Catching up from my Vacation (HUGE UPDATE)

Just last Sunday I got back from a two week trip to visit family and friends back in Indiana. I can't say it wasn't exciting that's for sure!!! My first full day(Monday June 25th) I headed over to Sherri's for an absolutely wonderful massage. I'm still trying to find the right massage therapist back home. Having a massage once a month is one of the most wonderful things in the world. Afterwards Mom and I did some shopping and then we made 10 dozen snickerdoodles. Oh my goodness were they delicious! You might say wow that sure is a lot of cookies how are you going to eat them all before they go stale. The secret is they freeze extremely well. Though they were pretty much all gone by the end of the week. :)

On Tuesday we went to see my favorite lions at the Potawatomi Zoo Mr Onyo and Tango. They are hands down the most handsome lions I've ever met. Such beautiful flowing manes.

Onyo Photo by Evanita W Montalvo

On Wednesday later in the evening I got to catch up with Claire. Had a nice time got to meet her two little bundles of joy Bruce and Theo.

On Thursday we had the most unbelievably hot day ever.. It hit 108F the highest temp recorded for the city in the record books. We should have known something was going to follow in it's wake the next day....

Friday since Leslie had the day off I headed over to her place so we could hang out. Had a great time we did a lot of spinning.. yes yes LESLIE got to spin.. it's been awhile since she last spun. It's about time! I was spinning "Water Lilies" Merino/Tencel 50/50 by All Spun Up and Leslie was spinning New Zealand Corriedale that she dyed herself.

My spinning on the left and Leslie's on the right. Photo by Leslie.

Here's Java very intrigued by the spindle. Photo by Leslie.

Afterwards Leslie and I went to a Chinese Buffet and then we were off to go see BRAVE....unaware of the disaster that would follow suit. As we approached the theater we see super nasty darkness approaching fast... and I mean really fast. As soon as we got all our stuff out of the car Leslie yelled run and we both high tailed it for the nearest building for safety. The winds came rushing in sending all of the mulch and dirt in our faces.. NOT PLEASANT.. to say the least. We finally made it to the theater but it looked pretty darn scary. My parents were supposed to meet us there but I had to call them to tell them to not leave the house. The winds were just way too high and it looked like a tornado could spawn at any moment. We couldn't even see out into the plaza from the front doors of the theater.. that's just how windy it was and the rain was coming down horizontally. The storm did blow through fairly quickly. We found out later the storm was a Derecho and reached winds of up to 91 MPH. My dad made it to the theater to watch the movie which luckily the power hadn't gone out. The movie was great!! We really enjoyed it.

After the movie was over I went over to Leslie's as I left some stuff over there and wanted to help out with some of the clean up. I had never seen so much damage... everywhere huge trees and limbs down causing power lines to be down.. smooshed cars etc. Many people were without power until Wednesday the following week some not until the following weekend. Not a fun time when several days we were approaching or exceeding 100F.

This is the Mulberry Tree in my Mom's backyard. Photo by Mom

Here's two videos of the storm(not mine). They really show just how strong and damaging this storm was.

Saturday we headed down to Kokomo to visit my Grandparents for my Grandpa's 80th Birthday celebration. It was wonderful to get to see all of the family.

Here's Grandma with the shawl I made her

Saturday also marked the first day of the Tour de Fleece. I decided to start with the Suri Alpaca I purchased from Woolgatherings. It is by far the most difficult fiber I've ever had the opportunity to work with. I will say I've definitely learned some tricks on how to manage it better but boy... talk about frustrating! I'll save my Tour de Fleece photos and stories for a separate post. :)

Sunday we went to the Whitehouse Ohio Butterfly House. One of my favorite places to take photos. Unfortunately the selection of butterflies was rather limited than usual so I had some difficulties getting some good photos.On our way back we passed by another gusty storm that had some pretty awesome but creepy clouds. They are called Mammatus clouds and are frequently seen during potentially tornadic thunderstorms. Needless to say we didn't pull over for pictures.

