Monday, April 30, 2007

Outside

seems to be the favourite word of the kid these days.
Who can blame them.
Spring has finally arrived here (let's just forget the freak snowstorm of a couple of weeks ago) and it's beautiful out.
We have been walking everyday in town to get the mail (it's not delivered to our house) go to the park and just hang out.

Signs of spring:

Things growing:

This is the garlic that I planted last fall in the garden. I bought some at the Fall fair and wasn't sure it would work--but it's working! I planted about 5 cloves and will get 5 bulbs. Not bad for a first time.
Princess B and I planted 81 peat pots the other day. They are sunning themselves indoors in a windowsill until they get going.

Wildlife:

The ladybug socks are done!
I can't believe it took me this long. I had to rip out the last cuff and re-start it again on Monday.
There was 1 row of red after finishing the heel that didn't look right.
Why does ribbing take so long?
Anyways, I haven't been working on them much this week but managed to finish them Saturday night.
I even managed to make the stripes line up (not intentionally):

Just being outdoors is nice.

Hubby hung out w/ the kids (after napping all afternoon *ahem*) so I did some spinning outdoors:

I have almost finished half of the Pippi roving and think that is what I will use to learn Navajo plying. I don't' want to mess with the colours as they are appearing.

So, more sunny days ahead. Need to tackle the garden.
I do well with vegetables but am a mess with flowers. I have no concept of colour or height or what works best....
What are your favourite flowers???

Friday, April 27, 2007

L&V Swap Pal gifties


L&V Swap Pal gifties
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

This came from my pal today.
If you click on the picture, you can go to Flickr and read the notes of the stuff that came.
I've already "tested" out the spindle.
I can't wait to use these sock yarns, as I've heard about them, but have not seen them in person.
The chocolate and tea will be enjoyed tonight.
Thanks pal!!!

I am soooo spoiled.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

We have a spinner down..

aka "ouch my hip"
since my wrist continues to be sore, I have been spinning (which sometimes affects it, sometimes not)

Yesterday, I finished the sample roving that pippi sent me (merino/tencel and it's dreamy):


and today I've finally finished the first bundle of the Spunky Eclectic "Tahiti".
I want to teach myself to Navajo ply, but apparently I need four hands and a video and unlimited patience..maybe tonight when the kids aren't throwing noodles on the floor.

I got my batt from L&V seen here:

It's dreamy.
I've never spun from a batt, but now I have 2 of them, so that will be next.
After this:

this is the Springtime Chocobird, also from Pippikneesocks.
It's a strange colourway--brown, bright blue and yellow. It will be cool though.

My hip is sore, probably because of how I'm sitting. I'm not spinning for all that long at a time--with 2 little ones, its' not possible.
About 15 minutes at a time, and then a bit last night.
It's just something to get used to I guess.

The next question is: What to make with it?
All I can think of is socks.
What else have you all made lately?
It's getting too warm for hats or scarves. I guess I could get a jump on next season.

Nah, socks for now.
*runs off to spin more*

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Monarch


Monarch1
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

This is my favourite (Okay, I said that about all of them)

PUnk Goth Princess


PGP2
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

Sweet Pea


SP2
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

This is another new one.
Such Fun!!
I dont' think I've done a blog post from Flickr before.
But since Flickr just told me that I've reached my limit w/out going "Pro' many of these pictures won't be visible to you.

PINK IS THE NEW BLACK


PinkBlack1
Originally uploaded by thechickswithsticks.

That's the colour way shown here.
Etsy is still on the fritz as far as pictures are concerned.
They are loading however are not visible on the shop home page.
SIgh.
Whatever, I'll just put some up here.

Sunday, April 22, 2007

More posty

So, since Etsy is down (the IT people have been working for about 24 hours straight)
and I'm excited about my yarn, I want to post some pictures.

Some thoughts--although I said the colours were springy--the pictures of the yarn drying had a alot of black in it--that's true.
I had some inspiration and some colours that I didn't get to last time.
So, those pictures will have to wait until tomorrow, but I am totally in love with this one:


It has some black in it-and was inspired by some flowers that we saw on our walk yesterday.

and re: my wrist--yes I do have carpal tunnel.
I've been tested in the past (about 4 years ago) and tested as "mild", but I'm thinking that since I've become yarn obsessed and now spin and have spent the evening re-skeining yarn--my wrist might be worse.
I just need to wear my brace to bed for a while and see if that fixes it.
can't wait to list these yarns.
I've spent the whole night saying "this is my favourite" then I move on to the next one, which then becomes "my other favourite".
that's good--because if they don't sell then they can be mine mine mine.

we're off tomorrow for some fun w/ the kids--and maybe there will be some sock updates...

