The Woolen Rabbit

Moon River......Sept. 29, 2005

We're after the same rainbow's end--
waiting 'round the bend,
my huckleberry friend,
Moon River and me.

"excerpt from Moon River"


I have so been trying to start and finish projects, without wandering....so therefore, this lovely yarn has been sitting next to my computer desk looking at me every day, patiently waiting for me to finsh Hannah's little pink shawl.  The pictures don't quite capture how lovely this KSH is.  This colorway is called Moonlight, which is basically Smoke with tiny silver metallic threads.  Now mind you, I am NOT a metallic girl kind of person.....usually ranks right up there with Stilettos in my humble opinion.......but in this yarn, it is so soft and subtle. I just can't say enough, how much I just love KSH.  This is to be my shawl to wear dancing NY's eve........if I don't kill myself trying to get in shape.... ;-)

Did you know?
September is the Harvest Moon month. In China they celebrate the Harvest moon as the Moon Festival with little moon cakes.  Deng Ming-Dao says of the Harvest Moon " The queen of the night is at her most perfect roundness, closer to us than at any other time of the year.  She glows silver in an indigo sky.  The Moon Festival is a woman's festival......If you are a man, then it is a night to step aside for your wives, mothers and sisters.  But for all, we can be thankful for the riches of autumn and begin our preparations for the coming frost.

"How cool is that?"

And..........that frost shall descend upon us in the Mountains tonight, just in time for the Harvest Moon this week....bbrrrrrrrr......

A Day in the Life........Sept. 27, 2005

What a beautiful day it was here today in New Hampshire!  Early this morning I journeyed down to Southern New Hampshire to visit again with people who breed and show English Setters.  My drive brings me thru a little town called Meredith (town over from Patternworks), which surrounds a portion of Lake Winnipesaukee.  The weather was slightly cool and the sun was brilliant, making for a wonderful day to be out traveling.

Bob and Francie Stevens of Fieldplay English Setters have been so kind in allowing me to visit with them and learn about this
sweet and beautiful breed.  Such nice people and so very likeminded about the things that I feel are important when it comes to raising dogs. I so enjoyed my visit!!

I am looking forward to new challenges and am excited about the possibility of learning how to show a bigger breed.  Now, in order to show a bigger breed, one has to RUN around a ring, as opposed to the comfortable walking gait when showing a Cavalier........of course you know what that means.  I NEED TO GET IN SHAPE!   Sarah, the girl to the right is due to have babies in November and if she has more than one nice girl, one may come here.......that gives me.....um.....5 months to whip this chubby body into shape.  Hmm.........perhaps Mr. Woolen Rabbit and I will go dancing this NY's Eve ;-)

Now as you may have guessed, given that I had to drive right thru
Concord, a trip to the Elegant Ewe was in order.  I was a good girl, though.......

As you can see, not one stitch of yarn came home with me......however, there is a set of Rosewood 1.5 needles, Nancy Bush's new sock book (which is fabulous!!) and a circular needle for the new shawl, that has been patiently waiting for me to finish the Koigu shawl (see, I am getting better at not starting too many projects before finishing others........I am trying).

If you look on the pumpkin, there is the neatest shawl/sweater pin made out of pewter.  I just HAD to bring it home, but not as a pin....haha.  When I get those pesky Hot Flashes, I quickly reach for the nearest douple pointed needle and pull my hair up, and then promptly forget about it until I catch sight of the piece of wood sticking out of my head in my rear view mirror........eekkk!  At least this kind of looks like it belongs in my hair....LOL!

And finally.........what kind of yarn are you??

You are Merino Wool. You are very easygoing and sweet. People like to
keep you close because you are so softhearted.
You love to be comfortable and warm from your
head to your toes. 

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Leaves and Flowers........Sept. 27, 2005

Introducing Leaves and Flowers.......

What a joy this little shawl was to knit!!  A funny thing happened along the way.  I purchaed the Koigu for this shawl knowing how much my youngest daughter, Hannah loves bright pink.  I figured it would be a challenge for me knitting with a color that is typically not one of my favorites........but as the knitting progressed, much to my surprise in addition to the bright pinks were some of my favorites......poppy red, paprika, bright orange and apricot......I loved each and every stitch of this little shawl

Now, I was supposed to be knitting items for the fair next week, but this shawl would not be ignored, so I will have a lot of fiber at the fair for sale........but not too much in the knitted items dept....  Oh well, sometimes we just have to listen to the wind if it makes us smile ;-)

"Ooo La La" ...........Sept. 26, 2005

Ooo~La~la......Sheer Luxury!

