Posted by: Mare F | September 10, 2012

A little bit of everything

Of late I haven’t been very good about keeping up with my blog. It’s been such a busy summer that I really can’t believe that it’s almost over. I’ve been trying to catch up with my yard work after the fifth hottest summer on record and it still feels like a losing battle. My beds are a mess and my grass is growing at an alarming rate. On the plus side it appears that we may be done with the hot, humid weather for this year so I am really looking forward to getting my yard work done and actually enjoying the time spent outside.

Next up, while still trying to work out of my stash, I finally found a use for the soy/wool blend that was too thick for scarves and hats. With the interesting colors I decided to try some bags and the resulting totes were quite fun, I thought. I look forward to seeing how they go at the fair I’m working next week at our high school. It should be interesting. I have the first on listed at my studio http://www.artfire.com/users/InquisitiveFelines and I hope to have the rest listed by the end of the week. I’m trying to catch some sunshine to photograph them to really show the colors.

So this is where I’m at right now and, truly, I hope to be better about my blogs. I love chatting with you all and I especially like to hear what everyone is making and where they are going. I hope everyone has a nice week and that you get to spend at least a little time doing what you love.

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Posted in Craft fairs/shows, Crocheting, Gardening, yarns | Tags: ,

Posted by: Mare F | August 24, 2012

Lacking color

Last weekend didn’t work out as I planned it at all. While I did get quite a lot done none of it involved dyes or dye stuff. I spend the time washing fleece. It takes a while to do that and my arms were talking to me right up until Tuesday about all of the holding up of wet bags of fleece that they did. There are only so many ways that I have found to drain the wash and rinse waters out of the mesh bags and apparently I should be doing it more often. I’ll have to work on that one. My arms are happily agreeing.

This was its first day here, not this past weekend happily otherwise I’d be farther behind myself than I am at present. There really is something, though, to seeing the wool clean up and feel the change in the texture once some of the lanolin is removed. Oh, and it doesn’t smell quite so much like sheep in the mud room anymore. It’s a good thing my significant other has a sense of humor.

This will be the first of wool that I will have processed from fleece to final project and I’m rather excited about it.  I think it whistles and whispers to me occasionally because I find myself standing by the basket when I was headed in a totally different direction. This could become problematic, but for now I’ll just take it in stride and see how it works out. I also have some spun yarn – not my spinning yet – to add to the dyeing pile. This will make some wonderful hats, I think, and I can’t decide if I should just color like a crazy person – taking notes all the while – or begin very methodically with a plan. Never having done this I know that there will be OMG moments, but I’m having trouble deciding which side of my brain to let take the lead. Any suggestions on this one?

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Posted by: Mare F | August 18, 2012

Weekend project

The heat and humidity have finally abated, at least for a couple of days, and I’m looking forward to dyeing some yarn this weekend. Last week I purchased 3 cones of boucle yarn from a lys at their going out of business sale. I am sad to see this happen, there is just something about being able to walk into a shop and feel the different textures, but I can’t complain about the prices I paid for the white yarn that will now become the basis of my first dyeing experiments.

So, after I spend some time reading the Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece book by Gail Callahan I will begin turning these cones into skeins so that the fun can start. Last week my alum came in the mail, I have Kool-Aid in various unsweetened flavors, a Jacquard starter kit, black walnuts, lichen, birch bark, marigolds and red cabbage in the garden so I should be able to find colors with which to work. Right now my head is swimming a bit because I’m not sure where to start first, but I suspect that there will be some rather unique shawlettes entering my studio at ArtFire in the near future. The first hurdle I see is measuring the yarns so that I’ll know how much I have to work with of any one finished colorway. I think that my clock reel winder will come in handy.

Will you be experimenting with your craft this weekend?

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Posted by: Mare F | August 2, 2012

What color is in your yarn basket this week?

I’ve been looking through my yarns again. I did fairly well the beginning of the year working out of my stash, but then came the Shop Hop and it started to spiral downward. WEBS got in more of the luscious Saffron Manos cotton that I bought in June so of course I had to order more so I could make myself something truly special out of it.

Then came the closing sale of a local yarn shop. I went in with all good intentions of just getting sizes 1 and 0 double-pointed needles to make my socks. I was sooooo close to the counter when this amazing yarn called out my name, really, I swear it did, it called my name.

