I’ve been on a mission: how much weight, how many yards can be possibly spun on my Kuchulu.

I’m nearing the final yards and must stop soon else the little legs will disappear. Yesterday Kuchulu 1 (I don’t normally name my spindles but this one seems to want its on identity) and I  headed for the weekly spinning group at my LYS. It’d been a long time since I’d gone to one but when the store owner told me that a number of women are coming regularly on Wednesday afternoons it seemed time to check it out.  Arriving late there were only three women left sitting at their wheels. A woman I didn’t know asked if I wanted to learn to spin. I grinned and dug into my purse.  It was good to sit and listen to their chatter while adding a couple more grams to the spindle. It’s now weighing 19 grams. Subtracting 8 grams of the Kuchulu weight gives me 11 grams, I had hoped to get 14grams =1/2 an ounce  on this spindle. I’m getting excited about winding this onto a niddynoddy and finding out how many yards there are.  I recently joined a 800 yard challenge at the Limegreenjelly Forum on Ravelry, this just might be the start of it.

Often it seems that a friendship comes about with various customers. I wish I had the time, energy, brain for remembering to foster these fun and often fascinating encounters with people around the world. Often I read emails or talk on the phone with someone and wish I could travel the world meeting all these dear people. One such person teaches in Qatar. She’s called on the phone a couple of times and we had the best chats! Last summer she came back to visit her mother in Canada. While home she sent us a package that left me speechless.

These two throw pillow cases are covered with hand embroidery!  My hands stroke across the intricate detailed beauty of these pieces and I’m amazed at the skill and hours they must have taken. Berta has traveled extensively in her life and she recently visited a friend in India where she got these. Also in the box was tea.Real Indian tea with Cardamon. Would you like to share a pot with me? Tasty!

Coffee in the morning, tea mid-day and a daily doze of afternoon Coke helped keep my brain functioning during this past week. Still fighting email problems and going in circles with the domain host providers on how to resolve it. Meanwhile, after a two-week interlude when sales slowed, they’ve ratcheted back up to a frenzied pace.

Distracting us are the Kuchulus! Ed’s first batch has been released! They’re posted on Flickr. It was easier to post this first batch there last night than wrangle any longer with FrontPage which didn’t transfer to the new computer. Another group of Kuchulus is almost ready to dance.

Isn’t that a fun word to say? Kuchulu – cute and tiny. Say it several times. Does it remind you of anything, perhaps from your childhood? Do you recall people saying Coo-chee-choo to tiny babies? It doesn’t seem so common now.

These little babies are dancing in delight around a 50 gram ball of cherry tree hill yarn, destined to be knit into a sweater for my first great nephew born Oct 6th – Joshua Zion.
If only I could settle on the pattern: BSJ with red and yellow stripes, or Baby Yours .

Fiberjoy’s Blueberry Scones

Preheat oven to 400 F
These scones are really easy to make, and if handled lightly they are tender, moist and scrumptious. Best eaten within a few hours.

4 Cups Flour
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Sugar

Stir together in a large bowl, then cut in until well mixed:
1/2 Cup Butter

Stir into the dry mixture:
1 Cup frozen Blueberries – Do not thaw! (Can use Fresh in season)

Combine in a separate bowl:
1 1/2 Cups Milk (if you’re feeling decadent or having guests use Half & Half)
1 Egg     Separate some of the white into a small dish

Quickly stir the milk mixture into the dry mix until barely moistened, turn out onto floured pastry cloth. Gently scoop and knead tenderly. Work quickly and do not handle the dough any more than necessary to gather into a loose ball. Using your hands, divide into two portions and pat each into a flat circle about 8″ across and an inch high.

With a fork, whip the egg white with 1 Tablespoon Milk until frothy. Brush over the two rounds of dough. Sprinkle 1 Tablespoon sugar over each. Cut into six to eight wedges with a sharp knife and put on ungreased oven stone or cookie pan. Leave space between each scone to bake evenly.

Cook in preheated oven about 18 minutes.  (Should be done when golden brown)

Enjoy!
These scones can be a bit temperamental with humidity or dryness. Sometimes not all the flour will be absorbed – in this case do not try to work it all in. Other times the dough may be quite wet. If so, be sure your pastry cloth is well dusted with flour but don’t work in more flour than needed to pat the rounds into a circle without having a gooey mess.