With apologies to Bob Dylan.

"the yarn my friend, is blowin' in the wind.
the yarn is blowin' in the wind"


I have dyed 11 skeins of yarn the past 2 nights and the last lot is all dry:

Friday's mail came with a big box of blanks and I was so excited--but Princess B was sad that there were no toys in the box.....
I was sad because I am still waiting for my L&V swap gift and some roving that I ordered on April 2nd.
It's now Aprl 22nd--where are the packages???

The sun is finally shining here which means that we spent most of yesterday outside.
It wasn't until 3pm that I realized I could be drying my yarn.
This lot I put out just before we left for church, and it's about dry.
Yeah!
Hard to believe we had a snow storm here a week ago.

So, this afternoon I will be skeining skeining skeining and I hope to catch some pictures while the sun is still out.

That's the dyeing update..um, knitting.
Nothing to see here, move along.

I haven't been doing much because I just haven't felt like it. I've been tired, I've been in laundry purgatory and then not wanting to do much of anything.

Plus my right hand is almost permanently asleep. It hurts to knit unless I'm only doing a couple of rows at a time, so I"m trying to be careful.

I have been working on my hand-spun socks, but haven't made much progress.
Tomorrow we are taking the kids to an indoor play area about an hour away--so that's good car knitting time!!
I will show some sock progress tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

You spin me right round....

okay, so apparently I've used that blog title before too---hmmmm, maybe I'm just out of ideas.

I've dyed up some more fibre and put it in the shop:


THECHICKSWITHSTICKS named after my love of orange and my sister's love of purple.




and Lime and Violet Roving



Love the podcast, made the yarn, had to make the roving.


That's all the roving that I have to dye.


I only have a half skein of yarn left too--awaiting an order which will likely take another week.


I have to totally plug Wool2Dye4.


I bought the roving and some yarn blanks from there.


I opened up one hank today and half of the strands were broken. It was weird.


They didn't look cut, just broken.


I e-mailed her and she replied right away to apologize, indicated she had no idea how it happened and told me that she was mailing me a replacement skein today.


I really have no idea how it happened either--but I am very impressed with her customer service and I will order from her again.
If you want some rovings or blanks, go to her--she's great!!!

My roving, so far, have not sold.
I just about drool every time I look at the Chocolate and Cherries Roving, and there have been a lot of views, but so far no takers.



The Blue Bird skein is so pretty--it's my favourite (but I say that about all of them)--it broke when I was re-skeining it--that's why it's discounted.


Yep, only $8.00 for 440 yards of hand-dyed sock yarn.


The skein didn't' break exactly in half, so you will have to do a join somewhere in one of the socks--but look at the colour:

Okay, that's enough of my shameless self promotion.

I'm not doing much knitting. I have 3 socks on the go right now.


My hand spun socks are giving me grief. The yarn is pretty blah in the colour department and it's pretty stiff to work with (Romney??). I kept having to rip it out to get the right amount of stitches on the needles. It was too hard to do a gauge swatch, so I was just winging it.

They will likely be more house socks than anything--but they will be mine.

I started spinning some Pippi Knee Socks Roving today. I love it.
I finally got some Springtime Chocobird and she sent some Merino/Tencel roving as a sample.

I'm spinning it tonight. It's dreamy, I'm not used to the Merino so much--so it's a bit slippery.

But it shines like mad. I love it.

I will have to take some pictures tomorrow, hopefully the sun will come back.

Monday, April 16, 2007

A day with meeeeeeee

I had a day today.
A day with me.
Have you ever done that? Ever had a day where you went where you wanted, ate what you wanted and did whatever you wanted?
I had a day like that today--a half day, but still...
it was heaven.

My day started with taking Danger Boy to the Dr's to get his staples out.
He was an angel. The whole thing took about a minute (which, when holding a wiggling 2 y/old in pain seems like an eternity)--he said one "OUCHY" and gave 1 squirm and then it was over and he had a sucker.
I like how he now calls the office "No doctor".

