A harbinger of spring?

(pause while I try to think if I really know what harbinger means)

Yes, it's that time of year! Not the first robin (she'd be crazy to show up here in January), but the Spring issue of Rowan arrived yesterday! Something to warm the heart of the weary crafter.

Other things that also encourage: a new project (backstrap woven, in my case), time with family, the support of friends, reading, yoga, looking forward to the new issue of Knitcircus, a really good cuppa java. Hope you are finding these helpful as well.

On the gear side of things: I decided to sell my 16" loom and my Bond knitting machine. My plan is to eventually get a wider rigid heddle loom. In the meantime, I am happily exploring backstrap weaving and (of course) spinning and Ravelry and planning new knitting projects.

Cindy

Time Flies

Hi Cindy!

I'll start off with our sad news first. DH's grandma passed away on Friday. She'd been such a tough old gal, hanging on way longer than anyone really expected. There was nothing specifically wrong with her, her body just wound down to its end. The last 6 weeks were the toughest, walking along the edge of expecting her to pass at any time and then her rallying, repeatedly.
The picture above is from over 2.5 years ago when she was still rather spry although getting weaker. Although the last couple of months have been hard, we're glad she's at rest now and we can remember the happy times. Until her eyesight got too bad (macular degeneration) she used to spend long hours quilting.

My friend L got married earlier this month. As a thought for a shower gift I decided to try a nuno felt shawl. I bought a plain white chiffon scarf through Dharma Trading and dyed it a pale lavendar. Below it is laid out on a layer of bubble wrap. I then randomly covered it with bits of roving in various shades of purple and then some wisps of green dyed mohair locks. I wet it with soapy water and then covered it with old nylon curtains and rolled it up in matchstick bamboo placemats like a giant burrito.

After working it for quite a while, re-wetting it as necessary, I finally gave up. My arms were too tired to continue. Here is the finished item.

And here is a close up of it. I like how it looks but there are bits that aren't felted and I didn't feel comfortable about giving it as a gift. I'm not sure if it would do well as a shawl/scarf or if it should just be a wall hanging. As you can see the generic wool felted into the silk just fine but the mohair locks didn't do as well. I'm waiting for Margi to find it and lick it.

As I said above, my friend L got married earlier this month. She is Navajo and her parents live on the reservation in NE AZ. She planned the wedding to be on her grandmother's land on the Defiance Uplift. We drove up on Friday and took a scenic route up there. Instead of taking I-40 from Holbrook to the state line we went north on a little two lane road, past the west side of Petrified Forest, towards Keams Canyon. It was rugged and beautiful with little traffic. There is a series of old volcanic plugs along the road that have eroded into scenic buttes.


We stayed 2 nights in Window Rock, AZ, the capital of the Navajo Nation. This is the road out of Fort Defiance to L's grandma's place. More beautiful scenery (even if it is obscured by a bug smear).


And here is L being escorted in by her parents. The entire ceremony was a blend of a typical wedding ceremony with Navajo elements as well as Russian-Jewish traditions for the groom although no breaking of the glass and no chuppah.
The ceremony was in a lovely meadow with beautiful red rocks as a background. It was a very sunny and windy day. Early in the ceremony L's veil blew off and on of her aunts caught it. The unity candle ceremony didn't do so well as the candles kept blowing out. The minister they had went way beyond the non-secular ceremony they requested. They were only supposed to have a Navajo blessing but the cousin in charge of it went ahead with the entire Navajo wedding ceremony, complete with the blue corn mush. As one of our friends from work observed, of all the parts of the ceremony, the Navajo portion seemed the most binding.
Despite the sun, wind and delayed time schedule (they were over an hour late getting started) it was a beautiful wedding. I ended up with a pretty severe sun burn on my face and arms but the sting and color has faded and we're just left with the happy memories.

More soon, A

Knitting's rock star

[argh, I've had all sorts of difficulties getting the pictures to stay in order etc. so I hope this works. It was going better earlier. what gives??]

Ah, Madison! What a place. Even though we had more of this stuff at about 3 o'clock on Monday . . .

I'm so glad our mid-sized city got on the tour for Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's latest book! Jaala did a great job reporting on her blog, so I'll just add to that. The lines that stuck with me were the one about carrying emergency knitting :D and of course, " our plan to take over the world continues apace." And the funny bit about the sheep & wool festival.

We're guessing that there were over 200 people in attendance, and it was great great fun. Especially for knitters like me who don't get out much ;) I didn't get home until 10:45! Oh, and the book is fun to read, too! I was so tired I felt hung over the next morning but I'd do it again in a minute!!