Awhile back we came across the opportunity to purchase a new computer, the last one of its type in the store at a close-out price. Our old computer, which has been in use since 2001, had been working under increasing duress; often throwing fits, stalling, and shutting down unexpectedly.

Being the tail end of a long day we snapped that computer up with scarcely any contemplation. As the store guy was freeing the computer from its securings I asked that the hard drive be wiped clean and restored to the original condition since it had been the display model. He said they’d take care of it before boxing it up so Ed and I gathered the supplies on my shopping list. It wasn’t long before the box with the computer was taken up to the checkout. By then my brain had checked out and though I thought it seemed like it was too quick for the hd to be cleaned I didn’t think to ask.  Once home we rearranged stuff in the office making a space on the floor for the box to sit on it’s side.

There it sat over four months, glowering at me as Old PC muttered, gasped and blacked out.  Before Sock Summit Ed didn’t expect me to spend time setting it up. August passed and hints about getting it running came more frequently. Ed isn’t one to nag and there reached a point when he didn’t say anymore. Danger zone. When he stops talking is when action needs to happen. Sad, huh. Ed does not procrastinate. He only knows the meaning of the word because I do.

I would walk into the office, see the disorganization and clutter and get completely side-swiped not know how to start. occasionally a bit of organizing would happen but not the main thing. Going away for five days and returning to work in an inefficient office space lit the fire to get it done.  And the desire to start a weaving project knowing I dare not with The Computer Project waiting.

When Ed went to visit a friend Saturday afternoon, the moment came. Calling a young computer whiz to give me a hand, I set to moving some stuff out of the office, setting up two new short filing cabinets, vacuuming up dusties and unplugging all the electrical stuff trying to keep the thousand wires orderly, and moving Old PC to a workable surface. David showed up and we quickly commenced setting up New PC. Until. Password? Password? Arghhh They had not cleaned up the computer. David called the store. Of course they wouldn’t give him their password. Bring it in, they said.

Dashing across the 25 miles to the store I made it before closing time. The tech guy set it up an account for us. Problem is, there’s still old stuff on there. It’s been taking the lion’s share of the last four days to get files transferred, programs installed, bugs worked out, email issues resolved – still working on that one. By yesterday afternoon I dispared at all the time being syphoned away by the set up knowing there are pictures of Kuchulu spindles to post, interested buyers to contact, sending one to our winner -Josiane. Nevermind all the orders that are piling up waiting to be processed and sent. The postage software problem was finally solved late yesterday and there’s hope that the final email issue will be resolved tomorrow.

Maybe one of you can answer why it is that in Thunderbird, the email program we use, the password for two accounts is not accepted yet when I type the same passwords into Old PC they’re recognized by the mail server and I can download the email. I’ve verified the passwords several different times in my cpanel but still can’t get through on New PC. The response from our domain host is to do just what I’ve done. Going in circles. Meanwhile, I have both computers set up so I can access everything I need to do my work. I’m hoping that tomorrow will be the final day of the dualing computers.

Be on the look out for a small flock of Kuchulus!

Hope and Grace came to breakfast this morning. The blueberry scones were steaming hot fresh from the oven, coffee poured into mugs, a jar of peaches opened and put in a bowl alongside a bowl with Lychee’s, a favorite fruit of Ed’s.

After eating and chatting two identical lists of suggested spindle names were placed in front of Grace and Hope. At first they talked and discussed the various merits of each proposed name until it appeared that method wasn’t working. Pens in hands, with little talking, each commenced to go up and down her list  marking through the names that didn’t quite catch her fancy. Ed was working in his shop and I tried to stay silent as to which were the names that appealed to me since we didn’t want to unduely influence their choices.  When they’d finally compared lists we were surprised to find only two names left on each list, and most surprising was that they matched. (Crazy! We’d assumed there’d be at least five or six matching names that would go in the hat for the final draw.) I wrote the two names on separate pieces of paper, folded each several times then put them into the hat.

Hope stirred and mixed the slips.

Grace reached into the hat

And lifted high one slip.

There were so many super suggestions that Ed and I were completely bowled over by the list. As mentioned in the previous post, we realized that there were some names we could not use, and it seemed prudent to use a name that met several criteria: fit the spindle; be set apart, different; and good for product name recognition. But I’d originally declared that all names would go in a hat (misunderstanding Ed’s intent) making it an uneasy dilemma for us.

