So many hobbies!

Working inside and out

Much work was done both outside and inside.  My front garden was a weedy mess that received another round of weeding.  Now I just need a load of mulch to finish it off and make it look worlds better.  My flower box got a make-over:

And the four big pots in front were filled with snapdragons:

In the basement, I put up the second baker's rack I'd bought.  The Christmas tree was moved into the closet:

I've even got some room left over for the stuff I will inevitably buy (sorry, Yen).  See the bags of roving and yarn?  I'm planning on making a dent in the roving during the Tour de Fleece in June.  And the skeins and skeins of sock yarn I will never get around to knitting?  Woven scarves.  Lots and lots of woven scarves.  Speaking of weaving:  my woven rug is done but it needs a bath and a ride in the dryer before I can show it. 

My last job for tonight is to break down all the empty boxes I've got sitting in my entryway and put them in the recycling bin.

Oh, I almost forgot another braid of roving I bought at Maryland:

Gorgeous!

And, finally, Tyr found a new sleeping spot:

Warping a loom is a big job

And it takes even longer when you have "help."

Eventually, we got it done and I started weaving.  Since I hate practicing just for the sake of practicing, I'm weaving a rug for my tent to set my shoes on.  Both warp and weft are cotton so I can throw it in the washing machine when it gets dirty.

I definitely need more practice but it's not too bad for my very first piece.

While Rhonda was helping Sheri and I warp our respective looms, Galen was showing his love for Sheri's shoes:

The expression of his lust for her shoes got a little wild at times.

Today was a day of chores.  I managed to get groceries, catfood from the pet store, two baker's racks from ALDI, weeded the front bed (it was so bad you can't really tell I did anything... darn it!), did two loads of laundry, took my camping gear back down to the basement, wove a little and scooped the litterbox.  The darks are in the dryer and I still need to change the sheets on my bed. I need to do another weeding session next weekend and pick up a lot of mulch from Lowe's.  A LOT of mulch.  Once the mulch is down, the garden will look much better.

While I was working, Galen was sleeping:

And Tyr was playing:

Just about ready

As I type, Galen is stalking Tyr through the livingroom.  Tyr is laying on the couch taking a bath and not paying the slightest bit of attention to her brother.  All of Galen's attention however, is on Tyr.  I'm having a hard time keeping quiet.  Aaaaaand... he attacks!  Remember Tyr, trust no one!  Especially an older brother.

My final yarn is finished and my yarn descriptions are written up and ready for the skein contest.  I am about as ready as I can be at this point.  Tomorrow, all I need to do is pack the car, pick up Sheri's camping gear, hard boil some eggs and make myself a sandwich for Thursday's lunch.  The house is clean, the litterboxes were just refilled with fresh litter, the laundry is folded and the dishwasher is running.  I'm just about ready to leave.

Three more days

The camping gear has been moved upstairs and waits by the front door.  The car has been cleaned out and the back seat folded down, ready for Wednesday's loading.  I've gone to the grocery store and I've got 2 1/2 quarts of strawberries and 4 apples sliced in drying in my new food dehydrator:

I've wanted one of these for a while.  Besides these store-bought berries, I can't wait to dry the strawberries we'll pick in June and then the blueberries in July, maybe cherries and definitely the apples picked this fall.  These strawberries will be added to three servings of oatmeal for breakfasts next weekend.  This is the second batch in the dehydrator.  The first one had strawberries, apples and pineapple.  I'd love to show you the dried pineapple but it was so good I kind of ate them all.  Next time the pineapple is on sale at the grocery store, I'll be picking up a couple to dry.  Yummy.

The spindle spun yarn is drying and I'll have a picture for you later this week.  I managed to spin the singles on each spindle so closely in length, that when I finished the cop on one spindle, there were only 8 inches of singles left on the second spindle.  I couldn't have gotten it that close if I tried on purpose.  Because they were so close in length and the plying spindle was so heavy, I decided to wind the cop off the third spindle into a center-pull ball and ply it back on itself into a second skein.  The first skein was 2 ounces which is the minimum I need to enter into the skein contest at Maryland.  The Finn I decided not to spin because it's just too dry here and the wool is way too full of static.  It's too hard to spin an even yarn with the wool flying all over the place.  I'll have to wait until it's a lot more humid outside before I try again.

Only three days until we leave.  I've got a short work week but those three work days are going to feel like forever.  Wish me luck.

Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, the kids sleeping on the couch:

Gorgeous!

This was an amazingly beautiful weekend.  Especially Sunday.  I spent the day with the front door open and at 7:00, it's 70 degrees out.  The warm temps and the sunlight energized me and I spent the day running errands (which reminds me, I need to bring the catfood in from the car), rearranging my bedroom, cooking and dealing with recycling.  On one of the few times I was on the couch, the kids were thus:

I have to wait until May before my sisters will be helping me to repaint, rearrange and do more decluttering of my condo.  I really didn't want to wait that long so I rearranged my bedroom.  I don't quite have room for everything in this configuration but come May, some things will be going.

All of my spring bulbs are up, although not blooming yet.  My neighbor across the street has pale purple crocus blooming.  I'm too late to take a picture but trust me when I say, they're a wonderful breath of spring.

My world-traveling niece is home from Asia.  I can't wait until Easter to hear all of her stories.  I'm so proud of her I can hardly say how much.  She's pretty awesome.

