Spring Has Sprung!!

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Butterfly Shadow Box

I saw the male Robins last week, was sooooo excited – Spring is here, tho’ I have to admit we had a really awesome winter this year.  I always love this time of year, with the tulips, crocus, and my favorite – Hyacinths (absolutely wonderful fragrant smell!!!), and other early spring flowers coming up.  I love everything about Spring!!!!

I went to a craft get together early this afternoon that our Relief Society president does once a month so we can all get together and enjoy each other’s company.  For those not familiar with what Relief Society is, it’s a woman’s organization in our Church that is dedicated to helping others, and uplifting not only others but our selves as well.  There were several projects to choose from but I absolutely adore butterflies so I chose this Butterfly Shadow Box to do.  It was simple and fun. 😉  I’m excited to see what we can chose to do next month.  Hey Sis, you would love this one.

Yes Daylight Savings Time is Here Again…sigh

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a few years ago

Well, since the government obviously isn’t going to listen to me about the stupidity of Daylight Savings Time, I’m feeling  like taking a little of my past back :).  This picture was taken about 12 years ago.  Most women would love to have a glamour shot taken, and so I did.  My hair was much shorter than it is now, and you’d think shorter hair is easier to take care of, but nope, I have curly hair and it’s such a pain to take care of.

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A friend and I were discussing this evening the little things that don’t cost anything but are a wonderful part of our lives and how some people overlook these wonderful little but comforting things.  Some of the things I love are: a warm & gentle breeze blowing across my face and watching my hair swirl in the breeze, watching the waves in the over grown grass as the wind blows across it, the smell of freshly mowed grass in the summer time,  listening to and watching the geese as they fly south in the fall and come back in the spring, listening to the birds in the spring and summer singing their little songs outside my open window,  the beautifully fragrant smell of fresh roses and lilacs, the feel of velvet & satin, the feel of a very soft fiber going through my fingers as I spin, the comforting sound of my knitting needles as I knit, watching huge snowflakes as they fall (from inside my warm apt :P), watching the lightning streak across the sky followed by the boom of the thunder,  the feel of my ferret’s fur (he’s very soft) :), hearing the voice of an old friend or family member.  The list could be very long, but these are a few of the things I love.  I’m sure you could come up with a few yourselves. 🙂

Better Late Than Never :)

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Polypay Lamb Roving

OK, I know I promised a picture of the lambs fleece a couple of weeks ago but I’m busy getting use to having nothing to do :P.  Actually, I’m adjusting to a new routine so I haven’t gotten to the things I usually do. I have been re-arranging my apt, and getting ready to go through boxes that should have been gone through so long ago.  One day this coming week I will put a box in the middle of the floor and just sit there going through pitching and re-boxing as needed until I have one box down and however many more to go, my goal is to get rid of at least half of my boxed stuff.  My bedroom is almost reorganized, just the stuff on the top of the bed I wasn’t sure what to do with, but I will have to make a decision this coming week on what to do with those things (mostly papers – that is what I have the most trouble sorting through) so I can sleep in it again – tho I have to admit my love seat is pretty darn comfortable :).

The roving is from a Polypay lamb.  Since I didnt have anything to put it on out there, to keep it from getting more vm (spinning term for vegetable matter – grass, weed seeds, etc, etc) in it for a good shot of the whole fleece,  I just left it in the plastic bag to get a picture.  I’m keeping it in my car as I’m not sure my neighbors wouldn’t appreciate the “delightful” smell of sheep coming from my apt :P.  I will make arrangements to get it out in the mail this week to the mill where they will be turning it into roving.  It should be very nice and I love that it is white so that I can play with dyes ;).  Then in a few months I will have some nice Polypay lamb’s roving to spin.  Maybe next year if I get another fleece I will try to scour and card it on my own. 🙂

My First Fleece – Polypay Lamb

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a small sample before washing

the same small sample after washing

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I can not even tell you how excited I am to have received this Polypay lamb fleece from a friend that I visit with every month.  She and her husband have a farm where they raise corn and sheep (Polypay and Suffolk) the sheep are raised for meat rather than fiber.  I asked her a couple of years ago if when they sheared if I could buy a lamb fleece from her.  Not much more was said.  When I went to Church this morning she had a tub with a Polypay lamb fleece in it and said she told her shearer to keep back a fleece for her friend and what it was for and he even skirted it.  The shearer told her he would do the Polypay for spinning because it was a softer fleece.  I am very grateful because the shearer takes the fleeces for his time and skill to shear her flock, since my friend and her husband don’t sell the fleece but they have to have the sheep sheared, it saves them the money of having to pay someone to shear for them so their Ewes can lamb and then again when they go to market.  I am sooooo excited!!!! 

I couldn’t keep my hands off of it after I got home.  I had to take a small sample and bring inside to play with.  I live in a small apt so I left the fleece in my trunk until I can either bring it in and scour it (when it’s warmer as it will need to dry outside) or find a small mill that will take a 2  lb fleece to make into roving.  I have never started with a fresh fleece or carded my own before, the lamb is not quite a year old and the fiber is about 2  1/2 inches long.  It has a bit of lanolin in it, which looks dirty but is quite soft.  The lambs fleece is soft and I have a before and after picture above of the small sample I brought inside.  When I put it in the hot soapy water to get the lanolin out (which it did rather quickly), I put my hand in the hot water to push it under and the second time I couldn’t see the small fiber in there and thought, oh my gosh what happened?  It cleaned quickly and is so white I couldn’t see it against the bottom of the bathroom sink.  Also it is as soft as a cloud in the water so I could hardly feel it in there.  I was trying to be VERY careful so I didn’t felt it.   You can see the crimpiness in the before picture and tho’ you can’t see the crimpiness in the after picture, as I play with it I can feel the elasticity in it.  I will make her a scarf with some of it. Life is good :).  I proimse to get a picture of the whole fleece sometime next week. 🙂

