;-)

Posted by beth at 12:26 PM | Comments (17)

April 09, 2007

New Fiber Hobbie!

Wow! It looks a little crazy, I know, but it was FUN! My guild meeting was 2 Sunday's ago and Anna (a guild member) showed us how to felt. It wasnt' needle felting, it was lots of water with a "tad" of dish soap and lots of agitation, and skwishin. Oh the possiblilities.....

So some of you have little faith in me! By some of your comments it seems that you already have me frogging the lace weight mohair even before I have knit anything with it!

You know me too well.

Oh, I started another sweater!

More details this week. Stay tuned.

Posted by beth at 12:12 PM | Comments (14)

March 26, 2007

New project news

Well, thank you all for your very nice comments about my sweater!

What should I do next?

Well that's what it looked like yesterday afternoon. As of right this minute, it is a neatly wound ball. Yep, I frogged it. I wasn't feeling the love for this sock. You know what I mean? That feeling where you can't stop knitting on it. I got pretty far too with out feeling the love. I think what turned me off was the fit. It didn't. It was too big. So I am starting something new. Don't know what it is yet, but you can be sure you all will be the first to know.

Okay, so while I had like 10 minutes of sunshine, I took some pictures of some pretty handspun. Everyone likes pretty yarn don't they?

100% Alpaca. What's the yardage? Dunno, What's the weight? dunno. It's just pretty.

Oh and here is the green that I showed last week:

I still have a lot more to spin. I bought a pound of it. When I say that it just reminds me of going to a deli counter and asking for a pound of olive loaf. Hey! Maybe that is what I should call it! But there is no red in it.....

Posted by beth at 12:08 PM | Comments (14)

March 01, 2007

I don't have a heck of a lot...

But I thought these pictures of my latest spinning were cool.

I started a sweater.

Posted by beth at 12:21 PM | Comments (17)

January 18, 2007

Spinning.....

Remember this?

Well, I have finally spun it up! It is very "festive" shall we say?
I called the roving "Gay Pride".

Here is a "singles" yarn cake:

Well, it doesn't really look like that anymore.

I probably should have navajo plied.

But I didn't want to.

I *center-pull-balled-2-plyed* (it's my new word) and this is what I got:

Introducing: Jah Rastafari! (That is what husband exclaimed when he saw it.) ("really")

;-)

Posted by beth at 12:08 PM | Comments (19)

November 27, 2006

Happiness is...

A bobbin FULL of spun fiber and a fat cat

Happiness are 2 bobbins full of spun fiber and a disinterested cat

Happiness is all the above plied and made into yarn and a picture taken on a nice warm sunny day....

I don't know the yardage. It came out lovely. The purple I think will be socks. The grey, I don't know. I have a whole pound to spin up! The cat decided not to model for me anymore. They are so flighty!

Oh and happiness is....

a Christmas present almost done and it isn't even December yet!

PS - My turkey dinner came out brilliant! Really!

Posted by beth at 12:22 PM | Comments (19)

October 23, 2006

Rhinebeck - 2006

OH MY GOD DOT COM!!!!

What can I say? I was totally overwhelmed. I had no idea of the size of this thing! I was literally shaking.... REALLY.... I had a great time. My driving buddy Mia kept me sane and laughing my ass off. I think the last thing I said to her at the end of the day was "I'm not going back" But that is a lie.... hee hee...

How to describe Rhinebeck - OVER THE TOP. I didn't know what to look at or what to buy first. Or for that matter, what to eat! I did come away with a few goodies:

Blue face sheepy stuff from these guys: Indigo Moon Farm One word: SOFT

Okay, I got this beautiful purple stuff, warning, wear your sunglasses!

That was from: Kid Hollow

Up next

Yes, I am calling this "Stuff" I have no idea where it is from, but it was cheap.

Last but not least:

I got this from: Steam Valley Fiber

Oh and there was this little meet up at Building E.

I am sure you will recognize a few faces in those pictures!

Here are people I saw, but didn't have the nerve or the time to say HI!!

Adrian, Cheryl, Yarn Harlot, Margene,Jillian

Now here is one picture I took of a mini Lacy Libertines reunion:

Yep, that is me and Meg. We just needed Missa and Toni!!

