Random Thoughts

... in random orders.

1. Trouble One
I bought several pattern books from Webs last months. I don't remember how many. I can't find them! It's driving me crazy.

2. Trouble Two
We've been seeing a couple of small moths flying around the house. You might say, oh, just a couple, no big deal. Nope. A couple, every evening! I've been checking my stash, but I don't see any evidence of the pests. Still, it's very unnerving.

3. Amusing
There has been an increase in the number of visitors to our blog lately, and 90% of them are here after doing a search on "fingerless gloves, knitted, mittens, patterns" on Google! They are all directed to Liz's fingerless gloves entry. Liz, I think you need to post some more pictures!
What's really amusing is that this just started happening in mid-August. Before then, there were visitors from my Lotus Blossom Tank Kal entry. It shows the change of the seasons....

4. The Dilemma
The dilemma continues! I want to knit, but have no time left after an hour of spinning each night. I'm still working on my handspun vest, but I've decided that I need to convert the Japanese knitting chart (which I used to love) to the American knitting pattern (which I used to dislike), and it's taking some time. Alas, my brain pattern has been migrated...

5. Sigh
It's my birthday today. My birthday wish has been to take a day off and knit in the back yard in peace. This wish has not been materialized yet.... Next year, for sure. I've had a nice lunch and cake treated by my coworkers today though, so it's a very nice compromise!

Long Way Home

I'm back. The jet lag coming home is always harder than going to Japan. Our son's recovery from the time difference is the fastest, easiest and noisiest! He's in a constant motion, when he's not asleep, since we came home. Agh.

Yes, I have to say it again. It was HOT. According to everyone I talked to, it has been a record heat in Japan, and it was, at times, simply miserable. We tried to stay inside during the day, and that was all we could do.

But we did have fun, and saw things that were interesting and unusual.

Can you guess what they are? Yeah. They are watermelons, and they are real. Cubic and conic watermelons. We heard that they grow them that way, on purpose, but this is the first time we saw it in real, and I had to take a picture! For your information, the signs say that they are for display, not for sale.

Another thing that we don't have here was the cecadas. It was as if they all came out of the ground at the same time and sending off the mating calls, competing with each other. Must have been ten thousand just around my mom's house. It was deafning. If you go stand under a tree, you could actually spot them on the trunk and branches, while being showered by the screaching noise. Mitch actually got to tickle one of them with a blade of grass!

Before I arrived, I wanted to go on a several fiber-related shops. But then I found out that the spinning shop Perendale Kamakura was closed for the month of August, and then the heat and humidity melted off my desire for wool.

I bought several books though -- one on indigo and shibori, one on Japanese traditional fabric craft, and another on natural dyeing.

Yokohama is big. Every time I go back, I feel overwhelmed. Then when I was growing up, I thought it was a small town! This view is from our hotel window.

When we came back home, I stepped outside in the evening and saw the stars, filling the dark sky. Something I never saw growing up, and never saw on the visit. Made me think how far we flew from Japan.

From Japan

It'll be a short post, as I am going to clean up the super-messy hotel room and jump in the shower to get the day started in Yokohama. It's been HOT here. The air is heavy with humidity, and it takes a lot out of us. Mitch definitely misses playing with friends, and I miss our mobility (I don't drive here). But still, it's been a good stay.
I've been reading on some knitting blogs that it's hard to knit when it's so hot. Living in Northern California, I didn't know how that felt like -- until now. Since we arrived in Japan, I haven't touched my knitting, and my desire to go yarn shopping is a record low!

More later, with some pictures.

Mohair!

As you might have guessed, I love going to festivals. And there are always some fiber related findings at festivals around here. On Saturday, we went to the Gravenstein Apple Festival in Sebastopol.

Compared to last year, it was a bit disappointing -- no fleece vendors. The Sonoma Fiber Trail booth wasn't out either. Probably for the better, as I didn't end up buying any fiber. But -- I almost squealed when I found some angora goats!