We also had more snow since the last picture I posted, about the same amount and then again on Friday, but not a lot.  This next week is suppose to be a bit warmer than this last week and I’m excited about that because I am semi retiring.  My last day at work is Tuesday 1/31.  The rest of the week will be spent (after sleeping in :P), deep cleaning my apt, you know shampooing carpets etc.  I know it’s not spring yet, but I still have the “spring is in the air” feeling :).   A friend asked me what I would do with my time and all I could see was pictures of me at the spinning wheel and behind some knitting needles clacking along :).  I do intend to spend some time doing Genealogy now that I will have some time to do that, I have a feeling that will be my new addiction.  😛

Our First Real Snow for Winter 2011/2012

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First real snow of 2011-2012

First real snow of 2011-2012

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Well on the left was what I woke up to on Thursday morning.  A bit of a difference from the dusting of snow we’d had up to this point.  It snowed all day Thursday and the 2nd picture is what I took this morning to show the difference from the dusting we had before.  Glad my car is out of commision as it were and I dont have to drive in this.  I am taking the bus to work and home again.  Not fun standing out there waiting for the bus in this weather, but so much nicer not to have to drive in it ;).  Did I mention that I’m not really a winter person? 😛

Winter Weather Iowa 2011

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Dusting of Snow

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I was going to put dusting of snow Iowa 2011-2012 however we are barely into 2012 so I will wait to see what the rest of the winter brings.  Anyone who knows what Iowa winters are like will know that this has not been a typical Iowa winter, but has been continual fall since fall.  By now we are going into our midwinter thaw, but there is nothing to thaw this year.  The temps are into the 30’s and 40’s during the day and teens and 20’s at night.  We usually have a lot of snow on the ground beginning to melt for the week or so that it warms up.   Oh, don’t get me wrong, I am NOT complaining at the warmer winter or even the lack of snow (I am not a snow, or even a winter) person, yeah I know then why do I live in Iowa, (because my children are here :P.)  But as I was saying, we have had 2 dusting of snow days this winter and that is a picture of the last one.  If you go back in my blog you can see pictures of a real Iowa winter :P.  I know it will hurt the farmers because it appears to be a drought and I even tho’ I don’t care for the snow, I hope we do get enough to help out the farmers here.  My dad lives out west and they don’t get very much snow at all, and the last big system that went through there a few weeks ago left him about 10 inches of snow.  I’m sure everyone out there was very surprised to get “our” snow :).

Happy New Year 2012

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Well, a new year has begun.  I see a lot of changes in my life this year, hopefully for the better.  I wish you all a wonderful new year filled with blessings, love and hope.

I am having to re-spin that first skein of yarn.  While plying I had some major mishaps and with sadness I tossed that start of the skein out.  Both of my spinning wheels were having issues with tension and I messed up when winding into a center pull ball and it ended up a tangled mess.  I don’t mess up very often and was very sad to lose that week and 1/2 of work and fiber.  Fortunately there is plenty of that fiber left.  I put spinning aside for a bit while I worked on the problems with my spinning wheels, but  I am getting ready to start the spinning again.  Hopefully with better results this time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

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Merry Christmas

“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the  mouth of my holy prophets” 3 Nephi 1:13

May you all have a blessed and wonderful Christmas, and may the peace of this season be with you through out the New Year.

Started Spinning the Teal Superwash Merino

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Spinning start of the teal Merino superwash

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I’ve begun spinning the merino superwash.  Merino is such a delight to spin, it’s soft and handles easily, even when dyed.  I do tease it a bit (pull it gently until it slips in it’s roving form) to make sure it will come out of the roving easily as I spin.  I’m striving for a baby weight, we will see how consistant I am with a near pound of this roving.  I will be spinning on it everyday so the consistancy should be there, I have trouble when I let it sit a while before going back to it, :P.  It should make a lovely shawl.  I will post a picture when this skein is done, probably this week end.   I love having a week of vacation :).

I know It’s Been a Month…

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Kettle dyed superwash merino roving

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Yes, it has been almost a month since my last post.  My job has been very stressful (mortgage industry and with the lower mortgage rates it has been VERY busy) and overtime has been involved, I caught a very bad cold almost 3 weeks ago that went into bronchitis, the severe coughing has subsided but there is still some coughing and still an occational coughing spasm,  and still some congestion, but at least I don’t have to sit up all night to sleep anymore.  I have a long awaited for and much needed vacation starting Monday this week, so much rest will be the order of the day everyday this week :).

I got the dye I ordered to dye the merino superwash roving that I had on hand.  It is for a friend who will be knitting the Daisy Rectangular Shawl I designed.  She will be entering it in the state fair where she lives this coming year.  I will post a picture of the skeins when I finish spinning, and I will post a picture of her shawl when she is finished knitting it, as she does not have a blog.  :).  Now, tho it’s a beautiful teal color on my screen (and exactly what I was hoping for), this denotes my lack of expertise in the picture taking arena – the roving did not turn out as teal as I had hoped, it is more green than the picture shows, but hopefully the color will be loved by my friend.  If I had more experience with dying I could probably correct the color to what I had hoped for, but alas I do not have that expertise at this time.  Maybe she can correct the color after she knits it.

I will be doing some cleaning tomorrow morning as my kitchen sink has a leak in the pipes underneath (I found it when I went to get the kettle out to dye the roving on Friday) and my landlord will be coming tomorrow morning to fix the pipe (the trap) and most of the stuff that was under my sink is now on my counter, some stuff I had to toss.  Sigh.