Baby, It's Cold Outside (and Inside Too)

The temperature has risen to a balmy -10. I discovered my shower pipes are frozen again, despite having heat blowing on them all night from a portable heater-not good. I was grateful that my car started though. It did a little bit of rrrring, but then started right up. I took it for a little drive to get the battery warmed up, and it's supposed to get to the even balmier temperature of 0 today, so I think the car will be OK, I'm not so sure about the pipes. I think another space heater is going to be necessary if we are going to continue to have these freezing temperatures. Some insulating of the pipes would probably help too, but that would be entering a crawl space and that is not in my job description. I'll have to corral a child the next time one is home to help with that.

This frost is on the inside of my side door.

I'm very excited.! I have my first customer coming to my little shop in my living room.

The most exciting part is that it is someone I don't know. I have had friends come shopping, but no brand new customers. She is looking for wool for felting and I have a ton of that, so I hope she goes away happy.

I am working at getting some felting supplies to offer for sale. Living where I do, there is no one who sells felting supplies, and although they can be ordered online, there is nothing like immediate gratification and being able to purchase locally when you are in the mood to start a new project.

Spindies is officially no more. I packed the last of the fiber that was here to send back to the participating artists last week. I set the packages by the back door, left the room, and when I came back discovered that Gerard was making the final inspection to make sure the boxes were securely packaged. It's good that I have such helpful kitties.

The Wanderer Has Returned

I am filled with joy because my son Tim, who has been traveling and living in Australia, Southeast Asia and China, is almost home. He arrived in the states on Wednesday, and is currently in New York City visiting with friends and family there, and selling some things he has in storage. He will be continuing his travels in December and will be going to Austria to manage a kitchen at a ski resort. Since he is the only one of my children without culinary experience, I did ask if he had sent his brother's resume instead of his. (Travis has a degree in Culinary Arts from Paul Smiths College). Tim assured me he got the job all on his own.

When I think of the things he has seen and done in the past year it is mind boggling. Tim has been traveling with only a backpack that contains all his possessions. He told me the one pair of jeans he has is pretty bedraggled, but he is going to keep them because they have been on four continents. I will be traveling to New Jersey to pick him up soon, which will give us the opportunity to visit the old neighborhood. I can't wait!

In fiber news, the newest Spindies boxes went on sale on Wednesday. They are gorgeous! I know this because I am the Spindies member who mails out the boxes, which is great because I get to see all the beautiful fiber each month. The colors this month are Harvest Night (navy blue) and Harvest Moon (gold). I twitch a bit when I say the colors blue and gold together and flash back to way too many Blue and Gold Banquets I have attended over the years, both as a child when my brother was in Cub Scouts, and when my own children participated. But when I see the fiber, all those bad memories are swept away and I want to spin the gorgeousness that is the boxes.

This is my contribution to the Harvest Moon box-"Golden Slumbers", a blend of merino, silk, cormo, tencel, firestar and angelina.

This colorway was my contribution to the Harvest Night box-"Blue on Blue, although my contributions to the box were dyed on Finn wool instead of this merino/tencel blend. I discovered after dyeing the contribution that I had no more Finn to dye.

I will be listing full sized samples of the box contributions in my shop today.

I spent an hour in this little country cemetery on Tuesday, where some of my ancestors are buried. A cousin is interested in genealogy and traveled all the way from Kentucky to visit this cemetery, when my brother finally figured out it's exact location. Look at that beautiful sky. We were blessed with a sunshiny day-the only one this week.

My mother's maiden name was Fish, and this is the Fish family stone.

We visited this cemetery at least once a year as children, because it was important to my mother to honor her ancestors. When I started looking around I realized that this was the cemetery where I had decided the names of the five daughters I planned to have-Faith, Hope, Charity, Remembrance and Experience. Turns out I had four sons and one daughter, so that plan didn't work out. I'm sure Caitlin is happy I changed my mind when it came time to name her. Here is the stone of Experience Bacon. Can you imagine having that name, not just Experience, but the combination of the two conjures a lot of images to my mind.

We had a lovely visit with my cousin and his wife. I'm glad they decided to come to visit relatives, both passed on and still here.

Time to take a sick kitty to the vet. Gerard has been sneezing and is congested. Right now he has taken over Seamus' spot and is asleep on my arm as I type.