Saturday was my spinning guild meeting, which is my favorite day of the month.  I came home with a quart of yummy Michigan maple syrup.  I also came home with a little Mochimochi chicken named Mildred:

I also came home with a dozen free range eggs.  I've attempted to eat vegan since the beginning of the year.  I need to lose weight and this seemed like a good way to go about it.  Unfortunately, I've learned about myself that if something is a challenge, I'm excited about it and into it... until it's no longer a challenge. (I did really well for about a month.) Then I'm no longer interested.  I'm still going to be meatless while I'm at home and I'll still buy soymilk for my cereal.  (It's actually pretty good.)  I really don't miss dealing with meat:  it's slimey and icky and you have to be really careful you don't give yourself salmonella.  However, when I eat out, I don't restrict myself to what I eat.  I have no idea how this is going to impact my weight loss goals.  Probably not well.  Still, my dinner tonight was tofu triangles with peanut butter sauce, steamed asparagus and a whole grain English muffin.  I have lots of tofu and sauce left over for my lunches this week.

I really hate the change to Daylight Savings Time, but I love that it's 7:30 and it's still light out.  I got so much done today and all because it feels and looks like Spring outside.  How was your weekend?

The best laid plans...

The plan was to post pictures of the swatches I knit from the roving I bought Saturday.  However, I waited too long and Galen was using them as a pillow when it came time to blog.  I just don't have it in me to move the cats when they're being so cute.  Yes, I know exactly who's in charge at my house and it isn't me.  Everyone should be so lucky.

Trial

My Guild had their twice annual Fleece Fair this past Saturday.  I bought 4 ounces of a Polwarth/alpaca/silk blend, spun it up and I'll ply it three ways to see how I like the resulting fabric.  I've plied it on itself and with white so far.  A dark brown Polwarth has been carded but still needs to be spun.  Once all three are plied, they'll get a bath so the yarn can bloom and I'll knit the three into separate swatches.  This stuff wasn't cheap so if I can ply it with something else and get something I love, I may be inclined to buy enough for a sweater.  (Probably not but it's still a good excercise nonetheless.)

Friday I ordered black bean seeds from the Seed Savers Exchange for the summer planting and Weld seeds.  Weld is one of the big three dyeing plants:  Weld, Woad and Madder.  Weld will give me a beautiful, clear yellow.  It should give a brighter yellow than the onion skins I dyed with last month.  I decided against planting Madder because it takes 3 years before the roots are mature enough/big enough to harvest.  As for Woad, extracting the dye is a long, drawn out process that I'm not quite ready to deal with on my own.  I'm hoping to take a class this summer at the Michigan Fiber Festival in dyeing with indigo.  The dye is the same in both Indigo and Woad so the process of extraction is the same (I think).  I'd feel more comfortable tackling the extraction from Woad myself if I've seen it done somewhere else first.

I spent a couple hours today at the bottom of a cat pile, Galen curled up on my side and Tyr wrapped up in my arms.  It was pretty wonderful.

I should have made it bigger

It doesn't really look that orange.  It's more a paler salmon pink.

This is pretty much what I did Saturday.  That and watch home improvement shows on HGTV.  I've improved my lace-knitting skills enough that I can have the television on while I'm knitting.  That's a big step forward in my book.  I'm now on the long slog to finish the top of the shawl in the brown Merino/Polwarth yarn I spun.  I need to change to a shorter cable.  Now that I'm into the body of the shawl, I'm hoping it blocks out big enough.  I wrapped the border around myself while I was knitting it and it seemed plenty big enough at the time.  It may be that I should have done that extra set of repeats.  If it doesn't fit, that will still be okay.  I knit for the knitting, not necessarily for the finished product.

Today was mostly taken up by cooking.  Not a surprise.  That's become my usual Sunday activity:  grocery shopping first thing in the morning and cook most of the day.  And do lots of dishes.  Today's recipes were another stir-fry and black bean chili.  So far, my favorite recipe in the past month has been the simplest:  a can a black beans, drained and rinsed, mashed with salsa, heated, and eaten on a tortilla with cooked brown rice and avacado.  I could eat a couple of those in one sitting.  I'm good, though, and stick to just one.

Galen found a new cave for sleeping.

It's been a year

I can't believe it's been a year since I adopted Galen and Tyr.  They have added so much to my life since they came to live with me.  Even though Tyr steals my yarn... and potatoes... and the change off the sofa table... I wouldn't give her up for anything.  And Galen, he's my snuggly boy.  Every time I lay down on the couch, he's curled up on my side.

Here's Tyr the day I took her home:

And here she is today:

I'm always amazed when I compare pictures just how big she's gotten.

Here's baby Galen:

And here's my favorite picture of grown up Galen:

I just don't know how people can live without a cat, or without a pet at all.  The kids greet me at the door when I get home (granted, they're looking for treats, but still) and sleep with me at night.  They take naps with me on the couch and bring me toys to throw.  My house is just more alive with them in it.  And I'm a lot less lonely.

Finally, some knitting

Finally, the socks of many colors are finished!

It's been so long since I started these, I can't remember exactly when that was.  I'm pretty sure the yarn is Merino/silk.  Or was it Merino/bamboo?  Can't remember that, either.  Anyway, I took two colorways, spun them up and then plied them together.  The pattern is my generic sock pattern with a short-row heel.  I used Judy's Magic Cast-on for the toes and both were knitted at the same time.

I just love the colors. 

On another note, apparently, fingerling potatoes make great cat toys.  That's the only conclusion I can come to when Tyr steals them off the kitchen counter and then bats them around the floor.  I think there's two of them under the bookcase.  She is the funniest cat.

Now that the socks are finished, I can start on Andrea's Shawl.  Woot!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the US.  Have a great holiday and good luck shopping on Black Friday.