Intrepid Fiber Wizard

Bloomed!

A lovely package arrived for me yesterday - from Rachel !
I am thrilled beyond words................. Rachel created these lovely socks completely... and I do mean  completely - she dyed the fiber, spun the yarn, plied the yarn, washed the yarn, created the pattern, and knit the socks.... wow.... I am grateful beyond your wildest imagination.
They are so beautiful (and I've already begged her to publish the pattern.. I want to knit this fun pattern too!) There is a intricate cabled lace pattern up the middle front, and then lace along the top and sides as well. I'm sure that she will be able to do more justice to photographing it and describing it - suffice it to say that they are wonderful - feminine, soft, elegant. (can you tell I love them yet?)

I immediately put those beauties on my feet, despite the rather warm day here, and refused to take them off! They fit me perfectly.. thanks  so much Rachel !
Oh, wait.. yes, there were also other fabulous goodies in the box - A german postcard (Klaus knew exactly where it was - grin) and some great sweet treats (gone now - another grin) AND a skein of her hand dyed sock yarn in color :Watermelon Swirl. The yarn is fabulously dyed. Hop on over to her new shop and buy some! Oh.. you want to see that yarn even closer? You betcha! I can't wait to free up my needles and make some socks with this pretty color.

The socks are taking a stroll through my garden at the office. I couldn't decide which photo I liked best, so you get to see them all .

Thanks again to Amanda for a wonderful swap - Bloomin' Feet has

 

been great fun !

I'm glad that I was part of it.

 

 

 

 

Thanks and many hugs to Rachel for my perfect socks!

 

 

 

Bloomin' Feet Update

It's a glorious spring day here - the sun is shining, the daffodils have begun to bloom, and a few socks are "blooming" too (grin)

As you may have read a few posts earlier, I selected a yarn that I had never used before (and one which we now sell because I like it so much) Angora Valley Fibers - Monarch, colorway Rainier. This is a squishy, springy commercially spun yarn, that has been hand dyed by a friend who lives down the road a piece, not too far from our house.

The pattern I selected is called Tipsey Knitter, from the book Socks, Socks, Socks.
It alternates tilted lace work with a tilted cable. quite fun.

So my initial post for this week was to be showing you this:

and then again this: aren't they sweet?

Yup, I finished one sock - and then somehow got stalled. There was only spinning last weekend, absolutely no knitting. There was dyeing fiber, and spin, spin, spin.

But then.... spring began to arrive here (big smiles) I was a happy girl - and somehow, the knitting rush began. It was a feverish, wonderful spring blooming....

 

                                        so now there is this: two cuffs, filled with cables:  

 

 

                               and this two heels that match pretty well (if I do say so myself) :   

and now this two sets of toes, all kitchener'd up -  Know what it means?

completion! Yipeeeeee - Bloomin' Feet have sprouted and burst into full bloom.

Here they are in all their glory, basking in the semi-shade on the deck. (they really wanted to be in the full sun, but we had a talk about UV-Rays, sunburn and washed out colors.. then they bartered for a spot in the shade (smile) A happy balance was achieved, and they took in a bit of the spring air.

I hope my pal enjoys them. Thanks Amanda, for another fun time!

The socks are Bloomin'

The sun has peeked out for the first time in what feels like weeks - so I thought that I would snap a quick photo of my Bloomin' Feet Sock in progress. Guess what? yup - it's got cables (grin) I'm using a pattern from the books Socks Socks Socks - called Tipsy Knitter, The design was taken from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury of knitting, a pattern called Tilting Ladder. It will most likely turn out to be a slouch sock, as the lace/cable combo doesn't make for a very tight fit.. This particular pattern holds great appeal because I have to pay attention for every single row. The combination of lace with alternating cables shows the yarn quite well - don't  ya think?

I am heading out today to stock up at the grocery store - the weather forecasters are saying that the sun won't last, and that snow levels are dropping. We could be in for another storm (but then again... who knows) Yesterday was full of bizarre changes - from rain to sun, then rain to ice pellets. Temperatures dropping ten degrees in a matter of minutes. Not quite a typical February.
Friday I am going to spend a day of 'girl time' with my oldest daughter in Seattle. It's my birthday. What better way to celebrate than being with one of the very best parts of my life. Although you might think it's impossible, my love for my daughters grows every year. I watch them creating their lives, full of joy and excitement and I could not possibly be more proud. When she asked me what I wanted for my birthday, it was an easy answer.. just to spend time with her.

A Beautiful Gift and Bloomin' Feet

Not too long ago, I was doing my typical late evening stroll through blogland... and I happened to make a comment on a friend's blog. Much to my great surprise, I was her 10,000 th commenter. Can you believe it, ten thousand comments.. now that deserves a big round of applause - way to go Carole! If you have never seen her blog, hop on over there - she's great!