Now tell me you could have walked away from this yarn. Really? So last weekend, when I couldn’t make a decision on anything and decided to spend the rainy weekend watching mysteries and rolling yarn I dug into one of the baskets of yarn that I received from the Vo-Ag dept in June.  Several times since I brought the yarn home I had a stroke of brilliance on a project for it only to be deterred by the necessity of rolling it into a ball. So that was how I spend a good portion of this past weekend.  What does your yarn basket look like this week?

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Posted in Fiber trips., General, Organizing, yarns

Posted by: Mare F | July 11, 2012

Camping or not

It would appear that due to unforeseen circumstances I won’t be going camping at Lake George, NY this year. It’s a bit sad, but inevitable due to work issues so I will just revamp my plans for the coming weekend. I’d been trying to decide which acrylic project to start for this trip…picking pine needles out of knitting is not a good time nor is trying to follow a pattern by a  camp light. As an added bonus it’s always rained so my pattern would become damp and my scratch marks would begin to run. Hmmm, maybe sitting on the deck with my current project won’t be such a bad thing?

This would be the perfect opportunity to start a cabled scarf. It’s been too long since I’ve worked a cable and since I can work with some of the wonderful yarns I purchased on the Shop Hop – I can move inside if it rains to my dry livingroom – I think this should be my plan. I have a lovely tan yarn that I will be able to see the stitches in and plenty of peace in which to reacquaint myself with my cable holder.

We will be attending a graduation party on Saturday so it would probably be wise of me to choose a less taxing project to take with me…perhaps I’ll start the baby bib and washcloth sets I’ve had in mind. Those certainly need to be washed so working on them at an outdoor party shouldn’t be a hardship. Then perhaps I will do some more work in my garden beds. Slowly but surely they are getting to where I want them to be. Next year I should be able to plant lots of dye plants in the front bed. Won’t that be fun?

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Posted by: Mare F | July 8, 2012

I-91 Shop Hop 2012 – part 2

One of the best things about going on the Shop Hop was meeting the wonderful people who were working and fellow shoppers. At Metaphor Yarns in Shelburne Falls, Ma we were shown how to weave our ends in as we knitted a two color hat. I had restricted my two color projects to crocheting for many years because I just didn’t like the carry yarns on the inside of my knitted projects. With some practice I should be able to work through the three free patterns we were given – a hat, mittens, and fingerless mitts – and finally be able to knit multi-color items. I’m very excited about this as I’ve had fingerless mitts in mind for my studio for quite some time. This delightful woman, and I’m truly ashamed of myself for not asking her name – I’m afraid I was much like a small child in a candy shop that day – had 2 hats started so that we could be certain that we understood the process before we left. I think I could have stayed in that shop for quite some time if we hadn’t been on a schedule.

Last night I managed to finish the cotton vest I’ve been knitting, and unknitting, for a couple of weeks now. I think that my incentive was to finish it so I could put one of the cool buttons I bought at Green Mountain Spinnery on it. I actually did have the vest in mind when I bought the large wooden button, but the others are for projects not yet chosen. We will see how that goes.

Now if I can only find my sewing needles and thread I’ll be all set. It shows just how often I sew that it has vanished into the “safe place” in our home. Personally I convinced that the safe place is a 10′ x 10′ room without a door and all of my missing, or things I put away so that I could easily find them, are residing there. I could swear I brought my little sewing kit downstairs because that is where I do most of my repairs and creative things, but though I’ve searched and searched it still hasn’t shown up. Do you have  a place like this in your home?

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Posted in Crocheting, Fiber trips., General, Knitting, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by: Mare F | July 5, 2012

The I-91 Shop Hop – Part 1

I have been away from my blog more than I have been at it lately and that comes of all of the outside yard work, end of school craziness at work, and just plain falling off of my schedule. I’m going to have to put sticky notes up everywhere to get myself back on track. Let’s hope that it works.

Last weekend a good friend and I took up the challenge of the 2012 I-91 Shop Hop. This is the event’s second year and I’m very sorry that I missed it’s first year. In short we had a blast. This event is comprised of 11 yarn shops ranging from Putney, Vermont to Branford, CT and it ran Friday, June 29th through Sunday, July 1st. All of the shops coordinated their hours for all 3 days so that it would be easier for all of the slightly askew people who chose to do the entire run. We were two of them.

