she grew up on a farm there

I’m crying today because I’ll just miss the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art Fair in Illinois this summer. If you don’t know, I’m a daughter of Illinois, and most of my family still lives there. I’ll be visiting in July, a week or two before the fair. Oh, the humanity!

One consolation, though, is the Fine Fiber and Folk Art Show will be displayed in the McHenry County College galleries during my visit, so I have hopes of dragging my family along on an inspiration-gathering mission.

I’ve never been to McHenry County, but it turns up in my favorite Tom Waits song “Johnnsburg, Illinois” and really, what more of a reference does one need?

1930s marital scale

-11 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

Hilarious.  I consider this score a badge of honor.

a gift for Pops

For Father’s Day I bought WD a light box with which to take photos of my handspun. (I have dreams of joining the Etsy ranks… please make room on the bandwagon.)

Right now, it’s sitting unopened next to the bed. I fear before the weekend it’ll get buried underneath a pile of dirty clothes. But I’m determined to unearth it this Saturday and document the stuff I’ve been spinning up.  

In the meantime, thanks to a Father’s Day request from father himself, I’ve started knitting a hat for my Pops with some of the more decent handspun and it’s coming along pretty well. I cast on 84 and planned to make a simple 2×2 rib stocking cap, but the yarn is too bulky, so I had to start over with 64.  I mean, the hat was freakishly huge.  Even with the ribbing.  Even with Pops odd-shaped noggin.

Now I’m knitting it from Crazy Aunt Purl’s Brangelina, which is a 4×4 brim and then stockinette stitch. I think it’ll be perfect.

Just don’t tell Pops the name.  Not that he would know what it means, but if it came up in a crossword puzzle, I’d have some explaining to do.

the joy

I slipped into another obsession since my last post.  Thanks to a wonderful series of synchronistic events, and a lovely new friend named Annette, I am the owner of an Ashford Joy.

Don’t know if I have room in my life for another obsession (between Niblo, music, writing, knitting… no sleep for me…  no time to breathe…).

Committed to spinning 15 minutes a day, I find myself still there, long past the proper bedtime of a new mom, treadling away for one to two hours. It is gratifying in that soulful way, turning raw fleece into yarn. It takes my attention away from my other artsy (pre)occupations (I have a gig at the Portland Saturday Market in August for which my fingertips are not nearly calloused enough), but I’m letting it be what it is.  

A psychic once told me that the patterns of my life and work will always be non-linear.  I try to remember this when it seems I’m just fickle and unfocused.  I mustn’t compare myself, is all. (Ha, good luck with that.)

And in addition to the spinning wheel, the joy this summer, my 30th, is kinda overwhelming me.  With Niblo as my sidekick the importance of weddings and births are much more obvious than they were to me even last year, and some of the most cynical people I know are falling in love again.  

Now if only the sun would shine on this little island for a while.  Then all of it would be good.

Garden at Dusk

Yarn
(super bulky, thick&thin, handspun by Bees Knees)

+  Colorway
(hand-dyed by Bees Knees, Garden At Dusk)

+  Needles
(size 15 Options)

+ Pattern
(Mile-a-Minute #3 by Turvid)

= Love.  

Knitting book review!

Wondering about the new Stitch ‘n Bitch book?  Check out my latest review. 

Now all I have to do is finish the socks…

wildlife habitat

I took the above photo yesterday with my camera phone, so forgive the graininess. It’s been so satisfying to watch the birds make their home behind the very sign that welcomes them into my backyard. 

I’m blessed to live in the Pacific Northwest, on an island that resembles a rainforest. My backyard in particular provides me with the chance to watch wildlife relatively undisturbed, and indulges my feelings of oneness with the natural environment. As much as I adore the city (and when I say “the city” I mean Seattle) my little house on this little island is sanctuary.

Last year we certified our little half acre as a wildlife habitat, through the National Wildlife Federation. I encourage everyone who lives in a natural environment to do this. Not only is it good for the animals, of course, but if you follow the guidelines and assist wildlife in making its home in your backyard, both you and the Earth will gain spiritual benefit. 

And the sign, and the tree, and the nest… a lovely gift for my spirit.  Is Spring here at last?

1st socks, 1st cables

I’d been working these Treads (for a review I’m writing of the latest Stitch ‘n Bitch book) on Crystal Palace bamboo DPNs for a little while, but it was wearing me out. My first socks, my first cables… in black? What the hell was I thinking?! (Actually, it’s a dark dark navy, but impossible to tell.)

Besides me losing my eyesight from squinting, no color changes to keep things interesting. If it weren’t for the cables I’d fall asleep knitting. Ho hum. I much prefer variegated yarns. So I taught myself Magic Loop (another skill learned via Kelley Petkun’s podcast…) and it’s so much more fun.

The needles are KnitPicks Options, size 0. I love them. Love. As much as I enjoy using my DPNs, these are like butter. They are so quick and smooth. Much like my interchangeable Options, which have become the enablers of my knitting obsession. And thanks to Ravelry, I figured out how to tighten them so they don’t slip. (That little paperclip thing did have a purpose!)  

Peace Fleece Condom Cozy w/ Belt Loop

Naomi Dagen Bloom created the Knit a Condom Amulet project to raise awareness about Safe Sex. After I joined the Ravelry group, Naomi sent me an e-mail asking if I’d use some of my stashed Peace Fleece to create an amulet. 

Peace Fleece is a yarn created by blending the wools of historically opposed Eastern European countries, encouraging them to cooperate through trade. What a brilliant idea!

Once I set to work, I realized that the bulky Peace Fleece was asking to be made into something other than a neck amulet. A belt amulet? Of course! The amulet (and the condom inside) gives its powers of protection below the belt!

(This is my own design for your free use. Good karma points for linking.)

Cast-on 28 on 1 circ size #8, connect using Magic Loop method
Rows 1-11 St st
Row 12 St st first needle; Second needle k3 kfb8 k3
Row 13 St st first needle; Second needle k3, k each front stitch of kfb, place each back stitch on stitch holder on RS, k3
Row 14-25 St st
Row 25 BO first needle; Second needle St st
(Begin working straight on two needles for front flap)
Row 26 p14
Row 27 ssk, k10, k2tog
Row 28 p12
Row 29 ssk, k8, k2tog
Row 30 p10
Row 31 ssk, k6, k2tog
Row 32 p8
Row 33 ssk, k1, BO2 (for buttonhole), k1, k2tog
Row 34 p4
Row 35 ssk, k2tog, BO

Stitches on stitch holder: 
Row 1 *(k1, yo) rep* 7x, k1
Row 2: *(k1, Drop yo) rep* 7x, k1
Rows 3, 5, 7 as est in Row 1
Rows 4, 6, 8 as est in Row 2
Attach live sts to middle 8 sts of top flap P row using kitchener.
Turn inside out and seam bottom closed.
Sew button to correspond to buttonhole on front flap.
Weave ends.

intarsia frustrations

My latest knitting project is killing me… a multi-colored pillow from Greetings from Knit Cafe. I’m fumbling through the intarsia like I have a thousand jumbo thumbs. My technique of diving into complex projects without a lot of preparation is driving me slightly bonkers this time. Is it possible to tie off so many yarn strands without the whole thing just falling apart? I have a fear I’ll give this to the intended recipients and in a week it’ll be in pieces on their couch.

I wish Kelly Petkun would do a podcast on intarsia. Niblo loves taking naps while listening to the slow, calculated way she reads. Which gives me a break to drink copious amounts of coffee and tie a few tiny square knots. (Not a long break, but in my world, time is relative.)