Snow, Snow, Snow

I had intended to go to St. Johnsbury, Vermont for my nephew Ethan's high school graduation this weekend, but Conor is still sick, and we were not able to go. I took him to the doctor again, and now he has an upper respitory infection, and because my sister is undergoing chemo, and has a compromised immune system, we couldn't go.

So instead I went to Saranac Lake this weekend to help Caitlin finalize her move into a new apartment.. A miracle occurred and Travis had Sunday off as well, so he and Begonia helped also. The plan was to move the last few items to her new apartment and then go for a swim. Believe me, I had no intention of going swimming, since the temperature was 59 degrees but Travis wanted to take Begonia since, for once, the sun was shining.

When leaving the new apartment to go and get Caitlin's cat Sterling Sylvia, we looked out the window and saw that it was hailing, and then were aghast to watch the hail change to snow. SNOWING-on May 31st, but that's life in the Adirondack Mountains. The temperature plummeted from 59 to 34 in about a half hour. The lakes were steaming because the water temperature was so much warmer than the air temperature. And I must say that my toes were a little cold in my sandals.

This is Sterling Sylvia hiding from her new roommates, a chocolate Labrador, and a tortoise shell cat. It seems she doesn't realize her size in relation to the thing she is hiding behind. Notice the intense "keep that other cat far, far away" stare.

Here I am helping Caitlin set up her room. My job was to keep the mountain of dirty clothes that is behind me from spilling onto the floor. I feel I did a stellar job of maintaining the mountain until she was able to put it into the washing machine.

Here is photographic evidence of this craziness. See those big white dots? Those are huge snowflakes.

This is a patch of snow on the side of the road. The fields were also covered with snow.

Wacky, wacky weather.

This weekend I also was able to pick up some fiber I had ordered, superwash BFL and merino tencel, and also the dyes I need to dye my bamboo and tencel fiber. I am very excited. Now I just have to stay home long enough to get some dyeing done. I'm hoping to do that this weekend, while trying to deal with the fact that my baby boy turns 18 on Saturday. Where did all those years go?

I am also working at putting some new thrum mitten kits together, and finishing my Phat Fiber Samples for June. I'm feeling really behind on the sample front, but life keeps getting in the way of getting the samples together.

Tomorrow is for spinning. I was considering not going to the group so I could get some of the many things on my to do list done, but it seems the only time I am spinning anymore is on when I go to the group, so it seems that I should go.

It's Snowing Again

I was told last night at spinning by Suzanne that my blog and the Yarn Harlot's blog are the two she looks at every day, and she is disappointed when there isn't a new post, so now I am feeling pressure to write every day.  

I haven't shown you a cat picture in a few days, and I know that is a sad thing, so here is Gerard inspecting my new drum carder.  I'm thinking if I can just train him to turn the crank, we'll be in business.

And here is Seamus marking the drum carder as his very own.  I read all kinds of scary stories about how sharp the teeth would be and how it is necessary to be very careful not to prick one's fingers on the teeth, and I explained this all to Seamus, but he must have thought I was being overcautious.

The problem with writing today is that I can't really think of much to say, hence the brilliant title that it is snowing again.  It was kind of hard seeing on my way home from  work.  I'm glad I left when I did, because it was prime temperature and conditions for black ice.  Having once experienced spinning around in a car with absolutely no control, or hope of gaining control, and miraculously missing several road signs and trees, I have a slight (OK, maybe a little more than slight) fear of black ice.  I try to avoid driving at times when black ice is most likely to occur. Times like tonight.  But obviously I made it home safely, happy to pull into the garage and come inside my warm (warm being a relative term, for those who know me and the temperature at which I keep my house-although you have to admit, it is warmer inside than outside) house. 

It is also the time of year when the frost heaves and potholes begin to appear.  I have learned to keep the cover on my coffee closed when driving over certain roads if I don't want to be sprayed with coffee as I drive, perhaps a little too quickly, over the frost heaves.  I do try to remember where they are on regularly traveled roads, but sometimes I get distracted.  You'd think the orange diamond signs the highway department puts up warning of the frost heaves would help, but on occasion they don't.

In knitting news, I was able to finish my February socks last night.  I didn't get a chance to take a picture of them today, so imagine this sock with no needles, and the toe nicely kitchner stitched and that would be one of the socks.  This is one of my hand dyed yarns called Late in the Evening and I am really pleased with the way it knit up, with no color pooling, and not too striped either, just little dots of color.  There is one green that was where two colors came together that I love and am going to try to replicate because it is an awesome shade of green.

That's about it for now.  I will leave you with an emo self-portrait of Conor.  The boy needs a job, he has too much time on his hands.

Good Night.

