I Promise I Didn't Go Into Hiding, At Least Intentionally

Well, after a long hiatus of my blog and twitter posting, I'm back. The lack of posting was for good reason, which I will get into later. I didn't intentionally mean to leave any kind of cliffhanger with my last blog either.  For that, I apologize.  I did write the blog and saved the draft but was in a different sort of mood when I went to post it.  It was very cathartic to type out but I guess it was something I wasn't ready to post, yet.  For that I apologize a million times over and I am sure I will share eventually.  For now I promise no more cliffhangers without solid intentions to deliver promptly.

As for the hiatus, the demands of the kids have been crazy.  With my husband's crazy work schedule, an 11 year old, a toddler and a newborn it was impossible for me to find a routine. Especially with the newborn changing to a crawling/almost walking nine month old and the toddler hitting the terrible two's.  On top of that our house was "gifted" many small illnesses that everyone couldn't help consecutively sharing.  The biggest reason for the hiatus is we found out we were expecting...again. Just when I thought I was on top of this routine thingy. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired and sleepy all the time.  All I wanted to do was nap and I never felt rested.

 The thought of having three under three sent us into complete panic mode.  We are feeling extremely blessed and grateful (I have always wanted four children) but quite overwhelemed.  Each stage the children reach we get one of those "can we still keep up with this and have another one" fears. Each time we couldn't prevent a boo-boo or would find crayon mysteriously on the wall it would escalate.  Now the panic has pretty much settled and the excitement has started to set in more.  After having all these boys, it would be nice to have a little girl.  I do have a strong feeling it's a little girl.  I'm not sure if my feelings are correct or in the back of my mind I'm wondering what the odds would be of it being ANOTHER boy.  Trust me, I would be just as excited for a healthy boy.  In a couple weeks time I should know!  I usually find out the sex.  It's still a surprise to me and I can rest assured being a little more prepared.

As far as the spinning, knitting and crocheting goes I have been busy on my downtime!  I have a lot ready to go list in the shop but I'm having a hard time with picture taking anymore.  We don't get very good natural lighting in the house.  I have a tot who loves to be outside and once he's outside it is impossible to get him back in.  So unless I've got everything squared away inside to spend my whole rest of the day outside, I can't get pictures done.  Lately I've set everything needing pictures in a separate area so I can utilize time better and  take a bunch of different things all at once.

Benjamin Green Studio Combs with prime alpaca.
(Notice my redneck spice cap diz?)

Lately I have been taking in a lot more raw wool and fleeces.  After my first Ebay purchase of raw wool, I realized I had been had.  All of my other purchases were no where close to the horror or that first shipment. Since I don't own anything to align the fibers with and a tight budget to do so, I researched the best product for my desired results.  I knew a carding machine was out of the question.  Especially not knowing if I would actually like working with raw wool.  That pretty much left hand combs and hand carders.  I tend to like working with combed wool better than carded wool.  I prefer more of a worsted over a woolen when working with yarn so that's what I wanted to make.  On Etsy I found a beautiful hand comb set through Benjamin Green Studios.  I loved the looks and design of the set and the price was in my budget.  I've been using them for a couple months now and I absolutely love them!  If you're looking for a really fine hand comb, these may not be for you but they hold up to the toughest of wool I have.  Very strong and durable and they look pretty too.  I'm extremely satisfied with the job they do.  He has even provided a youtube video with instructions.  At the time I was unaware that diz's even existed and realized I needed one so I came across a witty idea of using the caps on the little supermarket spice canisters.  For now, they work fine.  My husband is right now in the process of designing a couple and making them for me.  Thanks to the confidence these combs have given me, I have too much raw wool and alpaca fleece now waiting to be washed and combed.  The jacob's wool I mentioned in a previous post wound up under the tree for birds.  I am content to know that I did not give up on it, it's just that it was complete unworkable garbage.

Speaking of garbage, mine needs taken out.  Dinner needs started, floors need swept, yadda yadda.  Hoping everyone is enjoying their evening!

