Fiber Arts & Furry Critters

Happy Anniversary, sweetie!

Today is our anniversary.  Yes, we were married on the 4th of July, and there's a very good reason for that.  At the time we got married, the internet was not what it is today.  DH works a lot - always has; at that point in time, he would go to work a lot.  He worked the same long hours and late nights that he does now, he just had to be at the physical work location to do it.  (Now he does it from his laptop, while on the couch.) 

At his workplace, they were in the habit of doing all their electrical system upgrades over the 4th of July weekend.  They would shut down all the electricity, meaning he couldn't go in, or log in, because all the computers were off.  Therefore, he had no excuse not to ever miss our anniversary.

And besides, I get fireworks every year for our anniversary!  Isn't that cool?

We were married on the MS Mount Washington, and our reception was the cruise.  It was wonderful.  I bought a calf-length dress, retail; a friend of my dad's made our cake, and I made all the table decorations myself.  The band was part of the cruise, as was the dinner and dancing.  We didn't get to pick out a special menu, or special flowers, but that has never been my thing.  We didn't have to go into debt for our wedding.  With everything included (dress, cake, etc, and we paid for everyone's cruise tickets) it was under $5000.  I choke over what some people pay for a wedding these days, but that's another story.

Happy Anniversary, sweetheart!  And yes, I would definitely do it all over again.

Logos Bible Software ultra-premium Bible giveaway

Logos Bible Software is celebrating the launch of their new online Bible by giving away 72 ultra-premium print Bibles at a rate of 12 per month for six months. The Bible giveaway is being held at Bible.Logos.com and you can get up to five different entries each month! After you enter, be sure to check out Logos and see how it can revolutionize your Bible study.

Repost from American Way Farm blog

I read this post this morning on the American Way Farm blog, loved it, and received permission to repost it.  Hope you like it as much as I did!

Official Recall Notice

The Maker of all human beings, G.O.D. (Great Omnipotent Deity), has recalled all units manufactured to date, regardless of make or year, due to the post manufacturing development of serious defects in primary and central heart component.

These malfunctions occurred first in the original prototype units, code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defects in all subsequent units. These defects have all been categorized under the technical term "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality," most commonly known by the acronym: S.I.N.

Some of the commonly seen symptoms include:
1. Disobedience
2. Loss of direction
3. Foul vocal emissions
4. Amnesia of origin
5. Lack of peace and joy
6. Selfish or violent behavior
7. Depression or confusion in the mental component
8. Fearfulness
9. Idolatry
10. Rebellion
11. Extreme desires to acquire or possess things

Please note that the Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service to correct this defect, and it is being covered completely free of charge! Technician in charge of repair services, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden and staggering cost of these repairs, and there is no additional fee required.

The number to call in all areas for this repair service is simply: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Upon connection when prompted, please upload your defect (burden) of SIN through the specified REPENTANCE procedure. Next, select and download ATONEMENT as provided by the Repair Technician, JESUS, and it will be automatically injected into the heart component.

No matter how small, or how big the SIN defect has become in any particular unit, JESUS will replace it with (in varying measures according to the need of the defective unit):

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

After repairs have been completed, please see the Operation Manual, a.k.a. the Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth (B.I.B.L.E.) for further details on the continued use of these new components.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human unit without the above fixes voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and will ultimately result in the human unit being permanently impounded (see under DANGER below).

DANGER: All human being units not responding to this recall action will, of necessity, be impounded and eventually scrapped in the Gehenna yard. The S.I.N. defect must be repaired, since no unrepaired unit can be permitted to enter the Heavenly environment in order to prevent contamination of that facility (as outlined by Maker in B.I.B.L.E.). So for free emergency service, give JESUS a call right away.

Thank you in advance for your personal attention to this!
- G.O.D. (the Maker)

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice. You may also, at any time, contact the Maker by 'knee mail'.

Please watch for bikes!

I don't know why everyone has to be so impatient when they get behind the wheel.

With that opening, let me tell you about my day, which so far has actually been wonderful.

I left at about 9 am to bike to the Haverhill Public Library.  It was a gorgeous day, and I had planned this ride for several days.  I got there in about an hour and a half (stopped for phone calls a couple of times), 15.65 miles, only to find out that today was the start of summer hours and, because of budget cuts, the library is now closed on Saturdays.  Bummer.

