First Snow

The First Snow of the year fell this weekend. I guess it had to happen sooner or later. By the time the sun was up for a few hours, the snow had melted. Flurries by the end of the week, or so the weather channel says. We'll see.

I'm knitting a really interesting deer hat. I will post a photo after a little more progress. It seems to be the hot ticket for the hunter in your life. In my case it's for my daughters boyfriend.....a Christmas present. Taking way..way..longer to knit than it should. I have a zillion needles, but do you think I could find one the right size? I finally had to settle for one I found over at the Michaels store. The needle is the right size circular, but the length is a little too long so you kinda adjust the stitches from what you have just knit to swing around to what you are trying to knit. It eases the tension on row you are working on. I would have ordered one in the shorter length, but I really wanted to get started on this hat. I had this compelling urge to cast on immediately. My hands definitely do not like knitting with this circular .......may have to order some needles tomorrow.

Home for the Holidays - November Phat Fiber Box

Peek into the November Phat Fiber Box.

Yummy fiber samples from:

Farmgirl Chic - http://www.farmgirlchic.etsy.com/ -Sugared Cranberries and Sage -
mohair, corriedale/bl wool, angelina.

AMBROSIA AND BLISS - http://www.ambrosiaandbliss.etsy.com/ - "BLUE STAR FLAG" - wool, corriedale, and angelina.

Spincerely yours - http://www.spincerely.etsy.com/ - Golden Candleberry.

Moonwood Farm - http://www.moonwoodfarm.etsy.com/ - Cranberries - Handpainted Milk protein fiber.

H.A.Y. - http://www.hamptonartisticyarns.etsy.com/ -"Grandma's Red Cabbage"- hand painted merino.

WOOLYHAND - http://www.woolyhands.etsy.com/ - A Second Helping - wool mill ends, corriedale, icelandic, flax.

Cozy Cove Farm - http://www.cozycove1.etsy.com/ - "Triple Berry Treat" - Alpaca, bamboo, merino.

MAUDE & ME - http://www.maudeandme.etsy.com/ - Portland - New Zealand Merino.

FROM EWES TO YOU - http://www.fromewetoyou.etsy.com/ - Dyed Mohair.

The Counting Sheep Farm - http://www.countingsheepfarm.etsy.com/ - Custom blend : alpaca, cormo, and silk.

All the fiber samples are delicious. Now just need some time to spin some of these beauties up.

Yarn samples in future post.

Also if you have not seen the PhatFiber Gift Guide blog post, check it out over at http://www.phatfiber.blogspot.com/ . Lots of lovelies for your spinning and knitting pleasure.

Beloved Old Slippers - The Challenge

" Favorite slippers" says hubby. Worn everyday for a little over two years, they earned their keep. "Maybe I can save them". So into the washer and dryer they went. The holes in the soles seemed bigger now that the slippers were cleaned.

So, I started to think of a way that I could save them. I know... Why bother? I think part of it is the challenge to see if I could. I scrounged around in the Wool Cave til I found more of the same yarn. No red, but green would do and give them a Holiday look. I started to cast on for new soles. I think I'm going to cut off the old soles with about a 1/4 inch left and attach new soles after I felt them.

I already have a new pair to replace the old ones, but I'm having fun reworking the old pair. If anyone has any ideas as to how to get the job done, let me know. Would love to hear any ideas you all might have .

The Twins.... Oh so Yummy...mmmm

Twin Turkeys were cooked for the feast on Thanksgiving Day. My worry is always - WILL THERE WILL BE ENOUGH? Thirty-two pounds total weight .... packed full with mom's delicious recipe for stuffing.... just enough room to squeeze them in. As I hoisted one bird to settle in on the oven rack, I wondered if there would be enough room for the other one. I grabbed hold of the other bird and it just made it in. NO room to spare. The oven rack started to bow a little in the middle from the weight of the birds and the stuffing. The rack will hold up. Will the rack holdup? Yeah.... all looks good. The aroma of pies and turkey filled the air inside our home and out. Each time someone came in you would hear the familiar - "I can smell that turkey cooking. It sure smells good. I could smell it outside".
Everyone had plenty of turkey and all the trimmings that went along with the festive dinner. Some even had room for dessert. Fat and sassy, ahhhh... patting full bellies..... content to just sit watch a little TV or snooze.

Happy Turkey Day !

Tom and I want to wish everyone

Happy Turkey Day !

GOBBLE.....GOBBLE......GOBBLE.....

When you run out of Wool - The Poodle has Some

These days my beautician skills are used on the pets, and family. Which comes in handy considering the cost of hair cuts these days.

She is too old to go to the groomer and sure is glad I'm done with her haircut.

Well I have a nice pile of fluffy clean poodle curls. So....

I handcarded them in with some merino, angora, and a pinch of sari silk. I decided on the merino so that the short curls would have a better chance of binding together with the wool, when spun.

Really like how this is turning out so far, and a fun spin. Will post pic's when I finish spinning this up.

Wee - Peek into the Wool Cave

Just a few skeins of handspun, hanging around. After the massive cleaning, can still use the room as a guest room. Temped to bring the carder and wool back down to the house, but have resisted so far. We'll see what happens when the cold and snow start blowing. Then I'll have to make that long... nasty.... trek.... up to the building ;)

Who needs stink'in curtains when you have all that handspun laying around. DH had to add reinforcement to the rods to hold the weight. Note: no handspun was harmed in the hanging rods in front of windows. There are room darkening shades to keep light from fading the skeins:)