I saw and probably HUGGED (because that is the way I am) the following:

Monica
Lee Ann (she gives great hugs)
Maryse
Stacy
Kate (I shook her hand, I finally met her Kris!!) She was talking to Amy and I am sorry for interrupting! REALLY!
Stephanie
Brooke
Cara(shook her hand)
Shelby
And my peeps from Syracuse:
Erin
Elizabeth
Jill

So all in all a very memorable time! Until next year......

I leave you with a bobbin shot:

I couldn't decide what to spin first so I did a little of both...

Over and out. I need a nap.

Posted by beth at 12:46 PM | Comments (25)

October 09, 2006

Too pretty not to share

I really don't know what is wrong with me lately. I haven't felt much like knitting. On my shawl that is. I have 160 stitches left to cast off. That may not seem like a lot, but when you have a 12 row repeat of your pattern border, it's forever. I do believe my shawl has swallowed me whole.

I have been spinning though...

I took aprox 4 oz of 100% Alpaca and dyed it with, yes... koolaid. It's all I have on hand! But the color turned out quite pretty! Here is the roving:

I am showing both because they both looked pretty cool. I would highly recommend predrafting any of your roving.

Next up is the bobbin shot. I love bobbin shots

I had a lot of color variation with my dyeing. Hey, I'm a beginner! I like all my mistakes.

Here we have finished yarn

Nice huh? Sorry. I am bragging.... ;-)

This is my first dk/fingering weight yarn! Wahooo!!!!! Of course I don't have enough for a pair of socks. And I wouldn't make a pair of socks out of 100% Alpaca.

Here is a to scale shot:

I am thinking I may get some more Alpaca at RHINEBECK!!!!!! Yes! I am going! Wahoooooooo!!!!!!!! Ahem, sorry. I will get some more and dye some more and spin some more and hopefully make a small shawl.

Are you going to Rhinebeck????

Posted by beth at 12:19 PM | Comments (24)

October 03, 2006

Do you still remember me?

I know! It's been a while. But we are all fixed up now! I figure I have a lot to talk about with my month off right? Well, I do, but I can't show it all.

I have been doing a lot of spinning. Some of it is secret spinning which will be revealed soon. I have spun up the prize I won way back when. It was from the dye-o-rama swap. You may remember it looking like this

Well now it looks like this

And then it ended up like this

Wow!! Huh? I of course, don't know the yardage off the top of my head, but I think I have enough to make a hat. Pretty pretty.

Okay, onto the next picture of fibery goodness.......

Then it became this

The bobbin picture is more accurate for color. Now what to make with it.........

I promise that I will be posting more frequently in October. The computer set back was a big pain in the ass.

Shawl update:
NOT DONE! HA! But I am almost there! Hopefully I will have a picture soon.

Come back now, ya hear?

Posted by beth at 12:22 PM | Comments (20)

August 15, 2006

Busy Weekend!

I did a spinning demo! Well, me and some other gals..... See The Erie Canal was a big deal a long time ago. Parts of the canal have been shut down but some are still used today. In my town they have Towpath Days every year. This year I volunteered to spin at Towpath Days. They like to show how things were done WAY back then.... course I didn't wear a bonnet. I don't do bonnets. It was a lot of fun and a great excuse to spin ALL DAY.

Here is a picture of Amy, she is a most excellent weaver and I plan to pick her brain quite a bit

Next is Christina, she is a most excellent spinner. She has the patience of a saint. She has to, she has triplets and she answers all my questions. Oh and she weaves too!

these 2 live VERY close to me. I want to learn everything they know... yes......

Okay, next we have Dodie, she belongs to another guild. We like her. She has a very nice wheel..

Then, just so you don't think I wasn't doing my job, here is an action shot of me spinning! Marilee is next to me. She has a most excellent wheel too...

Mr. Big Geek and Not So Little Geek showed up and took some pictures of the actual goings on. Here is a cute little boat that was giving canal rides

And here is a shot of the canal

Here is a shot of what I produced that day at the festival

I am totally gonna do this again next year. I really enjoyed all the kids that came through and were actually interested in what we were doing. I had to correct some of the mom's because they would say "Look she is making string!" I would shout out "YARN, I am making YARN!!" I also had some of the little girls telling me the story of Sleeping Beauty, because I am ancient and I don't know that story any more (smile)....... I think we were able to ensnare 3 kids into the fiber world. They bought drop spindles and some wool. Ah yes, get them while they are young.....