Carole wrote me a wonderful note, and said that I could expect a gift in the near future...... well, it's arrived! Check it out - (and check out the little black ears and big green eyes looking all 'innocent' in the background... )
4 oz. Natural Colored Navajo-Churro roving
some adorable sweeties (seasonally apropos of course)
a fabulous smelling soap called "Happy Together" (which made me giggle, given my current infatuation with 60's songs!)
And a dramatic yarn made of 60/40 mohair-wool in a fabulous natural dye called Charcol.
Carole, thank you  so very much. Your creativity and care in the selection of these luscious goodies has given me a big smile. 10,000 comments - you go girl!

And now - I begin to move my thoughts forward to a sweet new sock swap, run by Amanda - 2007 Bloomin' Feet. I have selected the yarn I will use, since my pal is a 'jewel-tone' kind of gal (so it appears from her blog).
Here it is, in all it's glory - lounging lazily on my window sill - it must be a summer sort of yarn, since it loves the sunlight (and photos so poorly in the shade). It definitely is not shy - as it shouts boldly.. "pick me" from the pile of choices. This nice springy yarn reminds me alot of the BlueMoonFiberArts line - it is a three ply sport weight, and almost springs out of my hand. It's a new line of sock yarns that we are carrying on our website, hand dyed by local artist Pat Fly of Angora Valley Fibers. The colorway is called Rainier.
I haven't yet chosen the pattern I will use. I'm considering "Monkey Socks" or a feather-type pattern, or maybe a cable/rib design... I'll keep you posted.

Neither snow, nor rain, nor sleet...

Our postmaster gets big props today. She drove through snow and an inch of ice packed solid on our back country roads in order to deliver my Yarn Aboard box ! Yipppeeee..

Ferdinand Magellan has landed - and has now become ice bound. He will be delayed a few days from continuing his 'round the world' expedition,  while we pick the ice  off his rudder - and then hopefully be on his way to his next stop. It's been 20 degrees outside here lately - with a wind chill factor that makes it below zero.... (very unusual for this area) and they are predicting yet another huge winter storm tonight..... so this wizard is home spinning :-)
The kitties are enjoying their very first glimpse of snow - and are begging to go out and play (the answer's no)

So here's my goodies.
despite the box having seen better days, everything inside arrived in tact!

Jackie sent such a  lovely assortment of goodies - and she gave incredible attention to detail. It began with a lovely note card and part of a book that she copied for me called Burd  that was written by Stewart Mclean. Apparently, there is a reference in the book to "Cosmic Mother Fu...." that is quite hilarious, since our business is often referred to as CMF - Jackie has translated that now to "Cosmic Mother Fibre".. cute eh?! Even her note to me was a work of art - notice the hand sewn top and the perfect paper crane at the bottom. just lovely.

There was, of course, chocolate (yay) from Canada - Denman Island chocolate. That will be promptly eaten, now that it has been photographed (*grin*)

And just look at these hand made ornaments -the ball is handmade by Jackie - it is called temari. She made it with some left over yarns from silk scarves that she wove. I wonder how she knew that my husband and I love stars! (particularly the 8 pointed ones for me) It is almost too incredible to even photograph. And the origami ornaments are also so dear; a horse and a crane. Truly they will be good luck on our tree.
She also included a "lobster pen" - it's one of those eewwie-goowie rubbery things.. made me laugh. She said "what's a box from the maritimes without a lobster" tee hee.

Okay - now for the fiber.............. tah dah!

Luscious pink and fuschia alpaca roving (8 whole ounces!). I can't wait until my bobbins are empty so that I may spin that into a yarn for a scarf, or maybe even a shawl if I can make it thin enough. I haven't spun much alpaca, so I am totally in awe of this gift.. can't wait. Isn't the color vivid and wonderful?! It is totally me.
Beside the alpaca in the photo is a bag smashed full of silk rags. I have played with these a tiny bit before - flicking them into a dark yarn as I spin. Now I have a whole humongo bunch that I can mess with. wow. they are really fun guys.

And last - but by far NOT least, there is  ..... (drum roll please) Quiviet ! whoa - this stuff is amazing! (and also is one of the very few fibers that we do not (yet) sell. Jackie must have read through every page on our website to find this out (and that's alot of reading!) Not only is it soft, delightful and begging to be spun, but Jackie took the time and care to pick through the entire bundle, removing all the guard hairs - This fiber was scraped from the hide of a musk ox. I think that I shall just sit and gaze at it for a long time before it is spun. My mind is already filled with glorious images of a lacey scarf (once I get brave enough to spin this stuff)

thank you, Jackie. Your attention to detail, the care in fiber selection and your handmade goodies have made my heart sing. Please hop on over to her blog and give her a big round of applause for this wonderful gift to me!