Thirty-seven names were on the lists for Grace and Hope to narrow down to the final drawing.

The suspense… we really liked both names that were tossed into the hat………

Another perspective on the size of this wonderful new spindle beside the ball of yarn spun with it.

Oh, you want the name!

This very small spindle has been named.

Kuchulu  – Persian term of endearment for something tiny and cute.  Perfect!
Submitted by Josiane. Thank you! I will be contacting you by email tomorrow morning. Meanwhile it’s way past my bedtime!

We really appreciate everyone’s ideas and comments, a huge thank you to everyone.

Could it already have been two years since our last proper vacation where we actually left home and shop and drove someplace away from work, the phone and computer for more than 3 nights? Keeping a blog is helpful in checking the facts of the whens and wheres of events. Breezing through older posts looking for our last vacation I was stunned to find that no, it wasn’t two years ago when we slipped away to the coast for three days. I knew it’d been a long time but this? It was October 5th, 2006! What a coincidence to take our next vacation exactly three years later.

We packed the car and headed north than eastward early Tuesday morning intent on getting beyond Portland before traffic snarled the roads. The roads were practically clear of traffic and we arrived in Troutdale, where we stopped for coffee, as dawnlight lit the sky behind Mt Hood.

Heading on east we approached the Columbia Gorge where during our courting days we roamed its many trails and waterfalls . The wide Columbia River cuts a swath through the Cascade Mountain Range.

Some 40 miles later the gorge eases from the wet western portion of Oregon to the drier climate of Eastern Oregon.

A bit further along we were climbing into the higher desert country with massive wind turbines harnessing the prevalent winds that blow untethered across the hills.

Counting back the years to the last time we’d driven I-84 east beyond the gorge, I was stunned to realize it’d been thirteen years. Ed and I prefer the more leisurely pace of taking secondary roads on road trips. This time we not only wanted to make good time and arrive at our destination as early as reasonable, we also planned to make a huge loop coming home the “back” way, and I looked forward to seeing this part of Oregon once again. When the children were preschoolers Ed’s folks lived in Northern Idaho for several years. A couple times each year we  loaded up food, presents and toys for the three+ hour drive (each way) through the gorge and past this area to meet them half way for a picnic.

Across the broad rolling flats we finally began the long long crawl up Cabbage Hill, properly known as Emigrant Hill where many pioneers crossed the Blue Mountains and had only the Cascades, or the Gorge, to push through before arriving in the Willamette Valley. Snow still lay in patches in the northern shaded spots along the road. Tall pines blanketed the broad, almost flat-topped range. Back down to the dry land with few trees and lots of sage brush and on across the Snake River into Treasure Valley where proof is abundant what will bloom and grow in a dry land when water is faithfully channeled and supplied. Farms dot the desert growing alfalfa, corn, vegetables and fruits of all types. Weary we finally pulled into a driveway and rang a doorbell.

Hi there, sweet Feather!

Hi, little Guy!
***************************************************************************************************************

We’re almost overwhelmed by all who suggested a name for our newest Turkish spindle. Thank you, everyone who left a comment. So many clever, wonderful, excellent suggestions.( Sorry I wasn’t able to answer each personally as I’d intended. I took the laptop with us but the kids didn’t have a way for me to connect so other than a couple of quick checks on their computer I was pretty much computer free for most of the week. ) We realized almost immediately that we needed a better method than simply pulling a name out of the hat. While almost all the names have merit, some we can’t use because they’re in use and/or we could potentially have copyright problems down the road. I’ve written all the suggestions on a separate paper and tomorrow morning friends will come over for breakfast scones, peaches, coffee, and a naming party. They will get to decide which name fits this newest addition to our flock of spindles. Stay tuned to see who’s the winner!

Yesterday afternoon Crooked Finger Band had a small gig for a small office party at the director’s home. We were scheduled to play on the patio but just as we were setting up rain smattered causing us to scurry all our gear under the cover of the small porch. After the third time we were moved into the house which was a fabulous acoustic setting with wooden floors and a vaulted ceiling. In the smaller space we didn’t need the sound system and were soon making music.  It’s funny how much a setting can affect a band. No longer did we feel like we were performing, instead we were totally relaxed having fun singing and playing to the gathering who clapped and cheered with gusto.