Monday marked my first day back to work after my one week off. It had been quite some time since I last took a full week off of work. Lots of catching up to do was had!! While I was working Miko spent the majority of the time sitting next to me wanting pets and if I didn't pet her this is the face I'd see. I sure did miss my pupperoos. They are by far the best doggies I've ever had.

I think I was missed what do you think?

Tuckered out from all the heat

Later that evening we made Oreo truffles a recipe I learned how to make from Linhart's Mom. This was Mom's first time making them. We managed to get all the way to the point we rolled the little oreo balls but by the time they would be ready for dipping it was just way too late.

On Tuesday we dipped all 47 truffles we made. Boy were they delicious they sure didn't last very long. I gave a baggie to both Leslie and Sherri on the 4th... Lets just say the next day only ONE remained hahah.

For dinner Mom, Papi, and I went to Flat Top Grill one of my absolute favorite places to eat. You are able to pick out all the ingredients you want for your stir fry as much as you can fit in your bowl, pick out your sauces, select the types of meat you'd like, and then they cook it up for you. We try to pile our bowls as much as possible for delicious left overs. Now my dad... he has this whole pile your bowl to the max thing down to an art. You can see below that he uses snow peas to provide a fencing around the edge of the bowl. He also uses noodles last to provide a webbing to keep all the ingredients in the bowl.

Papi's bowl prior to adding rice and noodles

Here's Papi looking proud of his extremely large amount of food he's piled up

This is my bowl up front and Mom's in the back

Papi's finished delicious food

My finished stir fry along with my spindle

Mom's finished stir fry

Tuesday night Peter and Katie came over to play games. Boy to I miss those two back in high school/college we used to go bowling on Fridays and stay up late at Steak and Shake and play card games till 1-3 am. Good times good times. Peter of course was dying to play Alley a board game that my Grandparents taught us how to play. Grandpa even made the board itself. He was also looking forward to having some of my Mom's Salsa. After a game of Alley we taught my parents and brother Pete how to play a Vietnamese card game called 13 or Tien Len. It's a bit hard to grasp at first which is why I was never able to teach them how to play. It's always best to leave the professional to explain the rules hehe. After a few games everyone was pretty comfortable with the rules and we were having an extremely great time. We ended up playing games until almost 2 am!

Wednesday started out pretty slow... was all we could do to wake up in the morning. We tried to go to the Botanical Conservatory but it was just too darn hot. Later that day we went over to Leslie's to watch the Fireworks. Was so much nicer than going to where they actually set them off and then dealing with all the traffic. I was really surprised that we even had a Fireworks display as there had been a burn ban over the past two weeks due to the drought.

Thursday after work I went to go hang out with Leslie.. and what do you know another wind storm blew through. This one was definitely not as bad as the first one however it still caused a lot of damage as a side affect of the storm that hit the Friday before. From that point forth it was determined that bad storms happen when Leslie and I are hanging out...

Mom found a beautiful Gray Tree Frog(or Cope's Gray Tree Frog we aren't able to determine the species) on the way to pick me up from Leslie's. I had never seen one before in town so she had to catch it so I could see it. More than likely it was knocked out of the trees by all the wind from the storm. Poor little froggie.

Photo by Mom http://tazzy-.deviantart.com/

I didn't do much on Friday however Mom made another big batch of cookies with the majority going back home with me for Linhart. Which he was extremely happy about. There is only 10 left it's now going on the 14th.

Saturday was my last day in town lots to do so little time. We ended up watching the new Spider-Man movie on IMAX which was AMAZING!! I'm so glad we got to watch it. I was worried that with the heat and so many being out of power that it would result in an increase of people going to the movies just to stay cool.

Sunday early morning I headed back out to Washington. Had a rather uneventful flight though my layover was too short and my checked luggage didn't make it on the plane. Luckily it made it safe and sound to our place Monday night.

Over all it was a wonderful two week trip. I loved being able to see so much of my family and getting to spend time with my best friends Leslie and Peter. Hopefully I didn't miss anything. It was a busy two weeks. Next update will be about my first 2 weeks of Tour de Fleece. :)

EWM

Pike Place Market and Tour de Fleece

It's been pretty hectic lately. Looking forward to summer and hoping it'll be a relaxing one. We are in the long process of getting our first home and I cannot wait as the area is so much more quiet outdoors than our current place. I'm planning on spending a lot of quality time outdoors spinning, reading, even hope to be able to work while outdoors to soak up that tranquil nature!

