A match made in heaven!

I love my Matchless.
This has to be the most beautiful yarn I have made to date.

This is 50% Blue-faced Leicester and 50% silk fiber from Julie Spins.  The original braid looks like this:

Five ounces of gradient dyed beauty.  I simply split the braid lengthwise and spun it worsted.  I spun the singles with the Scotch tension on the Matchless, but plied using the Double Drive feature.  The result is a two-ply, light fingering weight yarn, about 18 wraps per inch gradient yarn.  I got an amazing 600 yards out of this.  I think it is the high silk content that contributed to the high yardage.

It is so pretty.

I love BFL.
I love the Matchless.
I could not get enough of this!

It could have been a dandelion

I would have been equally happy knowing I am loved.

Here comes number two

Second pair of socks done!

These are the biggest socks ever!  They were made for Geo, who is 6-3 and wears size 12 shoes.  I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn I opted for black heels and toes.  Good thing I did because I would not have had enough yarn otherwise.  Finished and delivered to the birthday boy on Superbowl Sunday.

Onto pair number three:

 
These are for Geo's little sister Callie, who is not small either.  Well, these are being knitted from Wollmeise which is over 500 yards in a skein so I should have plenty of yarn. 

It is only February and I am on socks #3.  However, I haven't got a pair to keep  yet!  Everybody and his brother is asking for socks!

In the meantime I am spinning up an absolutely gorgeous 50 % BFL (blue-faced Leicester) and 50% silk fiber from Juliespins.  The colorway is Ice Eyes.

 I have two 5-oz braids of this beauty, but one should be enough for a good sized shawl.  I am spinning it on my new Sidekick. 

Did I tell you about my new Sidekick?

The latest folding, traveling wheel from the Schacht company.  She weighs only 13 pounds and folds up to fit in the overhead compartment of a Boeing.  Not that I plan to haul her anywhere except for the spinning open house at Uniquities.    In fact I love it so much that two weeks after I bought her I sold by Aura back to the shop and bought her bigger sister, the very aptly named Matchless.  Now I have the dynamic duo!

Just need more hours in the day to spin!  :-)

Where are the kittens?

Cause here are more mittens!

Mitten number two.  Wheel-spun leftover yarn from a BLF/silk braid from Bee Mice Elf (pronounced:  "Be myself").

And then there are three.

Mitten three was spindle-spun!  Yeah!!  Merino/silk from Fluff Fibers.
I am on a roll.  And I almost finished socks #2 too.  And it's not even February yet.

Spindling fun

One of my new year's spinning/knitting resolutions is that I am determined to become proficient in spindling.  Unlike most spinners, I did not start with a spindle but jumped right on to the wheel.I decided I would try spindling during last year's Tour de Fleece and got bit by the spindle bug --  mostly in collecting the spindles.  This year,however, I am determined to put them to use.

Two events helped reallized this.  The first one is the "monthly spinning club" on the Spindle Candy group on Ravelry.  You pick a fiber, a spindle, set to work and post your picture on the group thread.  The second one is that my Snobby Spinners group on Ravelry has launched a "handspun smitten mittens swap."  These miniatures mittens are based on a free pattern "Smitten" on the Knitpicks website.   Each mitten only takes about 20 feet of yarn.  I figured this would be perfect for leftover handspun scraps and, more importantly, practicing my spindling!  I only need  to start small and got almost an instant gratification that would encourage me on.

The first spindling  was done in a couple of days.

Less than an ounce of merino/camel/silk batt from Corgi Hill Farm was spun on a Bosworth Midi, Mini and a Golding spindles.  The three singles were plied on my brand new Schacht Matchless Wheel.

I was surprised how much yarn I got - almost 50 yards, three-ply, light-worsted weight.  And here is the first mitten:

I have enough yarn left for another mitten.   We are supposed to knit one mitten a week, to have enough to exchange in the fall to make a holiday garland.  At the rate I am going I could have several garlands.

12 in 2012

A tall order?  Maybe not

Almost everybody does it.  Almost nobody follows it through.

The New Year Resolutions, that is.

But I am not resolving to lose weight.  Nor to eat right.  Nor to exercise.  I am already good with that.  I am not going to stop buying yarn or fiber either.

We are talking spinning and knitting folks.  All things woolly and wonderful.

Here are the goals:

Twelve pairs of socks;

Twelve handspun items:  spun and knitted, at least one spindle-spun.