It Looks Like I Lied

It seems that I wasn't really back when I said I was on March 16th. I apologize, and hope that there are one or two people still checking this old, sad blog. It's been a difficult few months. I'm hoping the arrival of spring and some sunshine are going to be helpful.

I have been doing a lot of thinking about this blog, and I have missed writing, but felt blocked from writing. This is supposed to be a knitting, spinning and dyeing blog with bits of my life thrown in. Part of what has inhibited me and stopped me from writing is those constraints I have place on myself. I am removing those constraints, so when you check in here I can't guarantee what you will find. There's no question there will still be dyeing, spinning and knitting but I have a feeling more of my real life will be sneaking in, I've also changed the name of the blog to Moonlight and Laughter, but the address is still the same-www.dyeingtospin.blogspot.com.

That being said, lets talk about dyeing. I have been busily dyeing fiber for the monthly Spindies Artists' Paintbox and Complements Box. The colors this month are still a secret but they both remind me of the ocean, and make me miss New Jersey. Travis is in Atlantic Highlands now visiting, and I am envious. I need to get down there before I have to start that stupid full time job that is looming in my future.

I will be making batts for the Phat Fiber Sampler box today at some point. The fiber is all dyed and ready to blend into batts. The theme this month is Blossoms and Bark. I dyed some worsted weight yarn in pretty blossom colors inspired by apple blossoms and gerber daisies, and now am making a bark batt inspired by a walk Travis, Cailtin, Conor and their friend Brian and I took into an old growth Adirondack forest a couple of years ago.

It was an awe inspiring experience, seeing these giant trees that had withstood all the harshness that is a part of the nature of the Adirondacks for hundreds of years.

Iit was hard to take photos that could show the grandeur and immensity of these beautiful, ancient trees. I think showing us standing beside one helps a little in showing their size.

It was a day I will always remember-a beautiful, crisp fall day in the Adirondacks, sharing it with my children and their friend and being totally awed by nature once again. I feel so fortunate to live in an area that has such beauty, and I truly am inspired by that nature when it comes to the fiber colors I create.

It's time to go and have some coffee. I am also inspired by Tim's great coffee. It helps keep me going and is so delicious that I have been spoiled when it comes to drinking other coffee. And some very exciting news is that he is buying a coffee shop and is going to be adding a bakery too. I can't wait-it's going to be so much fun.

The Girasole is Finally Finished!

I am going to try again to write a post. My attempt on Sunday failed miserably because Seamus came to sit on my lap after I had typed two sentences, and walked on the keyboard striking a combination of keys that turned Windows from portrait to landscape. My usual computer fixing trick of turning the computer off and back on did not solve this problem, which necessitated a walk to the 3rd floor to wake a sleeping Conor and ask him to fix it-he loves it when I wake him up to fix my computer. He's never actually told me that, but I know it must be true. On the way back downstairs I walked by the laundry room and remembered that I needed to wash sheets. While I was in there, I decided to do a little straightening and folding of clothes, which led to cleaning the room. While cleaning, I unearthed a huge pile of lines that needed ironing, so I ironed for about two hours because, really, what is the point of having a collection of beautiful old linens if you can never use them because they are not ironed. I had forgotten how much I enjoy ironing linens. There is something so satisfying about turning that wrinkled lump of cloth into something beautifully smooth , and the smell of starch and warm linen evokes happy childhood memories. It was then time to move on to cooking dinner, and by then the urge to write a blog post had long ago disappeared.

So here we go for a second try. The sun is shining today. Hooray!!! But it was -8 degrees when I took Conor to school and there is a wicked wind blowing. Boo!!! But the sun is shining. Yay!!! I am so happy to see the sun, can you tell? I will ignore the fact that the heat, which is only set on 62 is coming on every five minutes, because I am so thrilled to see the sun.

I finally finished my afghan that I was slogging along on. I am quite pleased with it, and am not sure why I grew so tired of it. It is very warm-maybe I grew tired of it in the summer because I forgot how wonderful it would be to have such a warm thing to snuggle under during the long, cold winter nights. It is a Girasole-a pattern by Jared Flood and it was a relatively easy knit. I made it using Cascade Eco Wool, which is not at all the type of yarn called for in the pattern, but I have a hard time following directions when it comes to knitting, and I am glad that I used this yarn. It is a great value, and although it is considered to be a bulky yarn, I feel that it really is more of a heavy worsted weight. It is soft too, which surprised me when I first started knitting with it. It took a little less than two full skeins to do the body and I used leftovers in neutral tones to do the edging. So here it is. Ta Da!!! The first photo is Seamus enjoying it while I was putting on the edging. It was hard to photograph because it is so large, but I think the photos give an idea of what it looks like.

