Yummy Batt

sugarbees studio yum
Originally uploaded by ckknitter

When FlawfulFibers' Julie plurked that she was drooling over batts, I knew I was in trouble.....more "One Night Stand" batts from Sugarbees Studios. This one is named Liam. I gave Janice one of these for Christmas, but secretly wanted to keep it - now I've added this beauty to my fiber stash. I'm gonna stop now......seriously....I mean it....really......

Crap-ton of Fuzziness

....crap-ton, as in boatload or any other synonym you'd like to insert there - I'm big into synonyms! Anyway, today I went out to Stony Mountain Fiber to get a birthday present for one of my students - the one with the alpacas. You see, last week I let her play around with a spindle at school and she seemed to take to it AND she has a birthday coming up, so a trip to Stony Mountain was necessary to find just the right gift. Here it is:



That's an Ashford spindle, lavender & black bits of Cormo, and Lee Raven's "Spin It" book. I hope she'll like it!

....and because Stony Mountain is not exactly close, and you can never tell when there might be a fiber shortage, I got a little for me, too:



That's also cormo, except in eggplant and tan, with a little firestar thrown in for good measure. I'm really excited about what this could turn into....yums! The white roving is from Stony Mountain Fiber's own sheep, mixed with some bamboo - sure to spin up soft & buttery!

I arrived home to find a BIG package shoved into my mailbox. The package was BIG because it contained a $50.00 gift certificate's worth of yummy fuzziness from Julie at Flawful Fibers and Yarns. Here's what I found when I opened it up:



Starting at the top and moving clockwise we have: 80/20 Merino-Silk in Velvet-n-Roses; Superwash BFL in Ignited; 60/40 Merino-Bamboo in Feline(aka Tabby); and some extra bit of Superwash BFL & a lovely skein of boucle' Romney/Perendale called Insomnia. Major SQUEEEEEEE day! I think I now have enough fiber in my stash to outlast the recession. Must stop lurking/lusting/longing at/over/for all the lucious fuzzy fiber I find...and find the time needed to spin it into yummy yarn! Now that's something to look forward to!

No Birthday Knitting/Spinning for Me

Why you ask? See that book? It's rather hefty in size and about ten times its weight in content....American School Law....it's full of the entire history of America's Pubic Schools and answers many questions of why we do things the way we do them - it's the LAW, that's why. Anyway, that particular book is forcing me to make hard choices. Do I finish knitting Beth's mitten?

...or do I keep practicing my spinning, so I don't lose my groove? (not that it's a very established groove, but I have made a little progress!) So far, spinning is winning simply because I don't have to really think about anything while I spin. Knitting requires that I recall my place in the pattern and then, concentrate on what I'm doing. I'm afraid poor Beth's hands will have to be cold for a little longer!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the aforementioned book has become my constant companion. There have however been a few knitting related SQUEEEEE moments, so here they are:

New knitting TOTE...literally....our school secretary got a bag like this for Christmas and when I saw it, I screamed, "KNITTING BAG!" When we went to see my in-law's after Christmas, we visited the Totes Outlet - and score! I can also use it for my laptop if it ever needs a fancy ride.

I somehow managed to be chosen in a WendyKnits random drawing. I got to select one of her patterns as a prize and chose the Asparagus Cable socks. It arrived with this beautiful Neighborhood Fiber Company yarn. These might be for the multi-tasking boy picture below....talking on the phone while texting his gf....oh please - oh well .

Here's a little new fuzziness from TLE - aided by a $25.00 gift certificate. This is 'TealWe Meet' merino/soysilk by Tempted....love the colors!

See this cat?

He's provided yet another distraction from knitting/spinning. Apparently something had his head in its mouth because poor Halloween kitty has an abcess on his neck AND on the top of his head. Thankfully, he's on the mend, but hates the twice daily moist, hot towel therapy. In addition, he's become a house cat. He's too creaky to run fast enough to escape sneaking animals and his arthritis prevents him from leaping or climbing trees very effectively - so inside he is.

