The Woolen Rabbit

It's that time of year.......

Can you feel it yet?  A wee bit of Christmas in the air?  I know, I know.... Thanksgiving isn't even here yet, but it's been so blessed cold up here that it's hard not to look ahead to the winter holiday.

Of course working on the fiber and yarn pictured above is putting me in that Christmas mood as well.  The fiber is a Black Velvet angora blend that I started working on last February.   I do remember getting incredibly busy though last February and losing  track of what I was working on, but I recently came across my poor unfinished roving this week, so we are back on track again.  I quickly remembered how much I LOVE working with angora.  L.O.V.E. I.T.!

I can't say much about the Red Flannel Opulence other than I am excited about what it is going to become.   I do have one little gripe though....not with the pattern or with the yarn, but with the lack of a good knitting store in my neighborhood.

I will tell you straight up that I have a GAZILLION knitting needles......but do I have the size needed for this project?  Of course not.  My choice is to either drive 45 minutes to Patternworks in Center Harbor or to order online....aggghhhh!   Needless to say, with the skein of yarn wound into a ball, I am anxious to get started, so I will be heading out tomorrow to buy needles.

Yikes.....I started this post just before a work phone conference 3 hours ago and now "Life On Mars" is on so I must go..... Have a GREAT night!

Hats...........

If you get a chance tonight, go visit my good friend Jean.  Jean is running a hat drive for people in need in NYC.  Jean told me today that the people who visit the food van are mostly men, so I will be searching this old fiber house for some manly yarn.

A few years ago, I became a wee bit burned out on Charity knitting (I really hate the charity term)..........but it's been a while and with the very cold temps here tonight and a burdened heart I have added a few hats to my knitting list.

After thinking about it today, I decided that I am going to try to knit one hat a week throughout the winter until the end of February.  I'm not sure how long Jean's hat drive lasts.... but I'm sure a home can be found for each and every knit hat.

I am blessed to have the amount of fiber that I have and if I can spread a little of it around in the form of a warm hat to keep someone warm....then I am there.

Perceptions........

Uphold precepts, but be merciful.
Gradually absorb, until there is no need for law.
Gain wisdom beyond right and wrong.
Deng Ming~Dao

What you see above is some Superwash BFL roving that I dyed up a month or so ago.  The wind managed to grab a hold of the roving as it was drying and the rovings tore into strips, so I wound it all up and kept it.  (yep....I get the sloppy seconds...)

When I look at the finished yarn, I can see all of the imperfections.  I probably did not pay much attention to the first part of the spinning, but I know I paid very close attention to the second part, so what you see is kind of a mishmash of spinning. 

A very dear friend who has a good eye towards perfection has been sharing what she has learned under Judith MacKenzie with a number of us.  One of the things that Judith stresses is using your dominant hand to control the twist, which of course most of us do exactly the opposite.

In my mind, I wonder why it is that the majority of us sit down to a wheel and use the non dominant hand to control the twist.  Why does that seem more natural?  It has been a conundrum to me as i have thought about it over the last week.  Of course, as a child I was left handed but forced to change in elementary school, so maybe that has something to do with it at least for me....who knows?

Normally I do not focus much thought on these things.  As in the the Tao quote, I have always taught new spinnerst there is no right or wrong way to spin.....as long as you are comfortable, enjoying it and the end product is of good quality.....but I have to admit, I am intrigued by all of this talk.

Given that the wheel I use most of the time has the mother of all on the left side which prevents me from spinning to the left comfortably this becomes a hard thing for me to try, so on Moriah I will continue to spin to the right.  I will however give it a try on my lendrum when I get around to pulling her out of her bag......just to see.

The yarn that I spun is going to become socks for Ken....it's been awhile since he has had some handknit socks, so it will be interesting for me to see how it knits up, imperfections an all. :)

Autumn's Bounty....

One of the things that I love best about Autumn is decorating for it.  There is something comforting in the warmth of fall colors as they are displayed around the house, along with the Havest Spice candle aromas in the air...mmmm

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Another thing I love about Autumn are the soups that you don't consider cooking in the summer.

Tomorrow I will be pulling up the rest of the carrots that are still in the garden.  For some reason carrots tend to be a bit sweeter if left in the ground after the first frosts. 

Ok........we have had more than a few frosts here, so I am hoping that they are still good and if they are, we will be having one of my most favorite of all soups....Carrot soup.

Right now my knitting pictures look pretty much the same.  The sweater is growing nicely and I am rounding the heel on my sock...but instead of showing you pictures of the WIP that look kind of the same, I thought I would share my favorite soup recipe with you.

Yep........I can almost envision the wrinkled up noses at the thought of "Carrot Soup", but I can assure you that it is YUMMY.  I house some of the pickiest eaters in God's creation and they all LOVE it....promise :)

Carrot Soup
1 pound of carrots (peeled and chopped)
1/2 pound of peeled and chopped potatoes
1 onion (peeled)
3 cups of chicken stock (I use low sodium chicken broth)
1T cumin
1heaping tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp red pepper (I like it hot...so I add more to mine)
water
1 cup of milk (I use 1%) (pre-heat the milk in the microwave to warm it)
2 cups of cooked shredded chicken
1T lime juice
salt/pepper to taste

Put the carrots, potato, onion in a stock pot.  Add the chicken stock and seasoning.  Add enough water to fill the pan 3/4 full.  Cook until the vegetables are soft.

Place the cooked vegetables and stock into a blender and puree (I do it in 2 batches).  Place the puree back into the pan and heat to boiling.  Add the chicken, lime juice, salt/pepper and warmed milk into the mixture and heat to almost boiling.  (I always taste here to see if it needs more seasoning)

Serve with homemade grain bread and you have a hearty Autumn supper...yum!