I finished up carding the Northern Lights roving and had enough of the dyed raw angora left over to do up a 1.4oz batt of roving by itself.....pure angora in all it's glory...yumm!!.  One of the things I have to demonstrate next week is spinning angora.  Having the carder makes it very easy for me, but for the novice spinner, angora can be tricky, as it lacks the "barbs" that wool has.  It can be slick.........but oh, how wonderful it is.

Now I can assure you, I will have at least a dozen people ask me if angora comes in this color naturally (cinnamin with green streaks)...aarrgghh!

This yarn when it is finished next week will be staying here for something special....two of my favorite colors combined....how can I resist??

Whether it is dyed or natural, in roving or on the bunny..........Angora is special stuff.  I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such luxury every day.

Nordic Star-Light thinks so too!
(click on the picture to see Star Light with her brother Star Bright as babies)

Apples in th' Country.......Sept. 25, 2005

There is nothing quite like Autumn in the Mountains.  It has been such a hot late summer, that nary a thought was given to Apple Pickin' season, until this morning when we woke to below freezing temps.  Yes, fall was definitely in the air, so we decided to take the day and bring Hannah and my granddaughter off for a day of Autumn fun.

We started the day, taking a tractor pulled ride down deep into the apple orchard.

Even though the day was overcast, the rain held off and the cool temps made for pleasant pickin' weather.

The girls had a fun time climbing the apple trees.....and given that I had the camera, they did the pickin' and I did the  picture snappin'

After the Orchard, we went searching in the Great Pumpkin Patch.  Here at the farm, while I searched for Autumn Mums, Pumpkins,  Indian Corn and winter squash, the girls and Ken visited the Hay Maze that the farm builds every year for the children.  Yup........Ken is a big kid at heart ;-)

Once at home, I settled down to read my new Apple Cookbook.With yummy recipes for the fall and recipes for preserves (yes Norma and Liz, I am getting a jump on next year's Victory Garden), this book is a good thing.

To keep this fiber related, Mr. Froggy helped me display my morning's work.....a skein of Candy Apple to be sold at the Fair next week with Anne's Lotus Blossom scarf pattern.
Today........it was all good :-)

Pressure........Sept. 24, 2005

The big fair of the year is fast approaching and I have been very busy in preparation.  As I am processing all of my fiber right now, the carding machine has been working over~time as have the dye-pots.

Angora is wonderful stuff, as many of you have noticed, however, it can be very stubborn when it comes to dyeing.  Angora needs to soak in warm water for quite a long time.  As you can see from the above picture, it is very very resistant to water.....good for the bunnies, not so great when you want to dye it.

In both pictures you can see how angora clumps together when it is placed in water.  In order to dye the angora, those clumps need to constantly be pulled apart, to make it more accepting of the water and then the dye.  Even when I think that I have been as diligent as I could possibly be at breaking up those clumps, sometimes I am disappointed at the angora that didn't take the dye, due to the clumps that I missed, which of course will lighten up the final product, due to the amount of white that gets blended in with the colored angora.

This time I was rewarded for my diligence with the rich deep colors in both the dyed wool and angora.

After the dye~pot it is onto the carder.  This is where I find out whether my color choices are going to be a hit or a bomb.  What looks good to the eye separately, once blended on the carding machine can sometimes yield unpleasant surprises.

This time, however, I am pleased with what the machine is presenting to me.  I like it enough, that I decided to only do one pass, leaving the colors to shine, instead of my usual tendency towards more muted color.

I will spin up a couple of ounces of Northern Lights to see if I made the right choice.......we will see. ;-)

One thing I am finding out about myself, is that I have a tendency to want to do it all. I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to produce.  I don't think of myself as a type A person, but sometimes I find myself behaving as though I am (hhmmm....).  As I pile on project after project and demand after demand, I start to loose the enjoyment in my pursuits and it starts to feel like work.  For this fair, I have 13 items entered into the judging competitions, 3 loom demonstrations that the looms need to be warped for and of course the rovings (which help fund Rhinebeck ;-) ) and I am dizzy.

A few years ago, I took the year off, spinning one bunch of roving at a time and then knitting something special from each at a comfortable pace.....keeping to myself and enjoying the freedom of quiet "me" time.  It was a productive and stress free year.  As I wind down from this self imposed pressure cooker that I have created for myself this year, I am going to take that time once again and enjoy my hobby for what I want it to be........my hobby.

If you have stuck with me this long, you will understand why this closing verse spoke to me from my little meditation book today.

I want to make myself an empty room:
Quiet whitewashed walls with slant sunshine
And a fresh breeze through the open windows.
Deng Ming~Dao

Enjoy the day~in your corner of the world.

