Journeys…….July 14, 2005

Farewell’s

Shaping

Potter at the wheel.
From centering to finished pot.
Deng~Ming Dao.

Today was a roller coaster of emotions for me.  My little Kai went to his new home and while my heart was breaking, I know that what I was giving up, was bringing enormous joy to someone else.

As dog breeders, we put our hearts and souls into raising these babies.  Every litter that is borne has the promise of something great, which is what keeps good and responsible breeders breeding.  Like the potter at the wheel, we pour so much of ourselves into sculpting the little personalities that these dogs will become.  Kai has been very dear to my heart.  He is the most carefree, happy puppy that I have ever produced, along with being an incredible example of the breed, other than a few freckles on his face.  This month, both his mother and his sister (Dora), from a different litter were in season.  It was then, that I knew that I was not going to be able to keep him, as he is too related to my girls here.  No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen, and that is not an accident that I want to happen.  Today I brought him to his new home, and the joy that I know that he will bring to this family softens the stab of pain that I feel, but I will surely miss his happy ways.  Seeing his smile (yes this dog really does smile), lets me know that he is going to be happy.  Thankfully he is not too far away and we will be able to see him now and then.

Dyeing Days

It has been HOT!!!.  I
soooooooo hate the hot weather, but it is great weather for dyeing wool
and angora as it dries fast.  Angora tends to clump when it is wet, so
drying it can take days.

"Superman" (eekk…my carder has a name!)
lives in my office, which is air conditioned, so on these hot days, I
sit in front of the carder.  Being that it is electric, as I feed in
the blends, I can read blogs or work at the same time.   What more can
a girl want………a/c, computer, carder, wool, books and loom are all
housed in this room.  My DH calls it Kimmie’s play house….haha!  He’s
just jealous…<eviL grin>

Did you ever?

Did you ever buy something that was so out of the norm for you??  I am not a flashy person and do not own much bling.  Last winter, I was searching for an Isabella Fiore Cavalier leather bag on ebay, which of course is next to impossible to find at a reasonable price.  She frequently features different breeds of dogs on her bags and this particular Cavalier one is all leather with very little flash.  Of course, I haven’t been able to find one in my price range, but this Monkey bag caught my eye for what reason, I haven’t yet figured out.  A few blings were missing (but included for me to glue back on), so the price was right.  I don’t know what ever possessed me to bid on it, but I LOVE it!.  I have found that it is a great summer bag, that I can toss whatever knitting I am working on and all of the other essentials..  YIKES…..I am carrying serious bling around…which is soooooo unlike me!!!!!!!!

Algora?

Remember that bunny fluff that I showed you last week?  Well, my friend Claudia of Countrywool, encouraged me to toss some on "Superman"……..she promised if I went slow it wouldn’t nep and by golly, she was right!  Wow…is all I can say, it did such a wonderful job and made spinning that bunny(crack)fluff, so much easier.  This is the time of year that I start spinning angora, so that I can use it to knit in hats that I make to sell at the fall fiber fairs, but seeing how nice it looks along the charcoal alpaca cria that I just finished spinning, makes me wonder how the two would look in a shawl.  Maybe a shawl made in the alpaca and the final row done with the bunny would look nice.  Hmmmm……