I'd better get back to the basement. I have fiber soaking to dye for the February Spindies Artist's Paintbox. The color is red, and I am dyeing some Cormo wool, and two types of fiber from local fleeces. One of the fibers is Romney wool from the very first fleece I ever bought, and the other is fiber from a member of my spinning group who is a shepherd and it is mainly Ile de France, a breed I never see mentioned, which is a cross between English Leicester and Rambouillet. Sandy mostly raised her sheep for meat, but the Ile de France is good for both meat and medium fiber, so I am really pleased with this fiber.

Alright now, I really need to go dye. I know I am putting it off because it is so cold in my dye studio because it is in the basement, and it's a bit nippy down there when the temperature is this low. It wouldn't be quite so bad if there wasn't so much water involved in the whole process, and since we don't want felted fiber, it has to be cold water. I will persevere though, and create some beautiful red fiber just in time for Valentine's Day.

Happy New Year-Better Late Than Not At All

Hello, remember me? Sorry for having gone missing once again. Life seems to be getting in the way of my blog writing, which is ironic because the blog is supposed to be somewhat of a record of what is going on in my life. I have missed writing and sharing the exciting adventures that have occurred recently. Or if not the exciting adventures, at least the day to day ennui that is my life right now. I love the word ennui, and seldom get a chance to use it in a sentence.

I've only done a little bit of dyeing recently, partly because the basement where my dyeing studio is located has a temperature not much warmer than the outside temperature, which right now is 7 degrees. It wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't all that cold water involved in the dyeing process. I did get my Spindies sample done for the January Paintbox. The color is Silver, and I am looking forward to seeing the results from the Spindies artists. It's hard to believe that we have been collaborating on Paintboxes for five months. I appreciate being a part of such a talented group of women. This is my sample from last month's box, which was the color champagne. I believe all the Champagne boxes are gone, but some of the individual stores still have larger sized batts of their samples.

I am adding a new sock yarn base to my shop. It is Bluefaced Leicester and Nylon. Bluefaced Leicester is my favorite spinning fiber, so I was pleased to find a BFL sock yarn. I dyed some recently in two colorways, but have not yet had the time, or the light needed, to take good photos. When I woke up this morning and saw sunshine I thought I might still be dreaming. It has been so long since I saw the sun, I wasn't sure what it was. Of course, there has to be a cosmic joke associated with this sun sighting. The joke is that despite the sunshine, the temperature is still only 7 degrees.

I was standing out on my front porch in my slippers with no coat on this morning taking photos of my silver Paintbox samples, when the mailman arrived. I wonder what he thought when he saw me with a camera, a white tablecloth on the porch floor, photographing a pile of what I am sure looked like grey fluff to him. It is actually very similar to the color of Gerard's fur, although I promise that there is none of his fur in these batts.

On the knitting front, I am making Conor a sweater from Son of Stitch and Bitch. It is a hoody with a Noro stripe through the body and the sleeves, and I am making it out of the yarn called for in the pattern, something that rarely happens. I was able to get Lambs Pride for $3.00 a skein from The Sheep Shed Studio, and the yarn color is avocado, a color that makes me happy. I think that I am going to use some of my hand dyed worsted weight yarn instead of the Noro for the stripe. I am not a big fan of Noro yarn, although I will admit that the long color repeats are quite nice.

I am making Travis a pair of Striped Mittens from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen. I think I have made almost 20 pairs of these mittens and I love them...both the making of them and how warm they are when worn. My sister Jane remembers that when we were young, many of the children we played with wore similarly patterned mittens. The pattern is a one stitch alternation of two colors, one carried ahead of the other, and the carrying of the yarn pulls the mitten fabric up into ridges. This gives the illusion that one color has been knit above the other. My favorite yarn to make these from is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride. It's also fun to do the main color in a solid color and the contrasting color in a hand dyed multicolor yarn. In these mittens, the main color is ecru color Lamb's Pride and the multicolored yarn is the contrasting color. It's possible to see how the ecru stands out above the multicolored yarn. I have fun watching the striping patterns emerge, which goes to show that I am very easily entertained.