Arriving home Ed said, “you should see what’s in the office.” At first glance I saw nothing new so decided to check emails, and then I saw it. A new spindle creation!

Irresistable! I snatched it up and soon was spinning away with this little guy.

Isn’t it adorable? Initially I was calling it a Turkish Gem, but its slight weight of 9 grams!  and watching the arms blur in a whirl of motion reminded me of the two hummingbirds that Ed and I had the immense priviledge of holding. We like Hummingbird but that seems too long for such a small guy. (Twice a hummingbird had gotten behind the glass window on our back porch and couldn’t figure out how to get back out. The one Ed caught had a a bit more scarlet on his throat than the one I caught a couple weeks later. (Ed’s thumbnail gets a regular sanding.)

Playing with the spindle again today words flit through my head such as Turkish Turbo, Enchanted…

We’ve been tossing different monikers around and like several. Ed had the idea that we should have a Name the New Spindle Contest. So here it is!

Write the name you think it should go public under in the comment section. (If done anonymously than the name will be omitted)
Names will go into a hat to be drawn by a neighbor or some random person.
If the name drawn was submitted by more than one person, every person who suggested that particular name will have their name put into the hat. The person’s name drawn will be the winner of Ed’s next mighty little spindle.

(ETA: We reserve the right to toss out names that we don’t feel are appropriate or can’t stand. As a Jenkins Woodworking product it needs to be something we will be proud to write and say. We need to steer clear of names already used by other established spindle makers such as Hummingbird which has been pointed out to me is already in use.)

Contest will be open until 6pm PDT Wednesday, Oct 14.

In other news: I made a video showing how I wind on to a Turkish Spindle. Frequently I’m asked how to wind onto the Turkish spindle and so decided it was time for a quick example.

There’s still much I planned to post such as the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival that Grace and I went to last weekend. Until next time!

Please leave your name suggestions in the comments! Thanks!

Supper dishes were washed, the floor swept, and a few spindles were weighed and written on to get a head start on a busy day tomorrow. The chair with knitting projects to one side and laptop on the other beckoned as the perfect place to spend a quiet evening. There was one must-write email to discharge and then! the luxury of finally slipping into blog posting mode.

Of course the phone rang. It had to do with the pending email. Plans went into a tailspin and right out the window as much of the evening was chewed away by working out elusive details until the point was reached where I can do no more until I hear back from a key person. And now here it is, past my bedtime.

It’s been one of those days from the very beginning.
a cluster headache lurked,
a long list of must-dos, but a body/mind out of sync
a message that didn’t set right and I don’t know how to respond.
Or even if I should.

It’s good to sit here sipping tea, looking through pictures to post since I’m too lazy/tired to upload the more recent ones.

Two projects are on the needles these days. One should have been finished by the 4th, mornings and evenings have been rather consumed in the making of them. I’m well down the foot now but with #1 / 2.25 mm needles it’s slow going.  This picture was taken the end of August.

The other is a sweater for Ed, started just before his birthday. I can hardly wait until it’s done, it’ll be so cozy for him to wear in the house.  It too is a bit further along than in the picture. Knitting with #8/5 mm is a good change of pace for my hands.

We had a wonderful time watching the grandkids a few days while our son and wife moved their household to start his new job in Idaho. Such a precious time knowing they’d be moving too far away to watch them growing as we have for these first year(s) of their lives.

Here’s a few pictures from one day’s excursion to the creek.

The days are full of filling orders; finishing, writing on and packing all the individual items that Ed is continually turning out one at a time. We took a break from regular duties on Monday to can green beans with our daughter. We all enjoyed the change of pace, and especially watching the row of filled jars growing. The green beans in the garden have finally rippened and are growing at an alarming rate. I need to do another canner full tomorrow. With the rain we had last weekend it won’t be long before the yard will need mowing. Soon that’ll be a regular, almost weekly chore.

Friday morning my friend Grace and I plan to take her canoe out on the nearby resevoir. I’m so looking forward to being out on the water in the early morning calm.

A flu bug took up residence in my body the Wednesday following Sock Summit. For ten days a fever lurked or raged, aches plagued my body rendering me next to useless. Last night I worked late to get this post written and launched as the grandkids will be coming over this evening to spend the next three days with us while mommy and daddy get the truck loaded and move to Idaho. (Mommy will be back late Wednesday). Shortly before I clicked on publish WordPress went down. Fortunately most of this post was saved in the draft file. Whew!

