Fiberjoy

It’s sobering to realize that 20 days have passed since the last posting. Too many project deadlines invading my regular evening computer time.

The tencel/merino spun up beautifully.

50/50 Merino/Tencel from Crown Mountain Farms, Chasing Rainbow dye, colorway Madrona (I think. The tag is long missing)
2 ounces = 160 yards
16 WPI

This has been measured out and sleyed, meaning that I’ve threaded it through the reed which is a device on a loom resembling a comb and used to space warp yarns evenly. (Someday a post will be devoted to weaving and the various terms.)

I had planned to weave the entire vest with the corriedale/camel yarn with random streaks of merino/tencel in the warp to give it a bit of spark. Did you hear my groan around the 11th? I discovered that I’d forgotten to tally in the amount needed for weft which meant there was only enough yarn for the warp.(huge groan of dismay) Back to the spinning wheel with another 4 ounces of the dark brown corriedale wool. Several days later and another 250+ yards of yarn, still not nearly enough. Ransacking through the stash I found the perfect treasure!

Do you see that gorgeous smushy grey in the upper left of the picture? Authentic organic Irish wool straight from the Emerald Isle and Jo. It had been languishing, waiting for a very special use. I’m so tickled that it will be part of Ed’s vest! The four different yarns that will make up the vest are pictured above. The dark corriedale is a bit hard to spot under the tencel yarn.

Since the vest was still being assembled on the loom come the 24th I scrambled to make something for Ed’s birthday the next day. At night he empties his pockets and puts keys and the odd coin into a plastic container. Potential for a great present for change.

Saturday, the 23rd, we’d gone to The City of Books (aka Powell’s Bookstore) in Portland for a book fix then stopped by a yarn shop where Ed snagged a ball of Nettle Yarn. Yep, yarn made from nettles. At first I tried crocheting a basket (sans pattern) from the nettles but the yarn is stiff, bumpy and very uneven. Digging out various bits of my handspuns I devised this just in time to gift Ed on his day.

The nettle yarn was used on the turning rows.

What else have I been up to…My first attempt at Broomstick Lace! Destined for someone special.

Last week Ed and I were activity engaged during our local church’s Friend’s Kids’ Days (VBS). Ed helped with crafts and made paddle wheels for the kids to paint which they then raced during activity time on the last day. I got to oversee, organize, and teach. We’d been put in charge of directing the VBS this year. It was great fun, totally exhausting and at times very chaotic when the rain poured down on the third day and everything was taking place inside our little church.

But oh so worth the time to make a difference in some of these kid’s lives. To hear a boy declare that he can hear Jesus whispering in his heart during a dark night, “Be Brave, it is I, don’t be afraid” fills our hearts with joy and gratitude.

Last Saturday the daughter of a close friend became married. Em was 3 when we moved here and started attending the Friends meeting in town. Now she’s schooled, grown and married. She asked our daughter, Aurora to be a bridesmaid. Our son’s wife M was the Matron of Honor and Faith the ring bearer. Em and Ry know a gaggle of young girls but no little boys.

The outdoor setting for the wedding was just down the road from J & M’s place so wedding preparations were staged at their house. M managed to host the rehearsal dinner, provide dressing space for the women of the party (and the bride’s family), kitchen space for her sister who catered the wedding, apply Em’s make-up and take care of two month old Wesley. Friday afternoon Aurora and I went over to help with the kids and general tidying up of the huge wrap-around porch before whisking Faith home to spend the night with us.

By the time we returned at 4 in the afternoon on Saturday the house was bustling with people eating and getting ready for the 6:30 wedding.

Aurora was minding nephew Wesley. (our grandson)

Faith was bathed and dressed in a sweet white dress. I was bidden to take care of her during the bride & bridesmaid’s picture taking. This should be a straightforward task except Faith was overwhelmed by all the people in HER house (who are these people?), a bath way too early for bed, (but doesn’t a bath mean bedtime?) and then going to a place where the thick grass buried her feet (why can’t I pick handfuls of soft grass?) and she was expected to be a good little girl. In other words: Very Grown Up. Ninety minutes is a LONG time for a 21 month old to be in waiting with no more than a water/juice bottle, beloved stuffed doggy and pacifier. That’s what happens when Grandma doesn’t plan ahead better and bring a few books and a bit of finger food. Shall I tell you of the big mishap? Hmm, maybe not.

Don’t you think the Sunset colors look lovely? The flower girl sisters were very cute.

Oh, you do want to know about the mishap. Very Well…

While wandering the huge gardens of the wedding place, yet staying close to the bridge leading to the private photography yard to be available when they called for Faith’s picture, I let Faith wander at will following closely to keep her out of mischief. (that means keeping the pure white dress clean)

Faith was drawn to the small landscaped pond. Grandma intervened, gently redirecting her. Two bored young girls stopped and chatted with us. A look of horror crossed the older girl’s face. Somehow Faith had managed to find the only piece of mud in the thick grass blanket, picked it up and clapped it in the other hand then not liking the feel WIPED IT ON HER DRESS. Both hands. Swiping all across the front of the white dress. Oh the heart stopping Horror! Did I mention that I was holding her bottle, beloved doggy, pacifer, my bag (with essentials such as tissue, gum, wallet, and ahem, socks on the needles) and oh, by the way, the plastic bag holding two boxes containing the Rings! With hands thus laden I needed to immediately restrain her hands and carry her to the nearest water. (No! not the pond, though it was a fleeting thought.) Do not drop the ring bag! We hustled to the restrooms. (Oh NO, M has seen us. She’s coming.) M intercepted us and gasped at the ruin. She fumbled out her cell phone dialing J who was still at home with grandpa and Wesley and asked him to bring the back-up dress. Good mother – a back-up dress.

