A View from Sierra County

Light As A Feather

That is one of the best qualities of Rowan's Kidsilk Haze... it is also lustrous, slides beautifully through the fingers while knitting, drapes elegantly and feels divine when worn.  However, I chose a bronzey-green color to make my stole and it photographs terribly!

Since the rains finally stopped yesterday, I tried holding it over my arm out in the sun on the porch...

you get a nice feel for the drape, but it does absolutely nothing to show of the delicate laciness.

Then, I tried draping it over a chair, but the lack of contrast was so bad that I dumped the photos without bothering to bore you with them.

Next, I tried draping it over the poles that normally hold shade cloth over our greens bed... note the rhubarb chard in the background.  Hardy stuff, eh?  These recent rains just washed the last of the snow off, and this stuff is rarin' to grow.

This garden catalog photo gives you a bit better idea about how the stole might drape... and yup, that's leftover snow there in the background.  However it really does nothing to impress and wow you with my knitting prowess or encourage you to try making yourself something out of this scrummy yarn.

In the end, perhaps the best testimonial to this project is the photo I took last weekend while blocking the piece.... I just LOVE my blocking wires, especially for a piece such as this.  The color... a flattering one for my olive green eyes, but nothing to try and impress you with in a photo.

Yesterday was also the first day that I could feel, hear, see and smell spring in the air, down in the low foothills where we took a little hike.... there were birds in the bushes, frogs singing in a full but seasonal creek, and even violets, marsh marigolds and blue dicks in bloom (yes, that really is their common name), and the smell... the smell of very wet earth getting ready to send forth sprouts was so enticing... spring really IS just around the corner - have you seen any signs yet?

A Friend In Deed

Back in November, I had a bit of extra blogreading time following Thanksgiving, and was lucky enough to be one of the early morning readers of Anne's post announcing her intention to participate in the lovely Pay It Forward concept that Liz had written about earlier that week.  I decided that I would like to make room in my life to have three random people ask for a handmade gift from me in the course of 2008, and quickly had signed up Bev, Stephanie, and Stacie.

I was really excited when Anne emailed me back and let me know I was in!  I first got to know Anne back in the fall of 2005, when she was my gift recipient in a fun swap.  Then, I got to hang out with her live and in person (like, for hours in the back seat of Margene's car) at the Estes Park Wool Market in June 2006.  We have stayed in touch, discovering that we had a mutual love of equines and dogs as well as fibery things, and I felt proud to be amongst Anne's early customers when she opened Wooly Wonka Fibers about a year ago.  She was so creative, coming up with Roving of the Month Club, the Kit of the Month, and the fab Bee shawl and stole collaboration with Anne Hanson, that I took it in stride when she emailed and asked my foot size, saying "not that I'm making you socks for Pay It Forward, just sayin"..... after all, she is both a prolific sock knitter and the owner of several fine, published designs, so just maybe I would be lucky enough to get socks as my handmade gift.

Well, imagine my surprise when I opened up a box that arrived by mail this past week to discover these....

Yep, they are the orignal Rattlesnake Creek socks, on MY feet.  Whoo, hoo!!

 

It hadn't even occurred to me that Anne would come up with a totally new pattern, based in part by using Google maps to look up the region where I live!  Her cabled design makes for an elegantly snug fit and very much resembles snakeskin... and the colorway, hee, hee, is called "Mountain Glen", featuring some of my favorite mountain hues and my delightful husband's name... how good a match is that?!  The above link is to the free pattern, so you too can make a pair!

Anne, how can I thank you?  I feel so very blessed....

Wintery Sky

Instead of heading off before dawn yesterday morning to Stitches West with Rhodie and Stephanie, I was on my way through some rather messy roadway over Yuba Pass to the Sierra Valley for a meeting... I had decided after getting sick a few weeks ago that I had too much to catch up in my daily life of work, school and fibers to leave for a few days, even with the allure of meeting fellow bloggers Suzann and Erica at the hugest fiber event on the west coast.... it was all just too overwhelming to figure out how to fit in, and my sinuses are still hurting and wearing me down, even though I am on the road to recovery (illness has hit our region pretty hard though!).  I was lucky to get to spend the hour and a half driving time each way passing through glorious winter scenery, with more snow in the valley than usual.   I saw a large flock of Canada geese sitting on top of the snow and wondered what they would find to eat, but they seem to seek out the small creeks and marshy areas, and the Sierra Valley has several great thermal spots where birds can huddle next to warm water... good thing as more snow fell overnight!  Stay warm and happily knitting inside a few more weeks:)

A New Arrival

No, it's not a grandchild... though that is something DH keeps hoping will happen.  Actually, we headed out in our little red truck- horse trailer combo this morning and returned with Abraham, a 10-year old
gelded BLM burro who was born on the Twin Peaks Herd Management area near Susanville, California.