And the owner of the goats was spinning the mohair by the pen.

Of course I sat right down and started a conversation on spinning. We both sang high on how fun it is and how calming and relaxing it can be. I picked up her drop spindle, and she gave me a wad of dark-colored mohair to spin. I was grinning ear to ear, sitting right by her and spinning the long-stapled mohair.

Parents walking by with kids stop by. "Oh look, they are making yarn with the sheep's hair."
Spinner: "Actually, it's mohair from my angora goat."
Parents: "Oh."
Kids: "What are you doing?"
Me: "Spinning. I'm making yarn, with that goat's wool."
Kids: "Why?"

I look up, and see the kid's face completely perplexed. They must be thinking why you gotta make yarn with that ancient-looking tools when we can buy colorful yarns from the store?

So I hand the dropspindle to one of the girls, showing her how. She tries. Examines the 12 inches of yarn she just spun. Still seriously frowning. No joy here. Mitch tries to demonstrate how fun it is.

The girl being much older than Mitch, walks off, totally unimpressed.

The spinner gave me a handful of dark mohair. Unfortunately she was not there to sell fiber. Oh darn.

Shearing demonstration.

The baby's next.

After the shearing, while the spinner's off the stage getting her chair so she can show the spinning, a bunch of small kids get on the Joy and start treadling like a stairmaster. Parents are totally nonchalant. I'm biting my nails. I'd be screaming if it was my wheel.

The third kid jumping up and down on the treadles. I can't take it anymore. I finally step up and get the kids off. I breathe deeply to calm myself down. Mitch has never done that to my wheels. He has always treated my spinning stuff with respect. Maybe he knows the repercussions. Maybe he senses that some things are treasured possessions to someone. Knowing that, it makes me feel a bit sad to see a complete lack of respect from kids older than Mitch.

Souvenir mohair, the small wad on the right is the kid mohair from the 6-month old baby goat. O glorious crimp. I plan to wash them and blend with wool, spin, and knit a hat.

I've finished spinning the hunk of Lisa Souza's Merino/Silk blend. I'd never spun merino or silk, and I was worried that I may not be experienced enough for this, but I've been having fun -- so much so that I contacted Lisa and purchased two more hunks (apparently last ones she had) of the same blend and colorway. She's wonderful to deal with, by the way. She has just sold her house in Bay Area and moved to El Dorado County. I saw a photo on her website where she hung the hand-dyed skeins to dry out on her beautiful country-side property. I'm so hugely envious.

Happy Birthday Liz!

Happy Birthday to Liz,
Happy Birthday to Liz,
Happy Birthday Dear Liz,
Happy Birthday to you!

I wonder...

I've been wondering if anyone would notice if I brought my new travel wheel to the office. I'd just replace my footrest with the treadles, and thread the fiber by the keyboard tray. It would just fit right under the desk. Would really be good for keeping my stress level in the safe zone.


Lisa Souza Silk/Merino top. Huguette got it for me at Stitches...

It's beautiful... very lustrous and long fiber.

The problem is, what would I do with this yarn? It'll be great for a lace shawl, but I'm not a shawl type, and my knitting skill (and patience) is nowhere near it.

I've been itching to dye again too. My son and I picked the dandelion flowers yesterday, and this time I'm freezing them until I get enough flowers to make a dyebath. I just read about using Cherry leaves to make an orange-red dye. Who'd thought? I have three natural dye books, but none of them mentioned this. Ah, if only I had more time...

The purple handspun went home with Erin at the end of the Knit Night. The first yarn that made a gift!


This weekend is Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol. We were there last year, and there were several fiber/spinning related booths. Dangerous.

August is for...

July definitely was a spinning month for me. The wheel rested until the 10th or so, but after that it was on Turbo mode.


I spun this much! It's about 900 meters total, in 2-ply.