You Can Keep Your Germs, I'll Take Your Socks Though

After a bout of sick kids and a sick dog, I have finally found some time to be back on. After some TLC, a few hundred dollars later (thank you stupid medical insurance) and lots of disinfecting, we are back on track.  Sadly enough, the roughest to care for was the dog.  Although we were up every couple hours making sure Danny got his meds and James got a nebulizer treatment (of course they didn't coincide) the dog was tough. Without getting graphic, he couldn't hold anything in and was not able to make it outside in time.  He had to be crated at night and spent most of the day outside which he hates.  The routine resulted in constant barking and whining.  Constant barking and whining in my opinion is one of the worst forms of torture.  You can't reason with him and tell him he can't enjoy his normal routine because the last thing I need is the kids running through his messes.  Or that I particularly don't enjoy cleaning his messes, especially when the kids are making enough of their own.  He's very old, and very needy.  A giant, stubborn, thick-headed big baby.  He also suffers from some type of entitlement delusion.  He thinks he's the boss.  No matter how many times you try to prove to him that he isn't, he will bark and whine till he can get his way.



Mmmm merino becomes....

 Naptimes around here where when I could finally find some sanity.  I would get my downstairs picked up and work on whatever project I could that is more dangerous or time consuming to have out when the kids are awake.  My favorite would have to be dying and painting roving and yarns.  To me, it's like an addiction.  My methods are not calculated exactly, so it's always a great surprise when I'm finished.  If it's roving,  I find myself extremely antsy to get it on my wheel to find out how it looks.

This.  My Tin Signs Merino

That's also another surprise.  I've found myself with a wonderful braid of roving thinking, "This is going to look amazing."  When it's one the wheel sometimes it doesn't appeal as much to me.  I've had others that I would set aside with no desire to get to my wheel immediately.  A lot of those end up becoming my favorite.  I love the way the colors take shape and compliment each other.  I think that's why I seem to prefer to spin mostly two ply yarns.  It doesn't seem to matter the amount of color you use, or what colors you use together.  When it's plied correctly, it can be wonderful.



This sunny skein!




This mottled hank became...

 

I also love surfing around and checking out other peoples blog for hand dyed roving pictures.  I think it is fascinating to see the roving and then see the spinners final product.  Colors that are extremely unappealing that you would never want to own or pair together find a way to live in perfect harmony with each other.  So, in honor of my addiction, I will share some of my most recent work myself.  Just so you can see how it evolves.  I drive my husband crazy whenever I am working on something and I am running around like an idiot taking lots of pictures.  I always regret when I don't have pictures.  They not only give you a simple satisfaction of watching your own work evolve but it's a handy way to keep reference notes.  It makes every artist more efficient and cuts out a lot of the guesswork. 

This is the yarn I spun from it.  By far my favorite colorway. 

Who would have thought?  A gift for my mom.

 

This is the roving Zeke hand dyed all by himself





 

Very pretty BFL skein



Wonderful BFL



 





 





 





 



 

Handspun waiting to be painted.

Notice my trashed socks from last post

in the background!



Haindpainting the yarn.





Harvest Tomato Hanpainted Yarn









Corridale for socks!

I think since my last post, you got to see me knitting those damn socks.  Well, if you check out one of the pictures of hand painting you can see them in the background.  I gave up on that particular sock officially.  The first pattern I had on it, the further I went the more I wasn't impressed with the pattern itself.  Made the sock start looking generic.  The second pattern I got, it was written out much better.  However, I missed the type of ribbing from the first sock.  So, I plan on combining the two eventually, the top of the first and the bottom of the other to get the sock I want.  In the meantime, I have started a new pair.  I have not taken liberty to take pictures yet but I will once they are done.  I decided to go with a worsted yarn because I wanted more of a house sock, or "footie" as we call.  It's an equivalent of wearing your shoes in the house.  They are coming out beautifully.  Now I feel my sock confidence rising and I am finding myself looking at yarns much differently.  So has my husband...he now despises yarn even more (if it was possible) and hates socks.  I find myself going over everyones socks while I am doing laundry now.  I never paid attention before but now I am amused.  Eventually I will get back to the stripey pair, if I can restrain from buying more yarn and fiber.  I got a new shipment of corridale that I intend on keeping for myself just to make socks.  I always spin two ply but love the way it looks spun single ply.  Being this is only for socks, for myself, I think I will stick to the single ply.



 Well, my small blog break is over.  I wanted to share more but honestly, this auto save stuff is for the birds when you are trying to place your pictures where you want them.  Sorry for the poor layout but my patience are maxed!