Since he was rounded up out there in the wild back in 2001, he has lived a few other places - most recently with Sally, who raises mini-donkeys.  She lives about 40 miles from us, but we had never met until today... I have a dear friend, Ginny, whose mission in life has been to match up people and equines through her "Hole In the Head" animal rescue.  Ginny has helped us in one way or another to acquire all of the six burros we have had to date, so it is no surprise that Sally, who had participated with Abraham in the Longears Celebraytion a few years back, hosted by Ginny and husband Dave, called and asked for her help in finding him a new home when she realized he would be much happier living with other standard-sized donkeys than with minis (one set of pastures) or horses and cows (another set).  None were compatible and the horses and cows were downright unwelcoming!  Ginny posted to one of the four Yahoo animal lists I am on that Abe was looking for a new home.  I don't read those lists much more closely than the knitting ones, but luck was on my side, as this was back in the middle of the snowstorms we were having in late January, and Sally and I started talking on the telephone.

Donkeys have different feeding needs than horses and cows, whose diets can be much richer, so poor Sally was needing to pen him up twice a day to eat separately, further reinforcing that sense of being different.  She was pleased to learn that we had only donkeys and came with the highest recommendation

Abe wasn't that excited to get into the trailer, but willing enough... it only took us about 10 or 15 minutes and a handful of carrot pieces.  Donkeys have to think and consider each step, so he tried about a dozen times with just two feet in, then back out, before finally hopping in, and we were on our way back home.

Travel can be stressful, especially for those animals who don't do much of it, so he was in a sweat by the time we got back home, just over an hour later, and loved being let out and led around... at least until I told him he had to go into this snow-covered paddock.  He must have been thrilled to have all the snow at his old place melted away... he will spend a few days getting to know the rest of the family thorugh the cross-fencing we put back in place and having his own little shelter, but he has been doing fine on this first afternoon here.

Abe's coloring is called 'blue roan' and he won a prize for donkey conformation, so even though he is wearing a shaggy, heavy coat right now, it is still easy to tell he is one good-looking boy.  And he has nice manners too!  We are pretty pleased:)

While we were out burro-ing around, my Kidsilk Haze Feather and Fan stole was blocking and she will get a photo shoot worthy of the wondrous feel this yarn has later on in the week.  DH's vest grew some more while he and I watched Blue State last night.  Very funny movie that many of us could relate to... not moving away though.

The Vintage Capelet also got some work  and there was yarn dyeing with turmeric, as well as some plotting over what to make for my Pay It Forward gifts.... happy knitting this week, dear ones!

B is for Balance

I thought back in January that I knew exactly what my 'B' post was going to be - my Bohus sweater kit.  But then I got bogged down in the swatching process and too overwhelmed with studying for my college classes and didn't get a chance to do the fantastic research I envisioned in order to enlighten you all on this subject, which led me to pondering how easy it is for me to let my life get out of balance in one way or another.

The term 'balance' implies harmony and an equality of the parts of the whole that allows for smooth sailing.  My life, on the other hand, has often been more like a fisherman snagging a big fish that is pulling him out to sea more than he is landing it! 

I have three main areas where I have had to steadily work for years to keep things in balance: money, food, and time.  I have always been heavily involved in volunteer activities, and gradually learned how to say 'no' when people asked for help, realizing that it was better to do one thing well than a shabby, under-committed job of several.  I have become the voice of reason in our combined Headstart programs who asks if we are really ready for the size of project being discussed, and who is showing others ways to delegate, round up enough help, etc., so that good organizers don't fall by the way from burnout.  Spending on stash has been more an 'eyes bigger than my stomach' phenom with me than being unable to resist the sensuousness of yarns... I have a bad tendency to think I can accomplish far more than there really is time for in one lifetime!  Hard lessons learned, those!