Sunday Stroll.....

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

...Robert Frost

It was almost 14 years ago that we brought Miss Hannah home from the Hospital.  To be exact.......she came home on Thanksgiving Day that year.  Usually we celebrate her birthday on the holiday because everyone is here, but this year Hannah asked if we could have a separate party for she and her friends. 

We held Hannah's party at a small resort the next town over.  The resort owners have always made their pool available to local kids for a very small fee.  It is such a great place to vacation for any of you thinking of coming up to the NH mountain area.  Hiking, boating, swimming, skating, skiing...it's all here. :)

Today was an incredibly beautiful day for a few hours and warm.  Warm that is until a biting cold front whipped thru this afternoon.  I knew that it was going to be a very cold week, so while the girls were enjoying their time in the pool, Ken and I took a stroll around the lake to enjoy what may be the last warm day for a long spell.  (not to worry..the girls were being supervised)

Purity Springs sits at the end of Crystal Lake in Madison/Eaton NH.  The lake at this time of year is so still and peaceful....

 

Those beautiful golden browns.......I love the smell of the leaves at this time of year and listening to their crunching sounds as we scuffed them along the path.

......you know that Old Man Winter and Christmas are not too far away when you catch sight of the winterberries along the lakes, and with the dramatic drop in temperature today....it's no surprise....bbrrrrr! 

After our short stroll, we headed back to the party girls.

Hmmm.......lots of contemplation in that look.  14 years old...wow!

She huffed and she puffed and blew those candles out!

It's going to be fun...being 14!

Community........

Remember just yesterday I mentioned that I really didn't need fiber....well, I wasn't kidding.  I have pounds and pounds of roving waiting to be dyed.  Of all the fibers out there, I have to say that BFL (blue faced leicester) is my favorite.  I will be spending next week immersed in BFLroving and dyepots...wheee!

.

This year has been a busy one for me and sadly my spinning has suffered for it.  There was a time when I made sure to spin for at least an hour a day.....that seems SO long ago.

Working with roving over the last month has really renewed my desire to get back to Moriah, so I have committed to at least 30 minutes of spinning each day.  Hopefully I will have some new yarns to show for it soon.

I was so fortunate last week to have a few friends share with me what they learned in their Judith MacKenzie class at SOAR.  It is always fun to learn new ways of doing things and some of Judith's techniques are really helping me get a more consistent yarn.  I am hoping to take one of her classes when she is out east again.

I also met Abby Franquemont at The Gathering last week and when she said she could spin a yarn that would knit a sweater with just 8 ounces, I knew right then and there, that I wanted to take a class with her as well.  My handspun sweaters can be quite heavy, so learning how to make a lighter, airier yarn would be wonderful!

The fiber community is such a wonderful community to belong to.  Grrls who are always willing to share new ideas and techniques.  Grrls who know how to laugh over beer and wine.  Grrls who enable us to add to our stash.....and add to their own stashes with their never ending support.  I am very thankful and blessed to be a part of this community!

Eye Candy Friday

I know.........I really do not need any new fiber.....but how could I resist such loveliness?

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends...

Whew....sorry about the lazy post last night.  I was just too tuckered out at the end of the day to sit and write.  My hat is off to the grrls who have posted daily for almost a year now.  It is NOT easy to do.

I will say though, I think that it does help to motivate one if just a wee bit, so in that sense, it is good.

As you can see I have been knitting on my Twisted Vine Sweater. This is not going to be a quick knit.  Heck with fingering weight (yep...it's closer to fingering) and size 4 needles it will be slow, but the yarn is totally dreamy, so I am looking forward to enjoying the process.  I know it is going to be SO worth it! 

Do you not love my little friends who are holding this lovely yarn for you to see?  I just love my little frog friends :)>

To keep myself from getting too bored with miles and miles of endless stockinette stitching, I am trying to balance it a bit with other things.   Little mind games I guess.

I work a few inches on the sweater and then do a few repeats on the sock and then move onto the wheel. 

Spending a little time on each of the 3 projects will help keep my ADD at bay.  I have a number of small projects coming up that will take the place of my sock repeats when it is finished.

Hannah has requested a pair of mitts, so I thought I would work up  a pair of Genmaicha's and then I am going to work on a little secret project done in Opulence.

I figure I am going to give myself 2 months to get this sweater finished, but if I can get it done sooner that would be great.  It's not usual for me to have a yearning to do  more than one big project in a season, but this yarn and that yarn are calling my name, so onward we go.  I am in the mood for a few new sweaters :)

A very tired Woolen Rabbit........

This Woolen Rabbit is too tired for words tonight, so I will leave you with a basket of goodies to look at instead. :)

Have a great evening~

Nothing Gold Can Stay......well....um....maybe...

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost

It's no secret that gold is the color that touches my soul.  It's the color of the gods and the nectar of bees, and at this time of year it is what surrounds us.

While I love the brilliant colors that early Autumn presents us with, it is the color of late Autumn that I love most......the colors of the mighty Oak tree....warm russet browns and golds.

Come this time of year, when we turn back the clocks, the only remaining leaves on our trees are the golden brown oak leaves.  I always associate them with the smell of wood burning in stoves as the temperatures drop, home made apple crisp and the sound of those leaves being kicked here and there while taking the kids out on Halloween.

It is this very same feeling that I have when  I work on these socks.  Warm soft inviting browns touched with golden greens.........I can almost smell the woodstoves. :)

Do you see what I see...........why yes, that second sock is already started..........this s a very good indication that a mate for the first is sure to follow. :)