Time for a change

If you have ever met me, you probably do not know this. Most people are very surprised when they find this out. While I do not allow smoking in my home, I have been one of those nasty ugly smokers for over half of my life. I contribute not smoking in the house and not being a chain smoker to my not reeking of the nasty smell of my addiction.

I pretty much started at the age of 15 in high school. You see, my little home town use to be agriculturally based and the main cash crop was tobacco. Driving around the county one would see fields and fields of tobacco. I have planted it, hung it, stripped it, graded it and well of course smoked it for about 20 years now.

I have come to the decision that I am tired of smoking. So starting Sunday, I am going to quit smoking. And you know what.... I am actually looking forward to it!

Handspun fingerless gloves

Oooh, I love spinning blended silk singles! The last batch I did was using alpaca, firestar, glitz, sari silk and silk hankies and it was devine! Here is how I worked in the hankies. After they are dyed, cut them into quarters and pull them apart with your hands before feeding them into the carder. You are going to want to recard this blend several times to get a good mix. The joy of this prep is that you get some very lovely silky slubs in your yarn. You can see the results in the finished gloves below.



I've got a smidge of the yarn left over some where. If I ever find it, I'll post a pic of that too:)

Another Hmmm.....

I posted this to the spinning group and thought, might as well post it here too. It started because a woman was hurt by her teenage sons dis-respect of her spinning and posted to the group about it. Here is my response. What do you think?...........................................

I like this topic. Mainly because it reminds me of how I was as a teenager. I was angry at the world and not really sure why. My Uncle gave my Mom some very sage advice..... You raised her right. Eventually she will remember that.

That advice was so true! Some times we all need to find our place in the world:)

In my opinion (Lord knows I have enough of them!), there is much wrong with the world right now, I'm surprised our youth are not more messed up than they are. I'm not sure that the movies and television shows really are the problem as they are fiction and meant as entertainment. I blame much of it on the media and their use of 'yellow journalism'. Sensational headlines are head turning, but in truth it is gossip and we as a society become so enthralled by the suffering of others.

The sad thing is that one must read between the lines to find the truth in what the media reports. For example, growing up, the town I live in was small and a wonderful place. Sure we had a few bad eggs that liked to stir up trouble, but for the most part it was a great place to grow up. I remember one day in high school, two boys who had been fast friends became angry with one another and got in a fight. It just so happened that one boy was black and the other white. Well the media in the big town next door got a whiff of it and next thing you know..... News vans were parked on the high school lawn reporting that there was a racially motivated fight that happened.

I often wonder why we don't stand up to things like this. It simply disgusts me that we are afraid to voice the truth, because it is not as interesting or entertaining. It infuriates me to no end that the media is allowed to go on like it does. Creating sensational headlines to gain ratings. Why don't they try to bolster humanities spirit by reporting about the good in the world instead of drug addicted, alcoholic starlets, murder death and decay of the spirit. Why do we allow them to do this to us!

And we wonder why our children are depressed and lash out. Wouldn't you if all you knew of the world was evil and wickedness outside of your small reality? Why must we belittle someone else to feel good about ourselves? You know where hope and help live so does love and compassion and value in ones self. When will we start seeing more of the good in the world?

Hmmmm..... Guess you could say that I am still lashing out a little......lol

Hmmm......

Well, those of us who knit or crochet or weave can say...... We already know that! But for those who don't know, here you go:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Watch CBS Videos Online

The Yard

We have spent the past few days doing quite a bit of yard work. I don't have pictures up of all the work we have done and of course we are no where near finished. But we have a good start going on around the house.

Over the next few weeks, we are planning the following: Till up a garden on the right side of the house for our heirloom tomatos we started back in January. These include but are not limited to: Persimmon, Mr. Stripey, Hawaiian Pineapple, Goliath, Mortgage Lifter, etc. Finish digging out the remainder of the old landscaping and replace with some nice uniform shrubs and trees. Last but not least..... We are wanting to put a larger deck on the back of the house with a smaller patio below for the walk out door of the basement.

You think we might be trying to be a tad over ambitious? LOL

The face pots.

I will not take down my favorite Halloween pumpkin. He's just so cute in a tormented kind of way:)

View of the front porch. The bushes under the three windows will be dug out hopefully this week end to make way for and ever green shrub that will retain some green through the winter. The little red maple use to be on the left corner of the house near where the new tree below is.

New Japanese Maple. Darn if I don't just adore the foliage on these trees!

Mixed pots are so pretty. I think I have had these pots for about 10 years now. Well these and countless others that are in the garage and back yard....lol

Finished

Just a quick blurb on my latest finished project......