Oh yeah - I almost forgot - it's my birthday. Here's my present:



What can I say? We sort of needed a vacuum cleaner....sort of....hope I don't hurt myself because it looks kind of scary, don't you think? omg. :~/

Where's my margarita?













..

The Awaiting Fiber-Feast.....Yum

FORTUNATELY - It's a new year and I have big plans for lots of spinning time for Merry and me.

UNFORTUNATELY - my chosen profession requires and demands that I do lots of work at home each night

FORTUNATELY - I got to spin quite a bit over Christmas break!

UNFORTUNATELY - I have not touched my wheel since right after Christmas. I also have not knitted one stitch in a week. ACK.

FORTUNATELY - Whenever I get my head above water, I have lots of Christmas present fiber ready and waiting. Here's a sample of the feast.

All of these are Christmas presents from Catspaw(lace), my good buddy and spinning mentor, who said she wanted me to experience a variety of fibers. What a sweetie!

Tussah Silk Top -Stony Mountain Fibers - (how in the world does one spin this stuff?)


Gorgeous Hand-Painted Goldie Locks Mohair - Stone Mountain Farm in Carlisle, PA. Apparently there's no website cuz I can't find it!


Spinderella's Creations Thrums - yummy mixture of wool, nylon, and angelina


Catspaw really knows how to take care of me!

Right after Christmas, I took a short cruise....on Etsy.... and this is what I found:

Green and Gold all whipped up - This is from Fiber Monster and it's very, very soft!


And this - this is called "Sleigh Ride". I bought it because it's beautiful and because I want it to snow- dang it! This is from Wooly Treasures


As soon as my "time-famine" ends, there's a big "fiber-feast" awaiting me. I can hardly wait to dig in !

New Year's Knitting

I'm still making Christmas presents... and will be for just a little while. This is because I did not start my Christmas knitting until Thanksgiving - my fault, I know. Originally, I had decided NOT to knit anything for Christmas, but then I saw some yarn...and a pattern book...and decided that a some mittens might be a quick project - and they were - quick for me, that is. I am happy to report that ONE pair of mittens was finished before Christmas Day.



Now I'm finishing mittens for George's wife, Beth. As I knitted yesterday, I found that I could not put the first one down. It was like the colors and charts were addicting -"just one more round....just one more round...." and pushing me to finish.
Front side



Palm side


I'll cast-on the second mitten today and try to finish before school and life smack me in the face on Monday. ACK. Life surely does get in the way of doing what I really enjoy.

Oh - and I also finished these:


-mitts for Caroline - but guess what? They were not photographed either! I'll get them before she goes back to college, I guess! What a lousy photojournalist I am!

I've also been spinning a bit. Here are the results of my first, second, and third attempts at spinning/plying.

1. Outlandish purple/pink merino #1 from Stoney Mountain Fibers

2. Cotswold from Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton

3. Merino/bamboo from Julie at Flawful Fibers

I am currently trying to spin some BFL. Merry is being a little finicky though - must be the cold weather - or the silly bow!



Next on my knitting list:

• a Calorimetry for Alex's GF
• a pair of mitts for Lisa
• a pair of mittens for Kim
• and my eternal WIPs.
  

If only I could knit at school all day! Hmmmmm....it's January - maybe the snow gods will smile on us and I can get a little extra knitting time...."red sunrise in the morning, sailors take warning..."

Holiday Hustle

Well - it's happened again! I haven't posted for over a month. I guess I got caught up in the death spiral of school/holidays/and just life in general.

Our family enjoyed a nice Christmas together and we also enjoyed our Annual Hors d'ouevre dinner - the 7th one! Here's this year's spread:



Mmmmmm.....everything was delicious!

