A View from Sierra County

And the Winner is..... Sharon!

I spent an hour on Wednesday afternoon going through all the posts, re-posts, FB mentions and likes to Nature's Cauldron's Facebook page.  Whew, thank goddess I don't do Twitter!  I then carefully numbered everything and turned to a little random number generator I found years ago on the I-net which picked #88. I pored over my copious notes and the winner turned out to be Sharon.

I will be delivering the prize package in person, since she is spending a long weekend nearby, at our Foothill Fibers Guild Spindle Camp.  I am hoping I can remember to get a photo taken!

I will only have this afternoon and evening to spend on spinning, as the sun is finally shining and have already been gardening this morning, with more to get done before I leave.  Tomorrow is also committed, to attend the graduation party my DIL is throwing for her mother, Linda, who has just completed her BA in Fine Arts... exciting.

It promises to be a typical foothill spring weekend, mixed weather!  Sunny and warm tomorrow with a chance of thundershowers and rain on Sunday.  Hope all of you have a lovely weekend!

 

Contest Closed - Winner Announced Friday!

Thanks to all who entered my 400-post Contest... I am sorting through the 'extra' entries you are entitled to for spreading the word, and will be able to pick a winner by tomorrow and let y'all in on it by Friday.  Haven't been home much the past few days, but appreciated reading all the nice comments:)

Yesterday started out very early, with a fast trip down to Sacramento to take a half-day class on grant proposal budgeting.  Since it was also youngest son's birthday, several of the family gathered for a feast at Jesse's favorite local Chinese restaurant.

The birthday family.... son Jesse with fiancee Dawn and baby girl Odessa.... she can still fit in the birth hat her Grammie B made her, but it is definitely time for another!

Jesse turned 24, and Odessa is now 5 months old!

Today was another hurry-scurry day, with several meetings and a circle around through Marysville, up to Grass Valley, and finally back home... time to go make an easy dinner and relax... the last armhole on Mendocino and then sewing on buttons will put me over the top in my finishing endeavor... happy dance!  Go on by and congratulate Vicki on her gold medal in the Knitting Olympics.

Details on the Gift Knitting

This year, the gift knitting was sparser than usual.... I had vowed not to end up with last-minute midnight speed knitting and the angst that accompanies it.  However, I do owe some photos of the projects accomplished in December, and gifted yesterday.

First, the finished version of Odessa's Christmas stocking.... including the very cute stuffed monkey poking out the top, in honor of her daddy, Jesse, who was my little monkey for many years.  There are also a few toys that she will be able to grasp easily already and over the next few months.  

She is over three months old now, and spent part of Christmas morning being held by grandpa facing the 'present action' and bouncing her legs and arms up and down... we all thought in delight.  I don't think she had ANY idea why there were so many people crowded around HER Christmas tree, and what they were doing, but she obviously loved it.

The next photo is of Odessa being cradled in Kiara's arms (her three year old cousin, with daddy Mike - Dawn's brother - helping keep things secure).  Kiara is delighted with her, and was the only one dressed up as a princess for the occasion... funny how we give that up as we age, even the twenty-somethings no longer  want to dress up!

The other grammie-gift for Odessa was this very cute sweater, called Baby Sophisticate.... and made in washable 1824 merino wool...

even though my baby grrl is growing at a rapid rate (she really likes mama's milk, and her daddy probably outweighed her at this age), it will be a good fit and with raglan sleeves will manage to cover her through the winter.  It helps that her family lives at about 800 feet elevation in the foothills, where it doesn't get anywhere near as cold in the winter.

 

Would I make this sweater pattern again for a baby? Probably, since it went very quickly, but I might add more rows in the neck area before dividing for the body and sleeves... pretty sure that will be the area a baby will outgrow first, at least the sort of babies my family produces!

  By the time all the presents were unwrapped, Odessa had decided she had enough of Christmas... and fell asleep on Daddy. Her poor daddy is the only person getting an IOU from me in at least a decade (that has got to be progress on my part), but I developed a horrible head cold a few days before Christmas.