This was my second shawl that I made on a borrowed triangle loom. Still needs to be washed and the center bit evened out once I took it off the loom and gave it a flick. So excited to have it finally finished. The first one went to my Granny and she loves hers:)

Close up of design.


The shawl before finishing the fringe and taking off the loom.

Will upload more photos of it once it has been washed and I have decided whether to bead the fringe or not. Still on the fence on this one. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE BEADS? YEAH OR NAY?

More Yarn for Chris's Sister....

I have 3 more balls of 100% handspun alpaca yarn to send off to Chris's sister. I am really looking forward to seeing the finished blanket. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about. Over a year ago, I made a deal with Chris of CRW Alpacas (see link on the right) to spin 1 lb of each of her past and present alpacas into yarn and send that yarn to her sister who will then crochet that yarn into a blanket for Chris.

The top two balls are from Fudge. Fudge has a lovely dark chocolate brown coat with loads of pristine white scattered through out. You can not really see in the second photo, but that one has just a smidgen of white hairs in it as well. The ball on the bottom is Belle's cria fleece and it is absolutely to die for!

I have just washed some more of fudge and this last skein from him will be pure dark chocolate brown. Simply makes me want to munch down on a Hershey's Bar! Yummie

It's Been a While.........

Yes, I know, I'm a bad, bad blogger. But, you see, the story goes something like this..........

In February I helped move the 9-5 job to another town an hour away. Lets just say it was some major heavy machinery in a steel factory and all offices, equipment, etc. They wanted to keep me on, but the drive and a few other serious issues (moral) were getting to me. So I went in two weeks ago today to give them my notice.

Well..... They gave me a raise. I was so disappointed with myself that I went in the next day to quit. Lo and behold.... the owners were not there. The next day(Friday), I was going to quit, but I had to help finish up the trade show set up. So I decided to wait until Monday. They still were not in, so I packed up my stuff and sent them an 'I'm resigning' email.

It was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my back!

Now, I am planning on spending the bulk of my time hand painting fibers! It's a huge leap for me. I still have my part time gigs (property management and helping Mom w/ the shop), but this is my own thing! And I love it!

Granted, dying fibers is not going to pay the bills, which is why I have my Bill and the other jobs:) Right now, I am just hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that it pays for its self. It is just darn right warm and fuzzy to think that I am doing something that is mine, all mine.

Any hows, here are a few of the new items you will see over the next few days at LunabudKnits.

Fingering weight superwash, mohair top and superwash pencil roving.

Left out are: Carbonized Bamboo top and a faux cashmere top that I am eager to discover how well it dyes:)

Custom Order

I simply love custom orders. This one was finished just the other day. 4.7 ounces of my Superwash Merino Lamb's Wool was hand spun for a knitter who loved the colorway, but did not know how to spin. I might just have to whip up some more rainbows for myself....lol

The Top

The single ready to be plied.



The finished Rainbow Yarn:)

My Little helper and other recent pet pictures!

I realized today that I have not posted any updated pics of my roadside kitten, Ace. If you remember way back in Sept. Bill and I found Ace and his brother on the side of the road. Ace weighed about 6-7 ounces and was a lethargic little fluff ball. Here are a few of the back posts: 1st week, introducting, and Funny Ace Pics. Anyhow I haven't posted any recent pictures of Ace. Go check out the '1st week' and 'funny ace pics' after you see the recent pics. My oh my how my little guy has grown! Oh and he's far from being lethargic. Now, he's a little ball of energy!

Ace 2/14/09

As you can see all fiber is kept safe and sound from the little wild man otherwise, he likes to take a nap in it!

Piper right after the ice storm.

Miss Kitty, she is not too keen on the camera or Ace.

Not a good pic, but Piper running in the snow.

Ace and Miss Kitty.  Doesn't Miss Kitty look so enthusiastic!

My Sink:)

Right before writing this and then heading off to bed.  I thought I would like to share with you the joy of my sink.  This shot was taken right before the water is spun out of the yarn and then hung to dry, but I just love the colors my sink gives me.  It is the third rinse so that I can ensure any and all soap and non-absorbed dye are completely removed from the yarn.

FINISHED... FINALLY!

This is a long over due project that was finally finished. Took me way too long, but the results were worth it!

Crocheted Cloche Hat with Knit I-cord Trim

Hand dyed alpaca blended with firestar. Handspun into a fingering weight single then crocheted into the cloche hat. White knit I-cord trim is hand blended merino/silk and also spun as fingering weight thick and thin.

Ta-dah! Finished Finally!