The final story on the Making of Ed’s Vest, what’s now known as the Friendship vest for all the friends that had a role in bringing it to reality.

I began spinning the corriedale and baby camel rovings longer ago than is in accurate memory but in dipping through old blog post I found the project was initially begun in March 08 then put on the back burner until that July when I got serious about getting all the yarn spun for Ed’s vest. Eight ounces of the dark brown corriedale were spun into singles: four ounces were plyed together to create dark brown yarn and two ounces were plyed with spun camel singles to make a variegated yarn. Then I separated two more ounces of the long, light caramel colored, baby camel rovings into thin strips and overlaid those on a second group of four ounces of the dark corriedale which was then spun together and plyed.  I also spun four ounces of  autumn colored tencel for a yarn with sheen. All of these and an ounce of grey Organic Irish Wool yarn that Jo sent were used in both the warp and weft notating the spacing and yarn sequence to acheive a subtle heathered plaid.

With the ongoing encouragement of friend Grace who suggested I set aside one day a week as a weaving day I finally got the loom warped and the handspun yarn woven on my Norwood four shaft loom last fall. The web (term for freshly woven fabric before it’s finished by wetting and drying it) was taken off, thrown in the washing machine then briefly into the dryer before finishing it with a hot iron , heavily pressing it onto the fabric. The thick padding on my ironing board was replaced with a once folded wool blanket. This allows me to press the iron as firmly as possible against the fabric. Once it was finished, and shown off at the spinning group, the fabric languished, hidden from sight until twelve days before Sock Summit.

In the course of a conversation with a new woman at church I mentioned my goal of sewing Ed’s vest that week but first needed to make a pattern. Turns out she loves sewing and invited me up to her house. Using butcher paper we drew out and cut a pattern using one of Ed’s beloved vests as the guide.  I used cotton broadcloth for the back of the vest and a satin lining for the inside front.  (view of the Front /back side seam, on top of the inside front lining and back)

The worst problem I ran into while sewing the bottom seams and front seams together was the woven cloth wanting to stretch in contrast to the stable lining. By using lots of pins and patience I was able to persuade them to match. By early afternoon the sewing machine part was finished leaving the handstitching of the French seams for the sides and shoulders left to accomplish. (A huge task!) When I took the vest out the next morning to tackle the French seams I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the concept, though I understood the end result. So, in desperation I called another friend, Constance who has done a great deal of hand sewing and quilting. Leaving it in her capable hands I was thrilled to think it’d be done within the week.

Her seams were fautless with tiny impeccable stitches.

I brought the vest home and set up the Singer with the button hole attachment. I’ve done this before – it’s a breeze. Snap, it’s finished. Ha. No such luck this time. Constance to the rescue. She quickly had it working so I made the first button hole, and she was one her way back home with a cheerful wave goodbye. Forging confidently ahead on the next buttonhole the sewing thread snapped. and snapped. and snapped… by then I was using leftover scrap materials trying to figure out what was wrong. I used a new spool of thread, and tried a new needle. Getting out the manual I dismantled the machine and oiled all the bits  the diagrams showed to oil, fiddled with the tension. By then it was late Saturday afternoon. Ed walked in and shook his head saying he’d have had that machine in tiny pieces by then. Then he said, “Some people just aren’t cut out to work with sewing machines.”

I wanted to throw the machine at him.

Ed had excitedly anticipated wearing his handspun handwoven vest to church the next day and wasn’t about to see that dream postponed. He suggested calling a neighbor who also loves sewing and has a very fancy machine to see if she’d help me. Taking vest in hand we walked over after supper. Faithful had her machine set up with the buttonhole attachment in place.  She had me sit down and test one of my scrapes. At first it was fine then it too starting acting up. After a great deal of perseverance and patience on her part she finally gave up trying to program the buttonholer to automatically sew the correct hole size and went with a closely spaced, narrow zigzag while hand guiding the material along chalked lines. Whew!  By then I was too tired to think about sewing on the four buttons. That job was quickly taken care of before Ed was ready to go to church the next morning.

Thanks to all the friends who had a hand in making this vest come true!

Wonder if I can make him a matching cap for Christmas. Dare I? Perhaps Constance would be willing. I’ve enough material.

Hard to believe a week ago we were frantically dashing through last minute organizing and packing, and I’ve yet to recover from the blur of Sock Summit.

