Rhinebeck, It's all about the fiber

Before going to Rhinebeck I made a list. I wanted fiber and a spindle. And a shawl pin. Never found the pin but I scored on the fiber. I was trying to pick wool that I hadn't spun yet. Which is pretty easy because I haven't spun much. This is Cormo from Briar Rose. Their yarn is to die for so I think this will be good.






The next two are Coopworth and Romney and N.C. Coopworth and Cotswold Lamb from Maple Row Stock Farm in Michigan.









This is a Finn-Dorset Cross from Fingerlakes Woolen Mill. I've spun Finn and it's really nice, soft like merino but a longer fiber.




And this a one pound bump of something that I really wanted at the time and now I can't find the receipt and I have no clue what it is but it's really soft. BFL maybe? I was really trying to be organized and rational. Anyone have any ideas?






Oh and a turkish delight spindle which I still can't work very well. Funny that the wheel is so much easier.




No time for more, I wanted to show you my sweater but I have to pack. I'm going to Stitches East on Friday and Saturday. I'm taking a class with Lily Chin and I'm shopping for yarn. If anyone's going to be there, look for me!

Rhinebeck

I was all ready for rain and snow. They'd been forecasting it for a couple of days. I had my galoshes ready although Mr. Truck said he wouldn't walk next to me if I wore them. We had two umbrellas in the car because it was pouring at home, but it never rained at Rhinebeck.







We got there just in time for the Ravelry meet up. We saw Bob and Jess and lots of others. (We really think it was Ysolda under the knitted dog head, we heard Jess call her name.)






And we met up with the ladies I knit with on Saturday mornings. I wore my sweater but it was hidden by my coat. In fact, most people's sweaters were hidden by their coats. I saw lots of Ishbels, though and some really nice hats and two owls. I really want to knit one of those.





These people were knitting on the world's largest sock. The waiting line was too long so I skipped it but I wonder who's going to turn that heel.





We saw spindles and fiber





and all sorts of spinning wheels, even an electric one.






And of course we saw sheep






and goats














and alpacas.





We stopped by the sheep herding dogs before we left. They are Mr. Truck's favorite part although they really make our dogs look not too bright.





And it didn't rain until we got home.

Spinning a Baktus

I bought this beautiful superwash merino rove called Mocha Java from Fiber Optic on etsy.



And I managed to spin it into this yarn. Which wasn't too bad, a bit thick and thin and more barber poled than I wanted. But it's yarn and I can knit with it. But there wasn't enough to make anything really big. So I searched and searched Ravelry and I found the perfect pattern.




Baktus. It uses any amount of yarn. You just increase until you've used half your yarn and then you decrease. Perfect for handspun of an undetermined amount.





There's a lacy version, too. You should go look at Mary's.

T is for Tree B Gone

This is our tree, the American Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua (I like the Latin name). It's the tallest tree on our block and it is at least sixty years old. You can see it above all the other trees. Our estimate is over 100 feet. We've taken care of it and had it pruned every year and it keeps growing.



But it's too close to our house. A couple of years ago we saw a show on maybe the Home and Garden channel about a house whose foundation was really damaged by their tree and ever since then we've been watching that tree.




Mr. Truck never liked it anyway. All year round, winter, spring, summer, fall, these seeds drop off the tree. He spends hours and hours picking them up. They hurt if you step on them and they don't even compost very well.




But this year the fence was bulging. And that never happened before. Digging around it, Mr. Truck found this root. From the tree. Heading towards our foundation. And no it's not a branch, we dug it out of the ground.





So we called The Tree Service and Mr. Truck declared August 26 Tree B Gone Day. It's really sad but the Tree Service told us the horror story of other people's foundations with $30,000.00 worth of damage.





So the nice men from The Tree Service came and brought all sorts of equipment and went so high in the tree that I couldn't even watch.






When the branches and especially the trunk hit the ground, the house shook.





And they chipped it all up and carted it all away.