Sad Sock Tales.....Sept. 22, 2005

A sentinel owl regards me unblinkingly,
And beyond, alpine forest form a cadence
To a distant moon.
Deng Ming~Dao

Sandy is having a contest and the prize is two skeins of Lorna Laces Sock yarn in the Gold Hill colorway........thus the evening sky picture.  This is the pond across the street from our home.  It is home to geese who gently honk at this time of the night. (it always scares the bejeesus out of new puppies.....LOL)

And here is where the sad sock tale beings.......

Once upon a time, there was a 6 sock KAL.  The second sock in the series was called Making Waves.  Now this was a fun little cable sock that moved along at a nice pace. 

They were much loved as they matched the colors of green that I always wear.  They were loved so much, that they made the long trek to Rhinebeck with me.....my prized socks, that looked so nice with olive green or Khaki.

Now given that I am of that menopausal age, sometimes I get "hot" feet.......and when that moment strikes, off come the socks, and frequently, they are neatly folded over on themselves and tossed in a corner.  Imagine my dismay, when a few days after returning home, I found my pride and joy to be missing.  Frantically I made waves and called the hotel........no sign of the socks.  Boo Hoo!!

So Norma...........I know you are lining your pages with Gold......heck, you are looking like a regular Golden girl.....but you must admit, it was kismit that Sandy has this sockyarn up as a prize and with just enough time for a pair to be made again for Rhinebeck ;-))

Just in case the "Golden Gods" do not shine my way, Autumn in Opal Silk (Safari) is hoping in the Rhineback backpack this year too :-)

Mountain Air Morning....Sept. 19, 2005

In late summer, heaven's breath is damply hot.
It smothers the earth with dullness.
Suddenly, thick clouds gather:
A wave of polar air passes like a frigid rake.

Acorns fall like bullets,
And a new wind breaks through.
Deng Ming~Dao

It has been such a hot and humid summer for us, which is very unusual up here in the mountains......This morning we were greeted with delightfully cool mountain air.  Even the asters were smiling.

Ahhhhh
This was a weekend of test knitting.  Not usually one of my strengths, given that I am not a patient person, but I am learning, some times painfully that....sampling is a good thing

I started on US #1's and wasn't sure that I was going to get the same effect in the ribbing that I originally liked, so I ripped it out and used US#2's and as you can see from the picture, the ribbing looked nice, but I could tell from handling the sample that the fabric was going to be too loose and flimsy for me.  Last year I made this pair of gray koigu socks on size 2's as the pattern called for and they are never worn, as I can feel those pesky stitches and they are a bit too loose,

So.....rippppp we went again and I went back to US#1's and although the ribbing is a bit closer, the fabric is a much firmer fabric and I am happier with the results.  As Margene pointed out to me, the fabric done with the #1's will help the sock to last a little longer.....something I hadn't thought about.

What I did find out though in my weekend of sampling and researching is how confusing information on metric sized needles is on the internet. When I googled 2.5mm knitting needles, what it told me is that it is a US #1 a US#2 or a US# 1.5 (which I never knew existed).  How confusing is that???
I have a feeling that my friend Tracy, used what is a size 1 1/2 and not a size 2.  I think I will pick up a pair of 1.5's for my next pair of socks to see how the next batch of Opal knits up  :-)

Enjoy the day.........it is lovely~

A New Champion........Sept. 17, 2005

Our boy Max is now.....
"Champion Fairfield Maximus of Ballymena"

A very special thank you to John Marcus
for getting Max out into the ring for me!

Moving On & A Question........Sept. 16, 2005

Finally!!  These lovely socks have been on my sock needles since last winter........can you believe it??  They whispered to me every now and then...........sat there making me feel guilty and even then they were ignored.  I am great for whipping thru the first sock, but then my cheating heart gets me into trouble, when the boredom sets in with the second one.  Although I love the socks......I am happy that they are finished. 
Pattern: Marguerite's  Old Shale Socks
Yarn:  Lang Jawoll
Needles:  Size 1 bamboo dpts.

Even though I have some pretty yummy sock yarns waiting to be knit, I made myself finish the  2 pair that had sat most of the summer, before I would allow myself to contemplate the next sock.
(I am trying to stay focused......trying, I tell ya)

I wavered over which sock yarn to start on next, but at the end of the day, this lovely Opal Silk yarn won out.  After seeing these socks on Tracy's blog, I allowed myself to set on a mission to find this yarn, as it is not available in the states (not that I could find anyways)

Now the question:  This opal yarn recommends using a 2.5mm (US2) needle and the pattern has you cast on 60 stitches, which is what Tracy followed.  One thing I really really hate is to be able to feel the stitches on the bottom of my feet, so I almost always knit with #1's.  Do you think that the opal yarn with #2's would make the stitches loose enough to feel?  Would I be better off using #1's and 72 stitches?  A conundrum........I'm looking forward to hearing what has worked best for you all when using Opal yarn.  I love this yarn so much that I want to be sure that I love the socks too :-)