The Woolen Rabbit

Bee's Alive!

You would think by now, I would be tired of all this Bee stuff.  Bee shawls, Bee stoles, Sisterbee books,Bee colored yarn and now Bee colored fiber to spin, but I have to admit, I am still fascinated.

It all started early this summer when my daughter, Ashley prodded me into reading The Secret Life of Bees. 

The way the story wove in and out with  quotes from books such as The Queen Must Die: And Other Affairs of Bees and Men, really struck a cord with me.

Then of course, there was Anne's stunning Honeybee shawl/stole, which I will finally be able to start working on after next week.

......and then there was the revival of my summer garden. As I tended the garden I became acutely aware of the interaction between the bees and the fruits of my garden.

Many mornings, I would find little sleeping worker bees in most of my squash flowers.........and as I would see them, I would contemplate a bit.

Hmmmm.....more bees in the garden would be a good thing, right?  Next I met a beekeeper in Utah, who spent some time chatting about bees with me and gave me a list of recommended reading.

Part of the fascination for bees as been what they have represented to me in terms of how I regard my fiber sisters.....but even more than that is what an important contribution these little workers make to our environment.

Coming home from Utah, the first thing I did the next morning was to stroll thru the garden with my coffee.  When I saw this little guy snoozing on the Sunflower petals as the morning was quite chilly..........it kind of confirmed in my mind, that YES, I think I would like to be a Keeper of Bees.

.....and my husband thought I was kidding........until he saw my books today...he really should have known better... :-)

This will probably be my last post until later in the week as the fair is winding down.  I have some new things that have been on the back burner to start working on......new yarns, new fibers and maybe a new pattern, so I am looking foward to what's ahead. :-)

I hope that you all have a great week in your corner of the world!

By Jove, I Think I Have it!

Stillness....
Wind stirs the bamboo,
But once the wind passes,
The bamboo is silent.
Geese land in the chill pond,
But once the geese fly away,
There are no reflections.
In the same way,
Once the red dust passes,
The mind is still.
Deng Ming~Dao

Whew.........the loom is warped and everything appears to be order.  80 skeins of new sock yarn dyed along with 15 skeins of lace.  I think I can finally take a seat and enjoy a glass of wine. :-)

Have a great weekend and if you find yourself with some free time, come up to the Fair and say hello!

Wired

You may remember a similar picture last year right about this time.......and it did not have a good ending.....sigh.

A year later with a new loom, I think we may have a better outcome.

I wish that I had more time to play with my looms, so that every time I put a new warp on, it wasn't such a scary adventure.  I am definitely going to make time this winter to put on short narrow warps numerous times, so that this process becomes a bit more comfortable for me.

Spending a little time each day this week, I have worked on getting this warp on my loom for the fair.  I wanted to take my time to check and re~check myself so that I didn't face the same fiasco I did last year.......warping at the fair.....eek!   

So far everything looks good.  I did have a few threading errors, that I caught when I recounted and a few heddle errors that had my wire cutters performing heddle surgery, but other than that...........fingers are crossed for smooth weaving!

You would be surprised at how many men who come through the fiber building used to be weavers in the old mills in Maine and so many of them are always willing to help if I get in a jam.  I met ALL of the helpful types last year as I was in a jam all week....ey yi yi! 

Fingerpainting.....sort of...

This week the temperatures have been HOT and the days up until today have been breezy and dry, so the dyepots were in overdrive.

I have had fun this week playing with new colors.  Looking ahead to the Utah yarns, I have done some serious playing.  As I told another fiber friend this week, it's like having permission to fingerpaint. 

Not all colors work, but when they do, it is so much fun!  All of the sock yarn for the fair has been dyed and labeled and the lace is drying, so tomorrow hopefully will be the day for dyeing rovings.  Hopefully again (have you noticed how much hoping I am doing....) the rain will clear out so that the wool will dry.  There was no wool drying this afternoon.  Rain, rain and more rain, but rain that is desperately needed here, so we won't complain too much.

No Walking This Week.......

There was no Wednesday walk this week as the fiber and my real job have kept me extra busy.  We did manage to squeeze in a little trip though today.

Ashley (my girl who wants to have fun...) moved Monday to her new place.  This is her first year out of college and really on her own, however, she will still be staying with us once a week while she works at her gardening job here thru November.......so it will be a nice transition for her.

See that Cupola at the top of this renovated Grist Mill............that is where she lives (that and the 2 floors below it).  Brian moved in about a month ago, so they are pretty well settled in.  We had to bring up a chest of drawers today for Ash, and this was the first time we actually got a chance to see the new place.........and what a place it is! 

These are the views from her living room and the little room up in the cupola........just beautiful!  It makes a mom so happy to see one of her little fledglings live in such beauty!

