TUT Notes

I like to see what the message for the day will be and once in a while it really hits home. Kind of like today's note:

One of life's great ironies, Laura, is that very often the "stuff" you're trying to avoid right now is the same "stuff" you're going to miss most once you move on.

Ha, ha... Oh, my -
The Universe

Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! ® © www.tut.com ®

You know, Laura, like challenges, responsibilities, and boredom. True.

I guess this hits because yesterday morning and this morning we were up wayyyy too early getting one boy off to see his grandma and the other boy off to Youth Conference. Both of the nights before all of us were up wayyyy too late. I know eventually I will miss this hurried 'get you out the door' moments, but for right now I have a headache and it isn't even 8 a.m. yet!

I have spinning progress and even some knitting, but not much. Off to get ready for work. Happy knitting and spinning.

Ten on Tuesday

It has been hard to come up with a topic to write about here, when my spinning and knitting has slowed down. I am still knitting and I just finished plying two different fibers, but haven't taken pictures yet. So I thought I would join the Ten on Tuesday group. At least, that would motivate me to post on Tuesdays.

Today's topic is: Ten ways to Entertain a Child. Taking into account that my baby will be nineteen this year, some of these ideas may not work so well in present day. Also take into account that I only had boys in my house.........

1. Lego's, these would keep the boys entertained for hours and they played with them even into their later teen years. Every once in a while they still play with them even as adults and as fathers.
   
2. Bubbles, especially when they were younger. The boys would chase them for as long as someone would blow them.
3. Puppies/kittens. Boys and animals chasing around the yard, enough said.
4. Dirt. Enough area in the yard that the boys could dig and get as dirty as they wanted. Also a wonderful area to play with........
5. Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars. These went with us everywhere, because it would keep the boys entertained while we were out of the house. A very versatile toy which showed up in their Christmas stockings every year. To go along with the Hot Wheels......
6. A Fabric Town Mat. Ours was made by my mother with customized names for the lakes and schools. It's still around here somewhere just waiting for the grand kids to come visit.
7. Fisher Price towns. We had the school, the A-frame house, the two story house and the barn. The boys would set these up and play for hours. I still have a couple of the buildings and most of the people, animals and cars tucked away waiting for young children to visit our house.
   
8. Coloring books. This worked very well at Church and they usually stayed quiet during the meetings.
9. Bikes. My kids rode all over town and loved to be on their bikes.
10. Paper Airplanes. It's amazing what kind of airplanes the boys would come up with, but you could always count on paper airplane contests to get the boys in a better, more cooperative mood.

It will be interesting to see what else people come up with.

Next time there will be some spinning pictures, until then - Happy knitting and spinning.

Meg's Shawl

It has been a while since I last showed knitting content. I used my favorite quick pattern, the Forest Canopy Shawl.
I used Blue Ridge Yarn fiber in the Rock Climbing color . It doesn't look like they have it listed anymore.
I had four ounces which I spun and two-plied. I think it would have almost looked better Navajo-plied, but I didn't think I would have enough fiber to make the shawl then. I still like how it turned out and I have just a little yarn left to add to my collection of hand-spun leftovers.
It took me about four months to spin the fiber. What can I say, I got bored with it. But once I decided what I was going to do with the fiber the rest of the spinning and plying went very quickly. The knitting only took about two weeks and it was ready when ES left to go to Utah/Idaho for graduations and Arizona for work.

Meg likes the shawl and hopefully she will wear it often. ES told her it wasn't hand-spun, but I called right away and took care of that misconception.

I do have another shawl started, but then I also started a baby afghan for Bug's friend's expected little one due in June.

Happy knitting and spinning.

Left Over Dye

This morning I did an over-dye experiment with a piece of clothing. I had left over dye and couldn't waste it, so I found some white roving and wound it into a ball. I then put it in the dye crock-pot until it took up all the dye. The outside is darker and the inside lighter. I am waiting for it to dry so I can spin it on one of the drop spindles. There isn't much there, only about two ounces. I think I like how it turned out, but will have to wait until it is spun to say for sure.

I am enjoying my day off, in case you can't tell. Happy knitting and spinning.

New Spinning Project

In January I started my own personal fiber club. I have now dug into only the second of seven bags. The second bag contains 4 oz of Lambspun Merino/silk blend which I picked up many years ago. In looking around the stash, I found some of this already spun which I am sure I won't be able to match. My spinning has changed in the ensuing years. The blend I have I picked up when I attended SOAR in 1996 or when I went to the vendors market when it was back at Snowbird or when it was in Park City, I can't remember for sure and I didn't keep any records.

I am not getting enough spinning time. Too much time is taken up by Facebook and playing stupid/entertaining games. I am going to try to cut back on the Facebook time though and do some more spinning. It is time! Our morning routine has changed also and that didn't help.

My knitting project is coming along, slowly. I will take it to knitting group tonight and see how much I can work on it. But then it is the third Wednesday and that means it's spinning night, so who knows if the knitting will get touched tonight.

Well, off to get ready for work and then Knit night. Happy knitting and spinning.

Aunt Gloria's Shawl

I was finally able to get pictures of my aunt in the shawl which Corb was holding up in the last post. Aunt Gloria says she really likes the shawl and has worn it already. It ended up being a good size for her. I am glad she likes it and will use it.


There hasn't been much going on around here besides work, commute, and taking pictures of flowers.

The photo of the plied yarn is the Gale's Art BFL 4ozs that I picked up at the Montpelier Fiber Festival last October. I did mostly a two ply which turned out fairly well, but then I had a little left over which I Navajo plied and I really liked how it turned out. After finishing the plying of it, I wished I had done it all as a Navajo ply and done away with the two ply. But I will put the two ply to use as some type of a shawl for the 10 in 2010 challenge which I am not doing too well on. I do have another shawl on the needles though and it is coming along fairly well.

There has been such beauty around these parts. Everything is blooming and I am have fun taking lots of pictures of the flowers and the contrasts of colors. I am also learning about the setting on my camera and trying to use them a little more.

I have been a little more consistent in attending Wednesday night knit nights and that has helped with renewing my desire to knit more and spin more. I am needing to whittle a little more time from the day for those activities, seeing as how life is changing some around here and the time that used to be there isn't there anymore.

Off to get some things done before church. Have a great week. Happy knitting and spinning.

Shawl One for 2010

I finally listened to my phone messages last night, so know that this shawl has arrived and was well received. I spun this yarn from 8 oz of a discontinued color and fiber from Dianne. I love her fibers and get a new one each time I see her at a fiber fair.

I used Evelyn Clark's book Knitting Lace Triangles to design this shawl. The knitting went really fast. I think it took me only two weeks to knit and that was only knit night and my Nascar race watching knitting at that.

I'm glad that Aunt Gloria will be able to use this shawl and hope she will enjoy it for many years to come. I know it is warm and big enough. I had to try it out before sending it to her. C was even kind enough to hold it up for me one morning. With his dark suit on, you can even see some of the pattern.

Happy knitting and spinning.