Okay, I also finished up the crazy mixed up spinning I started last week. All the roving came in a tube and for the life of me I don't know what I did with the instructions. So I am leaving this yarn as singles. I hope they make nice socks. It's about 390 yards.

I hope they will look okay. There are some different fibers in there!

Posted by beth at 12:28 PM | Comments (18)

August 10, 2006

Project Spectrum!

OIY! I completely forgot! Luckily I have some fiber to share!

August = Neutrals right?

I did this a while back. It's just plain old wool. But I love it. Couldn't even tell you the yardage. I think it's approx 10 oz. though.

Below is a shot of all my neutrals:

Various stuff there, Icelandic wool, plain old wool, alpaca....

I wanted to spin up this for the last hurrah.......

But I don't know if I will get around to it.

I thought this shot could say it all

I really loved Project Spectrum. It kicked me in the ass! Look at all the spinning! Now, what to make with it all.......

Up tomorrow: I have started a new shawl and I am very excited about it! Woo hoo!!!!

Oh and PLEASE go wish Missa a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Today is HER birthday!!!!

Posted by beth at 12:27 PM | Comments (16)

August 07, 2006

Finally!

The heat broke and I got stuff accomplished. I was actually COLD on Saturday! But let's start with Friday Nite, shall we?

Diana had Knitstock! Bunch of us got together and knit! Let's see, I saw Susan, Carla, and Elizabeth (I confused her with someone else and felt like a total idiot - sorry bout that Liz!) and of course Mia (she rode with me) and blogless Liz and blogless Sherry! We had a good time with GREAT food and drinks. Diana want's to make it a yearly event, I say why wait a year? How about a monthly event?? It was a lot of fun.

I did a little spinning on Saturday and Sunday. I felt the wheel calling to me......

I had gotten a "tube" of roving from Audrey for Christmas last year. I keep knocking it over so I figured I should spin it up. Below is a picture of some of the samples of roving in the tube

Pretty stuff eh? Now I am supposed to be spinning this as sock yarn. I don't see that happening unless I use it as singles. If I plyed it, it would be a worsted weight and I wouldn't have enough. I haven't decided yet what to do so I will just finish the spinning and let it sit.

I almost forgot to mention that I won a prize in the dye-o-rama swap! How cool is that? I received it Friday and just had to share:

It came with a origami kit too! I love this stuff! Thanks Noelle! It's beautiful!

Posted by beth at 12:38 PM | Comments (8)

June 16, 2006

Surprises in the mail...

I signed up for the Dye O Rama swap a while back and I got my yarn Wednesday! Sorry, I didn't post yesterday. No time. But looky looky:

Is that not the best? I LOVE IT!!! And the best part is it was done just for me!!! She is calling the colorway "Blueberry Pancakes with Strawberry Compote" Oh my! I am hungry just thinking of it! My pal did her home work. She knew how much I loved purple. Look at all the goodies she sent! I have never tried that chocolate before, but I have been wanting to try this for so long. She also gave me soap and some badger cream.

She said she didn't have a niddy noddy to skein it up, so I thought I would wind one skein to show off the beautiful colors. Did she not do a GREAT job? I can't wait to make a pair of socks from this.

Here is a shot that shows the true color of this yarn:

Who was my pal? None other than Claudia! Let's give her a big hand! WOO HOO!!!!!

I just went to the Dye O Rama site and was totally floored to see all the brilliant yarns that were dyed for this swap! Also amazing were the different ways everyone came up with dyeing their yarn! Great job to everyone!

I also received some great cd's from Susan. Course I forgot to take a picture...... I LOVE THE CD'S Susan! I hope you like yours!

Have a great weekend! Over and out.

Posted by beth at 12:20 PM | Comments (14)

June 14, 2006

I'm a yarnie...

That's what my non fiber friends call me. My husband asks if I am going to do "Yarnie" things on the week of our vacation. What he means is are you going to be going to festivals, spin ins etc... and not include me? But I told him that I don't have any Yarnie things to do while we are on vacation. I will knit and spin, but I will be with him and the boy. Why am I saying all this? I don't know. I couldn't think up a clever title......