Money is a different story... it is more a matter of being over-generous.  Each year, we end up in debt at the holidays because we want to do so much for our family and friends.  Over time, realizing that this is a pattern DH and I both participate in, we have installed certain mechanisms that allow us to work with this problem rather than it completely steamrollering over us; one is agreeing in advance on spending limits and austerity measures for the first quarter of the next year.  I have gotten much better about not over-shopping as well, and have been busy finishing up projects and pulling new ones from stash in 2008.

Food may well be an addiction... there were times when food was scarce enough, both in my early childhood and back when my children were very small.  I can recall making mayo sandwiches on white bread when I came home from grade school the last day or two before my dad's payday, and scraping a spoonful of peanut butter out of a mostly-empty jar for a snack near the end of the month when my kids were toddlers.  I also baked and cooked from scratch all that time, to save on the food budget, which was constantly under attack from other segments such as rent and car insurance.  I am pretty good at whipping up a meal from random ingredients, and didn't need to worry much about my weight until I hit mid-life.  Over the past decade, I have spent a lot of time exploring how food issues affect me, and facing up to some of the cravings I have and whether they are healthy.  My weight stays just a bit one side or the other of 'healthy', but I do have to be vigilant not to cross that line into 'overweight'.  Staying in balance takes real work and attention.

Blogging and knitting are not listed in those top three life-balance issues, but I have to work to keep them in balance too.  When I first started blogging, I wanted to be "Super Blogger", posting every day and providing witty and insightful information.  It was kind of like wanting to be the popular grrl back in high school.  As I focused on knitting, I realized that I had a lot to say, and loads of experience to share, but then so did a lot of other knit bloggers.  Over the past three years that I have been blogging, I have had to compromise, and accept that sometimes the rhythms of my lifestyle shift and keep regular blogging from being a valid possibility.  And that it's ok.  I have discovered that there are certain people who like me and what I have to say, just like in my real-world life, but I wasn't superstar material out in the big, wide world either.

Blogging has made staying in balance with my knitting far more challenging.  I am easily attracted by visual images, being a spatial-graphic learner, and get excited by so many of the things other bloggers are working on.  Following Rudolf Steiner's Temperments theory, I am a sanguine personality, easily swayed to jump from one thing to another... I may even be mildly ADD; I know my sons are.  I have been examining my stash this weekend and thinking about where IT will lead me over the next few months rather than where ideas from Blogland will.  I have lots of good ideas and interests.  I have a few choice items in my stash, as well as a huge Ravelry queue, but sometimes get to feeling paralyzed by so many choices.... do you?  That is where meditating on balance and its importance in my life really comes in handy. 

Therefore, this weekend I have been working further on finishing up DH's grand vest.  As this photo shows, I have

managed to get one front done and the other close to bind-off.  What you can't tell is that I am almost out of this deep forest-green Cascade 220.  Knowing I wouldn't be able to get the same dyelot, and that I had originally planned to use black wool to edge the entire piece and the armholes, I am opting to finish the upper back with a black yoke.  This pattern is from Felted Knits, and it feels like it is stretching on forever.  I was complaining about the fussy little details awhile back, but my attitude has changed; I am now considering those as the finishing touches that will really set this item apart.  DH works for the US Forest Service as a high country ranger, and goes off on 6-8 weeks of fire assignments each summer/fall so my idea in making him this vest was so he would have something unique from home to take with him.  I am employing my best Zen thoughts to carry through to the end of the project.

Learning to be in balance is worth the effort, though effort it is for someone like me!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

While my class and I are busy today, making hearts and painting with red to replace the hanging snowmen in the toddler classroom, let me share my most recent self-portrait with you (I'm the one in the mirror on the left, flashing the camera at you), and tell you that each one of you has opened my heart to the wonder of friends worldwide in the past year. 

May love and goodness fill your lives, and chocolate your palates today, on this holiday in celebration of love and human goodness!

The California Paradox

Most of you readers in other states think of palm trees and sunny beaches, or maybe the Golden Gate Bridge and Hollywood, when California is mentioned, but it has the most diverse geography, topography and weather of all the fifty states.  We have every kind of climate from the lush semi-tropical along the ocean in southern California, to the deserts of the eastern part and the high mountains of the Sierras and Cascades.  Our fertile central valley still provides a huge array of food for the nation, even though we import more food today than ever.  Therefore, it is no surprise that we could go from this....

the back side of our high country house (first photo) and the view across our yard there to the garage, at the end of the storms a week ago....

to this....

on Sunday afternoon.  Glenn and I took those two cute, short bicycles (which are Dutch and disassemble from the turn of a big knob on the frame and insert into the back of the Jeep in two easy pieces each) and rode through the Spenceville Wildlife Refuge, at the much lower elevation of the foothills northeast of Sacramento, where daffodils and green grass are emerging.  The two places are less than fifty miles apart, even in driving distance, but more like a world of difference in seasons.  We had a lovely time making a brief escape from winter... sort of a cheap tropical vacation!