Hard to know where to begin and what to share. The weekend was an amazing calidescope of colors and people. Our booth was on the outside of the first row. Instead of being able to wave and chat with people in booths across from us we stared at a huge grey cinderblock wall.   Being on the beaten path to the restrooms on the other side of that wall wasn’t such a bad thing, there were some booths that didn’t get near the traffic.

We arrived shortly after ten Thursday morning and found very helpful convention center staff who cheerfully directed us where to park and where to go to sign in. There is a certain rushed hustle bustle that always takes over Ed and I when we set up or tear down from a shore. That rush takes over and we are incapable of slowing down, looking around or chatting with other vendors.  Once we were set up and had things more or less organized in that cramped 5 x 10′ booth we took turns quickly cruising through the hall checking out other booths and vendors. I did talk with a few, and finally got to meet Jocelyn , which was one of the highlights of the Summit for me. The hustle bustle seems to affect most everyone and there wasn’t much chance to really connect with people.  A great deal must be attended to before a show opens, vendors must have everything organized and ready as much as possible before the doors open or the first hours will prove either chaotic or dismal.

Our behind-the-booth neighbors, Cheryl and her helper, Kathy, of NewHueHandspuns were terrific. Kathy and I had fun talking violin stuff as we’re both adult learners. We’re planning to get together to play. I’m totally gobsmacked by how much yarn Cherly is able to spin. She’s one serious, dedicated spinner with a great eye for color. How in the world did I forget to buy some of her yarn?

The Marketplace was open to the workshop participants for two hours late Thursday afternoon. The place was like a madhouse (in a good way!) We’d anticipated lots of people going through all the booths checking out all the goodies and making lists of what they wanted to buy. Nope! The buying frenzy began at once.

Ed and I were kept on our toes during the two hours which passed like the snap of fingers. When the announcement was made we staggered out to the car and drove the hour home, already feeling exhausted. Dreams of the marketplace caused both of us to sleep restlessly until 5am when I rolled out of bed and stumbled down the hall to turn on the coffee pot.

Friday morning was much calmer though steady. Ed and I finally worked out a system where he took payments (ran the knuckle buster card machine and kept records while I wrapped the items (I used the silk hankies I’d dyed until they ran out sometime on Saturday – Ed hates touching those hankies) and tried to be available for stepping away from the booth to help people spin and/or demonstrate.

Shortly before 11 there was an actual break when no one was at our booth. Both Ed and I sat down for a moment – the first time I’d sat since arriving, and I’d just started to eat half a bagel to take the edge off the hunger that was beginning to grumble about such an early, long ago breakfast, when who should appear? The Yarn Harlot and Rachel! They were on a fast mission dashing past the booths waving tickets for the Knitting World Record Event taking place at noon. They hardly slowed down and the shock of seeing them pop by so unexpectedly paralyzed me. Then they were gone. Oh! How I’d longed to get in on that record breaking feat! I’d even brought a pair of straight needles and yarn. But I didn’t feel right leaving Ed alone in the booth. It’s tricky to man a booth alone when people are continually wanting demonstrations on using the tools, and most buyers were using credit cards which takes a great deal more time. One of the women from my spinning group was coming to help us in the booth but I had no idea when she’d be there. So with huge regrets I wasn’t able to get in on the world record breaker of over 900 knitters all knitting simultaneously.

Never before have we participated as vendors where I felt so left out of things. I wasn’t able to get to the booksigning and by the close of the Marketplace we were too exhausted to go to any of the scheduled events. We missed out on all the extra stuff.  Even after Sue arrived I managed to slip away long enough to say stop by Briar Rose Booth, looking for Anne Hanson (we ended up only having a very brief encounter when she took time to stop by our booth – she had a packed teaching schedule) and to say hi  to Jocelyn and Chris and eye those gorgeous yarns Chris dyes, then dashed over to get some food with protein only to end up sitting on a chair across from the booth wolfing down the rice and stir-fried beef with veggies, for the booth was busy again and Sue was in high demand as a demonstrator and teacher. She has a knack for helping new spinners learn to spin a lovely consistant yarn.

(I kept forgetting to take pictures, and totally forgot to get one of Ed wearing the vest I spun and wove which he wore on the other days. Pictures were taken the first time he wore it, I’ll be posting about the vest next time.)

