New blog

I've relocated this blog. Access here -->> Catskill Mountain Fibers

Almost time to say goodbye

. . . to 2008!

New blog set up - seriously dislike the template and will be looking for alternative. I definitely want 3 columns.

Spun up the 60's batt last night. I have a 236 yard single and will be prepping to do a core spin. I want to wind off about 100 yards of core yarn and put it on a bottom whorl spindle to try and prevent kinking during the spin.

Damn ... I'm hungry! Tuna salad?

Working . . .

. . . on it. WP installed on server. Templates being worked on. Motivation . . . YES! :)

Also installed Coppermine for photos. I have Zen Cart installed but I'm not sure that I want to move off of Etsy & ArtFire. I may just use Zen for our higher end items - electric spinners, etc..

Moving

I'm going to move this blog to my server and use an alternate blogging system so that I can customize this thing the way I'd like it to be. Hopefully I'll get to it sooner than later.

The Final Batt

The final batt for November from my Loop! club membership. The theme was fashion through the decades and I chose the 60's, of course. ;-)

365

. . . till the next one. I'm definitely going to start shopping super early - like right after the new year. Many businesses are going under and while I feel quite badly for them all I have to take advantage of their sales and clearances.

What I would like to do is start a hope chest for my daughter. I have my mother's Lane cedar chest that was given to her on her wedding day by my father, way back in 1957. It had a blond finish, but my hubby has sanded that away and we'll refinish it with a darker stain and protective coating of urethane, or something. I'm going to try (AGAIN!) to get my mother and father's china from the asshole that my mother married in 1986. . . my mother passed away in 2005 and I've had no luck in getting the beautiful china that was promised to me. I would love to add this to Andrea's hope chest.

Anyway - I figure I'll shop for towels and sheets, kitchen items, spices (maybe wait on those, not sure yet), candles, and basic stuff that she probably wouldn't think of herself. Since I have the chest here in the living room, now full of yarn, I'll empty it out and as I purchase stuff I'll stash it right in the chest. She'll never know it's there and it'll be a great surprise when she gets her own place. That may not be for several more years yet but I'll continue to add to it until the day arrives. :-)

As for Christmas 2008 - Drea got her new computer and totally didn't expect it. I had thought otherwise. She was so surprised and so very happy; especially considering that it's a monster! 2.2 gig processor, 4 gigs of RAM. We didn't get her a monitor, but will be doing so when tax money comes in. I found a 22" re-furb Dell flat screen that will be perfect with the rest of the system. We also got her the TV thing for her Zune and the Zune auto audio kit for the cars. She had been saying she wanted one of those silly Tamigachi (sp?) things that she had as a much younger child and I found one. The things that thrill an 18 year old! LOL Amazing. We got a few small items for her boyfriend and she said that he appreciated them very much. Just hats and a nice pair of gloves (store bought), and it seems he's a lot like DH - loses gloves often, so these came in handy. If she's still with him next Xmas he'll do much better from us. The last BF was a disaster and we're glad that we didn't go 'all out' for gifts for him last Xmas.

My new electrical cable/cord came in for my laptop on the 24th. Whew!! It's good to be able to use the computer when I want to and not have to do things super quick to be sure the battery wouldn't run out on me.

Went to MIL's today and right after dinner was over and we were all sitting there chatting a headache hit me like I had been stoned. It felt like a hot vibrating wire had pierced my brain. Andrea brought me down the mountain to our home and I changed and immediately went to bed, nice dark, cool room and took my two girls (Luna & Roo) with me. Slept from 3:30 or thereabouts until 9:45 tonight. I've been up since, headache is gone, thank goodness. DH has to get up at 3:30 AM to go to work and help to get the plant back up and running until they shut down again on Tuesday for New Years Eve & Day. I'll get coffee ready for him before he's up so he can get out of here relatively quickly. He has to be in by 5 AM.