April has been really back & forth with weather, so we get outside whenever we can. Today, lots of gardening. A post soon on my finished vest and my next things. Cindy

Hi Cindy,

The sweater looks like a nice challenge. Have you decided on a color or are you going to leave it the creamy color of the fiber? Since I've not even completed an adult sweater I can offer no advice on singles vs. plied. I started a sweater for DH last winter around his birthday but have not gotten beyond the yoke (it's top down from last winters IK). I did do the M-D baby kimonos for the twins last year but that's not a big reservoir of experience. In fact I think Margi's sweater is bigger than those were.

I start my intermediate spinning class a week from tomorrow. I think it will be pretty much like the second one I took over the summer, maybe just a little more structured. DH is planning on getting me a wheel soon, perhaps closer to my birthday. He's trying to get comfortable in the new job before making the $ commitment. On the 10th I am taking a solar dying class. It was originally going to be on the 17th but the instructor had another obligation come up. We need to take about 4 oz of fiber to dye for it. I am torn between the merino you sent me (just shy of the right amount) or the rollags I hand carded for the beginning spinning class. Or maybe I'll just buy some fiber when I go next week. I'll have a full report on the class afterwards (and hopefully pictures).

On Saturday I had lunch with Julie and Lytifa. L is almost 5 months pregnant and looking great. She was so sick the first trimester and ended up in the ER for dehydration. All she could eat the entire time was saltines. She is taking classes at the local community college and it was a real struggle with being sick. She has an English teacher that is really difficult. He dropped her from his class two years ago after she went back to Cincinnati for her grandmother's funeral. He didn't like her eating crackers in class but the alternative was for her to throw-up in class. I think she is taking 3 or 4 classes on top of working full-time. I don't know how she does it. I guess being 26 helps.

Afterwards I went to visit my friend Ash. Her family just moved to north Phoenix a few months ago. She is the one with the twin boys. They are really cute and sweet. We don't get to see them very often because it is quite a drive. I put on 80 miles on Saturday and didn't even get out of town.

This week I am at the International Symposium on Managed Aquifer Recharge here in town. It is actually at the Pointe South Mountain which is less than two miles from my house. If it weren't hotter than the surface of the sun I could almost walk there and back. One of the presentations today was by an EPA guy out of Chicago. He talked about a couple of projects in Regions 5 & 7. The two in Region 5 were in Oak Creek and Green Bay. There were some researchers from WDNR listed on his paper. I wondered if it was anyone you had known. My boss is moderating the first session tomorrow afternoon and then giving a presentation in the later session. There is a field trip to a couple of sites around the valley on Wednesday but our agency was too cheap to pay for us to go to them. That's okay, I have a couple of things I need to do in the office that day before another day of sessions on Thursday.

I guess I'd better finish this off. I'm pretty tired after a day sitting in a darkened room straining to understand a wide variety of accents.

Take care, A

At Late Night Knitting last Friday . . .

Me: Wow, it's 9:05!

Ms. L : Is that past your bedtime?

Me: I'm usually in my pajamas now.

Knowing that Ms. L's pajamas are far more likely to see 9:05 a.m. than p.m., we had a good laugh about it and then bought some yarn.

Chatty

Hi Cindy!

Did you get to knit in public today? I met up with a couple of people down at the Community Market in Downtown Phoenix. It runs 8-Noon this time of year but it was pretty hot by 11 and we packed it it. I had only been there since about 9:40 but I'm sure the others got there much earlier. We had a shaded table right by Lisa T's booth. She's the one that sells the churro yarn occassionally. Today she just had her own hand spun. And she had her wheel there spinning most of the time. She does lots of other crafty stuff and also re-works old clothing into new outfits. She had quite a crowd from time to time. I didn't buy anything except an iced mocha and some kalamata olive bread for tonight. I couldn't buy anything fresh because I wasn't coming home for several hours yet.
Afterwards I had lunch with Julie and Lytifa. We spent almost 3 hours talking and gossiping. Of course in the end we ended up gossiping and complaining about MI's, wonder how many year's of being gone from there it will take to get over it.
I also stopped by Barnes and Noble before meeting them because I was running a few minutes early. Here's Teddy showing off what I picked up. He's pretty insulted that I laid it on his tail.
So I have a question. Of course the book probably answers it but I haven't read too much yet. Which way do you wind the yarn around the spindle? Clockwise or counter-clockwise? Our instructor said it is typical to spin the spindle clockwise but I assume you wind the yarn up the same way, right?
As you can see Margaret is a chewy cat. Believe it or not that is actually a knitting cd she's chewing on back in that little cubby on the desk. No matter how I block the opening she really tries to get up in there.
Hope your weather has improved from a couple of days ago. More soon!