I spent the two days prior lying around, eyeing the hat I had started for him, and thinking about stories I have read of people wrapping the whole unfinished project, yarn, needles in place, and all, and just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I want to know if any of you have done that in the past, and how it went, but hope to never face the week before Christmas too ill to knit again!  He was ok with waiting... actually, one of my saving family features over the years has been that unfinished knitting, or unrealistic expectations on my part, could be deferred and turned into 'birthday' knitting for two of the sons (including this one), whose births came right up after Christmas... one in January and another in February.

I was well enough to spend Christmas Eve with DD Nikki and her family... here's her very excited step-son Mason waiting for the five of us to open presents after a nice dinner that he paid little attention to... I can remember being five at Christmas!  We did manage to get him to help make a tray of cookies for Santa (and a few for us!), and played with two of the games he got as gifts before heading home.  Nikki looked online to find the NORAD Santa Tracker for him right after we left, and he said "If Santa's only in Europe right now, I can stay up a long time!".  

Suspending Life In Order to Spin

While many people in KnitBlogLand are busy putting up posts about their fine, fun times at Sock Summit, you won't find that here.  Instead, I want to share some of the fine, fun times my Knit Night grrls and I had at my high country cabin (built in 1864 in a Gold Rush mining town), where I hosted my very own Spinning Summit.

I set things up all Friday morning, in a cool and cloudy, ever-changing mountain climate, following full-on downpours and thunderstorms the day before... the place smelled so fantastic, with that wet-earth, just after a rain aroma.  Stephanie was the first to arrive, after we had made frantic, last-minute phone calls to all the confirmed attendees when we realized that the directions I had emailed out stopped in 'downtown' Forest City, and not at the end of my driveway!

She and I had her tent pitched before any other guests arrived....

On Friday, we stayed in the sunlight, near my kitchen door... with Claudia, Rowen and her little daughter Maizie, Barbara Sue and Luci all straggling in before dinner.  Only Claudia, who lives about 10 miles from my place, opted to be a day tripper, with everyone else spending the night.

And what a night it turned out to be!  As dusk approached, bringing mosquitos with it, we moved inside for a potluck feast, complete with beer and wine, and followed by a dessert of spinning and knitting.

Here's a peek inside my 1930s kitchen (not redecorated to look like 1930s, but the original), with Rowen happily spinning away on her SpinOlution Bee while Barbara Sue spins with her Lendrum and both listen to Luci elaborate on a funny story while knitting a baby jacket.  Little Maizie amuses herself drawing for us in the background.

We all laughed and talked and worked until midnight, and then finally admitted that sleep would be necessary to be successful spinners the next day.

Saturday morning started with a breakfast of gluten-free pancakes, topped with a variety of sugar-free fruits... it is so nice that my grrls are all healthy eaters!  The day dawned early for us and a bit cool, so we stayed inside spinning until mid-morning, then adjourned to my shady back flat to spend the afternoon.

I managed to spin up these two lovely skeins of Wooly Daisy hand-dyed blue-faced leicester, and ply it before dinner!

Claudia rejoined us for most of the afternoon, and Rhodi and Mary Lou both arrived to spend the remainder of the weekend with us.  Sadly, as evening came on, first Rowen, then Luci and Barbara Sue both needed to depart... Barbara Sue to return to Nevada City and the start of her work week on Sunday morning. Rowen was missing her two-year old son, Mossie, and Luci had promised her DH to return in time for evening goat-milking.

As you can see, dinner was once again a potluck feast, accompanied by good conversation... here, Stephanie is describing something (probably to do with chickens!), while Rhodi (in green) and Cheryl (in pink) listen.  Cheryl is my neighbor in Forest City, we have been friends for 23 years, and we have also worked together in two different schools a total of 14 years, so I was delighted when she joined us for a visit Saturday evening, bringing a large vase of Forest-grown flowers.

While not talking, eating or drinking beer, Stephanie also adorned DH's antique truck as an alternative to the outhouse, complete with trash bag... 

spun up about 250 yards of this beautiful piece of sky and forest....

and started a pair of Boxcar Willie socks using this fabulous sock blank specially dyed for her by Sox Chick! She really is a farm grrl after my own heart!

