Leaves

Class on Sunday. Now it's time for sleep.

Being bad

I'm being bad and not going to the gym today. TeeHee. :-)

The next Monday and Tuesday nights, I'll be at Springwater taking the spinning wheel class. I can not tell you how excited about this I am. I've even started pricing out wheels! Someone had mentioned to me before about spinning all sorts of hair, even human hair and I didn't think much of it. Well, today, I was actually thinking...hmm, my hair does seem to build up and clump up in the bathroom and become this ball of hair that gets to be a bit disgusting if one is not careful to remove it. Anyone who's ever had long hair knows what I'm talking about here. The short hairs don't stick together as well. Of course, this led to the thought of, "well, I guess that why you want to start off spinning with longer hair because they stick well together" and I started wondering about taking the hair off of my bathroom floor and spinning that into fiber. Like I said, being bad.

"Douceur et Soie"

Anyone have any interest in splitting a bag (or two) of this with me? I'd like to get Cafe Au Lait (8845). And by splitting "a bag (or two)", I'm also willing to get two bags and split with someone...
This is laceweight yarn, 70% mohair, 30% silk. 25 grams, 225 yds per skein. 10 skeins per bag. $82.50 per bag.
I want to use the Cafe Au Lait to make the Wing-o-the-Moth shawl.

Another knit along

I found another knit along for me. It's the hockey knit along, to knit some items for charity while watching hockey, now that the season has begun. Funny, I found it while I was knitting watching a night of hockey after a long off season.

My First Fiber Festival

I was going to go to the MD Sheep and Wool Festival this past May but I ended up down in New Orleans at Jazzfest because my friend John was moving to Germany.
Today, I went to the Virginian Fiber Festival. Note that it's been raining here for a couple of days and we didn't know if it has also been raining down there. Well, it was and so it was REALLY muddy. Helena drove and her car is pretty low to the ground. We got stuck trying to leave and there were guys in the parking lot whose jobs were to direct traffic but they ended up pushing cars out of the mud and onto solid ground. Our shoes?


I must say, the running has come in handy because I've worked my way through a few pairs of sneakers. I had chosen to wear the oldest pair of sneakers I had, those would be the ones that are not white. I threw in the orange ones as a comparison of what my shoes normally look like. And you can see that the mud seeped into my shoes to my socks and splattered onto my jeans.
Loot you ask?

1. 
   

   On the left, it's Euroflax Linen. It feels rough but after a few washes, it becomes really soft. On the right, that over a pound of lace weight tencel in "Persian Red." Mmm...laceweight...

   
   



2. Roving. I don't spin...yet. But I'm taking the wheel spinning class at Springwater Fibers in a couple of weeks with Helena and Patricia. Helena and I decided to buy some roving as inspiration. The braid is a merino/cashmere blend. I like cashmere.

   
   



3. Click on the picture, enlarge it. Yes, that's right, you read it right. Size 000, 40 inch circular needles. I like laceweight. If you didn't know that I'm a little crazy when it comes to the knitting or beading, you really have not been paying attention to my blogging.

I arrived with only cash, and I came home with cash. Whoo hoo!

October 2006

goals.
I don't think I accomplished any of my goals from September. Wait, I did finish the grand dutch spiral necklace and I need to post a picture.
Somewhat Cowl? I'm working the sleeves and I may re do the body. I'm also just about done with the Autumn Leaves pattern since class is next week.

For October, I hope to:

1. Finish the Somewhat Cowl, whatever form it is in (only if I don't have to order more yarn)
2. Line my Tote Exchange bag. This needs to arrive at its destination by the last day of the month.

Ya, that's it. I may have additional items like...make necklaces as presents for my relatives. So much to do!

The Knit Goes On

We did knit tonight, even if the the founder of the Sweet Life Knitters was far far away. I was knitting my Rowan Anna socks. I'm otherwise still working the sleeves (on two circulars) for the Somewhat Cowl. It's getting bulky to be lugging around.

Saturday, I'm supposed to teach the beginning florals class. If no one signs up, I'm going to the VA fiber festival. Hmmmmmmmm...

One of the blogs I read is the Yarn Harlot's blog. She and her significant other of many years finally got married. I was moved (?) by today's post where there was a link to an organization for the unmarried and otherwise single and I must say, it struck a cord. I like my singleness. I like the freedom. I don't mind men, I like men in fact. But unlike most people in my life who feel that I need to get married, I am perfectly happy on my own and am willing to wait until I find the right one. Apparently, there's a name for people like me. It's called quirky alone and how did I score on their quiz?
How quirkyalone are you?
Your score was 91. Very quirkyalone:
Relatives may give you quizzical looks, and so may friends, but you know in your heart of hearts that you are following your inner voice. Though you may not be romancing a single person, you are romancing the world. Celebrate your freedom on National Quirkyalone Day, February 14th!
Ya.