But I do have a cute story to tell.......This past Saturday I spent the day with Grandma Geek and Not So Little Geek. We went to garage sales and to lunch. My last stop was to the new quilt shop near their house that carries yarn. I have talked about it before. I wanted to get some yarn for Kris. We are doing a little yarnie exchange... Well on my way in the shop I see this man doing work on the outside of the building. He looked over at me and I froze for a second. Why? Because it was my crush from High School! Did you ever have one of those? The guy you liked from afar and never spoke to because you didn't feel worthy? Okay, so I had a little esteem problem. I worked that out. But he still stopped me in my tracks. I had to regroup! I quick went into the store, made my purchase and scooted back to the car. Of course he saw me and he knew it was me. I felt like such a dork! I mean I am 41! How can this happen? I guess I just didn't expect to see him there! Oh and I didn't have any makeup on. So I don't think I looked my cutest.... Ah well. All this for this:

Sure is pretty though.... I hope Kris likes it.

I did finish 1 sock and it is too small, but I don't want to show it until they are both done. So you will just have to wait. You will just have to suffer through more spinning photos

The white skein in the middle is the Icelandic wool I picked up recently. I thought it spun up real nice. I have been drawn to natural colors lately. I should be doing something blue for Project Spectrum but I have already spun up my blue. I am going to skip June and try and get some purple for July. THAT is my favorite.

Okay, the above story was kinda dumb, but oh well.

Over and out.

Posted by beth at 01:02 PM | Comments (13)

June 09, 2006

Where did this week go?

I know I said I was going to tell you Tuesday (or Wednesday) why my Dad is my hero. But the week just whizzed right by!

Any way.... My Dad. He is a great guy. He usually only calls me early on a Sunday morning to tell me:

A) Someone has died

B) He read about something good in the paper that I would like

This time it was B. Thank god. He was the one who told me about the Shearing Festival I went to 2 weeks back. He also told me that there was going to be an Alpaca Fun Day over in Auburn New York at this farm equipment store. So I went! There were only 3 farms there, and some of these guys:

I really like these creatures....Like I said, there were not many farms there, but I did get chatty with one gal. Her farm is in Ithaca, NY. She was perky, friendly and helpful. I asked her if she had any fiber for sale. So we went to her truck. She said she felt like a "pusher"! She has NO IDEA!!!! Ha! So I paid around $20 bucks for this:

I know it doesn't look pretty, but believe you me....I have spun up a little (sorry no picture) it looks like milk chocolate. And it spins like it too! Here is a picture of some grey:

Little Geek is in there to show the volume. I don't know if I can call him Little Geek for much longer..... Not so little Geek. That sounds good.

Holy crap! That is a lot huh? She was stuffing it into 1 gallon bags. She said "Oh that's about 3 oz." That's okay with me!!!! This expanded a lot when I took it out of the bags. I also bought some roving. $20 bucks! Yay! I will definately be visiting her again. Nice person.

Look at the tips on the grey!!! So pretty:

Let's move on to another topic shall we? I picked up this last night:

Love it! Could Melanie Falick, just once, put out a book that I won't buy? Please? I swear, she has the midas touch. She could make shit look pretty. I know all it takes is a good photographer and a good stylist...... but man! If I ever have a knitting book, I will call her first. Uh, yeah, right.

Posted by beth at 12:21 PM | Comments (11)

May 31, 2006

What a weekend! Lemme tell you....

I think I am going to have to tell you about my weekend in a 3 part series!!! Yes, it was that good.

Saturday I went to a shearing festival in Fabius New York with Julia and Carla. We went to Springside Farms (no web site) and saw sheep and alpaca being sheared. It was very interesting as I had never seen either done before. Here are the sheep being sheared, boy where they dirty....

They were easier to handle than the alpaca's. This poor beast’s had to be tied down to a table.

I am sure though they appreciated it because of the heat wave we are having here in New York. Their legs were tied down so they wouldn't kick. I wouldn't want to be kicked by an alpaca, would you?

I was just a little disappointed with this festival because I missed the spinning demos. And the farm store didn't have much in the way of fiber for sale. They had a lot of already made socks, mittens, hats and yarn (factory made) they had some handspun yarn for sale. I guess I was most disappointed that when I did find fiber, it wasn't their fiber. Didn't stop me from buying it though.

This is 2.5 oz of "Icelandic Thel Roving" so the label says. It is from "Shepard Falls Farm" (I have no idea where that is from). But the price was right. I also bought Dan a little stuffed Llama and a finger puppet. He now has a border collie and a llama. He is going to be a fiber geek too whether he likes it or not.

They also had a petting zoo at the farm. Here are some lambs. Their mama's were the ones being shorn for the first time.