Although there were only four of us sharing the accomodations for Saturday night, we were probably just as loud!  Mary Lou, a beginning knitter, polished off a washcloth, and on Sunday morning learned the new skills she needed to do yarn overs and lifted increases for a beret.  The rest of us spun and gabbed late into the night, with the three of them outlasting me... but we all got a longer night's rest and Sunday dawned warm, sunny and summery.

The overnight four of us took a morning hike, and I am hoping Stephanie has posted photos of the new rock bridge over the creek behind my house...  we were happy to stretch out our bodies and ready to start in on some spinning in the shade Sunday afternoon.

Here, Steph and Rhodi are both hard at work... you will note that Steph is using her Kromski, while Rhodi prefers a Lendrum.

Claudia returned for the third afternoon in a row and Jan and Angela (more Camptonville Knit Night grrls!) also arrived.

In this photo, Jan is modeling Claudia's felted finger puppet, who we dubbed "Spider Woman".  Claudia is a kindergarten teacher at a Waldorf-inspired public charter school in Chico, and made both a tiny spider and a lovely little woman who can help escort errant spiders out of the classroom using sheet felting techniques earlier this summer, but brought sewing (heretic!).

Jan chose to use her hand spindle, while Angela knit away on an elegant shaped cardigan.

I alternated between spinning and knitting over the course of the weekend, and mostly finished the Little Undershirt featured in the summer and fall 2009 issues of Interweave Knits... the first photo is the back view, which still needs the straps finished, and the second photo is the front, with straps waiting to be joined by 3-needle bind-off... as you can suppose, the stripes are variegated and wrap around in a rainbow effect... nothin's too good for my granddaughter.  (She is set to make her appearance at the end of this month!).

I am planning to make a couple more of these cute little shirt/vests, though I found the pattern to be 'fussy'... for once it will be about the product and not the process, and they really do only take a few hours.  My other knitting project over the long weekend was the Fiesta Friendship Shawl, which deserves new photos and her own post... she has grown to the third center large diamond and the first of the two rows on either side of that, meaning I am probably somewhere near the middle.  I am still so grateful to all of you who sent me sock yarns last month, and am loving how they blend with each other, just as my grrlfriends and their personalities got along so harmoniously this past weekend.

Sunday afternoon also led to my first successful attempts at spinning pure alpaca... no photo of that yet.  I had a two-ounce bump of a lovely coffee and cream alpaca roving I had purchased at Lambtown a few years back, and every time I gave it a try, found it too slippery for my abilities.  With coaching from my more experienced spinning buddies, I found a short-draw, lots of twist method that held together, and only have about one-third an ounce left to complete.  Judith McKenzie-McKuen taught a workshop for our fiber guild (that I missed, unfortunately) this past spring, and Steph, Rowen, Rhodi and Barbara Sue all attended, so throughout the weekend I learned tips they had gleaned to improve my spinning... though the universal tip was "be sure to attend the next time she'd here!"

Mary Lou improved her knitting abilities and confidence over the course of Sunday afternoon, and promised she would be here for the whole time next year...

Rhodi finished off a skein of beautiful iris-colored yarn...

and I realized, as I approach my crone years, that while I might not be wise, I sure have learned how to throw a good party!

Finishing Gaia and Starting Ulmus

It has been a busy week, with two local graduations. a special 5th birthday, several workdays at three different jobs, and even a FO!

I attended the 8th grade graduation at the elementary where my preschool program is located, and  with only eight students, it was a very intimate and sweet affair.

There are two other young girls hidden behind the principal, who is introducing each in this photo.

The next evening (last Wednesday), a scaled-down version of the family celebrated Mason's 5th birthday with dinner together at a local restaurant.... here he is working up the nerve to blow out the candles on his cake.

DD Nikki and her sweetie Tony (Mason's daddy), on either side of Mason, encourage him while his grandpa Mike looks on.  Mason and Grandma Teresa (who had to work that night)

made the cake and Mason helped her put on the letters spelling out his full name (an important distinction when you are almost entering kindergarten) and decorations.