The skeins on the left look blue in this picture, but this is the purple wool I was spinning the other day.


I made two singles from a wool 100% roving and a wool-angora (I think) blend roving, then plied them together. I had never spun an angora blend before; it's very different from corriedale and romney that I'm used to. It spun up a bit lumpy and fuzzy, compared to the other smooth and even single. The plied result was a warm and lofty yarn.

I'm still in love with the Fleece Artist wensleydale.

Super-long and shiny fiber. I bought two braids, 50 grams each, but I have 120 grams of yarn. Them Canadians are generous.

So as you can see, I've been crazy about spinning. I've even spent a few hours by my sewing machine to sew a spinning apron (my lap gets really fuzzy after spinning). I'm not sure what August is going to be for me. I should get out some FOs, but my spinning fever has not gone down. I have a trip to Japan planned, I'm seriously contemplating taking my Joy with me.

Charlie's done warping the loom. It looks like a rainbow pride flag, but it's actually a color-study blanket. It amazes me how long it takes to warp a loom, and how much patience it takes. Definitely not for me... I'm always after an instant gratification, and that's why I don't knit big stuff!

Knitters are coming to knit tomorrow! I can't wait. I hope Mitch behaves at school so I don't have to ground him (meaning, no Knit Night).

Uh Oh.

So we went to Lambtown. My first Fiber Fair experience. I was so excited.

Fiber everywhere.
And yarn everywhere.

Spinners too.

Lots of interesting wheels...

Kromski, I test drove this one at Carolina Homespun booth.

The Fair was pretty small, but I had to go around and around every booth to decide what to buy. And what did I ended up with...

Ashford Joy. Happy Happy, Joy Joy. (What have I done?)

As I was picking out the Jacob...

Several spinners (I'm assuming) walk by, muttering "No More Fiber, No More Fiber..."

I can totally sympasize. Now I need to go buy another Rubbermaid container for the fiber.

After coming home, Charlie decided to warp his loom. Mitch helped.

And I finished a ball of purple sliver I bought at Knitterly in Petaluma.

Very fiber-rich weekend, so far.

Stash Buster

Grounding my son helps in reducing my fiber stash.

From left to right -- Fleece Artist Wensleydale, Brown Sheep mill-end superwash, Kool-aid dyed corriedale plied with mohair. Fleece Artist sliver was the shortest resident of my fiber stash. It flew in from Toronto and in nine days it's spun up!

Very long fiber, and lustrous. Super-easy to spin. I really enjoyed this sliver. I'd have bought more, but those were the last two they had at Romni Wools.

I always scramble for a piece of paper when I make skeins, to write down the yardage. So I made yarn labels for my hand spun.

I've slowed way down on my knitting front. I'm busy busting my stash -- well, I guess I'm moving the fiber from one stash form to another!

I'm really excited about going to Lambstown this Saturday. I'll make sure to bring lots of bags.

Grounded

There is a Knit Night Friday going on at Erin's house right now. This one is the first one after a long Knit Night drought, so I was really looking forward to going. Of course Mitch was thrilled to go with me. But instead, I'm sitting in our living room and typing this.

You see, Mitch is grounded tonight, so he can't go anywhere, especially Knit Night. Charlie is attending a send-off party for Civil Air Patrol, which he just couldn't miss. So, I'm supervising and keeping Mitch grounded.

He has done something very bad at school today. Unspeakably bad. Both of his parents are shocked. So this punishment was, to much of my dismay, needed. Of course he's mad, but I guess that's a part of the process.

Sigh. And our parenting challenges have just started. A long way to go.

I think I'll go spin now. I'll treat myself with the Fleece Artist Wensleydale. I deserve it, and it's "Spinning July" after all.

Who's Mess is this?

Our house is rarely clean and neat. But lately, it's really pretty bad. For one thing, my suitcase has been left out in the bedroom all this year with stuff in it -- I've been traveling every month, twice a month sometimes, why should I put it away?

