Cabin Crafted

Tag: knitting

  • Olio August 16, 2014

    Olio: A miscellaneous collection of things.

    On Thursday, I returned our eldest grandson to his home.  He had been with us since July 3 and it was a wonderful 6 weeks.  He enjoyed playing with our dogs, learned to ride his bike, traveled to Florida with us to visit his Aunt and Uncle and cousins for a week, swam, had outings with Granddad to the batting cage and several movies.  He and Granddad played catch in the yard and had batting practice.  A few times, he cooked with me, learning to make his favorite blueberry muffins and getting some math practice with measuring and calculating which measuring cups would give him the quantity he needed.  It was a relief to his Mom and Dad to not have to try to find summer care for him and figure out how to get him to and from that care when they both left very early for their jobs.

    Yesterday after playing with his neighborhood friends, showing off to his Mom and Dad his new bike riding skills, having Grandmom take him to his guitar lesson, they all left at 9:30 last night on the Metro to Union Station to catch an 11:30 p.m. Greyhound bus to Virginia Beach, where he and his Mom will spend the next week with her parents.  Our son will return home to Northern Virginia on the train tomorrow so he can be at work on Monday.  His Mom’s summer job has ended and her school begins just before Labor Day.  I returned to their house to spend the night before traveling home this morning.  As I was avoiding the interstate and taking a leisurely cruise down the Skyline Drive this morning, I received a text from son saying that they were stuck in Richmond, VA, only a couple hours from their home and a couple hours from their destination almost 12 hours after leaving on the bus.  Their 4 hour trip lasted 14 hours.  There is something truly wrong with Greyhound’s business model that passengers with tickets can not have a seat on a leg of their trip.  If they hadn’t had to disembark at the transfer station in Richmond, they would have been at their destination in the early hours, not the next afternoon.

    After enjoying about an hour and a half of scenic drive, I got back on the interstate, so my 4 hour trip wouldn’t take all day and like Thusday, was again stuck with the semis.

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    I followed these two for miles and miles doing less than 60 mph in a 70 mph zone. Behind me was a line of at least a dozen more.

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    It is amazing how quickly chicks grow.  These little guys and gals are a week and a half old.  They can almost get out of the brooder which is a huge stock watering tank. I guess I am going to have to put a screen over it soon.  They are all darkening and growing wing and tail feathers.  The one center front is the one I named Chipmunk because of the dark stripes on his back when I uncartoned them from the Hatchery.

    Egg production is picking up.  The pullets are getting the hang of the laying bit.  In the past 6 days, we have gotten 7 pullet eggs, so I know that more than one of them is laying.  We also got 5 hen eggs, though Broody Girl is still insisting on empty nest sitting.  This has gone on now for over a month.  Perhaps I should get her some fertile eggs and just let her give it a go.

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    The pullet eggs are so small compared to the hen eggs.  At least we are getting some again.

    The garden loved last week’s rain, the tomatoes are ripening in the sun, peppers are swelling and I am nearly overrun with Tomatillos.  I haven’t looked under the row covers to see how the transplants are doing, but they will have to be watered today or tomorrow.

    My purple thick skinned grapes are ripe.  Perhaps I should attempt some grape jelly.

    The weather feels like fall already.  I shouldn’t get too excited, it will probably get hot again soon.

    This week, we tackle power washing the decks to re-stain.  I’m trying to figure out how we are going to keep the outdoor cats off while they dry and how we will get the dogs in and out.  I guess they will have to go through the garage, but neither of them are used to doing that, so it may require leading them out on a leash til the decks dry.

    Hubby took off early this morning on a ride on his BBH (Big Bad Harley) with the Hog Club from where his bike came.  It is a ride to just get there, over an hour.  They were going to have breakfast then ride into West Virginia.  He texted me that he did go and that he was in West Virginia.  I guess I will see him later this afternoon when he returns.

    When I was in Northern Virginia to pick up grandson in early July, I bought some variegated yarn at a local shop.  The yarn is one that isn’t available around here and I knit a Hitchhiker scarf from it.  I decided that I wanted a cardigan sweater of the same yarn and returned yesterday to the shop to try to purchase it.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have enough of it to make a sweater, but I did get a worsted weight solid that coordinates beautifully with it.  As soon as the weather is cool enough to sit with the bulk of a sweater body in my lap while knitting, I will make myself a sweater to go with my scarf.

    Though it is only mid afternoon, I am tired from my travels and contemplating a short nap.  Life is an adventure!