And some goats:

Moving on to Saturday evening, my best pal Pegi had a cook out. It was her birthday weekend so I gave her this:

You may remember it looking like this:

I dyed it with neon food coloring. I used the immersion method. It came out (I thought) really cool! I was going for a sky blue (to match Pegi's eyes) and it had a purple halo that also showed up from the fuzzy alpaca fibers. I also made her these:

Is it me or is everyone making and selling stitch markers and sock yarn lately?? I guess I won't be doing that. Not that this is a slam on you people! YOU GO!!!! I am just saying I am slow on the up take. I don't want to compete with you all. I would much rather buy.

Alrighty, I sure hope Pegi likes them. I had fun making it all. I think she did. She is a knitter.

Well now, let's conclude this Saturday evening with a fireworks shot I took at Pegi's:

It's not a party at her house with out em.

Next up tomorrow: "My Sunday with Mia" Now that was a hoot.

Posted by beth at 12:18 PM | Comments (5)

May 22, 2006

Is it really May?

Then why is it so damn cold! I want to turn my heat off for good! (At least until October....)

So I did have a wonderful fibery weekend....even though it was cold and rainy. I went to see my hubby play with his band at an art gallery on Friday night. That was fun, but him being the good husband that he is brought my birthday package from home from the lovely and talented Kris! He knew that I couldn't wait and now you can see why

That pink yarn? Is Cashmere baby!!!! Oh yeah, say it with me now...WAHOO!!! The other yarn underneath I found out is lace weight AND it's Kris's new favorite yarn. I can see why! I am not sure if I should make a shawl or socks. Seems to nice for my feet....

I met up with another lovely and talented person: Mia on Sunday. She needed some inspiration so I told her to check out some of my pattern books. She went home happy. She also took me here.

We saw these guys:

Sorry about the pole there in the middle. They were all shorn. They looked so skinny! But cute none the less. Speaking of cute

AAAAWWWWW!!!!! How cute is this little guy? He or she (not sure which) was in the hay. I had to pick it up. I wanted to squeeze it and hug it and call it George! I didn't bring him home, but I did bring this home

I have been seeing so many nice things that every one bought in Maryland that I felt left out. So I bought almost a pound of alpaca roving. CLEAN and PRIME. Lovely stuff really.

So there you have it. I did start a sock last night! Can you believe it? Progress pictures tomorrow or the next day.

Over and out.

Posted by beth at 12:36 PM | Comments (9)

May 19, 2006

Spinster

I was going to have this deep philosophical post today, but it just ain't happening. A while ago (November of 2005 to be exact) I went to an alpaca farm. I picked up some yarn and some roving

That was the roving. I have had this for a year and a half. Waiting for me to be good enough to spin it. It cost me 3 dollars people. But I really hate to be wasteful.

I think I am in love........ Alpaca, when CLEAN is a beautiful wonderful thing. Not that it wasn't when DIRTY, but it certainly is much more pleasurable when good to go right?

Ahhh.... heaven.......

This next picture is my center pull ball

I am getting the hang of plying with the center pull ball. I must say, I do like this. It uses the whole ball, no waste (we know how I feel about that).

The only thing that bothered me about this was the color. This fiber came from "Maxy" the alpaca. While the color looks fab on Maxy, this color does not look fab on big geek.

Now I know what you are saying..... What could you possibly make with 1.2 oz of yarn......

I haven't a clue. I was thinking a little lace head kerchief or something. Any ideas? Oh and I am definately putting this in the dye pot. It looks too much like the color of nude pantyhose or Band-Aids. I don't like pantyhose.

Posted by beth at 12:36 PM | Comments (15)

May 15, 2006

I have finished something!

Wow! Can you stand it?

He hated every minute of modeling this for me. Can't you tell?

I had heard rumblings about a new source to buy yarn that wasn't too far from my house. So I went here. What's the deal with these new quilt shops opening up and selling yarn??? Not that I mind or anything, not when it looks this inviting. They sell NORO!!!! I love NORO! Well, I never can leave empty handed so I bought 2 different skeins of Kureyon. (is $8.50 each cheap?? I am thinking it is...) they also had the pattern for this hat! I whipped it up Saturday Night and I started another one! I love the color changes. I will be going back, oh yes, I will. They also carry the Schaefer Sock yarn! Wahoo!

