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.

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.