He was more confident at licking the frosting off his zoo-themed candles....

Mason had a full-blown kids' celebration yesterday at one of the parks, with Nikki and Tony renting a bounce house, lots of small children running around, and many more family; I had already committed to keeping my friend Susie's shop, Two Rivers in Downieville, open while she attended a wedding.

I was able to knit steadily on my Gaia Shoulder Hug, and get it off the needles Saturday.... but not without some challenges.  First, I had to dig through examples on the 'net to get a good idea of what a 'picot bind off', then I had to 'practice' it multiple times before getting it right.  Turns out a picot bind off does make a very pretty and stretchy edging, but each stitch takes about six times as long, and uses six times as much yarn!  Here's the rub... I was trying to cut it close, and twice had to rip back so gain enough yarn to complete the entire length of the bind off (Steph, I'm cautioning you here - start binding off while you still have a fair-sized ball of yarn to learn from my mistakes!)

Here's a photo of the unblocked version, to tide you over til it is blocked and a 'photoshoot' can take place.  I am very pleased with how well the pattern 'hugs' me and how scrummy the yarn feels.

The Schaefer Nichole sock yarn has just the right blend of merino and nylon to maintain a very soft hand, yet give a spring that would be nice and stretchy in socks, but serves a different purpose in this small piece, encouraging it to curl around the shoulders and STAY in place.  I can tell I will be getting a lot of use out of my Gaia.

I was so inspired by the simple shawl knitting process that I started right away on Ulmus.  I love the process of switching between two pretty and soft yarns, and slipping stitches to add to the color and texture.  While I didn't get the chance to knit in public on Saturday, the Fourth Annual Worldwide Knit in Public Day, I did get to sit beside the Yuba River in Downieville for an hour yesterday, knitting happily on my new project to the music of the water rushing by, while others bustled about, enjoying the early summer in the mountains.

So far, Ulmus is growing quickly, but then the rows just keep getting longer, don't they?  There is a nice musical rhythm to the pattern, as the river told me yesterday, so I do think this wrap will progress rapidly (sorry, couldn't resist).

Whirlwind Spring Trip

I spent Thursday through Saturday down in Sacramento, attending the California Association for the Education of Young Children (CAEYC) conference, where the theme was "Play", and I had a blast.  This conference is one of the biggest I had participated in for many years, and I came home exhausted... actually, my feet and back were protesting about having to walk on concrete so much.

One of the highlights of the three days was volunteering at the Center for Social Change, a sub-committee of the larger organizations.  I helped get people excited about building a model village... what their interpretation of a 'sustainable community' might be. This photo was taken early in the ongoing process, and Mary, Gus and I had just built a 'playground' out of pipecleaners and popsicle sticks.  I had made two large community garden plots while Gus had constructed a large, multi-purpose community center/town hall/concert venue building.   There was another table, just out of the picture, where items removed were classified either as recyclable or waste... that building was moved on and off the table several times over the next two days, as some people thought it too large, while others thought centralizing services freed up more open space/agricultural land! 

 

There were also lovely and inspiring displays, books to peruse, cooperative games offered several times a day, and even a meditation space for those of us needing grounding at these large events.

 

I learned a lot, had fun with friends who share my passion for working with young children, and returned home with several new thoughts to put into position right away or very soon, though this coming week will be filled with grant-writing.

The recession is being felt in our profession as well as so many others, and I also noticed many empty storefronts in downtown Sacramento, which has been hit especially hard by the housing crash...

I got to spend my off-hours with my dearest friend, Laura, who lives in Sac.  We gave birth to and raised our children (eight total) together, and I also got to see four of her five, and marvel over what wonderful adults they have become.  One of the daughters, Inertia, was scheduled to perform a song at the Cesar Chavez Day tribute only a few blocks from my convention Saturday afternoon, which led to one of the highlights; while I couldn't wait long enough for all of the politicians to stop speaking long enough to let Inertia sing (she is pictured with the songwriter, who wrote a special tribute for this day) , I did get to watch the marchers arrive,

then the dancers in Aztec costume perform, at the start of the program.