Overwhelmed

I think I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. So many projects that I've started and in the middle of. A few projects I need to finish with actual deadlines. Projects in my head. I've been very tired for the past couple of weeks and made time out this weekend to actually take naps. I don't usually take naps because I feels as if there's way too much other stuff to do.

The Somewhat Cowl is not finished. I'm working on the sleeves. Then I'd be done...except that I think I may rip out the body/waist shaping and redo it. I'm bringing it to snb to get opinions, after I've finished the sleeves.

I can take a shower tonight with hot water!

It's been a long week and I just haven't been home or gotten as much sleep as I'd liked. So I thought I'd make it an early night and stay home, instead of going knitting. Well, it gets darker earlier and when I got home, the storm had already taken out the power. Off to Starbucks I go, cuz there's knitting there, and people, and electricity.
Tonight, I lace my sunflower petals. In case anyone is wondering about works in progress, in no particular order:
Somewhat Cowl (sleeves left), Celeste (knit beaded bag), Anna socks from Rowan, Hopeful to frog, Charlotte's Web, Tubey, Sunflower parts, autumn leaves pattern, Pearls in the Coral necklace, Ndeble bracelet, my Tote Exchange bag, various cabochons, instructions of the pot of flower pens class...I don't remember what else.

Wire in a yarn meter

Why yes, you can put wire in a yarn meter and measure it! I borrowed Amber's yarn meter to measure yardage for the leaves and we weren't sure if it would work. Well, it did!

Here's a preview of the maple leaf.


The pattern will be ready by October 15, 2006 since that's the day of class. If I am actually a good girl, the pattern will be ready a week before that. Yup, I'm working this weekend as crafty beady chick.

A note on the bead soup. Main color + a bunch of other colors...it doesn't take a lot of the other colors before the whole thing starts to look too busy. I don't do a good bead soup, maybe cuz I don't normally do bead soups.

Upcoming classes

Class schedule is out for Bead Obsessions. First two weekends of October are filled with classes for me. Time to get to work on the autumn leaves pattern!

I've been using Google calendar for a while. I have my own appointments in there. I also created a Bead Obsessions class calendar so I can see what's going on. What's really cool about Google calendar is that you can overlay multiple calendars and copy events from one to another. So now I can see how classes fit into my schedule! This is a public service. You don't need a google account to view the calendar. The link is here. I'm also adding it to the side bar.

Random musings for the day

• So, I work in Rosslyn, near the Key Bridge so I can go and run on the Mt. Vernon trail. Today, I decided to do either the 4 mile loop around Georgetown, or the 6 mile loop through Georgetown by the FDR memorial. So, I'm on the VA side, ready to cross the Key Bridge and I thought, "I should've stuck a credit card in my pocket. I'm running past Stitch DC Georgetown and I'm in need of size 1 dpns. Sadly, I only had my id, my metro card, cell phone and $2 on me. I also neded up running the 6 mile loop.


• I googled myself today. The term I entered was "judyyiu". I found mention of me in the Art Jewelry Community forum and all I could see from the google blurb was "I can ' t say I ' ve seen any free patterns on the web . this girl made her own pattern and sells it . http : / / judyyiu . blogspot . com / 2005 / 09 ..." I've been worried all day that they said something bad about the pattern. Finally I get home tonight and I login and see that someone was looking for a free calla lily pattern and someone pointed them to my blog. What do they say? One of the comments was "I love the calla lily on the blog page. they are so real looking." Yay! I'm so happy they like it!


• And I am mentioned on this person's MySpace page as a flower beading hero! (Okay, I started googling myself for real) Wow!

Goodies

I emailed Woolsworks Ltd. who sells those nifty double point needle holders to inquire about the price. The response was:
These holders are reproductions of those used in the
19th Century and are crafted using time honored period techniques. Each one
is made individually by a tinsmith, no machinery is used. I have 2 sizes
available. The small holds shorter dpn's 5-71/4 inches for 15.50 and the
long holds 8 inch needles for 17.50.Shipping is $2.00.

They do accept credit cards and Paypal.

Tired. sleepy.

Fiddlesticks patterns

Found a place where they're on sale: Busy Hands Yarn. Looks like they're clearing out stock. I want the Garden Shawl.

Weekend Roundup

Another weekend has come and gone. It was a weekend spent at Bead Obsessions. Friday night was Helena's knitting night and a few of us went out to dinner afterwards. Saturday afternoon was the first part of the sunflower class. This morning was the cabochon class. Feeling kind of tired so I've been home on the couch working on the grand dutch spiral. I'm hoping to have it done by this Friday in time for needleweaving study group.

Goals for this week:
1. Finish the grand dutch spiral necklace
2. Finish the cowl neck on the Somewhat Cowl
3. Start on the autumn leaves pattern.