Rode back five miles or so to meet DH, DD & DS in Plaistow, where they were prowling around Plaistow Old Home Days.  This festival included not only a road race, but a bike race!  We had fun watching a couple of groups cross the finish line.

Then there was a bike accident.  A truck or SUV cut off a bike, and either hit the bicyclist (one of the race participants) or the bike hit the vehicle after being cut off; not sure which.  Either way, the bicyclist left by ambulance.  The vehicle may have been scratched, but that's not really a big deal compared to putting someone in the hospital, is it?  It was apparent that the cyclist had the right-of-way; the vehicle was coming from a side street and had a stop sign.

We found out that Plaistow has bike cops!  Cool!  (This picture was taken before the accident)

DD got to try breaking a board at a karate studio's booth:

Other bike mishaps or near mishaps - all caused by or involving cars:

Another cyclist almost hit a car when the car pulled a U-turn right in front of him.  The guy in the car was tired of waiting in traffic (which was held up by the bike-vehicle collision).

I was getting ready to walk my bike across a street, after pushing the crosswalk button.  I got the walk signal, started across, and was almost hit by a guy taking a right-turn-on-red with no regard for my right to be a pedestrian.

DH almost hit a car coming at him in HIS lane, when said car went around a couple of kids on bikes.  The kids on bikes were doing it right - on the side of the road (most of the roads around here have little or no shoulder0, riding *with* traffic.  The other car apparently couldn't wait another 10 seconds or so until the opposite lane was clear.

Well, that sounds like a lot of griping, but I just want to remind everyone to watch out for bikes.  NH now has a three-foot law; you're supposed to give a bicyclist at least three feet when passing.  That should not be done, however, by cutting off the vehicle in the other lane.  Waiting ten or twenty seconds is not going to cost you much ground and could keep someone else safe. 

What do you do when the weather goes from 60s & rainy to HOT & humid?

Procrastinate, of course!  I was out working in the garden (while bread was being made in the breadmaker) until I was too hot to stand it any longer.  I figured this was a good time to work on the blog, and wait for the bread to finish rising, thereby putting off going back outside.  It's not nice to go from mid-60s, cool and (too) rainy to mid- to upper-80s without a chance to acclimate.  Not fun, either.

So here's my slow knitting progress of late.

I finished the back of the Boston cardigan, and started one of the fronts.  It now waits while I play with other things. 

I finished one of dad's socks!

The other one has now been cast on (twice) and stands ready for knitting-while-waiting.

I've also been playing around with making goat cheeses!  I've made two batches of chevre so far, and it has come out wonderfully!  Right now I'm incubating a batch of fromage blanc - a cream cheese type product.  That won't be ready until late tonight or tomorrow morning.

We've managed a couple of trips and a few long bike rides in between weeks-long bouts of constant rain.  I still have only half my garden in, though...  I'm trying to get that done, but now we have severe thunderstorm alerts for this afternoon.  I'd better go out and get hay while I can!

Actual progress!

I've been working on the Boston cardigan for most of the week and have made some good progress.  I am really enjoying this pattern!

The cables are very simple but look more complex than they are; the coned Caron yarn is working out perfectly.  This one is a toddler size 3 and this picture shows it at about 8".  It's halfway up the back or so; I've just finished the armhole decreases.

I was out in the barn until 11 pm last night, between shearing the alpacas (with accompanying trimming of teeth and toenails), and regular barn chores and milking.  I'm so tired that putting up that picture may be the biggest thing I accomplish today.

Craft ADD

Working on...

The orange batt I got at NH Sheep & Wool, on the new Hitchhiker.  My favorite feature so far (besides the fact that it's ultra-portable):  the feet on the bottom that keep it in place.  It doesn't "walk" away from you while you're using it!  I have a non-slip rubber rug pad that I use under my Majacraft because it does just that.

Dad's socks - have turned the heel on the first one!  Now working easy-peasy stockinette in the round, while reading posts on Ravelry.

The Boston cardigan - almost through the first set of pattern repeats.  Enjoying all my pretty stitch markers.  Some of these were gifts from DD for Mother's Day.  Her biggest gift to me was the hours and hours we spent together at Sheep & Wool, with no complaints or arguments.  Being 17, harmony can be difficult, at best, between us at times.