Last weekend we took the bus down to Pike Place Market and wow it sure was busy!!! It's such a wonderful place to see local goods whether they are fresh produce, crafts, photography, arts etc. My sort of people! It's such a joy to walk around soak up all the positivity, find really cool stuff, and enjoy the weather. We also checked out the Seattle Aquarium while we were in the area. Was so awesome!!... just wish I had my camera.. I know I know a nature and wildlife photographer at an aquarium.... without a camera. It ate me up inside seeing all those people with their cameras snapping away and all I had was my iPhone. Next time I will be better prepared! We sure did a lot of walking and by the time the day was through my knee was screaming at me. Hoping to go down to the market again and need to bring home some Eastern Washington apples and other delicious noms.

It was a beautiful day today 70F sunny with a slight breeze. Spent a few hours outside spinning on my Turkish Spindle. It's such a joy to spin with, I can take it anywhere and so long as I have a little bit of space whether it be standing or sitting I can spin. I even took it with me on our trip to Pike's and spun while on the bus. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took some in progress photos of my project. I'm still working on the All Spun Up December Spin Along "Water Lilies". I accumulated another 8 oz for a grand total of 16oz.

I love how it shimmers in the sun

A little over a month ago my Aunt Linda visited and we explored Pike's Place Market for the first time. Had no idea ahead of time that I would find the most perfect bag for my spindle!!!

3 2 oz skeins finished plus 1 oz between the fiber and spindle

Just to note only the spindle and the unspun fiber fit in the bag :)

I've spun and plied up 6 total oz and I think for the final 10 oz I'm going to Navajo ply it instead for a completely different project. I love the two ply but with some Navajo plying under my belt I think it would do the color transitions a whole lot better as a 3 ply. I adore this spindle so much for so many reasons, it's compact so I can take it practically anywhere, the end result is a center pull ball, and how it displays the transitions layer upon layer is gorgeous a piece of art in itself. Once Jenkins reopens their store I'm wanting to order their standard size the Swan so I can use it for plying. I'd also eventually like to get their Kuchulu size for spinning even finer.

Talk of the Tour de Fleece has been popping up on Ravelry. I've sat on the sidelines the past couple years and looked at all the beautiful fiber being made but never actually participated in it myself. I think this is the year! I think it'll be a great learning experience for me to get to know my Aura better along with improve on my lace spinning on my Jenkins Turkish Delight spindle. I'd also like to improve on my Navajo plying. I have quite a bit of fiber in my stash to go through so it'll be the perfect opportunity to clear out some of my older stash.

Here's some of the fiber I'm hoping to work with.

8oz Cinnamon Teal Optim Merino Wool by MsGusset

13 oz 85% Mixed BFL/15% Silk by Allspunup

10.4 oz Superwash Merino by Allspunup

8 oz Suri Alpca by Woolgatherings

7.3 oz 50% Merino/20% Angora/30% Silk by Woolgatherings

4 oz 70% Silver Alpaca/30% Tussah Silk

That's 50 oz worth of fiber! I'm planning on spinning the Suri alpaca and the April 2012 club fiber on my Turkish Delight and the rest on my Aura. I also have some natural fiber that I'd like to spin as well but unfortunately no photos of those. I should be receiving my June and July Fancy Pants club fiber in time as well *fingers crossed*

I'm hoping that now that we've figured out the whole public transport thing that we'll be able to take more trips to Seattle especially to check out the market activity and I'd also love to go see the Aquarium again along with the several art museums and galleries.