This was the year of the hat for Christmas gifts. I didn't take a lot of photos of the completed hats, but here is Travis' Dred Hat being modeled by Conor, who doesn't have nearly enough hair to fill it up. I think perhaps he has inadvertently watched a little too much America's Next Top Model, or perhaps this is the face of teenage angst.

I made my niece Emma a hat that is a quick and fun knit, with the hat including Basketweave stitch, 3 x 3 ribbing, and Seed Stitch. It is fun to make because it doesn't get boring. The pattern is called Patchwork Hat, and I have also made several of these hats over the past year. It helps to have a daughter who loves hats, and also loses them on a fairly regular basis.

On the traveling son front, Tim is back in Sydney, after having spent a few weeks in Tasmania. He is currently looking for work as he is feeling the need to recoup some of his money spent so far. I am loving reading his blog, which started out as a travel log, but has turned into something much more interesting to me. I am very proud of the man he has become.

It's time to go do some knitting. I am still slogging along on my Girasole, and tonight seems the perfect night to have a nice warm blanket on my lap as I am knitting. The reason I am slogging has nothing to do with the pattern, and more to do with my choice of yarn, which is not at all what was called for in the pattern. This blanket has helped me learn that occasionally, I should pay attention to the specifics of a pattern, but that is fodder for another post.

Changes

Autumn has arrived on my doorstep. Conor wimped out and turned the heat on yesterday. He doesn't seem to understand the concept of putting a sweatshirt on when he is cold. It was 58 degrees inside, but I wouldn't have turned the heat on. That's why we have a pile of afghans and fleece blankets on the couch.

In other news, I was at knitting on Wednesday and my cell phone rang. It was my oldest son, sounding excited, wondering if I had a moment to talk. I said sure I had time, and he told me that instead of just going to Australia for a vacation in November, he plans to quit his job, give up his apartment in New York City, and stay in Australia for at least 6 months. I have known that he wasn't very happy with his job, and that he was tired of living in New York, but the thought that he might move halfway around the world, if only for a short time, had never crossed my mind.

Tim is a planner and does not do things that are illogical, so I knew that he had given the move serious thought, and I think it is an awesome opportunity for him. When I had more time to talk to him later, his plan made a lot of sense to me, and I think he is going to have a great adventure and I am proud of him for being so brave and adventurous. I did make him promise not to fall in love with an Australian, and that he wouldn't stay longer than 6 months. I know these are not binding promises, but I felt better having said them.

Now I would like to say that being a parent stinks. My full time job for the last 27 years has been being a mother and raising my children. I tried to teach them to be independent and think for themselves, and tried really hard not to put my many fears on them (my mother was a great worrier, and she taught me how to worry about everything) and wanting them to have the opportunity to explore the world that I had never allowed myself to explore. Look what a great job I have done! And I want him to go and have a wonderful time, to do this while he has the opportunity, but at the same time I want to tell him not to go, not to be so far from me. I would never, ever do that, and if you're reading this Tim, know that I am serious when I say that I want you to explore and have all the adventures that you can. So I guess what I am trying to say is that doing a good job as a parent is to make yourself obsolete and out of a job, and that stinks. In what other profession would you work toward a goal of not being needed anymore?

I do get a consolation prize though. Tim is going to bring his belongings here, and I get to use his HDTV while he is gone. He is also hoping to spend a week or so before he leaves, which, for me, is a much better consolation prize. And there are a lot of sheep in Australia, which means there must be a lot of wool in Australia, so maybe this whole adventure can work for me too. Maybe he can get a job on a sheep ranch or something. I'll have to suggest that to him.

When I have not been processing this whole Australian undertaking, I have been locked in my wool room putting things in my Etsy shop and the Spindies shop. I still have lots more to add, and much to label, but I'm slowly working through it all.

"Twilight Pumpkin Patch" in Merino Worsted Weight Yarn.

"Gothic", named after one of the Adirondack High Peaks in Merino/Tencel roving.

"Golden Days of Autumn" in Mulberry Silk.