Two Comments

I was very excited this evening. I had two comments on my post yesterday. It feels good to know that people are reading this.

It was a lazy day. The stomach virus came back, so I didn't go to work today, and ended up sleeping until 12:30. I did go to pick up Conor and went for a little walk and took some snow pictures. It was bright and sunny and not too cold, maybe 14 degrees. I took the pictures for those who might be reading this in an area where people aren't tired of snow already. Hi, Jan.

I took another foot picture. It made me quite happy to see the brick which will one day reemerge when all the foolish white stuff is gone.

This is my house looking all wintry and snow covered. The snow is nice because it covers up the porch roof which is badly in need of repair. See the poor little bushes with their top hats of snow.

Here is the end of my driveway. Notice the height of the car as compared to the snow bank. I don't know how Conor is going to shovel the driveway if we get much more snow. He won't be able to throw the snow high enough.

My neighbor"s bench....it looks like it will be a while before we will be sharing a chat here.

In knitting news, I have started a new sock. The yarn is Galway Paint, Color 814. Don't you love the exciting name they have chosen? I picked a lace stitch pattern out of The Knitting Stitch Bible and am using that stitch pattern to knit the sock, using my usual sock pattern. It's going quickly because it is worsted weight yarn. I just realized tonight that the end of January is almost here and I have not finished my January sock. I don't have much more to go, so better get going on that. Do you think it's legal to start a February sock in January before my January sock is finished?

I had to lay a little low on the knitting because I was starting to feel some pain in my hand. I think it was a result of all the Christmas knitting I did. It is feeling better today. I didn't want a repeat of last winter when I was forced to wear a brace and not knit for about a month. I was able to crochet though, and made squares for a granny square afghan. I should get those out and block them and put them together. We could use another afghan to keep warm under. I'll have to add that to my list of things to do.

Spinning and Snow

Today was a very snowy day. I debated whether or not to go to spinning, but felt the need to get out of the house after three days of sickness. All the way to Barb's house I kept wondering if I should turn back because the roads were very slippery and snowy. I persevered though, and prayed that it wouldn't snow so much in the few hours we were there that I wouldn't be able to get out of the driveway. When I win the lottery (of course, I would have to buy a lottery ticket first) I am going to buy a car that works well in the snow. That cannot be said of the Mercury Grand Marquis which I drive. It is a lovely car, huge, comfortable, great sound system, and was free, but would be much more at home in sunny California than snowy northern New York.

Getting out of the car and carrying my things into the house, I managed to spill a 20 ounce cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee all over my pants. I was ready to turn around and go home, but Barb convinced me to stay by offering to wash my jeans for me. That's the first time in a very long time anyone has washed clothes for me. Barb also made a fantastic peach cheese cake, the consumption of which made me glad I had decided to stay. So I sat wrapped in an afghan and did my spinning. I am spinning some Angel Knoll Alpacas' fiber. It's awesome, brown and rust, and very soft. I am planning to use it in the Fair Isle sweater I want to knit using mostly natural colored fibers. Here are some of the alpacas from Angel's.


When I arrived home I discovered two boxes on my front porch. One from Amazon and one containing fiber I had ordered. Upon opening the box of fiber, I immediately had to put some through the drum carder and blend it with some of my hand dyed fiber. This is so much fun, this drum carding. It is another awesome way to play with color and make colors of fiber which would be impossible to create any other way. I would show you a picture, but my camera was upstairs, and the fiber was downstairs, and once I came upstairs, I wasn't going back down. Perhaps tomorrow we can arrange a photo shoot for the batt.

The Amazon box contained a book I have been eyeing for a while called In Sheep's Clothing-A Handspinner's Guide to Wool. I want to increase my knowledge of different breeds of sheep and their wool's characteristics, and this book seemed like a good starting place. I also had ordered Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. When Tim was home at Christmas he made us some delicious bread to have with our Christmas stew using a recipe from this book. He bought lots of bread flour and yeast because he thought I should be making bread as well. So I have the flour, the yeast and the recipes. I guess there's no excuse not to make bread now. If it really only takes five minutes a day, then I don't really have any excuses not to do it. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

And in conclusion, here is a picture of my feet and snow. My children mock me for the pictures I take of feet, both my own and others. I think some day I will have a gallery showing photographs of feet, and it will make me rich and famous. And my children will be sorry that they mocked me.

Mr. Golden Sun

Mr. Golden Sun (Remember Raffi's song)came to visit Northern New York today. It made me so happy, despite the continuation of the stomach bug Conor gifted me with. And, of course, it was a short visit, because we now have a winter storm warning for the next 24 hours. It was nice while it lasted though.