Working on the mitts mentioned in an earlier post. I'm almost up to the bind off for the thumb on the first one. Nice to do some mindless knitting and watch some older TV with the dogs snoozing on the sofa with me. Poor Jackie -our one eyed, damaged Boston, is plastered right up against my leg, snoring very softly. This dog sometimes breaks my heart with all of his scars, missing eye and neurosis. We love him so very much and feel fortunate that we were selected and able to take him in when no one else wanted him.

Have a great day!

1 Day

Christmas tomorrow - seemed to get here extra fast this year.

DH and I are heading out in a bit to do some last minute shopping. Just a few things for Drea, a gift card for MIL, and some goodies for the dogs. I want to film the dogs opening their packages tomorrow. I know that Caesar will have a blast!!

Waiting on hubby to get back from MIL's for a report on road conditions. Got up to ice this morning. Air temperature is rising, though, so hopefully driving will be no problem.

Have to head to MIL's this afternoon to get Christmas dinner preparations finalized, then we'll call China King in Narrowsburg and get some good stuff for dinner. Hard to believe that we managed to find such an excellent source for Chinese food way up here in the boonies. General Tao's shrimp? Yep! Chicken w/curry sauce, lo-mein, rangoons, dim sum, teriaki beef and who knows what else. Might have to make this food a Christmas eve ritual since we all love it so much.

OK - I'm going to get up and get my ass in motion so I can get stuff done.

PS::: Also expecting two deliveries today - there will be one still out there that just won't make it in time for Xmas. Nothing major - just DD's requested perfume, Red Door Revealed.

Felt Magazine (Interweave) Suri Spot Mitts

Finished the blending of South African fine with raw bamboo, spun it up to a lace weight and started the knitting this evening. Love the feel of this yarn; it's so soft and silky. This project is special to me in that I've worked it from scratch with the exception of using raw fleece and having to go through the washing/scouring process.

I'll be ill for xmas. . .

Head ache, joint aches, fatigue -- pain in my ass, too! Heading into another toxic cloud with this liver issue. Need to drink lots of fluids and concentrate on foods that are easily digested . . . might be time to do a detox but I'm not sure it's advisable with the medications I'm forced to take to get through each and every day. F*ck it! I'll get through this just as I have many times before. I just hate feeling shitty.

So - I want to spin. Again. More! I've got so much darn wool in so many colors all around me that its difficult to even know where to begin. My arms are sore from hand carding so blending is out. I do have a ton of roving and some recently purchased and swapped batts to play with so maybe, just maybe, I'll pull out Steph's 70's style batt or Jazzy's Mom's Fruit Tarts batt and spin those up. Only thing with those - they SCREAM to be spun as art yarn.

DH due home soon and he's off until Friday. Have to have him run across the road when he gets in to take a package to the guys at #18 that was mistakenly delivered here. Delivery guys just couldn't see OUR name or the number 19 on our mailbox, I guess. Odd - it was a Budget Rental van that made the delivery.

Hot tea and sinus meds in order. Catch the local news cast and I should then be ready to use my wheel with the new flyer set-up I put together yesterday.

Boo freakin' hoo!

Limited use of my laptop is necessary right now since the electrical cord went bad on me. DH took it apart and one of the wires was so bent that it had broken apart. I'm running on 1/4 of a charged battery right now. The new cord was shipped from Indianapolis today via priority mail. Hoping to see it here tomorrow but that's truly doubtful. Maybe by Xmas Eve? Hopefully!

Using the hand cards to work tons of wool that I've had laying around forever - dyed crimpies & locks, all kinds of colors. Romney, coopworth, polworth, border leicester and moree. I love using the hand cards - amazing!

Holiday knitting done.

My poor MIL tried to help out on Saturday by going outside (after being told NOT to do so by BIL & DH) to clean the snow off of her back steps. She fell - how she managed to get up and back into the house is a mystery and must have caused her so much pain - and shattered her humerus. No surgery because of her age (almost 83) and they put a huge cast on her ... she's so tiny to begin with (under 5') and I feel so awful for her. We always have Xmas dinner at her house and her cooking abilities are severely limited now so DH, DD, and I will head up the hill to her house on Wednesday to do her portion of the cooking. Sweet potatoes, corn & pepper casserole, cucumber & tomato salad, and I'll be baking the 'drunken cake' (saturated rum cake) here at home. I hope that I can get it to come out as good as hers always do. This is the only time of year and method of delivery that I have alcohol! LOL

Oooo! Snow!!