Yesterday was of course Mother's Day and I did nothing but what I enjoy doing, which was spin and knit. I didn't even cook! That's what's supposed to happen right?

So I finished spinning my first alpaca....(that doesn't sound right)

Not as hard as I thought it would be. The gal who sold me the fiber said to spin and ply it first then wash it. I don't know why, but I did. It was very very dirty. It came out so clean though. I am going to dye this definately. Don't know what color yet.....

Here is the green plyed (because it is May and May = Green = Project Spectrum)

I am almost done spinning this up. I really like this fiber. I got this all from Spinning Hill (No web site). Same place I got the yellow and the red/pink. I need more of this. It is the best.

Alrighty then. My goal now is to go back and revisit some of my other works in progress. I think I am ready to finish my Rebecca cardy now.

Posted by beth at 12:38 PM | Comments (14)

May 05, 2006

Here is why I have done nothing but spin...

Look at that green! And here I was calling it Jabba the Hut green! It's more like "Top of the Mornin" green. But fabulous none the less.

I finished up spinning the 5 oz. of orange I had. I think I got a wee bit too tight when I plyed and spun. Ah well.

I received this as a birthday present from a coworker

Do people know me or what? She said I can put all the money I want to spend on yarn, fiber etc... in this bank. Unfortunately it is empty. I wish it was full so I could go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. But I can't (poo) I will go to Rhinebeck, oh yes. I will.

I hope lots of people spend lots of money and share pictures of all their goodies! Have a great weekend!

Posted by beth at 05:15 PM | Comments (17)

May 01, 2006

Hooray Hooray! The First of May!!!!!

Outdoor screwing begins today!

How many have heard that one??????? Okay. A little vulgar.

It also means that May is the month for GREEN in project spectrum!

Doesn't this look like a giant hairball? EEEWWWWWWWW!!!!! A very pretty green/yellow hairball.

I went to "dye day" with members of my guild. Not everyone showed up and I am sure the girl whose house it was at was okay with that. So I learned a little about dyeing. Not as hard as I thought. I dyed my project fiber which is the skein in the middle (it used to be grey) and I dyed the brown I was spinning on MY NEW WHEEL (YAY!!!). You can't really tell with the brown that I dyed it plumb. Oh well. It was fun. Take a look:

That little skein is just that. A little skein of the big one next to it. I dyed that plumb. It is an alpaca wool blend. I have to make something to give away at our December meeting of our guild. What to make.......

Posted by beth at 12:24 PM | Comments (13)

April 28, 2006

The wheel

I didn't buy it yet. I am taking it for a "spin". I love this wheel. I am going to buy this wheel. I think the reason I like this wheel is because it is used. It was loved by someone else. It has a history to it. I like the way it looks too. It reminds me of an old fashioned wheel. A fairytale wheel. I can buy this wheel now and not have to wait until I get more money for a more expensive wheel.

Here is the spinning I have done on this already

It will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine........

Here is another reason I am going to get this wheel.
This is my husband's small recording studio.

See all those gadgets? I am quite sure they add up to MORE than the cost of MY wheel. I just can't sneak a spinning wheel into the house like I can yarn or fiber. Or like he can with little gadgets.

Oh and here is one of his FOUR, yes FOUR guitars

Les Paul Studio, GIBSON LES PAUL STUDIO!!!!!

Oh yes, MINE. I may even get another one! Who's gonna stop me!

MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!!!
Little Geek has already named the wheel "Beatrix"

I like it. I think I have a new wheel.

Posted by beth at 12:33 PM | Comments (16)

April 26, 2006

Please bear with me

I am sorry, but I am really loving the spinning thing right now! A lot of you have asked: "What are you going to make with all of this?" I haven't a clue! I have a little more yellow left to spin.

I picked up some blue fiber at this little shop in my home town last weekend. I like to go check and see if she has anything new. I honestly just went in to see the fiber. I bought the blue and spun it up right quick:

Nice eh? I think it is merino. It could be silk/tencel bled. I really wasn't paying attention because she had like 4 wheels in the shop. I asked her if they were all hers. She said no, they were for sale! YIKES! 1 was brand new and the rest were used. I tried them all out because, well you just can't have one wheel right? I sorta kinda really liked the Ashford Traditional. I am really on the fence about buying it though. I want a wheel that would be my next step. I think this is a beginner wheel. Not sure. Put it sure was purty and the price was kinda reasonable. I am still thinking about it.