   

Here, they are entering the park, with the crowd of marchers following behind.

Drummers keep a strong beat, while the dancers performed for about 15 minutes, including making a blessing to the four directions.

 

It was an astounding performance, and comforted me in having to miss the song, as I hurried back to my next workshop.

Tomorrow is Cesar Chavez Day here in California... I hope you will take a minute to ponder where you still see injustice in your daily life and how you can act to help end it.

Blessings to all...

Bee-ing Irish

After a long and busy work day, we have just been sitting on the porch sharing some Beamish ale, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, though we aren't sure either of us has any traces of Irish ancestry (Glenn has some English and I some Scottish, does that count?).  We do love good beer though!

While out there absorbing the end of an early spring day, I snapped a photo of the next amigurumi creature to enter our lives.... a baby bee.  Very cute, maybe even better than the turtle...

I seem to be a bit obsessed with crocheting little creatures, in fact dreamed I had a whole washtub full of finished ones last night... that said, crochet is not as easy on my hands as knitting, so I am going to have to pace myself.

I am partway through my mouse, though I got to a point where I needed pink felt to line his ears (and forgot to get it this afternoon).  So, I started on a gift for Glenn's sis, a kitty with a lacy dress.  Hopefully, she will be finished and my handwarmers and vest back to getting some attention later this week.

In the meantime, you might be getting inspired to try these yourself, so let me tell you I have found multiple kinds of eyes (which attach on the inside with locking washers to keep them in place) at my local 'big box crafts store".  I also have collected two different books of patterns, both by Japanese authors. 

The first one, Kyuuto! Japanese Crafts! Amigurumi, by Tomoko Takamori, was selected from Amazon based on reviews and the fact that Chronicle Books published the English edition.  They are a dependable crafts publisher whose works I have liked in the past.  There are more animal patterns in here than in the other books I checked out, including a donkey (yup, one of those went right on the queue!).  The patterns are well written and there are excellent color photos about assembling all of these parts once they are crocheted into something that will truly look like the professional photoshoot examples.  This book gets highest marks because of the assemblage instructions and wide range of patterns.

The other book, Mr. Funky's Super Crochet Wonderful, by Narumi Ogawa, is also well written and pretty much the only book (and one of the few patterns anywhere) that used graphs to outline the stitches/projects.  Lace and color knitters have become accustomed to using charts to help us visualize the item we are trying to make, and I am enjoying developing crochet-chart-reading skills for the same reason.  The kitty with dress pattern is in Mr. Funky.  Her animals are well made, and she shows multiple variations to help you launch off and make your favorite animal that isn't included, as well as offering several very cute hat and scarf patterns for hip crocheters... in fact a flower-shaped motif scarf may well be in my future, and another gift is "on the hooks" for a surprise recipient from one of her accessory patterns.

I also picked up a copy of the hot new graphic novel, Handknit Heroes, just for fun.  Now, I have a family that includes several comic/graphic novel fans, but haven't been as caught up in the craze over the years, preferring a good, long read myself.  I did want to support the whole concept and the author, artist and handknit designer, for their team effort and wasn't disappointed.  It is a fun concept and I will have to follow and see how it develops.

The best read of the month, though, has been The Lost City of Z, which Glenn's sis Linda, manager of Lafayette Book Store, sent to us, just after I had listened to an interview of author Dan Grann on NPR a few weeks ago.  He traces the history of Percy Fawcett, a famous English explorer of the Amazon in the first few decades of the 20th century, who vanished in 1925, and also discusses when mere questing crosses over into unhealthy obsession.  It was a thrilling read, maybe made more so by the fact that it was extensively documented and very real.

I am heading off to enjoy the last of this funny American holiday celebrating an Irish priest... have fun y'all!

Merry Christmas from the Sierras

Glenn and I have had a lovely and peaceful few days, celebrating with family, enjoying the (heavy at times)snowfall, and eating lots of good foods.... we wish you and yours all the best this Yule and into the coming year.