Faith is stood on the lid of what turns out to be the only women’s restroom toilet, (what? only one for women in a wedding place designed for 400 people? there were about 200 that evening, fortunately this was all taking place about 5:30) remembering an old tip to work from outside the stained area in towards the center of the stain to keep it from spreading and doing more damage, I gently and carefully yet firmly dab at the smears with a paper towel dampened with cold water. Miracle! The mud is coming out! (Do I have the rings? Check, tucked in my bag.) Five minutes in and women started knocking at the door needing to use the facilities. M ran crowd control while I continued cleaning and consoling Faith who decided this was something worth crying over. Bless her heart, M took it all very sweetly. She not once scolded Faith, or me! Her voice maintained a calm, almost cheerful note in reassuring Faith.

Ten minutes of frantically working as fast as possible and the dress looked almost as good as new with nary a smudge to tell the tale. A warm sun and gentle breeze quickly dried the dampness. The bag with boxes with the rings was handed to M. I’m still not sure what ever happened to beloved doggy. He was not to be found when Faith had had enough standing still beside her mom and the bride and she ended up on my lap.

The ceremony was wonderful.

Remember the Blueberry walk?

On the fibery front I have decided to weave the vest for Ed. There would not be enough for crochet which takes a great deal more yarn and I’m not fast enough to knit a vest in time for Ed’s birthday. Besides, there’s more fiber that wants to be part of Ed’s vest. I’d purchased 2 ounces of merino/tencil roving at the same time as the corriedale and camel. Off and on I’d spindle a bit of that lovely stuff but on Wednesday I sat down and spun up the remaining 1.3 ounces on the wheel. Thursday it was plyed and yesterday I set the twist. I wish we didn’t need to attend the 30th anniversary celebration tomorrow of friends we’ve known for 30 years, I’m hankering for an afternoon with the loom.

Legs treaded steadily, breathing easy and light while hands gently guided the two singles into one until it registered that the hands weren’t working easily in automatic and the twist was no longer consistent. groan. So little left on the bobbins but it was time to climb off the saddle and head for bed. The finish line was so close but I knew if I continued to spin just to cross the line before midnight I’d regret it the morning. So, while I can’t claim the yellow jersey I’ll proudly post the Red Shirt as sign that I did complete the course. Detours such as not having access to my wheel for over a week are part of life but we do our best to complete the course.

Fiber: Corriedale wool with thin strips of Baby Camel hand laid over the roving in the predrafting.
7.8oz = 550 yards (approximately) Two-ply. (I was very disappointed not to have more yardage.)
16WPI

Being there was more fiber than I’ve ever spun before I wanted a niddy-noddy rather than using the warping board as I usually do. I’d read the advantage of using a pvc niddy-noddy to skein the yarn  and set the twist. Sounded like a great idea to me with this much one continuous yarn. I filled up a plastic garbage can (Clean!) with hot water and plunged the entire contraption down into it and let it set until cool. This is yarn to be made into a vest for Ed and I don’t want any surprises so I intentionally abused it some by gently running cold water over the skein and then thwaped the whole thing again a porch railing being mindful to keep the unit from flying apart. Clothes hangers worked great for hanging it outside to dry. There was so much wool packed together that it took most a of warm sunny day to dry.

Other than untangling and straightening out the mangled rug warp on the loom nothing more has happened on that front. There’s such a huge mental block about how to go about shaft-switching that all activity has ceased – other than mentally running the process through my head. I may take the warp off the loom and free it up for weaving Ed’s vest. The very first yarn item I made was in eighth grade home ec when I learned to crochet. The teacher didn’t teach us anything as simple as a scarf. No, she plunged right in teaching us to crochet by making vests, without benefit of a pattern. When I look at the wool I wonder if I should crochet Ed the vest instead of weaving it. His birthday is the 25th of this month.

Crochet is on my mind since taking pictures of some of Ed’s latest hooks:

Aren’t they beauties? The woods from top down: Ebony, Pink Ivory, Kingwood. These are all size J, I think. He made 54 crochet hooks this week, sizes G – M for a store in Berlin. Crochet anyone? It really is faster than knitting!

JudyMac honored me with a Pico Y Arte

I rarely do these tag things though I must admit I love getting them. I hate to choose only five people! There are so many of you who have creative, informative and interesting blogs. But, to play by the rules I narrowed the list down a bit by eliminating those who I’m aware have already received a tag for this.

Rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you copnsider deserve this award, creativity, design, interesting material, and also contrubuites to the blogger community, no matter of language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award-winning, has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog thathas given her or him the ward itself.
4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte y pico“blog , so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

Valerie Fiberewetopia

Rhonna Trenchworks

Jocelyn Knitting Linquist

Cyndy Riverrim

Karen Cornflower

How can I stop with five? I’d love to keep going but I have a 22 month old at my chair who’s lively demanding breakfast!