Halloween Surprises

It is always great fun to get packages - especially when they are hand knit gifts. Today brought a perfect gift - Toasty Toes socks from Gracie. Even my kitties were excited when I opened this box of goodies  - they were trying to figure out how to get the wrappers off those sweet tarts. hee hee

The weather turned gnarly last night here, dropping from a previous day's high of 70 degrees, to the mid teens last night. Frost on the windows and all the plants outside makes it the perfect Halloween - and the perfect scene for showing off my new warm tootsies!

Thank you Gracie, for these gorgeous socks. They fit perfectly. And the color is divine. They are beautifully knit as well. I am one lucky sock pal. I am not sure how she got these knit up so fast, given all the other excitment in her life... the baby on the way ! - but I am delighted that she did. Thank you.
She included a bunch of Halloween goodies, and even a teensy Frankenstein finger puppet (which is going to my office for the kids to play with. hah!)

What  a wonderful sock swap. I had a great time - thank you, once again Amanda, for hosting all this fun! I luvs me my new socks!! Yippeee...

Toasty Toes "Sehr Gut"

That translates to ToastyToes - very good !... and all done ! I totally enjoyed knitting this lovely pattern; and despite the tiny nature of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, it was a fairly fast knit.

Here are the specs:

Pattern : Fiber Trends Leaf Lace Sock written by Evelyn Clark
          I love the way Evelyn writes her patterns. They are completely clear, and never ever contain mistakes. The lace is a delight to make - and might have even inspired me to knit a lace shawl.. now that's an accomplishment.
needles: size 1 dpn
yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport - color powder blue
Modifications: I decided that since my Toasty Toes pal is a totally lacey-kind-of-gal, that these socks needed a bit of a more fancy heel. I used the eye of partridge pattern, and followed the directions from Sensational Knitted Socks to pick up the slipped stitches along the side of the heel flap - it involves picking up the inside of the stitch, and knitting through the back. It gives you a delightful twisted edge along the heel.
And of course I couldn't resist trying them on - don't ya know... especially after my initial fiasco yarn that I tried. I just had to make sure that they would hold up to being taken on and off :-)

They are all washed up now, and awaiting a complete dry, then I will pack up the box and add a few goodies. It's hard to wait until the end of the month to send them on their way .
Crossing my fingers in hopes that they fit !
thanks again go out to Amanda for sponsoring yet another totally fun swap. You're the best girl!

A Sea of Grass

Henry the Navigator has braved hills and valleys, crossing the plains , mountains and deserts until finally he sailed in today on a sea of grass !

Immediately upon his arrival, he disembarked and strolled our deck (must have felt familiar to him to have his feet on the wooden planks)... where he promptly stood stunned by the beauty of Mount Rainier.....  at this point, our amazing wanderer dropped to the ground and said glory be, I'm glad I arrived! (ooppsss, actually I think that was me who said that... tee hee)
It's Yarn Aboard... and it's HERE!

Without further ado, may I present.... the stash! Thanks to Ramona, I'm doin' a fine happy dance here! She has treated me to a gorgeous yarn that I have never used before... way to go Ramona!!! Did I mention that I absolutely love it? ! "Appletini" colorway, hand dyed by Scout.
My dear swap pal has given me so many lovely things that I am speechless (well... almost... I can still gush on a little more if you insist!)

Here's a few closeups of some of the goodies that were hidden in the box along with this fabulous yarn:

Organic Gourmet Cocoa   - YUMMMM! (I'm going to make some as soon as I finish this post)

Gardener's Handcare lotion - that is being used as we speak

Taos Sauna  - a fabulous smelling hand made soap that I think I'm taking to my office, so I can use it everyday.

Hand felted button.. wonder what I'm going to sew that on.. don't know, but it'll be special.

Project Cards for spinning and knitting - these are handy little things.. totally clever, on which you can track all the info you wish you would have written down, but forgot to.. no more excuses now :-)

Eco Diary - a sweet journal, with a lovely hand painted  tree on the cover; filled with blank pages. oh, it inspires me to return to my writing..

It is completely clear to me that Ramona took an enormous amount of care with all these delightful gifts. Thank you for this. I love them all.. it's just perfect

And now, since K is heading back out to the post office..... Henry the Navigator has already set sail for deeper seas..... safe journeys!