So then I took a road tour to visit Michele of "The Sweet Sheep"

Oh my word.
She is living my dream.
She has the site, but she also has the physical store in her home.
It's a room full of yarn.
Sock yarn.
and roving.
and ooooooh.
I just kept saying: "OH, you have..."
she has everything.
I didn't get pictures of all of it, but to name a few:
All things Heather
Yarn Pirate
Hip Knits
Pigeon Roof Studios
Brooklyn Handspun
Oceanwind Knits
Zen Yarn Garden
Mama E's--yarn, fibre and the handmade bags.
Fleece Artist and Handmaiden
Katia Bamboo
Cherry Tree Hill
Colinette Jitterbug
Louet Gems
Malabrigo
Shelridge Farms
.....
and more (she will be getting some much coveted, and very rare Sweet Georgia soon)
yeah, it's that good.
and Michele--so sweet.
So nice.
So helpful.
She spins.
She loves sock yarn.
She is going on the Sea Socks cruise.

I am jealous.

Sigh--so...you should go.
Go and buy yarn from her.
I will definitely be going back to her site and her store.

She had a "call to knitters" and asked locals to stop by to give some advice. I gave her an opinion on something and she gave me some of her hand dyed.
I believe it's "Berry Bliss" colourway.
The opinion is something I can't share (it's her secret) but I will tell you that it will be fun and a Sweet Sheep exclusive....
Here's the sock yarn haul :

(Top to Bottom: Michele's own Sweet Sheep Handyed Merino/Tencel in "Sea", Sweet Sheep "Berry Bliss", Colinette Jitterbug in "Bright Charcoal" (seriously, this stuff is beautiful-it's not just black and grey like it looks--purples, blues, soft pinks, smidgens of green) and Yarn Pirate "Cannon Beach"

and the fibre haul:

a Spritely Good's Batt in "Verbena" with some Firestar shiny stuff in it and a braid (?) of roving from "Pigeon Roof Studios" in "Plum Torte"


Then I went wandering to find a place to shop. I was looking for a store that I never did find but I drove around and listened to Lime & Violet podcasts.
Had some food. (Wild Rice Sushi---soooo good)
Had some coffee.
Tried to buy shoes for myself--something I don't' do very often because I know what I want but no one ever has what I like.
Bought Danger Boys' b-day present (one that we've tried to get twice from 2 different stores and couldn't find) and bought the only pair of "Cars" pajamas in the whole store.
Went to a crafty store.
Went to a second hand store and FOUND THE MOST AWESOME SHOES EVER!!!

with the most awesome price ever:

What a good day!!!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Dear Monkey








or Little Man
or "Danger Boy"

What to say.
I can't believe you are 2!!!
My little man.

The baby that was so good and quiet and still and easy--who is now a "going concern" as they say at Church.
You amaze me with your energy (seriously, if Mommy could just have half of that, we'd both be set) and your sense of adventure--you are your Father's son.
You find the fun in little things ("Socks on? Socks off!" "Boots on?") and love to have a good time.
You are still easy to take anywhere (mostly) and thank-you for letting Mommy go "yarning" without putting up a fuss.
You love to try to figure things out by: tasting, putting upside down, taking apart. I love that.
The tasting everything can stop now, but otherwise--EXPLORE!!

I love the mornings when you actually let me cuddle you and will sit on my lap for 10 minutes.
I love the little song that you will sometimes sing at bedtime. Teach it to me some day.
I love the little dance that you do when you see your sister in the morning, or when you want some juice (Billy Elliot??)
I love that you will discipline yourself ("Sit down") before you jump off the couch.

You are a always-running-funny-dancing-happy-cute monkey!
and I love you
Happy Birthday

Mommy

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Random stuff

apparently I've used that blog title before--blogger just told me so.


okay--so first,
May I introduce:


It's my first wheel spun, wheel plied, hand-dyed, made-it-myself....
YARN!!!


I'm calling it "Baby" because I just want to hold it and look at it, and touch it and stuff.

It really has taken me a long time to finish this.
Apparently spinning a 1/2 pound of roving into little singles and then plying takes a long time.

Okay, I didn't really learn to ply until last week--i wanted someone to show me how so I could learn something.
I have some left over on one bobbin, so I think I shall teach myself how to navajo ply.

I really have no idea how much is there yardage/metre-wise, but I weighed it:

That's 104 grams (a bit more than a ball of commercial sock yarn)

and for the Americans:

3.55 ounces.