- and just for fun - here's me posing in the beautiful mohair roving Janice gave me:


When I think back on Christmas 2008, what I'll remember most is all the cooking I did. We had ham and turkey. I did two loads of dishes every day! I love having all the boys home, including John, but they can really eat & make a mess! I even made six (6) fresh apple cakes - my mom's recipe which she borrowed from Mrs. Virginia Pugh's entry in the Rodes Family Night Favorites cookbook. I've plurked about the cakes several times, so as a New Year's present, I'm going to share the recipe.

Fresh Apple Cake
First, peel & chop about three cups of apples - I use Granny Smith's and find that two apples usually do the trick


In a large & deep mixing bowl combine & mix well:
1 & 1/2 cups of oil
2 cups of sugar


add 3 eggs and mix well-
then add 3 cups of flour - mix well
then...
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. vanilla
a dash of cinnamon


Finally:
add 3 cups of chopped apples - mix well
a cup of coconut
a cup of nuts (I use walnuts)
a cup of raisins - but I use a cup of chocolate chips instead-because I am not fond of baked raisins!


Bake in a mold, (bundt, etc...) at 350 degrees for 1 & 1/2 hours or until done.

Icing:
1 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk
1 stick of butter
Combine in saucepan. Stir until everything has melted. Boil gently for 1 & 1/2 minutes. Ice cake while still warm, slowly, so mixture will run into cake.

You can even make cupcakes!


I never made this cake until after my mom died. I remember her saying that it wasn't hard to make & it isn't. I hope you and your family will enjoy it as much as we do!

Best wishes for a happy, prosperous, & peaceful 2009.
God bless!

Thanksgiving Knit/Spin Recap

It's been a busy and yet relaxing week - is that even possible? I enjoyed a two day school week and luxuriated in spending Wednesday morning spinning up the rest of the Cotswold, purchased at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton.




Merry enjoyed it too, as she got to show off a little new jewelry - just in preparation for the Holidays, mind you! This was made by Jennifer at Felux Fiber Crafts. Merry lurves it!



The boys & I (DH was already there for work) left for Northern Virginia on Wednesday afternoon after an oil change and unanticipated brake job for my car - but now the brakes work and that's important when you live in the mountains! While waiting for the car, we heard the terrible news from Mumbai - not knowing at the time that a group from our county was there on a spiritual retreat - including my workout friend Lisa. Sadly, two members of their group were some of the first killed in the siege.

We spent Thanksgiving Day at DH's brother's house in Great Falls. This has become a tradition of sorts. You see, they have a really big living room which doubles as a dining room for family gatherings. Here's my mom-in-law, Scamp on Ravelry. Friend her - but be warned - she'll ask you to knit dog sweaters for the Heritage Humane Society! Doesn't she looked so pretty in those colors?



We also got to see nieces and nephews who flew/trained in from all over: two from San Francisco, one from Portland, and this one from New York. Here are DH & New York niece- two smarties- discussing the election - they are cut from the same cloth, those two!



Yep-smart, pretty - and oh yeah, funny, too!


On Friday, m-i-l, s-i-l, and I went to a nearby yarn shop, Alyin's Woolgatherer, where I scored this:



...which is turning into a pair of mitts - to be followed by matching socks.

This is Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy Socks. I'm doubling it for the mitts.

I knitted all the way home & arrived to find this:



SQUEEEEE! You know how I LOVE packages! The top two are Christmas pressies, so they will remain anonymous, but here is the content of the big one on the bottom-



Dream in Color Starry in Flamingo Pie and Ruby Red.....wait - do those colors look familiar? I seem to be on an apricot/magenta kick. AND WAIT! The Ruby Red might be a present too....oh poop...but aren't they beautiful?
AND WAIT! - there was more from TLE....apparently, I'm a Loopy Groupie! WOOT!

I wasn't keeping track of my orders, so this was a nice surprise! Sheri certainly does know how to make her customers feel special!

Then it was time for Lights Out....really...


...a Holiday brew from our local Blue Mountain Brewery.....and with that - the Holiday season is off and running! How will I ever catch it?