Catena Expressions

Knitting and Spinning

As January winds down (and like Judy, I am hoping for a good snowfall soon), I am spinning the remainder of stashed roving. This is 2.2 lbs of moorit Shetland blended with brown alpaca and pink silk. I was distracted during the spinning so some of the singles are sportsweight and some are fingering weight. I haven't decided whether or not to ply. I'll put the balls into handspun stash for marination.

I am knitting border and edging samples for the finished (!!!) Shetland lace stitch sampler "afghan". The "afghan" (I just don't know what else to call it, frankly) is about twin bed size. I am working on a row of fill in edging samples for the uneven bottom while the top is finished. Next will be the 2 sides. I'm thinking about corners and maybe single crocheting around the perimeter.

Jesse brought a jungle ball for me to play fetch with but lost interest when he considered napping on a forbidden object in the sunlight.

 

sew on

I have a few pattern samples to knit - primarily from Sharon Miller's Heirloom Knitting and a few from  Sarah Don's The Art of Shetland Lace. These samples are not the easiest ones for me to knit - I've had to rewrite the charts out in Miller's for better comprehension and chart Don's written instructions - for the same reason. It's a bit like being ambidextrous.

I'm a bit burned out on knitting and I have around 36 sample/motifs to add to the original sampler. This week, I decided to take time away from the knitting/charting to do something necessary - sewing. Course, I realized I need more white!! Always something, eh? I can scrape by with what's in stash but this is a lesson to me not to dye every bit of white roving and yarn just coz I can!

So...that's my plan for this week. Sew on!

Shetland Lace Sampler in progress

This is what I did yesterday morning:

Washed the samples I had knit over the previous months (26 of them) after weaving in all the ends. I washed them in the kitchen sink, wrung the water out and tossed them into the drain board. I washed only 1 color in sequence at a time ie - fawn, grey, black and white since I had to unpin the name tag to do so. One of my fears is to lose a name tag and not be able to identify the sampler. Actually, I have a master list as well as the name of the fleece and color with the lace pattern in my little notebooks. But it's just as well to be careful.

I carefully pinned the tag back on the sample and stretched each sample on a towel on the kitchen counter making sure the tag was in a dry area. After all the samples were washed, pinned and stretched, I took this picture . We had a nice sunny day so I rolled up the towel/samples and took it out to the sidewalk along the garage wall and unrolled the towel. In a couple hours all the samples were dry. I have a bin for them next to my chair with white handspun and a crochet hook to crochet the edgings. It's good mindless work when visiting with company.

In the meantime, while the new samples were sunning themselves, I put a king flat sheet on the living room floor and commenced to laying out and pinning the finished edged samples from months ago.

I'll wait til the new samples are edged before sewing these in place. I also am knitting samples with leftover and donated (thanks to my friends!) fleece samples. It was a joy to spin new fleece up last week and I am enjoying being back in the saddle with this project. I can see the end in sight - only a couple dozen lace patterns to go. I'm thinking about border samples but that's down the road a bit.

 

spinning and crocheting

I always have to have something to do. I decided to use up the size 3 crochet cotton (natural, sage and ecru) with a size D hook just to get the thread out of stash. This is about 24" x 18" - perfect as doily under a potted plant. Or cat toy - depends on who gets their paws on it first.

Of course, with M home for a few days, I needed something to do when we drove hither and yon shopping for appliances (We chose white refrigerator with bottom freezer and plain vanilla err white electric stove - our first kitchen appliances chosen and bought together!). So back to size 10 crochet cotton (ecru) with a size 6 steel crochet hook - no beads, same motifs. This time the motifs will be 5' long and about 4" wide. I need 16 of them for the study and the workroom screen doors. That will be a long term project.

Spinning has been necessary. This is fawn (Willow) Shetland from Shelley/fawn alpaca from Ed and Marjean Bender/white silk blended and processed by Wooly Knob Mill several year ago. There was over 3 lbs so that's 15 bobbins with enough roving to fill 3 more bobbins. I'll skein up this sportweight yarn and wash it. I intend to crochet it into a lacey long top (sweater?) but I still have spinning to do. 

