New House News

I don't have any fiber-y news today, but I do have house news! They put the stucko on last week! It is getting so close to being done. I checked on it today and they are still working on the wall texture on the inside. Saw a guy on stilts working in the garage this morning. They told us that when the cabinets go in, we will have about 30 days to go! No cabinets yet, but I will let you guys know when they get here.
And Yes Deedo, there is a Craft Room :D Well, it is more like a Craft Walk-In Closet, but it is mostly mine. See that little square of metal on the ceiling? That is the HV/AC vent. The closet is hooked into the heating and cooling vents, so it won't get stuffy or too hot in there! I have all sorts of plans for shelves, baskets and cubbies in there. We have even talked about having the computer in there too. It is much bigger in person than it seems in that photo.

So much News!

I have so much News to tell today! I will start with the house.

WE HAVE DRYWALL!!!

That is my Teeny there in the photo. After a 3 and a half week delay, we finaly have drywall! Now all we need is tape, texture, paint and flooring and we are ready to move in!!! I am beyond exstatic. We are hoping to be all moved in before Teeny's third birthday at the beginning of June.

This is a layer cake that Joe made out of drywall scraps. We also are situated so close to where the local airshow is that you can see the whole thing from our hosue. Here is a photo of the Blue Angels my Hubby took this weekend.

Now, on to the fiber. I finished knitting a new Lady Eleanor with the yarn I spun from the Forecast colorway from Spunky Eclectic.

It was made from about 1000 yards of yarn. On #10.5 needles with 10 stitch squares and is 7 squares across. It came out nice and lacy. You can see the Sunbonnet Sue peeking through the top there. It is warm enough to keep out the chill. The colorway was named Forecast because it is remenicent of snowy days with bright blue skies and bare earth where the snow has begun to melt. This shawl looks to me like you are seeing this day through a kaleidoscope or a frosted window.

And last, a tease for Liz. This is what I am making with the Maid Marrion yarn from Friday. It is on #9 needles, is 5 stitch squares and is 18 squares across. It will be a blanket for my Teeny

Fiber friday again!

I spent hours this week spinning. It was a compulsion, I just could not stop! I spun 3 different colorways this week from Spunky Eclectic . 12 oz of each colorway adds up to 2.25 pounds of fiber!! And I found a most amazing new tool!

First, the fiber

Maid Marrion in Merino

Berry Pickin' in BFL

Dogwood in Corriedale

Now onto the realy exciting part of this post!! This is my new best friend

This is a bottle of conditioner that I purchased thinking it would enhance the gentle waves in my hair. It didn't, just made my hair feel flat and heavy. Turns out it enhances curls and waves by being an anti-frizz conditioner. I was disapointed but didn't want to toss out a whole bottle of conditioner, so I tucked it away.

When I began spinning up the BFL, it was very fuzzy. I am not a fuzzy kind of person so I was very worried that I wouldn't like how the fiber looked when I was done. I had heard of people using conditioner to soften scritchy or dry fiber, but hadn't heard of anybody using it to tame the fuzzies. I decided to give it a try.

I washed the wool in Synthropol like I usualy do, wrung it out and refilled the sink with clean hot water. I put about a teaspoon, maybe half teaspoon, of the conditioner in the sink and agitated the water to distribute it. Then I put the fiber back in the water to soak for 10-15 minutes. I came back, wrung out the fiber and refilled the sink again with hot clean water for a quick rinse.

The fiber came out smooth and soft and the smell is heavenly!! The scent of the conditioner blends beautifuly with the smell of wet wool. I have tried it now on BFL, Merino and Corriedale. All have been heavenly when dry.

She is done!

I finaly finished the first Lady Eleanor! She ended up being 10 balls of Rowan Tapestry on #9 needles with eight 10 stitch blocks. I decided not to put the fringe on because I am not a very fringy kind of person. Here is a closeup.I blocked it on the carpet last night, and found my son curled up in the middle of it this morning. He had a nightmare and wandered around the house looking for someplace else to sleep. He said it was super comfortable, and he was right! I wore it around the house as I got people ready for school and it was like a second skin. I am completely in love!

I did just a little bit of spinning this week. I got some fiber from princesskaytm over at fiber freaks and she had hand dyed it! There was an ounce of BFL dyed in beautiful blues and purples. It was super fluffy and drafted like a dream. I named it Wild Blueberries

My Name is Amy

And I am a Hobbit. I am geneticaly unable to wear socks and I have a physical aversion to shoes unless they are absolutely neccesary by law or hot pavement. This is terrible as it seems that all the other knitters out there are addicted to knitting socks. I look at the socks, I think they are very pretty. I have seen some elaborate socks that would be very impressive. I think to myself "that would be such a cool challenge!" But I know they would never get used. I have thought about making them for other people, but I don't know anybody that isn't super rough on socks. Yet, I am one of those ladies who could be under an afghan and asking for the Air to be turned off in the middle of summer! I have a sweatshirt on if it gets below 72 degrees.

This put me in a quandry. Living in the desert there is no need for hats, gloves, scarves or sweaters. Due to my Hobbitish tendencies, I don't need socks. I have gifted the people I know in cold climates with enough winter wear to outfit a small village. What do I do now? ENTRELAC!

My childhood training was in quilting and embroidery. I think this is what draws me to entrelac so much. The color shifts play across the squares in such interesting ways. And If I spin thin, then I can make entrelac wraps that are lightweight enough to wear any time of year. I have found my bliss. I have even been thinking of ways to jazz up the entrelac besides the colors, things like cables and such.

So begins my newest obsession in the crafting world! Here is what I started this week.

This is the fiber from this month's Spunky Fiber Club. It is called Forecast and has a wonderful blend of white, ice blue and tan. I spun it in a thin single in an attempt to get 1000 yards. I surpassed my estimation by 25 yards! I couldn't wait to get started using it, so I began immediately on my next wrap.

This is a very rough picture of the first 6 inches or so. The colors are playing across the squares beautifuly and I can't wait to finish it and show you guys a better picture.