Toasty Toes Update and a lovely long weekend

Know what this means??? YUP ! Half way through, and no mishaps ~ Hurrah! I have scoured my Toasty Toes swap pal's blog, and come to the determination that she's a "lace" kind of pal, so I decided that a lace sock was in order. I'll reveal the pattern and body of the sock in due time :-)

Want one more peek? Here's the side of the gusset. I'm particularly pleased with this part. I used a technique from Charlene Schurch's book Sensational Knitted Socks. It worked exactly as she described. Yay!

It's been a wonderfully busy weekend ~ my oldest brother came in for a visit from Los Angeles, my daughter Erin had an Art Show in Issaquah, WA , and I finished plying the Twist and Shout Sock Hop Colorway. We are spinning like crazy to re-build our stock and eventually put the yarn up for sale another time.

Here's a few photos from the art show (yes, my daughter Erin is the one with fairy wings!). The town of Issaquah WA had an evening Art Walk, with about 20 artists participating. Many business' opened their shops to show the art. Erin's showing was in the hall of a Kung Fu studio (you might notice some of the martial arts paraphanalia in the background.) The evening was a smashing success - hoards of people came by - and everyone oohed and aahed alot. It was such fun. The contact juggler is Erin's wonderful boyfriend, Sean.

We'll be updating the website soon with all the new sock colorways. Oh and here's some exciting news... as we speak, our webmaster is working on adding a new line of Dicentra Designs Sock yarn in a 50% alpaca - 50% merino. It's gorgeous. (check back in a few days to see all the colorways) Also there will soon be added several Dicentra Designs superwash merino roving to spin. Life is good.

And for those of you who have written and asked me, I still have a few of the knitting/sewing bags that my Mom handmade, for sale. (see the end of my previous post for more information)

I begin again.

Now there have been good days in knitting, and there have been not so good days. My fellow bloggers, you have read the recent tales of both on this "intrepid" blog. Yet even this brave knitter knows when to throw it away and begin anew. I came, I saw, I conquered, I tossed it.

Yup - Toasty Toes sock in colorway Ivory by Fleece Artist is now pushin' up daisies in the town dump. May it bring beautiful blooms.
Let me set the scene prior to last nights firm decision to dump it (yes it truly is gone, so no gnashing of teeth nor begging from any of you sweet friends out there ): I had been knitting between seeing clients in my office - normally I have about 10 minutes to either return phone calls or sit and knit if nothing else beckons....... I was knitting. in fact, comin' down the finish line on the first sock. Toe decreases had begun; counting of stitches had commenced; it was allllllllmost complete... the excitment was growing..... pride filled the air (was that my first clue?)  Finally I got very busy at work and had to set it aside until I got home around 8:00 pm.

With tremendous excitment in the air, I slipped it onto my foot to  brag about  (I mean model) it for my husband.......... oooohhh and aaaahhh's were appropriately voiced (he's a really good enabler and encourager for this knitter!)
then..... I loooked down...... about 1 inch down from the cuff (yes, I knit that part first)  was a hole.... the dreaded hole...the quarter-size gap that seemed to laugh and mock me with it's absurdity.. It did NOT belong there. I did not put it there (yet I needed to reassure myself). sigh. I began to tear back the sock.
it wasn't pretty.
my beautiful "invisible join"  rent asunder.
I kept on pulling the yarn for what felt like hours.
the yarn coiled in wrinkles at my feet.
I got back to the durned 'hole' and examined carefully...... and what did I see????? yarn damage in a big way.... grease rubbed into the yarn (I must not have been looking at my fingers for a few rows while I was knitting.) durn it all.
I had missed this flaw - and it jumped out and bit me! (so glad that it happened to me and not my giftee~ how embarassing that would have been!)

So I then proceeded to turn the remaining ball over and over in my hands. Were there more of the pesky little frayed spots in the ball? un huh... yup... multiple ones.
Looks like this lovely yarn must have gotten snared in an electric  skein winder, and gotten chewed. poop.
An executive decision was made. Not wanting to risk sock holes in a sock that is to be a gift, I decided that rather than 'repair' all the breaks, I would take the hint and:
begin again.
and so tonight, I did just that :-)  Here's a lovely sock start in Lorna's Laces Powder Blue.
P>S> see the nifty little bag? It has made it's appearence in a few earlier photos. My clever Mom handmade this. the little pillow rests on your knee (or the arm of your chair) while you knit, and the bag part holds the ball, extra needles and what have you. It was perfect for knitting while sitting outside on vacation. I just love it! thank you Mom!!! I was trying to convince her to make them and sell them through my blog..... anyone interested?? I might still be able to encourage her to do it... but ssssshhhh, don't tell her I told you! (hee hee, Ilove you Mom)