Today I am also going to sew together about 2 dozen Shetland lace samplers and wash another couple dozen. After the washed ones are dry, I'll crochet white edging and sew them together. I can't decide whether to make one large coverlet of the samplers or sew them into 3 (or maybe even 4 - I don't want to think about it right now) "afghans" about the same size. I need to knit 30 or so more samples then I'll have all the samplers done. Then comes the borders and edgings.

And while I am typing this I have sweet potatoes cooking to  have later today with pork loin marinated (and cooked) with brown mustard and applesauce.

It should be a snowy weekend here and I am ready for it!!

spinning and crocheting

I always have to have something to do. I decided to use up the size 3 crochet cotton (natural, sage and ecru) with a size D hook just to get the thread out of stash. This is about 24" x 18" - perfect as doily under a potted plant. Or cat toy - depends on who gets their paws on it first.

Of course, with M home for a few days, I needed something to do when we drove hither and yon shopping for appliances (We chose white refrigerator with bottom freezer and plain jane white electric stove - our first kitchen appliances chosen and bought together!). So back to size 10 crochet cotton (ecru) with a size 6 steel crochet hook - no beads, same motifs. This time the motifs will be 5' long and about 4" wide. I need 16 of them for the study and the workroom screen doors. That will be a long term project.

Spinning has been necessary. This is fawn (Willow) Shetland from Shelley/fawn alpaca from Ed and Marjean Bender/white silk blended and processed by Wooly Knob Mill several year ago. There was over 3 lbs so that's 15 bobbins with enough roving to fill 3 more bobbins. I'll skein up this sportweight yarn and wash it. I intend to crochet it into a lacey long top (sweater?) but I still have spinning to do. 

Today I am also going to sew together about 2 dozen Shetland lace samplers and wash another couple dozen. After the washed ones are dry, I'll crochet white edging and sew them together. I can't decide whether to make one large coverlet of the samplers or sew them into 3 (or maybe even 4 - I don't want to think about it right now) "afghans" about the same size. I need to knit 30 or so more samples then I'll have all the samplers done. Then comes the borders and edgings.

And while I am typing this I have sweet potatoes cooking to  have later today with pork loin marinated (and cooked) with brown mustard and applesauce.

It should be a snowy weekend here and I am ready for it!!

 

13600 yards

or 7.727 miles of size 10 crochet thread. 30 colors (counting white - which accounted for 2050 yards). I had 700 yards for 4 colors, the rest were 350 yards. Size 6 crochet thread used for the motifs, sizes 11 and 14 (I went through 4 of the size 14s!!) used to slide beads onto the thread.

I started with 4 panels then sewed 2 together for 2 larger panels. My study closet is 6 foot long and the curtains are 80" tall. 340 pinwheel motifs (+ 4 large white pinwheels for added interest) are on the curtains.

I had about 30 motifs left over (I used almost every yard of thread except what you'll see in the last photo with my notes) so I put them together a few days ago to make a valance for the study window. I was tired of adding beads by the time I decided to do the valance so you won't see the sparklies on it. There are many little bells tho.

I scribbled notes as I put the 4 panels together to make sure I had at least 2 motifs of each color in each panel (as well as 1 large white motif). Then I fooled around for about a week trying to figure out if I liked the placement. I spent too many hours removing and adding motifs til I finally threw all the panels into the washing machine (hot water) and into an hour long hot dryer (with old towels). I wanted all the motifs to shrink as much as possible since my gauge gradually loosened with every passing week!

This was a much bigger project then I anticipated - primarily due to breaking my last size 14 crochet hook (not my great grandmother's!!) and needing to get another one. Of course, I told you that was the mistake - I found 6 more thread colors I didn't have so of course I had to crochet more motifs and add them judiciously to the 2 panels almost finished and the 2 half-finished. When was that - early December?

The last 2 days I finished up scarves so I can send 12 for the Special Olympics  Colorado Scarf project - those will go into the mail Monday. 

Then I intend to join Taz and Bridgy in a long winter's nap...before getting started on the Shetland lace sampler... another bigger project then I anticipated. It's only fitting, I suppose, for someone who did long distance endurance rides.

++This is one year I wish I put the knitmeter counter on the sidebar - I can't imagine how many yards/miles of thread and yarn I went through this year!!