Every time I go away, I buy yarn and fiber. They are scattered all around the house (lovingly).

Here's the Fleece Artist sliver (Wensleydale) I bought in Toronto.

I'm usually a one-project-at-a-time knitter, but now I have three projects going on. That contributes to the mess.

Last Sunday Charlie flew us to our friend's cabin by the lake, and we still have the swimsuits and life vest lying around by the front door. My son says it was the bestest time he's ever had!

I've just joined the "Spinning July" ring held by Kohagi-san in Japan. I'm hoping that it will help me with the roving stash. But then there's Lambstown Fiber Fair late July... (Anyone want to go?) After that, I swear I will not buy any more spinning fiber for the rest of the year!! Um, did I say that last month?

Toronto Purchase and Blankie

So I'm back from Toronto. As usual, it was a busy, meeting-filled trip, but I was able to squeeze in a visit to a local yarn store. There is a store that stays open late on Thursdays. I jump on a taxi, then I realize that I forgot my camera, AGAIN!

It's Romni Wools, about 10 minutes taxi ride from the hotel. It's HUGE. I walked around every isle that's filled with amazing inventory of yarn, the large book and pattern section, then found out that there's downstairs. From the stairs I could see wool bats and spinning wheels. Only 20 minutes to the closing time. I hurry down. Woof, there's another big section of yarn there, on top of spinning and weaving stuff!!

I picked up some Noro, some unknown brand cotton yarn, and two braids of Wensleydale wool top -- Gotta get that of course; the codename of the project I'm working on right now is Wensleydale! I'm quite proud of myself to have kept the damage to minimal.

It's a must-see place, if you happened to be in Toronto. I have never seen so much yarn in one place. I said that to the salesperson (could well have been the owner), and she was like "un huh, I've heard that about a million and three times."

I'm plying the Kool-aid yarn with a pale-pink kid mohair.

I was hoping to get the bunny socks effect by plying with mohair, but I'm not sure if this is the color match I wanted. It looks like the Japanese red-white celebration stripes! The mohair should have been a little darker.

Mitch wanted me to knit a blankie for the Pirates. He pointed at the small roll of the mint-green single I had on the lazy kate. Okie dokie.

The lucky recipient of the hand-spun hand-knit blankie is my favorite pirate, Fernando Alonzo (name taken from the F1 racer).

Come to think of it, this is my FIRST FO from my handspun yarn!! I hope he appreciates it.

Mom, I Did Pink Too

My son's first tie-dye project at school...

He does pink better than me.

I have a business trip coming up again on Tuesday, and will be gone all week. I've been trying my hardest to stay away from my wheel lately -- my way of stash control. But before I have to go away, I always get the urge to spin. This time was no exception, and I started spinning the Kool-aid pink yesterday.

Not sure if I should call this Strawberry Stain or Tomato Smash.

Today my wheel was taken over by the pirates.

First, Long John Silver goes up on the yarn hook...

Then the whole crew came aboard. Arrr!

But I managed to finish spinning the whole Kool-aid wool. Lucky for me, the pirates appreciate fiber art.

Pink, Dammit!

After failing with the apple tree bark dye, I was determined to turn the drab beige roving into pink. But it's a known fact that pink is hard to get from natural dyes.

Fine. Kool-aid is natural enough -- well, it's non-toxic at least.

There are several ways to dye with Kool-aid, apparently. I used the microwave method, without vinegar.

First squeeze the Kool-aid on wet wool, wrap it in the plastic wrap, and zap it.

After the wool is cooled, wash it with a little dish soap.... until no color comes out in the water... the instruction says. I see no color washed out in the water. Not at all! No mordanting, no modifier, no shimmering over two days, and the wool is so undoably pink. It took less than an hour for the whole process!

So I achieved Pink.

Some people feed this stuff to kids!?

Happy 4th, everyone.