Then they got out the really big equipment and ground down the trunk, 3 feet into the ground. Now I was under the impression that they would take all that with them, too. But when they left this was still here. We just looked at each other. Where were we going to put that much mulch? I spread it everywhere I could and it didn't even make a dent in the pile. What to do? So Mr. Truck made a sign that said "Free Mulch." He stuck it in the pile and we waited. It was there Thursday, it was there Friday, it was still there Saturday. On Saturday I spread more around the shrubs. Sunday morning we woke up and it was gone. We don't know who or how, we never heard anything and the dogs didn't even bark. So now the tree is really gone.


We're planning on planting a small tree this spring. I'm leaning towards a Kousa Dogwood.

Look What I Found!

So we're in Delaware for the weekend and Mr. Truck gets the local paper. He always reads the paper and then he tells me the important stuff I should know about. And he says, "There's a spinning wheel for sale. It says antique and it's pretty cheap." I jump up, get my phone and call the number. Does it spin? Probably. Is it old? We've had it 30 years and we were told it was 100 years old then. Where are you? Really close. And we go look. It treadles and the wheel spins, the mother-of -all tightens and loosens. The footman is missing, replaced by a leather string and part of the distaff is missing but it's coming home with me.

On the way home we stop to buy some string and a bit of copper wire. After much googling and laughing and a little frustration we hook up the double drive, learn how to tie a reef knot and Mr. Truck makes an orifice hook thingy out of the copper wire, gives it a good oiling and it spins.



Mr. Truck says it's old because of the way it was made and the nails. We think it might have been refinished at some time. But there are no markings.



This chunk is missing but it doesn't seem to matter.



Here's the crazy leather piece instead of the footman. I think Mr. Truck has plans for some woodworking there.




And here's the crazy yarn I made. Look at the flyer hooks. Those alone make me think it's really old.


I've put up a post on Ravlery in the Antique Spinning Wheel Group but if anyone knows what it is, let me know. It's lived in Delaware for at least the last 30 years and when I get it all fixed up, it will be going back. We'll leave it at the condo so I can spin when I'm there. I really don't need two wheels here.

S is for

Socks of course! These are Sunshine, my third from the Cookie A. book. Nice, easy to memorize pattern but they run BIG. Really big in the ankle. If you knit them you might want to leave out a repeat, or two. Just saying.







I used Classic Elite's Summer Sox and while it was pretty nice for a cotton blend, one of the two skeins had three knots, not good. Also this pattern used almost the entire skein for each sock, almost nothing left over. Which may or may not be a good thing.








S is also for Susan, that's me. With my Daddy. A very long time ago at Grandma's house which I just realized has almost the same floor plan as my house now. But not the wallpaper.

This weekend was National Alpaca Open Farm Days and Reese and Evan and I, and Reese's mommy, went to Alma Park in Jackson, NJ. Which is really funny because it's just down the street from the High School I went to. And it's also really funny because I have no picture of Evan, he didn't stand still long enough.


Reese had seen an alpaca on Saturday and was very excited to see more of them with Grammy.
I was much more interested in the yarn and fiber.


I bought some Huacaya and silk and it is so soft.


The alpacas are so cute but even better there were chickens and kittens. Reese loved the chickens and Evan spent a lot of time petting the kitties and eating munchkins. There were also emus which Reese has been calling Elmo.




Rose and her brother were delightful and I had a lot of fun talking about spinning, dyeing, and knitting and petting all the fiber. I would have petted the alpacas but it was raining and a bit muddy and they were pretty wet.




This cutie is Maggie May and she almost got close enough to touch.




And on the way home there was a rainbow. Which I found is really hard to take a picture of while you're driving. By the time I stopped at a red light, it was already fading, but it looked like it was right over my house..

R is for

I was going to do R is for ripping out. A whole sweater. Wrong fit, wrong pattern, just wrong.



I thought about recycling, something I really believe in.




But then I realized R is for Ravelry. Something that in the last two years has become such an important part of my life. And something that has enriched my life in so many ways. I've learned so much, laughed a lot, cried a bit and met some wonderful friends.

Rhinebeck 2008