I didn't get a chance to talk about the barter day we had at spinning. People brought things they no longer wanted to sell or trade. There were about 14 people there and I think everyone went home happy. I sold some fiber and yarn, so that made it a good day for me. I traded for some Cotswald fiber, white and black to spin. I have never spun Cotswald, so I am looking forward to it. But my biggest excitement was the purchase of a drum carder. I have been wanting one for quite some time, and was happy to hear that one of our members wanted to move one of hers on, and I was the lucky purchaser.


That is a picture of some of our group members and some of the bags of goodies. There were more hiding in the kitchen. You may notice the lack of spinning wheels. It was because there wasn't room for them with all the bartering goodies.

Judy spent the night after barter day. We also did a little bead shopping on the way home at Raw Treasures. That is always a fun activity. I was going to cook supper, but we were having such a fun time knitting and talking we decided to get pizza instead. I think Conor was happy with that decision. We must have been having a good time (I think the wine and chocolate helped with that) because we didn't go to bed until 1 a.m. Way past Judy's bedtime.


I am working on my January/February sweater here. I will be so happy when it is done and I no longer have to knit that yarn. This is the third sweater I've knit from this same yarn. It is not a color that I would normally buy, but I went through a brief period where I was trying to expand my color horizons. I think this purchase has made me realize that it really isn't necessary to expand one's horizons when it comes to yarn colors. It's OK if everything I make is green, really it is. I'm hoping that the third time knitting this yarn is a charm.


I have had a good time with the drum carder, despite not feeling very well. Dee gave me a bag of some alpaca and other fibers to practice with. I combined some brown alpaca with some glitzy, bright fiber I had bought at Rhinebeck and discovered I can make tweed yarn. Who knew? I spun up a little sample and was very pleased with the results.


I also carded some roving that I had dyed, and put in the tiniest bit of nylon for sparkle, and that is pretty fantastic too, if I do say so myself. I'm still learning, but it's so much fun to turn out fluffy, brightly colored batts, or brown, soft, tweedy batts.



Not the best picture, but it gives an idea of the fluffiness and brightness. It was fun. I can't wait to do more.

One of the reasons I wanted to start practicing making batts is that I am signed up to participate in the Phat Fiber Sampler box again in March and April and I would like to include some batts this time. March's theme is Celtic, so I've been pondering what I should do. Remember a while ago I mentioned that I am not the most detail oriented person? When I was preparing for the January Phat Fiber box I was totally unaware that the box had a theme, so the yarn, fiber and stitch markers I included did not match the theme. It makes it a little more fun to have a theme to work toward. I have loved seeing pictures people have taken of their boxes and seeing my Moonlight and Laughter tag in the photos.

The dryer just went off, which means my blankets are dry and I can go to bed. I wonder if I should wear my pajamas wrong side out to assure that it will snow and Conor will have a snow day tomorrow.

It's Snowing

It has been snowing since last night. Conor was disappointed that school was not cancelled. He felt there could have at least been a delayed opening. No spinning for me because of the condition of the roads. I had intended to spin at home, but instead spent more time preparing the samples for the Phat Fiber box. It is all packed now and ready to go, if I can get out of my driveway in the morning, since the snow is expected to continue to fall through the night.

I have been feeling a strong urge to get down in the basement and dye some fiber and yarn. (I added the words fiber and yarn because my children have told me it sounds kind of creepy when I just say I am going to the basement to dye.) I have been dreaming of color combinations, now I need to see if I can bring those dreams to life. I have to work tomorrow, and I'm teaching a friend to knit socks on Friday, so I am scheduling dyeing for Saturday and Sunday. Stay posted to see what emerges from the dye pot.

Here's a snow picture for you.



I liked snow a lot better when I lived in New Jersey and it only came a few times a winter, stayed for a day and then was gone. I loved it when it snowed there, because it was as if the whole town had a snow day. Because it snowed so infrequently, there was a holiday feeling that emerged when it snowed. I could enjoy the beauty of the snow and the fact that we were all home snug and warm together (because if it snowed there, the children always had a snow day)

Now that I live in Massena, I don't have the same relationship with snow I had in New Jersey. I try to enjoy it for it's beauty, but it's there all the time, basically from November until March, so it's beauty is lost on me. I have been told I would enjoy snow more if I went snow shoeing or did cross country skiing. Well, I don't do either thing, and don't think those activities are in my future. So I have brilliantly concluded that I will follow the advice I always gave to my children . Since the only thing I can change about the situation is my attitude, I am going to start loving snow and being accepting of it and going for walks in it, and maybe I'll invite it in for a cup of coffee and get to know it better. So here is a picture of my new best friend snow.



The wind made pretty ripples in it, which remind me of sand at the shore where the waves have washed in. And look at the blueness of the light when it hits the snow. I am starting to fall in love with snow all over again.