July Already

Tomorrow is July already, and it means that a half of the year 2007 is gone. Poof.

The first day of the three-day weekend (I am taking a day off on Monday) is over, uneventfully. I did sleep over ten hours though -- I spent all day yesterday at work, looking at my budget and conciliating the expenses, and I was exhausted by the early evening. I went to bed before Mitch, and boy I felt good in the morning. We went to see Ratatouille. It was the first time Mitch has ever gone to a movie theater. It's pretty amazing, because he's been ready since age one. His attention and focus have been excellent. I'm not sure why we waited so long -- I think it's largely my hesitation in going to the theater. I haven't been to see a movie for a long time -- I think the last one was Star Wars I (the little Anakin one), isn't it over ten years ago?

My life has been crazy-busy, and I really didn't want to go sit in the dark for two hours, nothing else to do -- if we watched DVDs at home, I could knit, fold laundry, read, or work on my laptop -- it's all about multi-tasking. I'm going to have to let go of wanting to do so much all the time, as my son really enjoyed the experience today....

I started on a new pair of socks today, using the red tweed yarn I bought in Fort Bragg. This one will be for my mom again. While I was visiting her in May, I saw the first pair I knitted for her -- all worn out and pilled -- well loved. Best compliment and appreciation for the handknit socks, isn't it?

I am thinking about trying Fair Isle. Something simple. The latest issue of KnitScene has a cute sweater with a pretty Fair Isle pattern, and it's making my fingers itch! Colors, though...

A while ago I saw a blog about picking a color scheme for knitting, utilizing a image processing software.

I kept thinking about it when I saw the ice plant all over the side of the hills on the beach.

They were strikingly beautiful -- pinkish deep red, emerald green. It's a color combination I wouldn't have thought of.

Impressionism effect.

Tile effect. Pretty, huh?

So many projects, so little time. Sigh.

Little R&R

First of all, thank you for your well-wishes! I am close to be done with my antibiotics treatment for my strep/ear infection, and although it did take a few days to fix my sore throat, I am definitely feeling better. My painful neck kept bugging me through the weekend, but today it's 90% pain free. I have to think that they were indeed all related. Fellow knitters, beware of nagging neck pain -- it may not be from knitting too much. When in doubt, see your doctor!

We were in Fort Bragg again over the weekend. I enjoyed our trip there in February so much so that I wanted to go back there again. Everyone was still recovering from whatever that hit us last week, but it sure was wonderful to get away. Nothing major on agenda, just a relaxing three-day trip by the beach -- I surely needed that.

I love the sound of the ocean -- who wouldn't? And here, it was the only sound I could hear.

I wish I could do this every weekend! I'd love to plan another trip there in the fall. Oh yes, we did go back to the wonderful restaurant, Mendo Bistro. Mitch fell asleep at the table. A few minutes of peace.

Unfortunately, they don't serve the amazing Crab Cakes in the summer -- if you think about it, of course, it should be seasonal, especially if they are good. When we were there in February, they were not good -- they were great, excellent, and amazing. Here's another reason to go back there.

We also made another visit to the local yarn store, Navarro River Knits. I bought some sock yarn and Kurikol rovings. I'd never heard of Kurikol, but from the look of it, it looks very similar to the natural brown pencil roving Nancy gave me. Can't wait to spin it!

Here are the pictures of the Bunny Socks. It really was a suspense -- when I started the toe decrease on the second sock, it seemed that it was unanimous among the knitters and Charlie that I would run out of the yarn.

The white ring-like object is the mohair I was coupling with Lang BEBE, which, as shown in the photo, just a few meters (not even, maybe) left....

Amazing! I've finished it with less than a meter of Lang BEBE to spare. This is the closest I came to running out of yarn at the end. I actually have another ball of this yarn, so I am going to knit another pair, just slightly shorter! I've bought a ball of light pink Chrystal Palace Kid Mohair to go with it. It'll be mighty girly :-)