Spindle every day!

Finish 12 WIPs (works in progress), including at least one sweater on the needles for two years now.  Shame on me!

Get rid of the yarn I no longer like or want.  Sell it or give it away.  Get in out of the house.

Tall order?  Maybe, maybe not.  We'll see.  I am off on a good start though.

The first pair of socks are already in the bag.  Actually given away.

BFF Ann's Pittsburgh Steelers socks.  Well they may look more like bumblebees, but I finished them in time for the Steelers play-off.  They lost, but that was not the point.  So that's one pair of socks down, eleven to go.


I also have one handspun item in the bag too!

Icy Honeycomb Cowl, test-knitted for a fellow snobby spinner on Ravelry.

Not bad for a start, eh?  And we are not even half way through January yet!

I'm not the only one!

Squirrel lovers of the world, unite!


Watch Christian Videos and Read the Online Bible at GodVine.com

Let it snow!

We had our first snow of 2012 yesterday. Not much, but still it was pretty.


Nutty didn't mind. He kept munching away.


But Nibbler says: "I am staying in where it's dry!"

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Have a nutty Christmas!

Happy Holidays from the Maury Road Gang!

Nutty, Nibbler, Hoppers and Scampers

You know you are loved when...

These were delivered to your office on your third anniversary.

BOO!

Happy Halloween

Yum!

I really like it here.

Chow time

Eat...Drink ...
and be merry!
Life is good around here!

A pre-emptive strike

The coyote came back for a second day. He definitely was stalking my squirrels.

I am having none of this. It's time to take a preventative, pre-emptive measure.

We built two "sky cafes" for the squirrels.

We put them about five feet off the ground, too high for the predators to reach but low enough for easy refill.

Nibbler obviously appreciates it!

The things you do for your animals!

Too Close for Comfort

It was about two in the afternoon when I looked out my kitchen window and saw this:

At first I thought it was a fox, but foxes have bushy tails and are much smaller.

The neighbors confirmed it: a coyote.

In my backyard.

I called animal control who told me to keep an eye on him. They don't respond to just a "wildlife call," but if the animal appears to be injured or rabid they will come take care of it.

Usually such animals are nocturnal so when they are out in daylight it usually means they are injured or rabid. Not a good news.

I am keep an eye on my backyard. And hope the squirrels stay up in their house.

Simple math

This works.

Earlier this week I forgot my breakfast so I went down to a McDonald's and got an oatmeal and a hash brown. $3.25.

I normally bring breakfasts and lunches to work. A two six-pack of bagels or muffins at Costco cost seven dollars.

I did some quick calculation. One work week of McD's = $16.25. One month would be $65.

Twenty-four bagels from Costco costs $14.

That's $51 savings.
This is definitely an "Aha!" moment, because that's a Glindle!

This is my mohogany Russian-style support spindle with cobalt accent. I am still learning to spindle on a support spindle, so it helps to have the right tool.

Now a Cobb salad at Quizno's costs $8. That's $40 a week, $160 a month.

My lunch is usually leftovers from dinner the previous night.

Yippee!

Here is a reversible top/bottom spiral spindle from Malcolm Fielding from Australia:
And another reversible from Grizzly Mountain Arts:

I like math.

A weekend to remember

September 10th was Carl's birthday. We went on a tour of the Potomac River on the restored 105-year-old skipjack Minnie V. The Minnie V was originally an oyster-dredging boat built in 1906. There are fewer a 100 skipjacks left in the world and only two working as an oyster boat in the Chesapeake Bay.

The weather was nice after the week of drenching rain. The sail went up and we cruised along the Potomac for an hour and a half.

I want a boat! Well, probably not a 105-year-old sailboat with no engine, but nothing beats bing on the water with a gentle breeze on your face...

It was such a simple, enjoyable afternoon.

Sunday was another story altogether.

I went to my first NFL game. Baltimore Ravens vs Pittsburgh Steelers at the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

It was quite an experience. And being the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, there were moments to remember too.

Well I could not bring my knitting in (too big a bag and needles). I know next to nothing about football. It was first so hot we all got sunburned, then we were drenched by the rain. We were rooting for the Steelers who had the worst performance ever and were trounced.

We had a blast!

It was the funnest weekend ever!

Confession

I think I have an addiction problem here:

And it is growing....

A different eye candy

Looks just like my Runty (sniff!)

http://www.wimp.com/catdolphins/