Tomorrow I am going to be a participant in a Meet the Artist day at a local gift shop, Seasons. I will be spinning and will bring a bit of yarn and fiber to sell. I am hoping it will be a warmer day than it was today, as I believe that I am going to be outside on the porch. Let's also hope that it is not raining. I'd better go and get more yarn labeled.

A Return To What Passes As Normal

I'm settling back into my life after the passing of my Mom on September 20th. It was a very peaceful death, and my brothers, sister and I were with her. I am just beginning to process it all, and am not looking forward to this grief journey again, but know it is necessary. I keep thinking I need to go to the nursing home, after 4 1/2 years of going to visit Mom there, I guess that makes sense.

I was unable to participate in the Southern Adirondack Fiber Festival this past weekend, as I had planned to do. There is no way I could have done it I was so wiped out and exhausted from the previous two weeks, even though I would have been sharing the booth with my friend Judy from Liberty Fibers. I did a lot of dyeing in between nursing home visits even though I wasn't sure I could go to the show, so I have lots to add to my Etsy shop. Here's a small sampling of what I will be adding.

Fields of Lavender

Ghost and Goblins

Wallflowers

Mists of Autumn

This weekend was National Alpaca Weekend, and I have a friend who was having lots of fun festivities at her farm, Angel Knoll Alpacas, so I took some of my fiber, yarn and my spinning wheel and went to the farm. What a perfect sunny fall day it was, and just what I needed-20 minutes from home, a 5 hour day, and friends to spin and chat with. I also sold a bit of yarn and several thrum mitten kits, which was an added bonus to the lovely day.

Angel Knoll Alpacas

Buddy, the dog guarding Farrah, the angora rabbit

A friendly alpaca out for a stroll

Two beautiful horses and their owner John taking visitors for a ride on the farm. They were all very tired at the end of the day.

My yarn and fiber

Now that things are returning to what passes for normal in my life (actually I have no idea what normal is, but for the first time in 6 years I am only responsible for myself, and not for my parents) I hope to be more consistent in posting. I must go now and get together some Spinidie offerings to mail.

Spindies Art Fiber Festival

I am happy to share with you the formation of a Congo on Hyenacart called Spindies Art Fiber Festival. It offers the opportunity to look at and purchase dyed and undyed fiber and handspun yarn from the shops of 13 Indie dyers gathered all together in one place, hence the Fiber Festival in our name. We are also offering fiber club in 3, 6 or 12 months, with each month being dyed by a different dyer, which I think is a truly awesome opportunity to obtain some beautiful fiber.

I feel honored to be involved in this venture with so many talented women! Stop by and take a look. My shop is a bit empty right now, but this is one of my listings. It reminds me of a creamsicle. The cream portion is mulberry silk, and the orange is hand dyed, hand carded BFL. I plan to spend tomorrow dyeing so will have the store better stocked soon.

The sun finally shone and we were able to go to the Canton Farmer's Market yesterday. It was a lovely day to sit in the sunshine and spin, and to sell a few bracelets and some yarn and fiber too! Holly stopped by and joined us for a bit of spinning. It's also wonderful seeing all the vegetables that are being produced here in Northern New York despite the lack of sunshine this year. I bought some yummy new potatoes and broccoli and had them for supper that night.

Today I went and met Jodi and her family in Potsdam at the Summerfest. We had an 80% chance of rain today, but it held off until we were almost done enjoying the craft fair. I was very strong and didn't buy the other 1/2 of the alpaca blanket that Jodi purchased. It was beautiful fiber, but I keep reminding myself of all the fiber that is in my house, and think that I need to sell some of what is here before I purchase more. Poor Jodi had to go home and finish packing as she and her family are moving to Florida and Jodi and her children are leaving tomorrow. I'll miss her, but hope that she'll be able to come to Rhinebeck this fall and we'll see her there.

I spent the rest of the day spinning and watching Harry Potter movies on TV. I am instantly transported to the movie theatre in Atlantic Highlands when I hear the theme music for the movies. I am spinning more of the two pounds of this fiber that I was spinning on Wednesday.

It would be great if I could finish it before the Tour de Fleece is over. It is fun to spin because it has so many pretty, but subtle colors. I am looking forward to plying it and seeing how the two bobbins combine to create some beautiful yarn. If I finish it, I can reward myself with purchasing more fiber from the same vendor when we go to Rhinebeck this fall.