Queueing up Projects for the summer

As I prepare for departure to my summer digs, I have fight this great fear of not having enough projects with me to knit.  God forbid!  I know, I know, I could buy something, but this year I am promising myself to use my handspun and knit up lovelies from this.  It's a bit of a trick to have the right yardage for the right project as I can't just go "buy" an extra skein or two.  With the help of my Wednesday spinning buddies I have lined up three more possibilities from Ravelry.  Beth, the forever librarian was a huge help on this.
I have some bulky handspun in apple greens, taupe and rust tones that I think this "Faraway, So Close" shawl will work with.  It's on #10 needles or so and has interesting patterns and waves in it.

Faraway, so Close

BFL hand spun plied with apple green merino

 Then for some sport weight to fingering weight hand spun I think I will do this charming Pamuya shawl:

 

BFL Handspun plied with aqua merino

 

Pamuya

Another choice would be for a rectangular shawl, this Fleece shawl should truly challenge my lace knitting skills.  I will be texting my mentors a lot on this one.

 This one is done by elsbethr on ravelry.  I think it is stunning.  Still deciding on the yarn for this one.

Back in the Blogasphere, Finally

I have seriously neglected this space.  I love blogging, so I am at a loss as to why I have avoided writing and posting here.  I have had an exciting and full spring with lots of fiber fun, family and some travel.

Two weeks ago I flew to Baltimore for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, which is purported to be the largest of it's kind in the country.  What a blast!  Hard to see the whole thing in a day.  I went with two fiber friends so it was a party.  I loved seeing Lexi Boerger of Pluckyfluff fame.  She was there selling the new Majacraft wheel, Aura, and just generally being here warm, welcoming self.

The Aura

One of these came to my house in March.  What a wheel.   I love all the possibilities for art yarn.

the RoadBug

Sunday, my friend, Terri, and I were sorely tempted by the Merlintree RoadBug spinning wheel.  Such a cute, functional, truly portable wheel, that will truly fit in the overhead bin of an airplane.  I am now lurking in their Ravelry group.  I mean, I had to walk away for a minute, or I would have handed the man my credit card and run with my new little wheel.  But, since I have a gorgeous new Aura wheel,  I don't think I can justify it right now.   Maybe next month!  I am so bad.  You can get it with a colored wheel; pink, purple or teal.

Back here at home, I have been dyeing scads of roving to have in my inventory this summer along with mohair locks, mulberry silk, Firestar.  I have introduced Art Yarn Spinning-with-locks kits to the shop.  These have been a hit.  I love spinning art yarns so it seemed natural to share the fun.

Tide Pool Art Yarn Spinning-with-locks Kit

I also am carding art batts with new ease on my Big Tom electric carder.   Friend Mary enabled this acquisition by saying I was going to have shoulder problems with my manual carders.  Well, we can't have that!  So I sold my Fancy Kitty carder to friend Terri.  Saved her having to buy one off of Ravelry.

The Blues Artsy Batt

Toast and Marmalade Artsy Batt

The Louet Classic carder is packed up to ship to my summer address so I can feed my fiber frenzies while I am there.  An Ashford Traditional wheel already lives there along with a bulky flyer for art yarns.  I am set.

Writing again feels good.  Now I need to get that sketching journal cranked up again.  The fun never ends.  Life is good.

More on-line Addictions

As if Facebook, Ravelry, and even my Google Reader, don't suck up time, now on-line bargains hit my inbox every day with super deals.  Who else is hooked on Groupon, Living Social, Haute Look, Rue La La, Zulily and Gilt Groupe?  These hit my inbox daily with temptations. And, Yes, I have succumbed mightly.   I have gotten coupons for piles of gourmet cupcakes, sloppy decadent burgers, now two movie tickets, a trip to Amazon's store, puzzles from Barnes and Noble.  I'm heading to Redenta's for organic gardening supplies.  What's not to love about getting half off on compost? Those are some of the coupons.

I will just confess the most ridiculous first:  Not one, but two Pillow Pets for the kids' guest room here at my house.  Not saying that they wouldn't be great pillows for occasion "Mimi" naps on the sofa.  Trinket is pretty sure I have lost my mind.

Plenty of other merchandise has tempted me.  I just opened a big box from Rue La La with a new Victorinox suitcase.  Thought I would go with a color this time so I can fine it easily on the baggage carousel.  Green is nice, don't your think?

Some things you  have to buy quickly as they sell out.  Snagged my mighty little Cusinart electric handmixer as soon as the sale opened. It sold out within an hour.  Whew.  I, of course, desperately needed it.

Speaking of grandkids,  there is a whole other justification.   Hip boy clothes for Charley with roller blades, dragons and superheros in cool graphics are his taste.  Got some loafers cum driving shoes for soon-to-be eight-year-old Zoe.  Who knew those would come back around.  I love KissyKissy baby clothes.  Those showed up when I needed a new baby boy gift.  Bang!  I scored those quickly.

So far, only two things disappointed me.  Two Furla faux reptile skin handbags just didn't meet my quality control.  I swallowed the return shipping and will await a credit on that.

Now, since I have bared my retail soul, who else out there has falling down this dreadful rabbit hole?  Please, make me feel better and let me know.