We have a good friend who lives about 2 miles from the Convention Center who welcomed us to stay with her Friday and Saturday night. We both thoroughly enjoyed putting our feet under her table, eating her fabulous vegetarian creations and talking the evenings away. Fortitude is a wonderful person whom we’ve known since living across the street from each other about 24 years ago.

(Fortitude, heading out to meet friends for a long trail hike in the mountains.)

Leap ahead to Sunday morning when I was privledged to have a scheduled hour of  public demonstration/teaching Learn How to Spin using a Turkish Spindle at the Elizabeth Zimmerman Pavilion – ie Marketplace Square. This was the highlight of the show for me. The ladies and man who grouped around the tables were open, friendly and very supportive. It was a blast teaching them how to spin. Since I’d no clue who or how many would be there, and knowing that people would be coming and going at will, I didn’t take any extra spindles for them to work along with me but I managed to give them enough hands on. At the end several ladies told me that I should take up teaching; I should teach at Stitches, at SOAR! They’d taken previous classes but the light bulb went on during my demonstrations. Apparently several others bustled to our booth and bought spindles for by the time I’d finished answering questions and got back there Ed was beaming. Not only had they bought spindles but they also told him I should teach.

Imagine my surprise when at one point I looked up and saw Ed skirting the area snapping pictures of the demo.

Though we only shared stolen snatches of chatter, Ed and I were totally taken in by the dynamic duo of Tsock Tsarina and Gywniver aka Lisa and Jennifer from New York. The pair of them are a riot. They blurt out the same words simultaneously as if they can read each other’s minds. Just as we were about to pack up they slipped over and gifted us with their Empire Apple roving and laughter.

Sock Summit was an extraordinary experience full of cheer, positive people and goodwill. Despite sometimes long lines and crowds, and long distances to cover on concrete floors people were upbeat and thoughtful. We loved selling and talking to buyers face to face. Ed’s passion for woodworking is so clear when talking about his spindles or needles that it’s contagious.

As we scurried out with loaded dollie I dashed back to the Briar Rose booth and had Chris snap this picture. Thanks Jocelyn!

I only wish we could have figured out a way to have connected with some people  in a more meaningful, leisurely way. Guess that pleasure will be one of the joys of heaven!

Boxes, fiber and paraphernalia of all sorts litter the living room, trailing out from the storage room and office, spilling forth in the kitchen. Even in our bedroom the Sock Summit bug has left its mark evidenced in a couple piles of clothing to be packed tomorrow evening.

Most of our products and booth gear are packed, lists crossed off one by one, except for my long list of things I would have liked to accomplish in the knitting department, and bagging fiber duty. Two boxes filled with sundry sheepy fiber are waiting to be divided into small bundles and sorted into Fiber Sample packs. I’m totally rethinking that whole concept. The amount of time spent pulling fiber into equal chunks, rolling them and writing the sheep type on a tag then making sure each bag with 10 types of fiber weigh approximately the same takes hours. For three hours I sat on the floor last night, surrounded by bags of wool and such dividing, rolling, tagging, weighing. Sadly there aren’t many for that much effort at the price I charge. I should be on the floor finishing up another group of bags but I am tired.

In the past seven weeks we have made:

360 some spindles – (243 for SS the rest were sent to vendors needing them for workshops & classes)
124 pairs of circular needles. (70 pair were made in early June)
62 Hairpin Lace Looms (35 to go to SS)
As well as many individual and drop ship orders that day went to the Post Office
232 Books printed, cut and compiled, and that many dvds burned to accompany the books.
Copious amount of yarn for sample bits to be knit into tiny socks. (ha, managed to get only six knitted), and to weave into a shirt – which sadly hasn’t happened in time for Sock Summit
Finished my socks – whoo hoo!
Finished Ed’s Vest!  Halleluia! He wore it to church last Sunday. I was so proud I wanted to burst my buttons.  (Pictures to be forthcoming)

Ed’s exhausted. I’m exhausted. Tomorrow we head up to the Convention Center by 8:30 am to get set up. My house is a disaster. Aurora brought her sewing machine over this evening so I could sew the sleeves for our poster (sewing machine disasters this week, long story). While I was sewing, she washed my dishes. Sweet girl. She’ll also water the garden for us. We’ll be coming  back but won’t have time to tend it.

I need to go to bed.