I gave it a synthrapol soak--which was good since dye ran out of it when I put it in plain water.

Soaked it in some SOAK wash and then whacked it on the counter top a few times.
Not sure why--read it somewhere--maybe to set the twist???

Now it's hanging to dry and I can't wait to swatch it.

The colours are really blah, it was supposed to be bright purple and orange--here is a picture of me dyeing it:



I thought of dyeing the singles in different colours (one bobbin orange, one purple) but then thought better of it.

It's done, it's what it is---and I made it.

More pretties:




I can't seem to capture the colour just right.....

This is a skein of the "Sarah" yarn with a new base yarn that I got.
I thought it was really thin, but I did some comparison today and it's about what STR or Koigu is.

That's it for yarn stuff.


I finally got around to doing the Resurrection rolls with Princess B.

They are super cool.

They tell the story of Jesus at Easter and the Resurrection.

The first picture is Princess B taking "Jesus" and putting the oils and spices on him--and putting him in the tomb.




and when they are finished:

Jesus isn't there!

The first time we did these with her, she was 2 and when I asked her if she understood she said

"Yes, now the marshmallow is up in Heaven with God"

Um, yeah...almost.

They are easy and are a simple way to teach kids about Easter.

Recipe:
1 can of refrigerated crescent roll dough

8 jumbo marshmallows

melted butter

cinnamon sugar

The marshmallow represents Jesus (I know, bear with me) Dip the marshmallow into the butter to show the oils that were used to prepare Jesus' body. Roll it in the cinnamon/sugar to show the spices that were used.

Put the marshmallow on the "tomb" and wrap completely. Be sure to pinch it all closed.

Bake according to directions.

When you open the tomb, Jesus isn't there--he has Risen!

*Although the recipe may not sound appealing, taste-wise, they actually are really good*

and that's a pretty long post for me--it's been busy around here.

Little man continues to try to jump over the couch onto the hardwood. Doesn't seem to notice the staples in his head. Doesn't care.

He is no longer safe to go into the playroom alone--he finds mischief.

He will be 2 tomorrow.


Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Dye pots dYe pots, stinky stinky dyE pots

*what's that a take off of?? ** bonus points if you can sing the whole song..

okay, so I've been having fun with dyeing lately.


i have a new sock yarn base that I'm trying out.


it's $$$ and it's kinda thin, so I'm not sure I'm going to keep using it, but it takes the colour like a dream.

The clear/white you see is actually the water boiling.

the brown was so dark i almost thought it was chocolate--and wanted to eat it.
it's a custom order--a request for a Superwash "Sarah" colourway. (Custom order?? Squeee!!!)

i have one skein of a wool/silk to try out and i think I'm gonna keep that one, for meeeeeee!



Did you sign up??

Go over and sign up?

I've been part of the last 2 and had a blast.
that's all for me today.
Little man will now have a new name:
"Danger Boy". He's wearing a cute t-shirt today too, so I'll try to snap a picture b/c that one fits as well.



Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Dye DYe dyE

Yes, the last post is true--we were at the ER again this morning.

Little monkey decided to fall down the stairs and split his scalp open at 7:30am this morning.
Blood everywhere.
Gaping head wound.
Mother crying.

He's fine. Was fine just after. Was fine at the hospital when they were checking him over and putting the freezing liquid on his head.
Was fine when they wrapped him in a sheet so that he couldn't wiggle.
Screamed when the first staple went in, said "OH NO" and was done.
This will make for good stories when he's older.
For right now, I need some chocolate and a large cow bell so I know where he is at all times.
We got home and he decided to pull a chair across the room so he could climb up into the cupboard to give himself a snack.

That child makes me tired.
Anyways..(hubby is home directly supervising the child right now in case you are wondering why I am typing and not watching his every blink like I have been doing all day)

My posts have been boring lately. Haven't' felt inspired.
Too tired and bored with myself to do anything fun.
So, here's what I did on Sunday:

That's 2 skeins of L&V Superwash, a "Sarah" Brown/Turquoise for a special order and some blue stuff for fun!

The roving looks kinda gross like this.

Yesterday we were gone all day for my Dad's retirement party

and today in order to mellow my mood, I dyed more roving:

this stuff has more dye in it and I like it!

The other stuff is dry and I'm going to list it in the shop:

Happy Day to you!
I'm going to stay home tonight to keep an eye and ear on my baby.






