A View from Sierra County

Chemo Cap Knitalong

It's only a few weeks until the start of October, which is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so time to recruit some of you to join in our venture at Fibers, the LYS where I work and teach.  I will be offering a basic hat class on Saturday, October 4th from 2-4 PM, to launch a month-long Chemo Cap Knitalong, and want to encourage my Blogland friends to join in the effort.  While you are welcome to come to Grass Valley one of the Saturday afternoons in October, and sit around and knit a hat with us, you can also just stay right where you are and make one, or three, or five.... then, look around in your local community and decide where to donate it.

I would like to ask all of you to spread the word, design a button, let me know your results, etc., and will be putting together a blog-style contest (and accepting donations for said contest), with each hat you make equaling a ticket into the drawing to be held at the end of October... all you have to do is send me a message, or link to a photo on your blog or Ravelry site, etc. as you finish each hat!

So, dig through your stash this weekend, visit the Berroco website for a few nice Chinchilla patterns, and comment to let me konw you're in!

Have a great weekend.

WIP Wednesday

maYes, there really still is knitting going on here at Slate Range Camp, there just hasn't been much blogging about it!  I promise an all-knitting update today.

Circle Vest

Languishing... I need to spin about four more ounces of my silvery-green, then overdye it with turmeric, then re-commence knitting. Whew, it has made me tired just thinking about it! But, I am finding that one of the joys of making yarn by hand is that I get to savor a project from start to finish, including the various steps along the way that make it truly unique. As you will see in one of the photos below, I do already have the perfect closure for this vest, which should be getting more attention as I am starting to have more energy.

Diamond Patch Sweater

A returnee to the list, this WIP hasn't seen any attention since last fall, when I stashed it away, knowing I wouldn't get a summer top done in time to wear with the early arrival of wet weather. I have been listening to Margene's philosophy of "Grow or Go", and realized that I don't mind if I find a compelling reason to move on (in this case, the need for warm things to wear), but don't always come back to a project. Diamond only needed three triangles and four diamonds... oh, and neck ribbing and sleeves... I made one of the triangles yesterday, and did a diamond almost twice, but am faced with a problem. My knitting tension has loosened up even further it seems... maybe during my slacker-health phase. I dropped down a needle size from the Addi Turbo 4s I was using to a circular 3, and got the correct row gauge on the second attempt, but now that the diamond is almost done, it looks like the row gauge is just a tad bit larger than all the diamonds I already have connected... I quit in disgust last night, but can't face completely abandoning this project, so will try finishing and measuring. And also consider whether I want to go up a size and finish the rest of the diamonds knitting English-style rather than Continental... any advice would be greatly welcomed!

February Lady Sweater

She continues to grow... I want the length to hit just about the widest point at my hips, so need to add four more inches or so in length, then start on the sleeves.

The buttonholes are in, but no buttons sewed on... I could just go ahead and do that, eh.  I wanted to photograph the sweater on a hanger, so I used this lovely shawl pin I got from Romi recently... a cute and shapely sheepie in copper!

You will notice that these two photos show different shades of green... Stephanie and I have been discussing how to get accurate color for blog photos and my challenge has consistently been the low levels of light in my antique house... I have overhanging porches and narrow windows and try different methods to get more light into a photo but still get true color.  The green with the close-up of the pin is more accurate.

Baby Yeti

I kinda snuck this one in... I have been spending time with a baby who is a friend of our family and decided to make her a sweater that we have had on display at the LYS.... a Berroco pattern called Baby Yeti, made from GGH Esprit. I finished up quickly, and ended up with a pile of five fluffy pieces.

Sewing is definitely my least favorite part of knitting projects, but I forced myself to sit down and stitch Sunday night, so that I would finally have a FO to show off!

Buster is modeling the completed baby sweater, although I think I will vary the pattern by adding a button and a heavy loop to close it at the top.  Buster was my youngest son's favorite stuffie... he saw Buster in a local shop window when he was six, and asked for extra chores to do so that he could earn enough to buy Buster.  The blue wool around Buster's neck was DYS's one and only knitting attempt, a scarf made on Waldorf-style homemade wooden needles over a winter of knitting effort..... I have had to keep and treasure such a display of commitment in one so young.