Out of the Box

(Disclaimer:  this is a totally fiber geek post.  Just a warning.)
Yes, Pluckyfluff workshop this weekend put my brain on "explode" with new ideas, techniques, and color possibilities.  Lexi Boerger came to town to inspire eighteen or so of us for two full days at The Shabby Sheep shop in Uptown.
This tumble of crazy skeins is my source of new inspiration.  First we carded crazy batts by NOT planning a thing, grabbing colors and sparkle unfamilar to sandwich in between layers of lightly drafted roving.

Then we spun it into skeins that express the wild abandon of the whole thing.  If that wasn't enough, we then Navajo-plied the lumpy bumpy skein for this result below.  Note:  The batt above was not the start of this skein.  I'm not that organized.

 The next favorite thing I learned was core spinning.  I so want to master this but I am not a natural.  It will take time in the chair.  This was core spun and then that core spun again around a thin strand of commercial mohair.  This little skein has lots of "energy".  That's Lexi's deplomatic way of saying "over twist".

 The batt below sits on my studio work table asking me to spin it into a core spun piece.  I just have to get up my nerve for that humbling experience again.
My carder is all clamped back down on the table just waiting for me to toss crazy materials into it's coarse teeth.  This week should be fun.

On the porch : Puzzles and presents

Packages!  Who doesn't love finding packages on the porch?  I shop compulsively on-line and cannot always keep track of what's coming when.    Well, Saturday a.m. I headed out to grab the paper off the driveway and there they were!  Two boxes from UPS.  One was a total surprise.   My Michigan buddy, Judy, sent me goodies from our favorite bakery in Petoskey:  their decadent granola and a little bonus bag of biscotti.  Yum!  That granola is good just as a grab-a-handful snack before it ever gets in a bowl with milk.  Judy arrives today for a week of crazy fun.   She gets to help me whittle this tub of sin down a bit.

Do you like puzzles?  Our family loves them.  I've had one out on my big square coffee table most of the winter.   The whole crew comes over most Sundays for supper.  The puzzle is magnetic.  We all end up there visiting and solving.  The other porch box had these two 500 piece puzzles that I ordered from Amazon with a Groupon coupon.  Groupon, Zulily, Living Social, all those on-line discount deals are a new deadly obsession, but that's another blog.  I'll let the crew decide which one we do first.

This could be the sentimental favorite.  "Say Cheese"!

Edgy!  Yeppers, got this one as a funky homage to Valentine's Day.  I might want to insist on it as being first.
Tell me what you think about puzzles?  We really prefer 500 pieces to the huge 1000 piece ones unless we have two weeks of blissful vacation in my Weque place.  The kids can do 150 piece ones, especially if they are Disney related.

P. S.:  This just in---Judy called and has the flu.  She has had to cancel the trip. We are so disappointed.  Get well, girlfriend. 

Storm Retrospective

Dallas has endured a week of the coldest temperatures in years accompanied by treacherous ice that immobilized the city and the a combo of snow and ice that applied the coup d' grace ( or Ice??). 
My little lake actually froze.

Can you see it through the trees?

Schools were closed for a record 4 days sending mothers into bouts of insanity and desperate searches for yet more videos and movies for the kiddos.  My kids and grandkids migrated here on Thursday.  We slid up to Starbucks and the donut shop, then brought the yumminess home as both establishments were packed with desperate cabin fever victims.  There is some complaint from my kin that I keep my house too cold.  Witness the bundle-upness of these sissies.  I think Zoe is under the lavender blanket. Charley ate is Yogurt-and-honey in his parka.

The Super Bowl is today, finally.  Poor Jerry Jones couldn't have had a worse nightmare that this horrid weather and the accompanying bad press.  Businesses who anticipated record revenues have big losses as the city was immobilized.  Here by the lake, though,  it's been a week of super contentment time. Homebodies love this stuff.

Shallow Gal

If my TV viewing is good, I am good.  Shallow, huh?  I have subscribed to DirecTV for thirteen years but have been hearing the siren call of AT&T Uverse for about a year from my kids and neighbors.  Two weeks ago I got on line, worked with on-line chat guy and signed up.  He/she patiently took over an hour with all my senior lady questions such as "will my internet speed be really that much faster?  The ad says so".  "Will I be able to truly have five TV's that are all watching something different?" These are all "duh" questions but he/she patiently answer them and then stayed with me until I completed the order.  Again, "duh".  They want the $$.
Anyway, install was done yesterday with a timely technician even with Dallas's dicey, icy streets.  Big ole bubba of a guy just methodically lumbered around my house for 5-6 hours setting everything up.  And I LOVE IT!
Here is the detris of DirectV:

 My goodness, that is a ridiculous amount of remotes.  I think I will harvest the batteries.  That sounds like organ transplanting:
. .. Sorry.

Bye, bye clunky DVRs.  I have turned my back on you.  I am swooning over the user-friendly, smaller remotes and tidy little receivers for U-Verse.  I am amazed that I am actually liking an AT&T product.  Again, with the shallow thing.

Now if you get stuck in the house long enough, and you are me who hates, hates paperwork, bills and taxes you finally are faced with this:

I spent three hours on this mess yesterday waiting for my Shrek-sized AT&T tech.  Silly me has no "after" photo.  Shallow me hates the mature approach to business and paper work.  Give me a dye pot or drum carder or spinning wheel any day.