Walk with Me - Coyote Ridge late November

We caught up on our chores over the long T-day weekend and treated ourselves for the first long walk of the season. I walked 4 miles (up and down hill 2xs with a half hour rest in the vehicle) while M walked 8 miles round to the top of Rim rock. Kristi and I walked at Coyote Ridge years ago (for 2006 Trekking, I believe) when Coyote Ridge was first opened. When M and I began walking there we'd see occasional walker so for some reason I thought it would still be a quiet trail. Not so. There were many bikers, runners as well as other walkers. We never went 100 yds without another trail user. There is even a sign at the parking lot warning of frequent breakins and not to leave any valuables in the vehicle.  I must say I was a bit shocked by the sign.

So - here's a sequence of photos for your enjoyment thanks to M!

The prairie dog towns are always a joy.

And the bunny with the prairie dogs was a bonus.

I walked just to the top of the first ridge then back down to the car then back up after a rest (and crocheting 2 pinwheels) - going further to a building used for gatherings. That's where I met up with M on his way down.

These are what M saw on his walk further up.

First a deer crossed in front of him - which I found amusing because I watched deer wander the hillside while resting in the car. Could be one of those deer?

He took these photos almost at the top.

One view looking south west towards Loveland and Greeley.

and the other

And another view almost directly south to Loveland

And from the top looking towards Ft Collins and points north east.

I'm not sure which reservoir that is - I don't think it's Fossil Creek, tho maybe so.

And way out east is where we live. That is Fossil Creek reservoir. The parking lot is that tiny spot along the road. There were about a dozen cars there.

I am also amazed at the growth of this area - I used to visit my brother when he lived in Ft C (1979!!) and it was a blank slate. Now there's talk of a big reservoir on the Poudre River to furnish more water for the area and all I think is.... when will it stop? There's only so much water available in this arid region...

But that's how it is...

And my legs were tired for a few days after the walk but I walked without a stick and I was happy to feel alive and active again. It has been a long slow recovery.

here a tree there a tree

We have an ash tree on the south side of our house which was planted by the developer a dozen or so years ago. We moved to this house about a decade ago and all this time the ash has slowly been dying. The latest snowstorm did even more damage so we made the difficult decision to have the ash removed. This is especially tough since it's the only mature tree on the property and it screens our house from a busy street. However, time has come.

Except, today, "the day" is below 0 and the tree service said they will only remove the tree weather permitting. There's about 13" of snow on the ground. I bet it's a no go this week. But who knows. The tree service views this as a quick job - no crane (they don't think the tree is all that big) and no stump grinding (gardens under the tree - including daylilies, lavender, iris, strawberries and asian lilies.

After we made the appointment, M and I hustled out to the south gardens to dig up 2 saplings the local squirrel planted - another hickory and an oak. These trees will be too big for our yard so they are off to new homes. I hate not to keep either of these trees but let's face it, it's really silly to plant two big trees then watch them outgrow the lot. Or so I assume - they might not make it from ground to pot back in the ground. We can at least admire them from the kitchen - but you can see how large the oak sapling already is - and it was growing right up against the ash trunk. I am a bit worried about it's chances but we decided to give it a new lease on life. The hickory sapling in the white pot on top of the red pot (which was the butternut squash "garden" last summer) is only about a foot tall - and prime for transplanting. Oh yes, behind that little lattice fence are 2 sheep troughs which held 4 tomato plants. Worked out great!!

While I wait I put more pinwheel motifs together. Yes, I thought these 4 curtains would be long done by now and I would be back to knitting Shetland lace samples but but but, I needed a big ball of size 10 white thread and while at the store I discovered 7 new thread colors which, of course, I couldn't pass by. So that meant I have been crocheting more pinwheels and inserting them in the finished curtains. I tell you, this has turned into the sort of project I must have needed in my life. Usually I design, start, finish and go on my merry way. The Shetland project has dragged on for over a year (and more fleece is on it's way, supposedly) and I can see some day having the pinwheel curtains finished.

In the meantime, I must admire my ash tree and mourn that it will be gone by spring.