Black Sand Haori Vest

This project from Compassionate Knitting has been on my Ravelry queue for the past few months, with the idea of making a winter outer vest... I had even purchased the yarn, Cascade Eco, before it was all gone, when Allison taught a beginning sweater class back in July.  I started in on Saturday because I realized at Knit Night last Thursday that I desperately needed a stockinette project so that I wouldn't make so many mistakes when knitting and talking or listening at the same time:)

I started on the central piece, and it has grown very quickly!  The vest will have side panels as well, and I am planning to employ my dressmaking skills by adding pockets into the seams where the side panels join the front, and lining the vest as well.  I feel ready for a new challenge, and have started looking at other designs for jackets with the idea that making a fabric lining will add to the quality, structure and durability of my finished product... it certainly has turned out to be the case for knitted purses.

Where Ya Been So Long

I haven't intended to be so absent from Blogland, but somehow this summer time just keeps slipping away from me.  It turns out that there is a reason, and a fix-able one at that... I got a physical at the beginning of August, knowing I wasn't at my best, and I learned a few weeks ago that I had low thyroid functioning.  Turns out that this was the reason for my constant tiredness, brain fog, some of my joint aches, and even my recent weight gain (though chocolate and beer probably contributed a bit each).  I never would have guessed that this was the reason without a blood chemistry panel, so I highly recommend getting your annual physical... I also learned that I was a low risk for heart problems, so there was good news in more ways than one!

I hadn't really realized what a fog I was in until some of it began to lift... I was going to work every day, functioning, a productive knitter, gardener, donkey caregiver and a beer-brewer, right?   Well, actually, I dreamed about some of those things more than actually getting much done, especially with the animals, this past year.  It has been a long, slow climb back towards that Energy Bunny I used to be, and I am not sure I am fixed yet.  I have begun to be able to walk 30 minutes a day over the summer, do yoga more easily and about five times a week, and do some light strength training starting this week.  I started planning a burro walkabout, something I couldn't even consider I could accomplish a few months ago.... and was just resigned to that fact until I began being treated.

My knitting has been slow, like everything else, as I re-awaken.  I have been strongly interested in resting and reading at the end of each day, though I get through the day far better already.  I agreed to hang out one day a week with the cutest little baby girl whose mother was DD's best friend throughout high school, so I am working on a pattern from Berroco called Baby Yeti that little Macie will look adorable in, which is going quickly.... I should have photos soon.  February Lady is close to the bottom of the body, meaning sleeveland is next, though there is very little visible difference since I last showed her off.

I do want to share some photos of the quilting/weaving room at the Forbestown history museum, where I visited last Saturday...

first... the loom and a lovely old spinning wheel, with warping board in the background.

This view features a quilt laid out and ready for quilting, as well as a terrific red and white quilt on the wall and an old sampler (sorry, Margene, I would have tried to snap a photo through the glass, but the light was too dim).

 

More craftswomanship from the past... and a sweet cradle

I have a kitchen cabinet a lot like this... only mine is painted pale yellow and white... maybe I should empty out the dishes and store yarn in it, whadda ya think?!

And, finally, the bathtub we all can be glad we don't live with...

I also spent some time last Saturday working at the annual Firemans' Picnic, and sweltering in triple digit weather, which has finally given us some respite this week.... here's a few cute photos.

Kids 'racing' in fire gear....

Our booth of kid activities, with my boss, Stephanie in front (the other Stephanie was there, and so excited when I won a raffle prize that she called me at home right away to tell me, even though I was only a few yards away... that grrl sure knows how to get excited for a hermitess!)

We offered face painting, a washtub full of bubbles and big wands, hula hooping, games and a water balloon toss... very popular for cooling off in the heat of the afternoon.

This weekend promises to be calmer, with me working at the LYS (our shopowner, Allison has also helped me tremendously by giving me some Feldenkrais lessons), and visiting my dear friend Laura to attend a Taiko drumming concert on Saturday night.  DH is away at a fire camp up near Crater Lake in Oregon, so summer winds down in its usual way here in the West... hope all my dear Blogland friends are well and haven't forgotten me!