And Then There Were Two

I finished my latest pair of socks and am wearing them. I even broke out my Birkenstocks today to show them off. I still have a fun filled evening planned. I am going to break out the drum carder and blend some Polwarth and Bison down and spin up some yummy warm yarn to knit a hat form my hubby. I am pretty good with hats. I can usually do one in a day or two. It should be fun. I need to start spinning again. I need to make jewelry. I need more hours in the day. On the other hand since I got back from Pennsylvania I have actually been sleeping. I'm still tired but I have been sleeping.

I've signed up for some business development and sales classes. This hopefully will give me some focus and direction. Not that I don't have focus and direction but more is better. In fact right now I am going to change direction and focus on making some Polwarth/ Bison blend fiber bats.

Really... I haven't been slacking!

I know I promised live reports from SOAR but I had no idea I would be so busy!! That is one jam-packed week!I learned a ton and brought back two sheep worth of goodies and will be putting new items upon Etsy soon. I will probably de-stash some fiber and I will be dye some yarn and roving soon. But don't think all I've been doing is sitting around fondeling my fibers I am midway through a new pair of socks. They may be interupted by a hat for my husband. I am currently pondering the possibilities for fiber blends to create to maximize warmth and durability. I'm already planning on sending him out with the monkey paws. He'll be spending a few weeks in the mountains working. It may not feel like it down here in Southern California but it's fall in some parts of the country. I have pictures to prove it!! My sister said they had two feet of snow last week in Wyoming. Luckily it was just after they left for their trip down here in the sunshine.

SOAR was a blast. It you're a fiber geek it's like a who's who of spinning, knitting, weaving and other wooly pursuits. I made some new friends and some new business contacts and plan to go again although it might not be until 2010. SOAR is going to be in Taos New Mexico. I have a timeshare there which makes accomodations free. Plus it's driving distance - no airplanes!! That makes the whole thing affordable.

Well it's late and I'm tired. I'll leave you with some pictures of my hand spun hand knit stuff and my new sock(commercial sock yarn) that should tide you over for a few days.

I finally made it!!

After more than a decade of spinning I finally did it. I made it to S.O.A.R.. I have been spinning since the early 90's and have read Spin-Off magazine for longer. Every year I would read about their Autumn Retreat and dream of going myself. I almost made it last year but finances and not being able to get the time off of work kept me away. One of the other years I had a chance to go it was going on Halloween. I don't miss Halloween. This has been my first chance to go and possibly my only chance so here I am !!

The trip out to Pennsylvania was nice. My BFF M and I flew out cross country changed planes in Philly and hopped the puddle jumper to Scranton where we rented a car and drove to the Poconos and found our hotel which is about 15 minutes from where S.O.A.R. is being held. The first night was a little rocky. I won't go into gore details . I must say I was surprised at the layout of the Wilkes Barre Airport. The rental car pickup was so close to the baggage claim I left M to fish for he luggage while I rented the car and still made it over to the luggage claim in time to snatch my bag . That's convenience. The drive down wasn't bad. It sure is pretty around here.

Today we went exploring a few little towns around here. We found a fabulous fruit stand where they have wonderful apples, banana bread and pumpkin bread. We also had lunch at a local brew pub. If you ever find yourself out in Tannersville PA be sure to stop by the Barley Creek Pub and order a Chicken Mcshea!!

Tomorrow is our first day of workshops. I am looking forward to seeing everyone. I will take lots of pictures and post them for everyone to see. If I get some free time (which I might) I will post some new things on the Etsy site. A few items have fallen off of the page and need to be replaced. Thursday we are going to find some LYS and LBS. Why not check out what the locals do.

Lastly Oh My God the fall color is breath taking!!! I'll try to capture it on digital but I don't think it will ever be as beautiful as it is right now.

Here They Are

Well here are my newly knitted socks.  They are actually the same size they just havn't been blocked yet.  

That was close.

I knitted and knitted and wouldn't mention to anyone what my project was.  I hinted on my last entry and this is what it got me.  I knitted peacefully until about 1:00am went to bed and the next morning knit two rows and found a catastrophic mistake that had me ripping our several rows.  The more I tried to fix it the worse it got.  I would not be beat by my knitting and carefully ripped and re knitted the piece.  Finished and  started the other half.  It had it's drama but I finished before Letterman tonight and am wearing a cute pair of hand spun hand knit socks.  In lovely deep forest green single ply Merino wool. I will post pictures  of them tomorrow.  I already took the snapshots but have to find my new card reader.  

I start my next project tomorrow.  I have chosen my pattern but need to select (or spin) the yarn.  I have two projects to complete and two weeks to complete them.  The race is on.

Superstitious

Superstitious? I admit it. I'm a firm believer in Murphy's Law. It's not a theory it's THE LAW. Saying that I am not going to show you my latest project because I am far enough along that if I had to frog it I would be devastated. So you will just have to wait until I finish but it looks like I am on schedule.

My new shoes arrived. I love my Vibrum Five Fingers. They are comfortable and freaky cool! They are my new spinning shoes. My good friend who has a pair told me the hardest part was placing the pinkie toe. I am a little different. If the toe is like a thumb then my "index toe" is the uncooperative toe. But I inherited my mother's feet. She had what s describes as having a "Roman toe" where the index toe is longer than all of the rest. I have that . Which is funny because my Roman Celtic background is on my father's side.

Well just had to update you on my progress. I am progressing. I think I am going to bed early tonight so I can get up early and do dishes and knit my socks off..... socks? did I say socks?

The twist is setting as we speak

I finished spinning the green Merino about 11:00pm and promptly put it in the wash to set the twist and is now in the drying cabinet getting ready to become socks tomorrow.

Between knitting socks I will be spinning alpaca in white, fawn and black. If I can get myself out of the house I can pick up the brown alpaca which I have a project waiting to be done.

So there you go I am sort of actually keeping up with my evil plan for fiber domination. It's almost 1:30 so it's time for bed whether or not I'm ready. Tomorrow my new shoes arrive and I will have to take a picture of them ... they are so weird- just like me!