Sunrise

We spent a dawn staring at the sky before getting on with preparing for a few days of cold and snowy weather.

The four cats prepared for today's snow storm in their own fashion.

And yes, two pinwheel curtain panels are finished - 2 more to go.

looking out my windows

Judy posted photos of her cat looking out her window recently.

I must be part cat myself as I spend a lot of time pacing between my windows bird watching, weather watching and just plain looking while I think about things.

I thought you'd enjoy the view of my windows.

The kitchen window which looks out on the pergola covered patio and the bird feeders - it's my gauge for how much humidity the vaporizer is putting out. Today, a nice amount. My son gave me those butterflies hanging from the ceiling decades ago when we first moved to MO. The ceramic cat is from a craft booth in Branson, the horse mugs and piggy bank are from a fellow endurance rider from the late 80s when I had an ornery bucking Ayrab grey gelding which she thought was hilarious (she rode Appies...and bucking and ornery was always her description of her Appies). The vase of pretty gemstone spindles are courtesy of M - these donuts aren't well balanced so make a better window dressing then tools. I couldn't help but fall for the pretty gemstones donuts tho M said they aren't balanced. Bless a man who finds time to put pretty useless gemstone donuts on dowels so I can admire them. And of course rocks from all over the West as well as a glass vase of polished gemstone pebbles from assorted national parks. You know, you buy a bag of pretty polished pebbles at the gift shop (usually kids are grouped around the kiosk)...the bags with the names of the national parks stamped on them are in another special vase. That window is the only one I have without crocheted curtains.

The living room window from which I stare at the birch trees and try to discern if that's a fox trotting across the street or maybe that feral black cat that showed up last May and no one can catch. He's sleek and healthy now so someone must be nurturing him. Usually a few of my cats and dogs are perched in the window. That's the AZ Seven Springs Onyx sculpture by David A Hiles  M gave me for my 50th birthday. I love watching the sun shine through the 2 slits in the stone...my own little time keeper.

The study window where I watched the snow storm flatten my lilacs. More rocks...are you surprised? Above and obscured by the right peppronia is a copper wire and crystal hanging that the mother of a teenager M and I rescued at Cherokee Park gave us in 2001. Her son was alone riding his dirt bike, tumbled off when he hit a tree, broke BOTH legs, crawled about a mile down the trail to the road where we happened to see him as we were driving by. We managed to take care of him (wrap him in blankets and coats), locate cell reception (we were in a valley, M had to drive to the top of the mountain), call for help and stay with him til the helicopter from Ft Collins arrived. It was a harrowing day. We have photos somewhere of his drag marks down the mountain trail, the condition of the bike, his condition, the copter crew loading him up (we blocked the road for any oncoming vehicles since the copter landed on the road) There were NO on-coming vehicles for the hours we were there. Then we had to call his parents to let them know where their son was. A nearby camper M found kept the motorbike at his RV til someone could pick it up. Months later his family hunted us down (we're not that easy to find) and brought us all kinds of baked goods, candy, and the wire sculpture. They took more photos. All's well that ends well but I shudder to think about the young man up on that lonely mountain road.

Ahem...on to the next window.

The workroom window which is Bunny cat's and I know better than to stand there and gawk because she considers me her personal human slave of 12 yrs and will find me a job to do: "Clean my personal litter box, fill my water bowl, scratch my ears (but not too long or she'll scratch - she was feral when I brought her from the farm) and always, give me a cat treat. Now. And another. And now!" She was under my feet eating treats while I took this photo.

There's a bee, dragonfly and butterfly wire and bead sculpture in that window that my son gave me for Mother's day one year. It's wonderful when the sun shines through the blue beads.

I don't work in the work room much anymore for some tyrannical reason.

And finally, today's view from the living room eyeing the latest configuration of pinwheels pinned and ready to crochet together. I say I'll have these 4 panels finished by Monday but don't hold your breath. There's 23 different colors in the panels. I have 3 more (dark green, dark brown, light burgandy) balls of size 10 thread to crochet (size 6 hook, using a size 14 for the beads and embellishments). Taz is helping me, you can see Bridget's rear end with her rawhide chewy. Bridgy is keeping an eye on Dori who was eating her snack in the living room.