It's About Time!

At long last, you are probably thinking, she has finally gotten round to posting something fresh!  I have never intended to be one of those people who leave the same post up for ten days, with nothing new to entice you to stay in touch.... but somehow in 2008, time is moving much faster than my ability to keep up!  I know that a big part of it is that I am taking six college units this semester, not really willingly, and certainly not easily.  I will be upgrading my Early Childhood Credential to a Program Director Permit at the end of all of this study.  I have always been a topnotch student, expecting myself to be close to perfect since I was a child, and even allowing myself to slip a notch this semester and aim for "B's" instead of "A's" has still meant that there is a lot of reading and writing to be done each week.  Luckily, one unit will be finished this week (which means I still have my final to type up on today's holiday off from work rather than getting to spin or dye yarn).  The 3-unit class, titled 'Creative Process in Children', is actually very enjoyable and I love the text as it is full of wonderful, process-based art activities I can do with my students... however, I still need to read, attend, make art, and that all pulls me away from my own creative pursuits.  Which means I also have little to blog about in the tiny amount of time left TO blog!  I have tended to use that precious computer time to read my email, look up things from the list in my head, and read my favorite blogs, so at least I can live vicariously.  Oh, and did I mention, I am still working 45 hours a week?!

The thing that I have missed the most as the semester unfolds and gobbles up my life has been the connection with all of you.  It is a chatty conversation when I hold up my end of the deal, but a hollow, large, empty room when I don't.... and no big surprise to me, either.  I am really out of the loop!  Sharing my passion for fiber has become a really large part of my life; in fact, that is what I miss the most by trading away so much time for more college credit!

I did make it to the tail end of our guild's Spinning Saturday, since business was not so brisk at the yarn shop (quite a few people, only small purchases, and Allison let me go home early on the first bright and sunny day we have had in a long while).  Stephanie and her neighbor Rhodie had finally been able to get Steph out of her snowed-in driveway the day before; Steph lives down at the bottom, with a steep hill to climb back up to where Rhodie's driveway branches off.  Glenn and I had taken Stephanie some chicken feed we picked up for her while getting hay the day after all that snowing finally stopped, and I was excited to see she was mobile once again.  We have missed Knit Night two weeks in a row because of the snow (my driveway was inaccessible to people this past week), and now our Thursday night coming up will be occupied with Valentine's Day events, so Rhodie offered to host next week so that we can get back on track.

I also received a very special package from one of my best 'virtual' friends, proving she really IS real and not imaginary:)  Back in December, when I hosted my Blogaversary Giveaway, one item was not up for bids... I had decided in advance that I was going to surprise Sallee and send her my Ruana.  She had loved it from the very beginning, and shared in the process with me throughout my steps of collecting the yarns, altering the pattern for someone our height (though we have never met in person, we do know we are within an inch of the same height), and working it up.  I loved the process, but it turned out that many of the colors weren't the right ones for my complexion.  They were for her, though, and I sent it off to her... taking her by surprise and delight.  She was just on the verge of annoucing a new Nana Sadie Rose bag, the Grace, and wanted to make one for me as a thank-you gift.  I got to select the fabric and picked a lovely Art Deco print in browns and pinks, but told her I wanted her to wait and not get more stressed out with completing holiday orders, holiday gifts and then stock for the big annual cat show she does every year (which just finished up!) - that's what friends are for, trying to help you keep your stress level down, right?

So, I was both surprised and excited when Sallee emailed me a week ago to tell me my Grace was on its way....

Here she is.. my lovely, new little project bag!

She is already filled with a ball of Mountain Colors Alpaca blend, that I had reclaimed a year ago as my first UFO Resurrection project.  I have cast on for the New Vintage Capelet, with help from my new Ravelry friends who have already had the kinds of gauge issues with the pattern that would have caused me to give up and make something different if I had come upon them on my own.  Aren't friends wonderful?