Okay, so I have actually knitted a little bit too! I am only showing a little bit because I really think you should see the full effect of this once it is done:

I am being good and trying to keep on track with my project spectrum colors. It's hard (as shown above with the blue handspun)

Lastly, I gave the pirate hat to my friend and coworker Marya. She graciously agreed to model it for us!

Isn't she gorgeous? She LOVES the hat too. Phew!

Posted by beth at 12:25 PM | Comments (14)

April 18, 2006

Boast

I'm sorry, I have to. I have spun the best yarn of my very small "career" shall we say? I am very proud.

Yeah yeah, there are a couple of "fat" spots, but I really think I am getting the hang of this now! I love this skein! I even smell it. EEEWWWWW!!!!! I hung it out to dry! So it smells nice too!!! Come on people! You know you smell yarn.

Grumperina does.

Here is Suki with it. This is really the color too. I have decided it is more of a mustardy color than the color of breast fed baby poo. Sorry for the Suki nipple shot. She is not bashful.

I think I woke her from one of her many naps. Here is the artsy shot. It is with my sweater that will take me a year and a day to finish

Thank you for all your comments on my tiresome sock. I haven't ripped it yet. I think I will put it aside for a while (until I need the needles)

I took yesterday off from work and spent the day with my son. He had the whole week before off from school and they had to give them Monday off too (jeesh) We went to see the movie The Benchwarmers. Little Geek loved it, well what 8 year old boy wouldn't? It was about baseball, burps, farts, boogers and vomit. There you have it.

Posted by beth at 12:21 PM | Comments (17)

April 12, 2006

Picture heavy...

I will keep them small. So this weekend I did more than interpretive dance with yarn and kitchen chairs. I also did alot of SPINNING!

You get in a groove ya know? I don't know if I have voiced this, because I can do what ever I want for project spectrum, but I thought it would be cool to spin for my projects. This month as you all know is Orange and Yellow. Lucky for me I have both to spin! Here is the orange:

Isn't it yummy? It was yummy to spin too. It is Louet Corriedale Top. About 5 oz. I split it in half and spun up the half:

I was so excited when spinning because I was even and all that, but when I plyed it sorta came untwisted and would pull apart. It really had a lot of twist in it so I am not sure what my problem is. I still like it though.

Okay on to the yellow:

This is from the same place I got my pink/red roving. Of course I can't remember what the place was. I got it at the Hemlock Fiber Festival back in September. Spinning Hill??? I dunno. This is GREAT! It looks like baby poo, breast fed baby poo. Here it is spun up.

This is gonna be nice huh? Oh yeah!

Moving along....... I finally finished up my blue roving that Audrey sent to me ages ago as a secret pal gift. Here is is all spun up:

I had good and bad times with this. As shown. Who will see it all knitted up anyhow?

Here is a picture of my pink and blue disaster. I had some blue left over so I thought I would ply the blue. I shoudn't have mixed the colors. I would have liked them separate. DARN!

Finally, I did not give up the ship! I decided to untangle the mess of pink and keep going. Here is my progress:

Wish me luck.....

Posted by beth at 12:43 PM | Comments (8)

April 04, 2006

Why I love my spinning guild

Okay, I know I have said it before, but I truly love my spinning guild! Why? Well because. I was plying this

And don't any of you say it is nice. It is crap. I am okay with this! It was crap to spin, crap to ply, crap to look at. I digress....back to why I love my spinning guild. I was plying this crap. The pink is a little bit overspun (to say the least). I was cursing while spinning it. Of course none of my guild mates heard me, well maybe Marlea(she laughed) There was a lot of "fodder" in my roving. I don't like that. Too much work. I am wandering again. Sorry. The person on my other side "D" (not sure of HIS name, yes a man! who spins! sigh...) helped me out. Seems as though I need some tension when I ply. Not tension making the flyer go, but my "lazy kate" has no tension. GASP! Here is my lazy kate

See it is part of the wheel. While plying everything just flaps in the breeze! "D" suggested a shoe box and some knitting needles. Would I need a rubber band to help out with the tension? I am so not good at engineering..... I guess what I am asking is does anyone know how I could get this to work for me? I don't really want to buy a free standing lazy kate right now (god I like that, "lazy kate", poor kate....) I really want to spend my money on a jumbo flyer so I can ply more yarn on a bobbin or make chunkier yarn.