Onto something knitted

I've reflected, I've updated...now I have a question.
In the Crystal Palace English Garden Felted Carpetbag pattern, can someone please explain to me what the "Knitted top flaps" are for and how they are different from the "handle fastners"? I was assuming that the top flaps were what I fold down to hold the wooden purse handles in with. But that seems to be the "handle fasteners". So can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do with the handle fastners? Right now, I don't think I'll be making them unless someone gives me a reason to do so. Thanks!

Comments

I found the blogger tag to display "add comments" on the main page. So now that's fixed. Damn hard to find APIs.

What if...

This is one of those "sharing" posts. The following were my thoughts driving with the traffic of 395 towards the Pentagon this morning on my way to work.

Some days or events stand out as a pivotal point in life when you look back upon it. Today was one of those days. For many, Sept. 11th is a day of mourning. For me, I'm thankful that my father is alive.

In 2001, I had just graduated and was moving our house and my life from Westford, MA to Columbia, MD. The move was scheduled for early September because I was off traveling in Europe and Asia all summer. Dad had come to help with the move. He was to return to Taiwan on the 9am United flight.

When flying from Boston to Taiwan, and flying United, you have 2 choices for departure flights. It's either the 8am flight or the 9am flight. Those are the only 2 flights that will get you over to CA in time to catch the last flight across the Pacific. I remember thinking that morning that I was glad I had an extra hour to sleep in. Dad had flown the 8am the previous times he was back.

It was eerily quiet at Logan that morning. We got there 2 hours early and dad walked right up to the check in counter. No problems whatsoever. Usually, the check in line took an hour and they still had to pull him out of line because the flight was departing within the hour. We had a quiet breakfast in terminal C, watching the planes take off. Dad walked in through security and I left to drive home. I think we all know what happened after that.

I had just merged onto 128 from 93N when my phone rang. It was a little after 9 and my dad called. No one knew what was happening then. I couldn't find any news on the radio, and all they knew at the airport was that something happened and the World Trade Towers had collapsed. His plane was the next one on the run way when air traffic control grounded all planes. The next phone call came from my aunt in Taiwan. Funny how fast news travels these days.

But what if dad had been on the 8am flight like he had been in the past? If he had, he would've been one of the mourned in this public day of mourning. This difference of one hour could have also had a very big impact on my life. At that time, I was applying for a TS/SCI clearance for Raytheon into the NSA. That was why I had moved down here.

What happened for real

Because my father was living in Taiwan, even as an American citizen, the Dept of Defense would not approve my application for a clearance. This meant that there was no work for me at Raytheon's Linthicum site. I soon found a job at Raytheon Falls Church and began a Columbia, MD to Falls Church, VA commute. This commute lasted 6 months because it drove me nuts, and I couldn't take it. I moved to DC and eventually ended up in VA. I've met some interesting people that I still know. My job at Falls Church eventually ended up killing my soul and I changed to my current job. Bead Obsessions became my local bead shop and a "happy place". I also was inspired to knit, due to someone I met down here, and met some great people in my knitting groups.

If it had been the 8am flight

Dad would've been one of the people on one of the planes that went into the World Trade Center. I would not have had the immediate relative who lived outside of the country and the clearance would've gone through. I did actually have a morbid conversation with the security officer where he did admit that had he been on the 8am plane, my clearance would have been approved. It would have been unlikely that I moved to DC. I would not know the people that I know. I wouldn't even be such a regular at Bead Obsessions. I may be even more messed up and possibly, completely emotionally dead, instead of the partially dead that I am now.

So while events in life just kind of happen, there are some, when you look back, look like a fork in the road with two very different outcomes. Some you have a choice. Others, you don't. But I am thankful that he was on the 9am flight. He has a story to tell and I still have my dad. I think this was another incident where mom was looking out for us both.

Makeshift ball winder

I own a ball winder and a swift, but I hate the fact that I pretty much have to let balls of yarn hang free when trying to wind a center pull yarn because the ball doesn't fit on the swift.
This morning I experimented with something - an empty bottle + a fat dowel. You stick the fat dowel through the center of the ball, then stick the down in the empty bottle. Set the yarn up in the winder and go. It works on the same idea as the ball winder except with a much smaller center rod thingy. I'll put up a picture soon. Now I'm off to the train station.

Food, yarn, beads, Brooklyn

I'll be heading to Brooklyn this weekend to visit with my two Tims and eat! But, first, I will be stopping at some bead shops for some purse handles and frames, then at Habu Textiles to pick up a few things.
So, I've been surfing for some yarn stores, in case I need needles or something (yeah, that's it), and visited the website of Sarah's Yarns located in Brooklyn. I had first come across this website while reading the Simple Knitted Bodice KnitAlong and had kept them in mind because of their amazing prices for yarn. For a comparison, the JaggerSpun Zephyr 2/18 Lace Weight cones normally sell for about $50. So it disturbed me greatly to read about Tilli Tomas price fixing. Tilli Tomas is the recommended yarn for the Simple Knitted Bodice and it is expensive as all bleeping hell.

I should get to sleep soon.