Dear Local Hospital

I realize there are no frequent flyer points for visiting the ER.
I find the Nurses kind and helpful, but I really don't need to be on a first name basis with all of them.
I really don't need to meet all the Doctors in the county.
I don't think my son needs to spend his childhood in the ER or get used to the oxygen clip on his finger.
I think we have now been in every exam room in the ER and although they are quite lovely, I now know all the posters/pictures and procedure lists by heart.
I know that you aren't allowed to have books and magazines in the waiting room for "infectious disease" reasons--but could you at least change the pamphlets around?

Also, if the lights at triage are all turned off and there is not a soul in the waiting room--do you really think it takes 1/2 hour to see the baby with the gaping head wound???

Signed,
the Mother who really does supervise her child closely, but he tends to take flying leaps down the stairs anyways.
See you next month

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!
He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed!!

View full


(This is a picture of my Spunky Eclectic handspun done with www.dumpr.net photo fun!)

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

So. Tired.

I'm still tired.

I will quit whining since it's my own fault for staying up...I just can't seem to go to bed at a decent time and anyways..

I got to go spinning today!
After the craziness that was March (where did march go?) I was needing to get out of the house, somewhere other than the grocery store.

I didn't get to go to the guild last month as hubby was away..and I thought today would be a small group--but I did get to meet some new people.

I brought my lazy Kate to learn to ply.

The ladies were impressed with hubby's skills and apparently I am a good beginner spinner.

We had a "show and tell" and I didn't' really have anything to tell so I just blurted out that this was my first handspun and I was at that moment learning to ply.

The President of the guild didn't believe that it was my first handspun--thought I had been spinning before but just joined them.
I felt happy that I was doing something right.

My wheel went all wrong as soon as I got there and I was starting to get frustrated, but it worked out.
The poor thing about having a home made wheel--is that there are no instructions. No one to tell you how to fix things.

The drive band was off, the tension was off the wheel was wobbling and the whole thing was squeaking so loud that everyone stopped to stare.

A nice lady (who owns an Alapaca farm and invited me over to use her drum carder !!!!) gave me some of her wheel oil which fixed it right up.

Plying was okay--I realized that I had spun A LOT of yardage of singles....

I almost want to knit with the singles, but since I am a beginner my consistency might be off and some were saying that the yarn might untwist while knitting etc etc etc.

I'll keep keeping on.

They liked the Spunky Elcectic Roving that I brought--I don't' think many have heard of online vendors but I told them I loved her stuff.

I bought a small batt of Alpaca/Merino that is a bright green and yummy soft.


(No pictures as the weather has been funky and grey today)
I have completed a lady bug sock and am through the toe of the second:


I also received a package from another blog contest I won (seriously people, I have never won anything in my life and now this is the 4th blog contest I have won in 2 months)

This lovely package is from Kelly of "Just a Knit Wit"

A beautiful skein of ORANGE Malabrigo. 2 CD's "Music to Knit to" one is "Lace" and one is "Garter Stitch".

A handmade bracelet:


and some stitch markers:

They are so cute. Thanks Kelly--and she met the Yarn Harlot too!!

SO, I have a house that needs cleaning but there's a new L&V waiting.

Monday, April 02, 2007


My blog is worth $13,548.96.
How much is your blog worth?

Wouldn't it be cool if it actually was worth that much.

Type in yarnharlot.ca/blog--i dare you to see how much her blog is worth. SHe's worth it!!

I'm. So. Tired.

I'm just waiting it out until the kids go to sleep so I can couch.
We had our Easter drama at Church this weekend and I was crazy props/costume/set decoration/lighting woman--and I'm tired. I did a lot of ruining around last week and am glad to have just been home today. It was the first day that hubby has actually been home the whole day with us for three weeks.

I'm not really tired b/c of the play--I just keep staying up at night to knit and veg and have some quiet time. Then it gets late, and I justdon't want to sleep.

Isn't that weird? I'm tired but I won't go to bed?

Ladybug sock is going well-I could finish it now, but I think I'm going to try to make them knee socks--which means another few hours/days/weeks of ribbing.

I have some yarn blanks and so I think I will be doing some more dyeing soon.

I need a supplier. Anybody have a good lead on some good base yarn for dyeing??

Somewhere that will actually ship to Canada and not need custody of my firstborn to do so?

I will post some pictures tomorrow---oh look, it is that time.

That magical time when kiddos sleep!!