The Green Mountain Spinnery in Putney, Vt was our first stop on Friday morning. It’s about a 2 hour trip from our homes in northwest CT and it was sunny, warm, and humid when we started out. The shaded driveway and parking lot were very welcoming after our jaunt up I-91 and  the inside was even more of a treat. We were given a tour of the spinning process which was a lot of fun for me with my home spinning system. The gentleman who gave us the tour was knowledgable and delightful. I believe a good time was had by all. I bought some lovely buttons made of horn, wood, and nutshells and a Wild Fiber magazine. I could have gone absolutely crazy with their yarns, but I was on a budget and still had 10 shops to go. Plus I am trying to buy yarn with a specific project in mind, not just an “ooohhh, cool yarn” purchase. I have several of those looking for a pattern.

We finished up in Avon, CT at Yarnover Avon on Saturday evening where I purchased a wonderful book on wraps and a couple of older Interweave knitting magazines.  The yarn bombing out front was delightful and made a pair of weary fiber travelers smile when we reached it. The people in the shop were helpful and charming.  We will certainly be going back there again before next year’s Shop Hop. This is my haul from the first day and I will post more of this wonderful trip on my next blog.  Have you ever done anything like this?

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Posted by: Mare F | June 14, 2012

Wonderful friends and co-workers

Wonderful friends and co-workers.

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Posted by: Mare F | June 14, 2012

Wonderful friends and co-workers

I’ve let time slip away from me and I really need to get a handle on it. A week ago this past Friday the vo-ag department at school had their awards ceremony. I had intended to go, but instead I gave into a miserable sinus headache and I will regret this for some time to come…I think. I found out the following week that they had honored me at this ceremony for helping them with the A/V equipment they use (my job!) and judging some of their programs (so not work to me!) Not only did they say many kind things about me but they gave me a huge basket of their yarn!!!! Over the past 4 years I have steadily purchased their yarns and made them into market bags and hats.This is yarn that was spun from sheep that the vo-ag program raised and it just tickles me to be able to pop over on my lunch break to take advantage of their stock. To receive the basket of yarn (at home I divided it into 2 baskets) makes me teary eyed every time I think of it.

I would like to say here that I have enjoyed myself with our ag teachers and staff. They have a deliciously wicked sense of humor and really aren’t afraid to use it. Our timing is such that one of us always seems to be able to diffuse or amuse the others when necessary and the collective know-how is wonderful. I am not only humbled by their physical generosity, but their emotional generosity as well and I can’t imagine working anywhere else.

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Posted by: Mare F | June 7, 2012

Busy, busy, busy

Time is just flying by  me and waving while it’s passing. This time of year is always hectic, but it seems more so to me right now. Maybe it’s because I’ve so many things going on. Our knitting group is mostly up and running with two sessions twice a month. We are meeting every other Thursday morning and every other Wednesday night in the public meeting room of our local library. This is the end of our fourth week and all seems to be going well, but I still have some paperwork to finish up and get into the mail. I’ve already learned some wonderful things from the people I’m meeting with and I really look forward to our future sessions together.

My garden is taking up a good deal of my time now also. Usually, once it’s planted and mulched I don’t really have a lot to do until we start harvesting vegetables and putting up the surplus, but this year I have 2 more beds than last year and I really want to put in plants that I can use to dye wool in the fall. I only have red cabbage and Marigolds in with my peppers right now, and those I planted when I put in the vegetables. I still need to shop for the plants to put into the other two beds. Oddly enough, I’m also hoping that 4 of the plants in the back of the yard are milk weed because I’ve read that you can spin it – I’m sure I’ll need more than the 4 plants worth – but I would like to give it a try. Plus, if they are milkweed then I can be sure that I know what they look like so I can scarf them up from the side of the road.

I’ve also been fortifying the perimeter of my garden to keep the woodchuck from going after my broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and cabbage. The past three years the darling critter has managed to get past they pellets and other deterrents I’ve used to eat these vegetables down to a nubbin. Well, that will NOT happen this year. I have a temporary enclosure set up for now after spotting him peering through my asparagus stalks a couple of nights ago, but that will change this weekend. My neighbor is giving me fencing that was on her property when she bought her house so I can fully enclose the garden and also make it a bit more attractive. Let’s hope that the woodchuck doesn’t decide that my flowers are yummy also! What do you have going on in your yard now?

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Posted in Dyes, Gardening, General, Knitting, Plants | Tags: , , ,

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