WIPs on Friday

This has been a disorienting week full of firsts and lasts... first snow of the season, first school snow day, last class day of 2008, another snow day today, forcing cancellation of the playgroup I host, as well as a few other speed bumps in the road.  Through it all, I have kept knitting.... you see, this year I am gift knitting.  This is not an every-year occurrence, but I noticed this fall that I had more yarn than money and decided that several wee gifties for the people I am the closest to would be ok to slip in....

hats for the menfolk... including a little man; these patterns are very basic, two ribs (one in Lambs Pride Superwash, the other in Knitpicks WOTA) a striped plain stockinette from Jo Sharp Aran Tweed and Kathmandu Aran, and the denim is Lambs Pride worsted knitted up in Jae's Cabled Toque pattern.

then there's a pair of mitts for DD, thanks to Gina House for the Christmas Eve Cabled Mitts pattern, made up in Elsebeth Lavold's luscious angora... I did shorten the mitts by one repeat, since otherwise I might not have had enough yarn, and DD and I both have smallish hands for adults.

This yarn is delightful to work with, sorta like petting your favorite cat without all the moving around, claws, etc....

There's a bit more 'secret' knitting going on, as well as the beginning stages of preparing a sample for a lace knitting class I will be teaching at Fibers next month... Raha, from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia.  I will be working on the sample over my holiday break (actually, it is more a reduced work week schedule than an actual vacation, so don't go getting all envious on me), using a new yarn we just got in, Isager Wool 1.  This is a single-ply fingering weight yarn with a very primitive sort of feel and look... almost handspun-looking and in an array of colors with grey and brown undertones reminiscent of dipping sheep into pots of 'transparent' haircoloring.  We also got a batch of their fingering weight alpaca, which is even more luxurious.

My own favorite project has taken a bit of a backseat all week to gifting....

Here is a beginning photo of my  Queen Silvia shawl... I managed to cast on, get the bottom border knittend, and even the first 18 rows of the first 28-row repeat done, in between deadline items.  I am in love with the pattern already, and made it through my first-ever row of gathered stitch, wherein one knits five stitches together, does not slip them off the needle, makes a YO, then knits the same five stitches together again still leaving on the needle, adds another YO, then knits all five together a third time, and finally slips all the five off the needle... effectively replacing them with five new stitches to be purled on the next row.  I think Nancy explains it better.

We have still managed to fit in a little of each of the usual Christmas activities: tree trimming, baking, shopping and wrapping, however this year has been considerably subdued.  Our extended family made the decision at Thanksgiving to suspend our annual draw-a-name method of present giving for one year, to allow all of us to avoid feeling even more economic pressure.  Most of the 'kids' are now young adults.  A few of our collected extended family have gone through job turmoils in 2008.  A good time to all agree to scale back, not that it means we don't all want to do things for each other as in the past. 

I was happy to realize that only one of my knitted gifts required a new yarn purchase, while the rest came from stash, that we could be just as content to have time off together as to take a trip, even though that has been an annual tradition for DH and I for the past decade, and that we could agree to forego giving each other a present so that we could enjoy shopping for and helping out our young-adult children through this more difficult season.  What kinds of adjustments has your family made for this holiday?  I know that most of you will answer that the last thing you would do away with is time with family and friends... I wish all a blessed Winter Solstice and more than ever this year yearn with anticipation for the light to return.....

Heads Up! Blogiversary Around Next Bend

It kinda snuck up on me, but as you will see from the counter in my sidebar, my fourth Blogiversary is just hours away!  The past year has been a harder one to stick with blogging than the first three, and yet I still am so grateful for the friends I have made through mine and their blogs, and for the creative outlet it provides me, that I fully intend to keep it up for another year.  I decided to give you a quick tour of what I consider some of the high points of visiting my blog ....

there's the fantastic Sierra Nevada scenery,

the magical burros,

my quirky sense of humor....

and of course the knitting content, sometimes much better and more interesting than at other times!

And, at anniversary time, there are contests.... so, please leave me a comment any time in the next week, until Friday December 12th at midnight my time, telling me what is your favorite reason for keeping me on your list of regular reads and I will enter you into my Blogiversary Giveaway Drawing... prize photos coming in the next post.