Help? Mommy?

Posted by beth at 12:31 PM | Comments (4)

March 31, 2006

Radical Craft Night

What's that?

It's where I was last night. Yep, Julia and I have been wanting to go to Radical Craft Night for a while now. Well we finally did. Did I bring my camera? Oh no! Why would I do that? Groan.......I had a great time though. This is a vintage shop that opened up in Syracuse and Thursday nights you can come and do crafts! I brought my spinning wheel. Is that radical? There was a girl there making tassel's for her belly dancing belt! Cool! I would love to know how to make my stomach do that weird roll thing....

The owners of the shop got a button maker. I got to make a button! Wanna see???? Huh? Wanna?

How cool! Now I want a button maker! Here is a picture of Suki and the button. Just so you can see how small the button is and how huge my cat is....

Do you think if I made her a poncho or a caplet she would wear it? I am thinking not......... Allrighty, moving on. I brought my spinning. This is what I have been spinning

Not really my colors, but I want to ply them together and see what I come up with. Probably just pink and blue..... no surprise there.....

Guess what tomorrow is? Yes, it is April Fools, but it is also the start of the next month for Project Spectrum!

I am thinking about a garter stitch scarf. Like I need another scarf. I got this yarn in LA last year. It is 100% cotton. It is also VERY bright.

Rock on.

Posted by beth at 12:37 PM | Comments (10)

March 17, 2006

We interupt this blog entry......

Hey! You! Yeah you. Get ovah here.

I'm talkin' to you. Now listen up. I don't know 'bout yous, but I am sick and tired of her gettin all the attention. So this box comes the other day see and in it was some yarn and crap. The thing is there was also a little somethin for me. YEAH ME! Got that? Are ya with me? Okay, so this little something for me is some cat nip see.....

I like cat nip. ARE YOU PAYIN ATTENTION? Good. I like cat nip see....

I love cat nip see.....

Oh do I love the cat nip see.....

It makes me all kinda funny inside and stuff. I don't know what comes over me some times, I just want to grrrrr........and rreeeewww, and rip......

Phew. I need a rest.

This is what else she got. Okay, I need to nap now.........

Hey, I am back. That Smudge can be really bossy sometimes. Audrey and I decided to do a little swap. Some Koigu for some Louisa Harding. I got my box the other day. She will be getting her box any day. She made a cute cat nip mouse that Smudge totally destroyed. He's like that. Sigh...........he didn't even let Suki have a go.

Right then. Back to the knitting. Well no knitting really. I do have some more hand spun to show

I am not to keen on this. It was a real pain to spin.

Posted by beth at 12:19 PM | Comments (16)

March 14, 2006

Done!

Yep. My first Project Spectrum project is done! Well, it's done for me. This was my goal. To spin this up for March. I did it! I am kinda proud of this too. I love how it came out. I don't know how many wraps per inch this is and I don't really care. It came out perfect. I don't know what I want to make with this yet either. Who knows, I may just gaze upon it's beauty. This fiber was heaven to spin. It is 100% wool and it was VERY clean. No flora or fauna. The funny thing about this too is that I think that every color in the rainbow was in this roving. I saw black, blue, purple, orange, pink and red. I guess I didn't see any green. LOVE IT!

Posted by beth at 12:09 PM | Comments (22)

March 06, 2006

Guilds..... are a wonderful thing!

Did I tell anyone that I joined a spinning guild? Well if I didn't, I joined a spinning guild! Back in November. We meet once a month and I love it! These women (and men) are a wealth of information! This months meeting involved a sale table. You bring in fiber related things to sell and buy. I sold a book so I bought this

I believe it is Kool Aid dyed roving. I just loved the colors.

I also had to have this because it reminded me of Suki (my cat)

A woman in the guild makes things out of old wool sweaters and things. Ain't it cute?

We also received fiber/yarn for our guild project in December. 4 oz of a wool/alpaca blend.

I think I am definately going to dye this for a more heathered look. What you are to do is create something with this fiber to exchange with another guild member at the December meeting. This past December yielded some GORGEOUS things. I can't wait!

Finally I have a progress photo to show of my project spectrum project

This is spinning up so fast that I will have to make something else either with this yarn or with some of the other yarn I pictured. I am almost done spinning it all up. It is going to be beautiful.

over and out.

Posted by beth at 12:19 PM | Comments (9)