It's 10:36am and the snow is just starting to fall here on the NY PA border. Seems chilly in the house so I think I'll turn up the blower on the pellet stove. Once the snow starts to fall really heavy as predicted I'll probably get into the mood to bake something. Chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? Banana bread? Hmmm . . .

Two Etsy orders to ship. I hope we can get down the hill to the post office!!

Creeping along

Potholders complete. Getting ready to cast on the BF's hat. Just need to finish upper third of Porthos, seam and put in the neck stuff. Then . . . 3 pair of gloves and I'm done! Since I have 7 days ... maybe I'll get the wheel spinning this afternoon! ;-)

7 days!?!

Seven days till Xmas. . . tree finally up (very nice), last gifts ordered from Amazon, 2 pot holders done, halfway up the back of the Abby sweater (last half to do, seam & finish). Goal today - start DD's BF's hat & gloves and try to get 'em done. Tip to self - - use worsted yarn! It'll go faster.

OK - where did it go?

The time, the time!!!! Where did it go? How did I lose track????

Must set priorities TODAY! I want to spin, I mean . . . really want to spin, but I seriously have to get some knitting done in time for Xmas. Abby's Porthos - back, sleeves - done. Front cast on, 2" complete. MIL's pot holders - 1 done, 1 cast on, still another to make a set of three. Those are priority #1 (potholders). Must make a cap & fingerless gloves for DD's boyfriend. Abby's sister's top - cast on, 8 rows worked in the round. Need to work BIL&SIL's gloves - not even started yet.
I guess, overall, that's not a whole lot of knitting -

All of the above means that no spinning or carding for me until the knitting is finished. See, this makes the knitting seem like a major chore and I need to get out of that frame of mind and just get it done!

Progress report later.

Etsy

More listings up on Etsy today. I'll probably post yarn tomorrow, and then back to roving & batts. I'd like to try and post three to four items daily from here on.

Still waiting on the snow to start that has been predicted. It is snowing in NYC - Andrea would like snow here since she put the Christmas tree up today. I was beginning to wonder if we'd bother with a tree this year since she didn't seem to have any interest in putting it up until today. Fa la la la la ... la la la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Does it breed?

I have been trying to organize my fiber stash (this does not include yarn) and I am quite shocked at how much I actually have! This stuff must multiply at night or when I'm not looking. I may have to consider just bagging some and putting it up for sale or swap. Now, about yarn - I have just as much of it as I do fiber! PLUS I have two 55 gallon trash bags jammed full of yarn stored up at my MIL's house! Maybe I just need to get the needles smokin' and get stuff made up and gift it away!!

Spun yarn

Working on getting yardage and weights on all of the yarn I've spun that I'd like to list on Etsy. Time consuming!!!

Some of the stuff is going to be quite difficult to part with. Oh well... we need the cash, so WTH! :)

Indigo

I got hold of seeds from Sand Mountain herbs that are Indigofera tinctoria. I want to get them in pots for germination soon so I can try using the plants for natural dyeing. I've just rejoined one Ravelry group that I used to be part of and also have joined several others that are dedicated to dyeing fiber - chemically and naturally. I hope to learn all that I can about harvesting and processing indigo before my plants are ready for use. :) I'm going to do research on other plants that I can use and go back to the Sand Mountain site for more seed. Super quick service & shipping - precise germination instructions and basic growing info right on the seed packet. I also have some other seeds from a friend that I need to get started. This type of seed I've grown before with great success; I can hardly wait to get those going. Don't ask. ;-)

Got the new hackle and some wool listed on Etsy last night. It just seems to take so much time to get from photo to finish. Today I need to get dinner prep done and then I would really like to list all of the homespun yarn I have available. I need to measure the skeins and calculate yardage, determine WPI, take and edit photos and list. Long afternoon! Sitting here surely isn't getting any of that done; is it? Still infusing myself with caffeine - that's my excuse for not starting as of yet.