  • Support Services

    The blog has been quiet for a few days as I traveled on Sunday to Fairfax County, VA to provide support services for eldest son’s family.  T started a new job 2 Monday’s ago at GMU, W started her Art Camp teaching job the same day and that was L’s last day of 3rd grade.  This week he had an adventure camp that required drop off and pick up for the camp bus at times they couldn’t possible manage. As I have blogged before, they do not have a car. Between the cost, the traffic, and the availability of public transportation, they generally don’t need one.  They get where they need to go by walking, biking or taking Metro system busses and trains. Grandmom to the rescue.  Being retired has it’s benefits and since the camp bus drop off point is the direction I am willing to drive, I came up to help. My sole responsibility is getting L to the bus by 8 a.m. and picking him up at 5 p.m.  That leaves a lot of unencumbered, unscheduled time for me.  I voluntarily fix dinner and keep up with basic chores. I have spent lots of time knitting and reading. My current book is The Goldfinch.  Monday I visited a yarn shop we spotted on our way to dinner Sunday evening. They were so welcoming that after buying some yarn, I sat and knitted with them for a couple of hours.  It is too hot to work on the wool/silk sweater I brought, so a started a scarf with the new yarn.

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    With the heat index in triple digits, I haven’t wanted to be outside much, so I have tackled a few chores here.  L will be excited to see that Grandmom cleaned his room. He has so many crates of Lego’s and they were everywhere. They are all re-crated, books re-shelved and trash picked up. I sent him upstairs with clean clothes the other afternoon and found them on his floor.  I figured it was distracted 9 year old behavior but realized he had more clothes in his dresser than he had room for. I sorted through the dresser, taking out all of the too small clothes, sorted winter from summer, undies and socks from shirts and pants and put it back together minus the out grown clothes, two bags full.

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    While I am here, Jim is home critter sitting  with these dogs and chickens.

     

     

  • Crafty Wednesday

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    Since the spin in last weekend and the completion of the Tunis/FinnXJacob yarn, I stalled on spinning for a few days.  Last February, just before David took his stock of Green Dragon yarn and roving to Hawk’s Nest, he had the most luscious hanks of Random Colors-Merino for spinning.  He sold every last one of the ones he had made but since they were so popular, he made more for his shop.  A couple of weeks ago, I purchased one to try and it is so delightful to spin.  The one I purchased has rather muted colors, maroon, teal, camel with shades of lighter colors that blend into a wonderful single.  The Merino is so soft and the fiber is long enough to make the drafting smoother and consistent.  The colors of the single are interesting on the bobbin and I can’t decide what to do with it to not dilute the beautiful colors.  It could be Navajo plied, but that significantly reduces the yardage of finished yarn.  I’m afraid that plying two bobbins of it together will muddy the finished yarn.  Maybe I should ply it with a solid, fairly dark neutral.  The hank of roving is 100 grams.  My single is fine, so the yarn is going to be lightweight.

    Spinner readers, any suggestions?

    Tonight is knit night.  Jim is taking his motorcycle over to the dealer to get his Tour Pack installed and I am a bit leery of taking my car as the other day it acted as though the starter motor may be failing.  I guess if it does, I’m only a few hundred yards from the Honda dealer and Jim can come get me after knitting in his car once he gets home on his bike.

  • Food and Fun

    Today was the Spunster, my spinning group’s annual Spin In and Potluck located in a beautiful valley in our mountains at the home of our delightful hostess and host.  We get to sit around and spin on the lovely porches, socialize, and eat and our significant others are encouraged to participate with us for this event.  An afternoon of crafting, walking the woods, touring their business, Strauch Fiber Equipment (http://www.strauchfiber.com/) and enjoying the delicious food contributions.

    Today, I contributed two salad favorites.

    Ranch Pasta & Potato Salad

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    • 6 small Red Potatoes with skins on cubed 1/2″
    • 6 oz spiral pasta (approx 2 c) {Gluten free is fine}
    • 1/2 c chopped red bell pepper
    • 1/4 c chopped green onion, bulb and stem
    • 8 slices bacon cooked crisp and chopped
    • 1/2 c mayonnaise
    • 1/2 c Ranch dressing (I use the light version)

    Boil the potatoes for 3-4 minutes, add pasta and cook about 9 minutes til pasta is soft cooked (not al dente). Rinse with cold water and drain well.  Toss with chopped vegetables.  Blend dressing and toss into salad with bacon.  Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

    This makes about 8-9 cups of salad.  I got this recipe from my daughter, who got it from a friend, who got it from ????  I have seen variations of it on the internet, so I don’t know where to give credit.