Ah............Sunday Mornings

I don't know about you, but I love Sunday mornings.  Life slows down a little bit on Sundays, don't you think?  It is a time to stop and reflect on the week that has gone past and contemplate the week that is to come.  Many Sunday mornings, I just sit and knit to our Sunday morning swing/jazz radio station, and take a little "me" time.....

The weather this weekend was just outstanding!  After a relaxing breakfast, it was time to get the dyepots fired up, so as to take advantage of the good drying weather.

The Fair starts a week from today, so the cauldron will be brewing all week.  Every year I say this will be my last year at the fair as it can be exhausting, but then every summer I start looking forward to it again.......go figure...LOL.  This year I actually think I may be a bit ahead of the game, which will go a long way towards an enjoyable week.

In between the dyeing and winding, I managed to squeek in some knitting time.  Last year I altered my usual angora handspun hat pattern into Little Pumpkin and Lil Acorn Hats. 

Knitting these hats just makes me smile.  I make them out of a combination of commercial superwash yarn and usually the bottom and tops are handspun with touches of angora here and there. 

As the day's light was waning, I finished up a sample yarn swatch, while I listened to one of my all time favorite songs on you tube, while I sipped on a glass of cabernet.

Hopefully this swatch is going to become something special in a few months.  I am sampling different kinds of superwash merino sock yarn.  This one is Oh So Soft.....

All in all, this was a Sunday that was almost near perfection.............much like last Sunday, but in a little different way.

I hope your weekend was as nice!

Magical Mystery Tour

Fooled you with that title, didn't I?  Trust me, if you read to the end, you will understand the picture......

A few days ago when I posted a little bit about my trip to Utah, I mentioned wanting to keep some of it close to my heart.....and I think I am going to leave it at that. 

My trip was truly a Magical Tour....not really a mystery, but truly magical.

Do you remember the post I did a while back about the Sisterhood of Bees?  Go back and read it........go ahead, I will wait.

Our trip......was a Sisterhood of Bees kind of trip.  As much as we love the men in our lives, there is something so special and bonding when women who really appreciate each other get together........magical!

So.........knowing that many of you have seen the pictures of our tour at Margene's and Susan's blogs (hi grrls!), I thought I would share a little of the fiber part of my trip.

The picture to the right is my birthday gift from Margene........

Inside the great little collapsible bag were some beautiful oriental magnets, fabulous ginger embroidery scissors, a note pad and best of all this beautiful yarn from Claudia.  Interestingly enough, Carole (Happy Birthday!!!) was knitting with the same yarn and I was appropriately drooling over it...that grrl sure knows how to gift!

There were patterns designed by new friends...........I love supporting my fiber sisters!

....and a little Noro for one of those patterns....(I'll get you my pretty....)

Some beautiful Merino/tussah roving from Chasing Rainbows Dyeworks..

....and this stunning spalted maple spindle from Greensleeves.  It looks like a beautiful giant mushroom when it is spinning...I LOVE it!

Let me tell you about the teasing I took when I was spotted purchasing a spindle......hmmppf!  It is no secret that I would rather spin on a wheel, but nothing...well almost nothing... makes my heart beat faster than a spindle made from beautiful wood.  This spindle is one of the prettiest that I now own........so beautiful! Just to prove that I can stay dedicated to a spindle, I purchased some gorgeous fiber, which will surely keep my attention.........and even if it doesn't, I will stay true to the spindle just to prove that I can do it....

So........I bet about now, you are thinking......what the heck does the basket of garden goodness and yarn have to do with this post.

Move in a little closer, as I haven't told too many people......I am still afraid to breath it yet for fear that it will disappear..."poof".

This weekend, I received a phone call from my ever patient husband, telling me that a man called regarding a spinning wheel.  My heart leaped as I quietly asked...."Was his name Norm?"........... Yes, was his answer.  There are a few out there who know that I have waited 7 long years for this phone call and may have heard my hearty WHOO HOO....and even if the entire world didn't hear me, the Utah grrls surely did!

The best part is, my wheel may be ready for me to pick up in Rhinebeck.  As a tribute to my very magical tour in Utah, I am going to work on a limited edition Utah inspired sock yarn collection to help raise money for this unexpected treasure.  The yarns in the basket are my first samples.  When I finish up with the fair, I will start working on the Utah yarns, which will be done in some sort of merino.  I can barely wait, as while it may be hard for me to put into words what my trip to Utah meant to me, I know I can show you in color!

If you have stayed with me this long, as my post is a bit long winded, I have a special treat for you.  When I was looking up lyrics for Magical Mystery Tour, I came across this video (has nothing to do with MMT...).  Go take a look here for surely it will make you smile and maybe even swoon a bit.

Have a great weekend!!!!!

Walk With Me Wednesday in Utah

Quite a different mountain than what you usually see here on my page isn't it?

It is a familiar mountain though to many, for it is Margene's mountain and it is every bit as beautiful in person as it is on her blog pictures..