There are squirrels running back and forth on our back deck and they sound like small horses! Geezus! Big ole fat swirls! Dogs just caught sight of them out of the window next to where I'm sitting and they're all going ape shit - they'd love to get hold of one of them swirls and have some fun. Imagine that! Good thing the dogs yard is totally fenced in and restricts them from chasing all of the various forest creatures that come around to visit.

A bit of peace now?

Got a wireless pci card for DD's computer and the damn thing is finally online. So I now have my computer back - though it is running funky and quite slow. Bet she downloaded crap and I now have some kind of junk or viral stuff hidden in it. I'm going to have to run a spy-ware scan on it as soon as I finish up with this post.

She also killed the battery in the digital camera. I have it charging now. I had wanted to get photos of the new hackle and list it on Etsy by now. At least I'll have it done shortly.

Having Abby & Don over for dinner tomorrow. We were going to go dutch for Chinese food but none of us really have the cash to spare right now so I'm cooking pot roast w/potatoes & carrots and making a big batch of kasha w/bow ties, mushrooms & onions. Abby says she loves this stuff. I'm also going to make cream puffs for dessert and I think that I may do the puff part tonight. Then I'll be able to put them back in the oven tomorrow to dry them out before adding the cream.

I've been using the wonderful hand cards - wasn't sure I'd enjoy them but I find that carding various types of fiber is quite pleasant and relaxing! I had some bamboo fiber that I had dyed and it was a mess ... all tangled and whatnot. I put it on the cards and it just worked out beautifully. Now I have some colors that I've never seen offered for sale. Can't wait to blend some up with some Romney that I have to card.

I have a wonderful Chai tea from Dunkin' Donuts sitting here waiting for me so I'm going to enjoy it and then begin a HUGE Etsy shop update. :)

. . . what day is it?

Watched a couple of YouTube vids last evening on how to properly use the hand cards and bravely started on some Cormo I had washed up. By George, I think I got it! LOL

Have 10 rolags done up - I've been picking any VM as I card and noils, too. Very little of either, thank goodness. I'm not sure if I'm going to post this stuff for sale or keep it for me. We need $$ pretty badly right now - so it'll most likely hit Etsy later today.

Slept with my left eye partially open again and this time it's extremely painful. I put some of the Celuvisc drops in and OMG the pain that caused! Awful!! I have my eye taped shut right now hoping that the dry spot rehydrates quickly so I can do something fiber related today. I really MUST start using the night-time drops regularly to avoid having this happen. Last time I went to the eye doc he said that the damage, although slight, to my cornea was visible. *sigh*

Cards

The hand cards arrived today! Time to play-yay!

Kitchen table is piled high with batts and hand spun to be photographed and then listed on Etsy. I'm hoping to get to them tomorrow once the sun is up.

23

I got the drum carder out the other day and have been carding and carding and carding. Lots of beautiful batts - one not so beautiful!

Still waiting on the hand cards to arrive from Stephanie in Utah. Not the first time I've had to wait a long time for the postal service to get stuff to me, won't be the last I suppose. She sent them 2 weeks ago Monday . . . hurry up and wait!

Also waiting on my final (November) batt from Loop!. I expect that to arrive today.

Yesterday I received my indigo seeds. I'm really looking forward to growing these and concocting my own dye from the plants!!!!

26

Sleep schedule (or lack thereof) is all screwed up again. I think the seasonal light changes are messing with me as well. Up til super late, slept until 2:55 PM today. Day shot all to hell. Also slept with my left eye partially open (damned thyroid disease!) so I have discomfort and pain due to the dry area.

Finishing up another brimmed hat then I'm going to spin some new batts up for the next one.

27

Two bobbins full of superwash spun thin. I have Eve set up with a bobbin in preparation for plying but I'm thinking that it just might be better if I use the electric instead.