    My other contribution was:

    Three Bean Salad

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    I think this one came off a can of beans many years ago, maybe…

    • 1 each 15 oz can of Red Kidney, Cannelini, and Garbanzo beans
    • 3 c chopped vegetables ( I use the other half of the red bell pepper, carrot, onion)
    • 2 Tbs Olive Oil
    • 1/3 c wine vinegar or Apple cider vinegar
    • 2 finely minced gloves of garlic
    • 1/2-1 tsp Italian Seasoning (I don’t buy mixed seasoning, so I use basil, oregano, thyme, parsley)
    • 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese

    Drain beans and combine with chopped vegetables.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  Blend Olive oil, vinegar and herbs well in blender or with wand blender and pour over bean mixture.  Stir and chill several hours.

    This makes about 7 cups of salad.

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    There was a lot of yarn spun, some knitting done, much eating, socializing and a beer or two consumed.  It was a delightful afternoon with a wonderful group of friends.

  • Olio

    Olio: a miscellaneous collection of things

    Today the post is all over the place.  First, chickens are mean.  This is the result of the hens establishing pecking order.

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    One of the hens has pecked the upper wing of several of the others, plucking their feathers, but not drawing blood.  The shake up has allowed the feathers to begin growing back in.

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    Her bare back is the result of the over zealous rooster.  He is picking on the hens in the cull pen now and this gals feathers are coming back out as well.

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    Go away and give me some privacy!  I’m trying to lay an egg.

    The lace on the shawl on which I was working, did not win!  I did.  The shawl was completed this afternoon as Jim watched the last rounds of the football draft.  I am pleased with the finished product.  It is fairly generous in proportion, the color is rich, and the leaf lace border is interesting.  It is currently being blocked with hopes that it will be dry to wear with a skirt to Mother’s Day Brunch at Mountain Lake Lodge tomorrow.

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    It is pinned to a double bed to give you an idea of it’s size.

    This afternoon, our daughter sent an adorable picture of her daughter and she gave me permission to share.  I particularly enjoyed the photo because when our daughter, our second child was born, I was excited to have a little girl to dress up.  I took a smocking class and made dresses and bonnets.  As soon as she was old enough to assert her opinion, which was quite early, she always wanted pants, sweaters or t shirts and mismatched socks.  I would buy her skirts for school and she would pull out pants instead.  She was an athlete, playing soccer for years and softball in middle school.  When she found out she was pregnant for the second time, she told everyone that if she had a girl, she would not put her in pink.  She decorated the nursery with a musical theme in greens, blues, teal and brown.  Now that this little princess is old enough to assert her opinion, she chooses skirts and dresses.  This is her afternoon outfit.

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    Life and good, I love being a Mom and a Grandmom.

     

     

     

     

  • Fiddle-dee knit

    My crafting has been slow of late.  The knit project that gets the most of my time is Lola Shawl by Carrie Bostick Hoge published in the most recent issue of Taproot magazine, issue 9::Breathe.  The shawl as published is a triangular shawl knit from either fingering or worsted.  I wanted a heavier, larger shawl than I generally make and selected Quince Lark a worsted weight yarn to make it.  After about 1 skein of knitting and looking again at the photos in the magazine, I decided that I didn’t like the way the edge on the shawl lay and feeling adventurous, frogged what I had knit and started over, making the shawl a mitered square shawl instead, using the border that was on the Lola pattern.  Yesterday while we were on our road trip, I decided that the stockinette part was sufficiently large and I wanted to save two skeins for the leaf pattern border.  The lace pattern is an 18 stitch by 18 row pattern and to keep it a mitered square, I needed to keep my increase pattern going, breaking up the border into 3 sections instead of one continuous border.  Row 1 was a piece of cake.  Row 2, the wrong side row is purled and has a P2tbl stitch.  No matter what I did, it didn’t work out right.  Instead of looking it up, I plodded along and realized at the end of the row that it couldn’t be.  This morning, I tinked the entire row of about 300 purled lace stitches and after a well doggie vet visit for our 210 pound baby, I watched a You Tube on how to do the stitch and started again.  This is the most fiddlely lace pattern, but I am determined to make it work.

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    At night I have been spinning.  I finished a little more than 2 ounces of Tunis singles in a color called Sebastian.

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    This is going to be plyed with a Finn/Jacob that is being spun.

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    I’m hoping it is going to make a tweedy yarn.  There is enough of the Tunis that I hope to make enough yarn to knit a rib warmer.