EWM

First Finished Projects of the Year

My current projects have been taking me a lot more time than I had hoped. It's almost as if I'll never get any of them done, but I know given time they'll finally get finished. I felt like I needed some sort of quick knit fix to make myself feel better.. so I could say HEY I finished something! I was going through my stash over a week ago and came across a bunch of sock yarn I have stocked up. A few years ago I went yarn shopping with my Mom and she picked out some yarn for me to knit some socks up for her. Unfortunately the last pair I was working on the needles busted and never got around to fixing it. I forgot just how quickly I could knit up socks and how much fun and satisfying they are to knit. So far I've knitted up from a pair of matching yarn balls one pair of yoga socks and one normal sock with another to match soon. It feels great to be able to see that I have finished a recent project. I have four more balls of yarn that need to be knitted up into socks for Mom and several for myself.

Yoga Socks

Toe-up Socks

Stash of Sock Yarn

Here's my stash of sock yarn.. well it's only half of my stash. I have two balls of each color except for the black and tan Bamboo and Ewe. The gray scale Patons Kory Socks Jacquards along with the blue Patons Kroy Socks FX are both for my Mom and the rest are mine hehehe. I've been looking at a lot of sock patterns so far this weekend and I've seen a lot that I'd like to do though I'm not sure these types of yarns would work best for the patterns. Here's four patterns I have my eyes on.

Karree by Susanna Reese

Delicious Knee Socks by Laura Chau

Spot Check Sock by Beth Parrott

Spring Prairie by Sam Stevenson

See more beautiful sock patterns in my Favorites list on Ravelry.

Since my last update I've completed another 8 oz of "Tapestry" by All Spun Up the November Spin Along for 2011. I'm loving how beautifully Polwarth/Silk spins up and I'm feeling pretty comfortable with Navajo plying. Two of these bumps will become socks one pair for me and another pair for mom. Not sure what the other two bumps will become. It's really neat how despite being dyed with the same colors how differently each one turns out due to the variation of how much or how little certain colors show up.

In other news we are still waiting to hear back from the Seller's Lenders concerning whether or not they have approved our offer for the house we are hoping to buy. I really hope we get the place. The house is great needs some love but over all it's a wonderful place and the location is so tranquil. If we get it I know I'll be outside working during the summer soaking up the peaceful nature sounds and blue skies. More about the house to come if we do get it.

I've been contemplating the idea of dyeing roving and yarn to sell, just wary about dealing with the taxes involved. I think over the summer I'll get some roving and yarn for myself to experiment around with to see whether or not I enjoy dyeing enough to really get that involved with it. It's been awhile since I've done any dyeing but I do like playing with color and I think it would be something great to do in my spare time

Current Works in Progress
I've got several projects I'm working on most of them are fairly lengthy projects but I'll get them done eventually! Here's all I've got going :)

Tapestry November 2011 All Spun Up Spin Along 4/4 bumps spun
Water Lilies December 2011 All Spun Up Spin Along 1/4 bumps spun
Amy Pond Scarf 55%
Commissioned Scarf 38%
Toasted Almond Toe-up Socks for Mom 55%

Fiber Stash and New Spinning

I was inspired by Coby CJKopec Creations to spruce up my crafty places and took some photos to share. We are currently waiting for our offer for a House to go through on a Short Sale hoping we get it fingers crossed. I'd love if when we got our own place that I could have a better area to house all of my fiber goodies as right now my crafty stuff is spread across three areas of the house. I'll share some ideas of what I would like to see for my own fiber space.

This is my fiber stash at my computer desk

This is one of three areas I store my crafty stuff. The majority of my stash is still in ziplocs due to carpet beetles last year. The green and blue scarf in front was the first spinning I had done back in 2007 with some of what I had at the time considered expensive wool it was 100% superwash merino plied with a black cotton cord. The big ball of yarn behind the scarf is All Spun Up's "Odd Couple" SAL really loved how that turned out. Next to that is 8 oz of 100% Suri Alpaca dyed by Woolgatherings green and teal. To the right is my shawl and the Amy Pond scarf that has been taking me forever! Below that is another All Spun Up SAL "Water Lilies. It's 50/50 Merino Tencel super soft and shiny and I'm spinning it on my Turkish spindle which has been great. Last thing is the yarn below the Water Lilies spinning below the sock needles. I'm making a pair of Yoga socks for my Mom :)

The majority of my fiber all in ziplocks

Unfortunately I don't have the space to properly store my fiber in all it's glory plus with the carpet beetles we had I had to make sure everything was sealed up to prevent infestation. Luckily everything has been good no fiber damage YAY!