What you don't see - the fleeces I've been washing!  One was the recent dark gray fleece from my friend Carolyn; one was a dark gray with a relatively wide crimp and a nice long staple; another was a Romney/Orloff cross that I remember buying from Mary Pratt (Elihu Farm) at a Mass. Sheep & Wool festival, probably 5 years ago at least, because it's been quite some time since I've attended a MA S&W.  It washed up wonderfully - a pale oatmeal color with patches of a very pale silvery-gray.  The one in the washer now is a dark gray with brown tips - shorter staple length than the previously-mentioned dark gray, a little more VM, and I have absolutely no idea where that one came from.  Obviously it is well-aged, and it's high time these fleeces were washed.

Look what followed me home...

I did get back to the Sheep & Wool Festival today, with 17 yo DD this time.  (Pictures here on Flickr of the grounds and some of the booths and displays)  I had a fantastic time.  The weather was cool, but dry, sunny and relatively bug-free.  We were there for over 4 hours, and I had time to touch, chat, visit, test-drive, all the wonderful things you get to do at a fiber festival.  I bought a few small bits of fiber here and there, including a 10-oz batt in shades of oranges (just what I was looking for!) to spin up for the Persephone scarf.  I feel like I was truly able to visit, dawdle, chat, and shop to my heart's content.  What a wonderful Mother's Day it turned out to be.

And look what followed me home!

For those who don't know, this is a Hitchhiker wheel from David Paul of The Merlin Tree.  I've always liked them, but its original ratio was a little slow for my spinning style.  It now has three ratios, ranging from 7:1 to 13:1.

When I finally got home, DH had also found me a gift at a yard sale!

It's a really awesome, heavy-duty wooden box.  The lady who runs the yard sale (on a semi-regular basis) said it's from the 1920s.  It's certainly better put-together than modern goods.

And inside!  As if the box itself wasn't already great!  (What can I say, I like wooden boxes!)

A bunch of assorted leather tools (leather punch, two awls, some scrap leather pieces) as well as rivets (cool!) and a pair of rivet pliers!  I'm sure I'll find a use for rivets!

NH Sheep & Wool, and Startitis frustration

We did get to the NH Sheep & Wool festival yesterday, despite the rain.  I had a list of items I was looking for and managed to fulfill the entire list, but 11 yo DS was getting tired of walking by that time, so we headed out (relatively) early (we were only there a little over 2 hours!). 

The loot:

Lisa Lloyd's "A Fine Fleece".  This is one book that I keep taking out of the library, over and over again, so I sprung for my own copy.  It has at least half a dozen sweaters in it that I would love to make.  The lady has a way with cables.

Another book:  Cat Bordhi's "new Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One."  I kept trying to find a copy to look at, but the book seemed to sell out as soon as it arrived.  I figured anything that sold out that fast, consistently, had to be pretty good so I grabbed it.

A pattern from The Knittingsmith; I saw someone at spinning group knitting this sweater, and loved it:

And last but not least, a tote bag, with a picture reminiscent of our wonderful Zoey, and in support of Border Collie Rescue.

When I got home I decided to wash a few of the older neglected fleeces, as a reminder that I really didn't need any of those I passed up at the festival.  I also attempted to start the Boston cardigan several times - with a dark gray handspun, and then with a brown Woolease yarn.  I finally went stash-diving in the basement and came up with this ginormous cone of Caron yarn.  I believe it's an acrylic.  I've cast on again (what swatching?) and hope this yarn will be the right size.  It's actually more of a burgundy than the picture shows.  There's certainly no question that there's enough of it.

And to top it all off and make it a perfect Mother's Day, I get to go back to Sheep & Wool today!  The temps are cooler, but it's gloriously sunny, and there are lots of booths and people I didn't have a chance to visit!

Startitis

Making progress on Dad's socks; I'm turning the heel today.

Tomorrow is NH Sheep and Wool Festival, at long last!  I can't wait!  DH has decided that he and DS will stay home this time, and let me run rampant by myself.  I don't know if it's the excitement of the festival, or just springtime, but I have a raging case of startitis.  I would love to start this sweater, in dark gray handspun, for a friend's toddler; I am also totally in love with Smariek's free cabled scarf patterns, especially this one and this one.  I would especially love to do one of those two in this beyond-fabulous orange sock-weight yarn I got from a friend at last week's spinning group:

Maybe I'm just entering the throes of a cabling bender.  Time will tell.  For now, I'll work on the heel of dad's sock.