    The other task of the day was transplanting the tomato seedlings deeper into larger pots.  They are getting a few hours of filtered sunlight each day and spending the rest of the time under the grow light.  Another couple of weeks and the peppers and tomatoes will go in the garden.

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  • I LOVE SPRING!

    Even high in the mountains, we are beginning to see the squirrel ear leaves.  Because of our very cold winter and spring, everything is blooming at once, all of the trees that normally stagger their blossoms and pollen are exploding at once.  Fortunately, neither Jim nor I seem to be seriously bothered by it.

    The chicks have been in the coop for almost two weeks separated from the 4 adults by a frame and net wall.  Yesterday, I pulled back one edge of the net which would allow the chicks to move to the outside of the coop and into the run, but the hole was too small for the adult birds to pass into the secure part of the coop.  It seemed like it was going to work.  The chicks moved about within the coop and the adults left them alone.   I suppose I should have waited a week to see how that worked out, but I didn’t and  this morning, I removed the partition and netting, opening the entire coop including the blocked off nesting boxes, added fresh hay and the chicks seemed to enjoy the additional space.  I removed their food to the run, hoping that they would venture outdoors on their own.  Only one was bold enough to do so and she was promptly attacked by Cogburn and one Buff hen who merciless attacked as I ran from the garden in through the run to rescue her.  One of them had pecked her head to the point it was bleeding and she was desperately trying to squeeze through the fence wire to escape.  She was cuddled and soothed, brought in to have her wound cleaned and treated and taken back to the coop.  One of the hens was inside the coop intimidating the chicks.  I know they have to establish a pecking order, but the pecking was a bit too severe, so I went back to the garage, brought the frame back out and modified it to allow the chicks to move throughout the coop, but making the access too small for the adults.

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    By adding another vertical I was able to attach two boards so they can move through the narrow “door” and pulled the partition a few inches away from the pop door so they can squeeze around the edges.  Hopefully no one will be injured again.  I also gave them back their food inside for now.  I guess they need a few more weeks of growing so their size is more similar before I try again.

    Today is cooler than the past few days and it is windy, but still a nice day to be in the garden.  The peas are growing nicely, the garlic looks healthy and today I added 8 cabbage plants, 8 curly kale plants and 8 rainbow chard plants for some greens.

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    After planting and watering them, I attempted to put a row cover over them to keep the cabbage moths from laying their eggs on the leaves.  It is up, but not well.  Once the wind dies down, I will have to go out and try again.  The laying hens benefited from my efforts by getting a box full of weeds and grubs to enjoy.

    It is so nice to be out in the garden, digging with my bare hands in the warm rich soil.  Nope, I don’t bother with manicures.

    Now I am off to fight with a cellular phone company over my Samsung galaxy 3 that gets so hot I can’t carry it in my pocket and only holds a charge for 4 to 5 hours even with the data use turned off.  This is not acceptable as we only have cell phones, no landline.  Then on to knit night with my friends.

    Life is an adventure on our mountain farm.

  • Spinning, not the exercise class

    I have been spinning fiber for about 4 years now, starting with a drop spindle and switching to a wheel a couple of years ago.  My first wheel was a restored Ashford Traditional that I bought from a friend who had restored it and learned on it and then won a new wheel.  I learned on it, using it for a bit more than a year, sold it to mutual friend who is a fellow knitter that wants to learn to spin.  When I sold it, I bought an Ashford Kiwi 2 as I wanted a double treadle wheel and used it for nearly a year and sold it to get a wheel that travels better for going to spinning group and for taking when I go to spend a week babysitting with a grand.  My new wheel which I have only had for a few weeks is a brand new Kromski Sonata.  Getting the new wheel inspired me to work through some of the fiber I had collected and have made undyed Shetland wool yarn that is for sale at Greenberry House (www.greenberryhouse.com) in Meadows of Dan.  Then I finished 3 ounces of Merino, spun for a friend.

    As spinning is going well, I decided that I was ready to start expanding the yarn making process and wanted to mix some of the Alpaca fleece that I have with some wool that I have, so I bought a set of hand carders from Strauch Fiber Equipment Co. (http://www.strauchfiber.com/) as she is a spinner in the group to which I belong.  I have started blending the Caramel colored Alpaca with a light and dark Blue Faced Leicester wool.

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    Today Jim and I took off for a drive and ended up at Olde Liberty Fiber Faire (http://www.olfibrefaire.com/).  From that I came home with a big red cloud of hand carded Tunis wool and a bag of dark colored Finn X Jacob to spin and a small pot of garnet red dye to try my hand at dyeing my own yarn.  