My two spinning wheels Ella the Wee Peggy and my Majacraft Aura (name pending)

Here's my two spinning wheels that I use to make all my beautiful yarn along with some other goodies like my Majacraft Tensioned Lazy Kate which is awesome along with a basket full of other items including practice fiber, additional flyer and bobbins.

I've been spending quite a bit of time on Pinterest finding inspiration on house interior decorating and other ideas that will come in handy for when we get our own place.  I've been looking for some cool ideas for designing my own fiber space. Doubt I'll be able to have my own fiber studio room but I at least want a single designated space for everything instead of randomly around the house. Here's some of the ideas I've come across so far.

Ikea Expedit Shelving Unit 5 by 5

The Ikea Expedit shelving unit seems to be the best way to go. I love how the black one makes the colors pop. I'd like to line the bottom row with the green baskets or get the black baskets from Ikea along with shelf inserts to divvy up the space.

BRANÄS Basket

EXPEDIT Shelf insert

Here's some other cool fiber zone setups!

http://fluffyflowers.typepad.com/fluffy_flowers/2008/10/pickles-in-the-yarn-store.html

http://easymakesmehappy.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-handyman.html

http://www.hillsboroughartisans.com/other%20pages/FiberStudio.htm
I love this space it's a store but I think the cabinet set up is definitely doable. I like how it provides extra space to display things above the cabinet maybe even bench seating.

A couple weeks ago I started a learning adventure with my Aura. I wanted to learn how to Navajo ply which I've tried to learn several times in the past with not much success. I'm still trying to figure out how the settings work with the Aura it's quite a bit different than my Wee Peggy, it'll take me time to get fully adjusted to it but so far making a lot of progress.

Settings
Bobbin Drive - Groove 1
Flyer Drive - Groove 2 on lace whorl
Tension 25%

First bump was 4.05 oz 433 yards approx 20 WPI
 
Settings
Bobbin Drive - Groove 1
Flyer Drive - Groove 2 on normal whorl
Tension 25%

I'm really proud of this yarn. It took me awhile to get into rhythm of spinning it but once I got the settings down it was smooth sailing and unlike my previous attempts at Navajo plying that were extremely over plied, this was almost completely balanced. Will take some time to make my super thin singles more even but over all this came out better than I had imagined. It still needs washed so it will more than likely fluff out a bit due to the blend.

I'm still slowly working on my Water Lilies blend on my Turkish spindle. I've managed to finish 4 oz total which would put me at half way done however All Spun Up posted some extras and I picked up 2 more bumps to put me at a total of 16 oz so I can make a much larger project! or maybe I could Navajo ply the new half for a different project not sure yet. So far with 4 oz I've spun up 392 yards will have about 780 yards total with 8 oz.

After I finish spinning Tapestry and Water Lilies I'm hoping to dive into spinning this luxurious Suri Alpaca I purchased from Woolgatherings. I'm hoping to spin it extremely thin on my Turkish spindle and then Navajo ply it. I have 8 oz total and was shocked when I got it as it's super compact in comparison to other rovings. Each bump is very small only about 6 inches in diameter and are pretty hefty for their size.

I was inspired by Colorlessblue on Ravelry by her numerous gorgeous lace weight spinning on her Turkish Spindle ad decided to get my own. She made a gorgeous Volna Wrap and I think this Suri Alpaca would look beautiful knitted up like this.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22725427@N06/6406088723/

Current Works in Progress
I've got several projects I'm working on most of them are fairly lengthy projects but I'll get them done eventually! Here's all I've got going :)

Tapestry November 2011 All Spun Up Spin Along 1/4 bumps spun
Water Lilies December 2011 All Spun Up Spin Along .5/4 bumps spun
Amy Pond Scarf 50%
Commissioned Scarf 25%
Yoga Socks for Mom 20%