Cast on for another hat with a brim last evening. DD really loves the last one I made for her and I'd like to make some up to sell in our shop. Still need to work on Abby's Porthos - I have the back done and both sleeves on the needles. The front will go pretty quickly. I'll try to work on that this afternoon.

Going to try to get DD up early and HOPE that she doesn't have an attitude today. This self proclaimed adult really needs to get off of her butt and find a job. Sleeping until 2pm every day isn't going to get one. She pissed DH off last evening with her constant comments and complaints about the dogs and whatnot. I heard him mutter that he couldn't wait to get back to work. Only took 2 weeks for her to settle back in and begin irritating us again. I have to remind myself that I'm glad she's home again so I know that she's safe, warm, and eating decent food. Our grocery budget last week was all blown to hell. We sent her shopping for us - she offered to go - and we ended up $275 over budget with all of the goodies and special food items she got for herself.

sigh

28

Missed 29! ;-)

Spinning superwash from Creatively Dyed. Nice easy spinning on Eve, my treadle wheel. I'll be using Aella (electric) to ply I think. Need need need to get photos taken and stuff listed for sale. Thinking of a shop promotion to boost sales. . . buy two rovings or batts and take $2 off of the price of each, buy three take $3 off of the price of each - up to 4 items. That would be a total of $16 off an order. Orders over $50 (after discounts) would ship FREE via priority mail. This is what I'll do but not before I get the stuff listed. I need ... help - motivation - something!!

Forgot to mention, regarding Thanksgiving dinner, the only thing that sucked were the mashed potatoes, and WE brought those. Gawd awwwwful!

30

Donna came and got the silly hamster yesterday, she also brought us 3 bars of her homemade soap! Two are almond and oatmeal, the other is rosemary. They all smell so so good! I used one of the bars of almond in the shower yesterday - aroma therapy while showering! Heaven. :) I sent DD out with a skein of yarn I had spun for Donna to try. Not my best spinning work, but it was a sample.

I received two 8 oz. rovings from Creatively Dyed yesterday. Lightening fast shipping, great roving! Not colors I would normally buy, but by the time I got to her sale most of the stuff was gone. Since I had never purchased from her before I wanted to try something - anything. As it turns out, DD loves the colors, and it is superwash, so it'll make great socks for her. I started spinning some last evening. Spins up easily!

My Elann order also arrived. More great patterns - a Tahki/Stacey Charles pattern collection, the first two issues of R2 magazine, a Rowan magazine and a bag pattern from Just One More Row; six skeins of sport weight Peruvian wool to make fingerless gloves for DD - dark grey, neutral, and black.

Still waiting on the hand cards. I'm hoping they arrive today. I have lots and lots of different types of wool washed up - - - waiting.

The final 31 . . .

. . . days of the year. Damn, where did it go?!?

I'm having limited access to my computer right now since DD has moved back in. If you remember in a summertime post - she took her new laptop to a party and it was stolen, along with my digital camera, which she had borrowed. DH has looked into getting her an old system from a guy he works with so that she won't monopolize mine.

Had to turn the pellet stove off when I got up; just too warm in here. After yesterday's nasty winter storm it is over 50 degrees outside today. Strange weather, as we're becoming used to.

Hamster goes to his new home today. I just can't have a rodent sitting on the kitchen table all of the time. DD hasn't taken him into her room since coming home - I guess she has no place to put him. I can't say I'm sorry to see him go. My dogs are more than enough as far as pets are concerned.

Watched PE Obama's conference this morning. Go, Hillary! I'm very glad that he offered the position in his national security cabinet to her. This man is amazing! He's preparing his entire cabinet prior to officially taking office and they'll all hit the ground running on the day he takes over from our current, pathetically inept "leader".

Fiber related: Working on a hat for DD. I'm using oatmeal ECO Wool. Carded up some stuff. Spun a bit. Washed the remaining Romney up and have some mohair soaking in preparation for washing in a few days.