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    Once I feel that I have a good handle on these skills, my goal is to buy a whole raw fleece, wash it and hand card the locks for spinning into yarn to dye.

    I’m sure Jim would have rather spent the day wandering around the Blue Ridge Motorcycle Fest that we passed and watched literally hundreds of motorcyclist headed in that direction, but he spent the day with me.

    Tomorrow, my wheel, hand carders, a suitcase packed with clothing, yarn and fiber are headed off for a week of babysitting in Northern Virginia while he stays home and critter sits the 2 dogs, 2 cats, and 20 chickens.  I am leaving him with homemade stew, chili, and goulash so he doesn’t have to eat out each night.

    Life is an adventure on our mountain farm, and off of it when we take a day trip.

  • On a Spinning Roll

    I’m on a roll.  In the past couple of days, I’ve spun 185 yards of natural white Shetland wool.  The yarn weight is DK to Sport weight depending on which chart I use, it is 12 WPI (wraps per inch).  As I want both skeins to be 100 yards, I am spinning the last 2 ounces of the Shetland.  Anything that is left after skeining them, will go to my Funky Fiber skein that will eventually be a throw for cold nights.

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    This is the first 100 yard, 75 g skein, waiting for a wash.

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    Part of the last two ounces on the wheel.

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    The growing Funky Fun skein of various fibers and colors.

    The hours spinning have cut into knitting and reading time.  I have been on the same book for over a week and progress on my shawl seems to only happen when we are in the car.  Even retired, there just aren’t enough hours to do all the fun things that I want to do.

  • Rest and crafting

    Yesterday was a rainy damp day, still warm, but too wet to do much outdoors.  In the late morning we drove over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and south to Meadows of Dan.  The outing had two purposes, one to see the renovation progress on Mabry Mill, where they have done some repair on the holding pond, rebuilt the old mill wheel and are repairing the sluiceway to the mill.  This is a favorite spot for us to take visitors, the mill is scenic, in fact, several communities throughout the USA use the picture on their postcards which is amusing.  There is a blacksmith, a carpenter that makes ladderback chairs and other objects, a tiny cabin filled with looms and spinning wheels, walking paths along the creek through Rhododendron thickets and other native plants.  The grandchildren love to drive over for part of a day.  The visitor center displays local crafts and sells buckwheat flour, corn meal, and corn grits in commemorative cloth bags.  Each fall, we drive over before they close for the winter and I supply our pantry with these products, sold very reasonably and milled locally.

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    This is a prior trip much later in the summer and with a grand helping to do a Flat Stanley shoot.

    The other reason for our venture was to take a small supply of my handspun yarn to Greenberry House, a delightful yarn and gift shop in Meadows of Dan to be sold with her other handspun yarn.  She will be selling some of my yarn in her shop.  She sells mostly local handspun yarn, fleeces and rovings, with just a bit of superwash or acrylic commercial yarn for local charity knitters.  The gift shop has local handthrown pottery, canned jams and preserves, jewelry, handmade glasses cases and other fabric items, and a few old collectibles.  The shop is convenient to pop off of the parkway.  The town also has the Poor Farmer’s Market with more gifts, fresh produce, local cheese and butter, and the biggest display of Lodge Cast Iron cookware I have ever seen as well as a deli counter where you can get sandwiches and cold drinks.  There are a couple of restaurants and several other shops as well.  It is a good stopping place if you are traveling the Parkway.

    The adventure got my creative juices flowing and when we arrived back home, I spun almost a full bobbin of a very fine single of Shetland wool, natural white.  Once I have two bobbins of it, I will ply it, measure and decide if it is going to stay natural white of dye it.  Perhaps it will be knit into a gift or set aside to be taken to Greenberry House for sale.

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    My car knitting and break from spinning knitting is a shawl.  The edge pattern is from Lola Shawl by Carrie Bostick Hoge in Issue 9 of “taproot” magazine, one of my favorites and one of only two to which I subscribe.  Her shawl pattern is a triangle and out of worsted weight yarn, I don’t like the way it ripples around the neck and shoulders, so I am modifying it to make a squared shawl using 6 stitch increase every other row and will use her leaf pattern border at the bottom.  I prefer a shawl/scarf that does not have to be pinned or held to keep it on.  The yarn is Quince and Co., Lark, the color is Cypress.

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    Today is sunny and a bit cooler.  There are a few things to be done outside, but at least a couple of hours will be spent with friends at Green Dragon Yarns, knitting and socializing and maybe buying some more fiber to spin.