Terry and I arrived back home last night after 5 of the most wonderful days I have had in a very long time, but somehow, I am not yet ready to talk about the personal stuff, as I am still holding it all close to my heart.  Instead, I thought I would share the walk we took on Monday, as I pick back up with my Wednesday Walking posts.

We started our morning with a fabulous breakfast at the Silver Fork Restaurant.  Amazingly enough, they let us back in after our boisterous (as Mim so aptly put it) dinner on Saturday evening....

While we busily chatted and dined, a resident Magpie was happy to entertain us with his loud songs. 

Jumping from tree to tree as he squawked and preened, we tried to capture him in all his glory.  Somehow I think he knew that there were visitors from afar to entertain.

After a wonderful breakfast it was back in the car to head further up the mountain to Silver Lake.  It is mind boggling for me to think that we were actually 10,000 feet up on this road, and I was not hyperventilating from my typical fear of heights.

For me, the beauty in this spot was the best.  The incredibly blue sky made the golden reed grasses pop against the darker greens of the pines......just beautiful~

Even though the temperatures were quite warm, it was evident that fall was in the air here in the mountains.  Colors of gold, russet and red were showing up here and there, reminding me of what was also around the corner at home as well.

 

Hmmmm.............I wonder what he is looking at?

~Lunch~!

Now, you see........there really was a reason for this trip around the lake, besides a little sight seeing.  Last year when  Carole visited with  Margene she was hoping to see a Moose, but somehow they eluded her.  Did she see one this year?????

Unfortunately they eluded her again, but I know Carole enjoyed the trek around the lake again this year very much.  Perhaps we can help her find Bullwinkle up here in my neck of the woods this fall.........

Utah Bound........Wheeeeeeeee!

A sunflower on a sunny day
Will turn its face
Towards the sun
And with joyful eyes
Watch it move across the sky
(Hansum-Hart)

Remember those big mamouth sunflowers I mentioned a few posts back.......

Here are 2 in all their glory.  So beautiful, aren't they?

Well, I am heading out the door on my way to Utah with the grrls.  See you next week!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

I come home in the morning light,
My mother says "When you gonna live your life right?"
Oh,mother,dear, We're not the fortunate ones,
And girls, They wanna have fu-un.
Oh,girls, Just wanna have fun.

The phone rings in the middle of the night,
My father yells "What you gonna do with your life?"
Oh,daddy,dear,
You know you're still number one,
But girls,
They wanna have fu-un,
Oh,girls,just wanna have fun.

Girls,
They want, they
Wanna have fun.
Oh-h Girls,just wanna have fu-un

Some boys take a beautiful girl,
And hide her away from the rest of the world.
I wanna be the one to walk in the sun.

Oh,girls,
They wanna have fu-un.
Oh,girls,
Just wanna have
That's all they really want.....
Some fun..

Hmmm.............I think she likes it!

Rabbit Tales............

Haha.......I saw this quiz on a few blogs and took the challenge.....

You're Watership Down!
by Richard Adams
Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

........how fitting......LOL!

Thank you all so much from the bottom of my heart for your many birthday wishes on a day that is a bit difficult to celebrate on.

A Very Full Weekend!

Whew.........it's done and it fits!!  Whoo~hoo!  After working on this vest, I have come to the conclusion that I really do not care to work with scratchy wool very much.  I worked my way thru the black abbey yarn vest a year or so ago and now this one.  Both yarns were ones that I found to be hard on my hands although I do like the end products that the yarns produced.   I just didn't enjoy the process very much.

Ashley's vest is soaking in some Eucalan as I type, so perhaps tomorrow I will have some modeling pictures.  Actually the pattern once I got in the groove was a nice pattern to knit.

A Weekend of Dogs..........

So.......how was your weekend?  Ours was chockerblock full of activity. 

First on tap was a dog show held up here in the mountains.  The weather was HOT, HOT, HOT!  Go figure.  It has been a very moderate summer here temperature wise, but on Saturday, it was 90 plus degrees and just as humid.  Not really much fun for people or dogs...........

Although, I do have to admit when you come home with all of the ribbons my girls did, it certainly does help make you feel a whole lot better. :-)

Little Skyy went Winners Bitch, Best of Opposite Sex and Best Puppy in Breed.  Her bigger sister Cleo went Reserve Winners Bitch, so all in all, the trip to the show was well worth a few hours in those hot temps!

And Wedding Anniversaries......

Sunday was a special day for my entire family as it was my parents 50th anniversary.

My parents didn't want a big gala event, but rather a smaller family gathering, so we had a small party at a lovely restaurant in Newburyport.  The food was fabulous and it was good to see relatives that I do not see very often.

  My oldest daughter put together such a touching DVD covering the last 50 years of our lives together.  Time does have a way of flying by, doesn't it?

I think my parents really enjoyed their day, which made it extra special for us.

(Yikes.........I look at this picture of my dad and yep......it's the same face that I see in the mirror every morning!)

I hope your weekend was a fun one too!