Look what was left at my doorstep today!  Wheeeeeeeee!

Yesterday, a fellow fiber friend stopped over for a visit, when I was in the middle of skeining up some yarn on my niddy noddy.  She was stunned that the hundreds of yards of yarn I have been winding has been all done on my old niddy noddy.

Being the good hearted friend that she is, lo and behold when I opened my door this morning, this is what greeted me.  Not only is it going to be soooooooo much easier on the wrist, but it is pretty to look at too!  Thanks Sue!

Not much knitting happening here at least for the next few weeks.  My days right now are pretty full winding skeins and dyeing them up and my real job.

Speaking of my real job, yesterday was such a disappointing day for me in that world.  It’s never a welcoming realization to know that you are being taken advantage of, is it?  Well that realization hit me right upside the head this week.  Fortunately I like my job, so I will plug on……but maybe with a little less enthusiasm.

Healing~

Many people have asked how Brian is recooperating after his mountain experience.  Yesterday the kids stopped by for a visit and Brian is doing much better.  He is still struggling with some very painful frostbite on his back, but his hands are doing much better.  His recovery is going to take some time, but it hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for outside wilderness recreation…..
Yesterdays visit was first and foremost to visit and thank some of the local guys who participated first hand in his rescue.  However, he also picked up a new subzero sleeping bag, some new Koflax winter hiking boots and various other items.  While I don’t think he will be headed up to the top of the mountains this winter, he is planning ahead for when he can…..and with the guidance of the rescue people, he will be even better prepared for those hikes.

Hmmmm…….I guess it is like climbing back on that horse after you were tossed off…..

Whew…..the Red Socks are finished!  I have to say that as much as I like the way they came out, they were truly a chore to knit.  A true labor of love for the youngish man they are gifted to.  Stockinette on size 0’s …..ey yi yi:-)

Having finished up these socks, I am moving on to the next pair of socks that has been lanquishing in my basket.  These are the New England Socks from Knitting on the Road.  I am going to alternate working on these socks and Hypotenuse.  If you are on the fence about knitting Hypotenuse….let me help push you off.  It is a enjoyable easy knit!

As it is just too darn cold for a long outdoor walk, I will leave you with these silly dog pictures as I hop onto my treadmill.  Silly Maggie, she thinks she’s a Cavalier!

When birds fly too high.
They sing out of tune.

There are times when we feel out of harmony with our surroundings and feel confused and disoriented.  Sometimes these moments will last a day, sometimes they may last for weeks.
Deng Ming~Dao

Last week was my week to feel like that.  No matter what I touched, it just didn’t seem to click for me.  My dyeing was flat, I wasn’t happy with the way the front band went on my vest and weaving on that old loom……..just not happening.  Sometimes I try to do too many things at once and end up not doing any of them well.  When that happens, I need to take a breath, write a few lists and then focus. (learning to live with ADD 101…LOL)

After taking a look at Judy’s blog Friday, I realized that I needed to get my butt in gear and focus on getting this sock yarn and fiber dyed.  We are sharing vending space at the NETA spa in a few weeks, so this weekend, I took a breath, fired up the dyepots again and finally……that mojo came back.  In between batches, I played with the new loom…..what a difference!  Fussing as much as I did with the old loom, really taught me a lot about how a loom works, so once I managed to get this new one set up, I felt very comfortable with the way it was working.  This tencel/rayon warp has been a pleasure to weave.

I even managed to seam up the cabled vest during the superbowl. My fiber work combined with the 7 inches of fresh snow made for a nice weekend :-).  I hope you enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine!

Some of you may remember those "Amazing threads" that I posted of back in October and then again in December.  You may also have remembered my grumblings about the Baby Macomber loom that I was using.

Normally I am a huge Macomber fan, as I have the big 48 inch version and love it, but the baby mac…."not so much"

As much as it pained me, I ended up having to cut off the pinwheel dishtowels that I had been working on.  Seven yards of cottolin,that was rendered unusable…..ouch.  I will take the above sample and make a placemat to put a bowl on, but to say that I was bummed to say goodbye to the rest of it would be an understatement.  No matter how much I wrestled with that loom, the karma was not good and I finally said enough is enough.   

The man who I purchased the Baby Mac from was kind enough to work with me on getting another loom that was a better fit for the type of weaving I would be doing.  So Wednesday, I took the long trek to Westfield, Mass and picked up this new 8 harness Leclerc Compact loom. 

All of the heddles are finally on, the treadles are tied up and this afternoon I will wind the Tencel/Rayon warp that I had purchased earlier this year at The Mannings.  I figure that I will weave something a little less demanding to get familiar with the loom this time around 🙂

What’s missing you might ask?  Hmmmm……..that cabled vest?  I’m having some trouble finding my MoJo this week………more about that this weekend 🙂

As promised, my cabled vest front is being blocked as I type.  I hope later today to start putting her all together and knit the armhole and front edging.   Now, do you think I could pick up the second red sock that is languishing by my chair….of course not…………….

Out came the silky wool and Anne’s fabulous Hypotenuse pattern.   Do you not love it?  I have never worked with the Lavold Silky Wool before, but I really like it.  The texture is different…almost cottony, but soft all at the same time.  I could see myself making a sweater down the road in this yarn 🙂

Dye Dilemmas

I have also been working with the dyepots and hit a stumbling block that I am hoping that some of my readers can help me with.

I decided to try dyeing up some Merino/Tencel sock weight yarn….mostly because I want to give it a try myself.  What I found though is the tencel being a cellulose product, does not take a good dye from the acid wash dye I am using.  I don’t dare try procion as I think the PH would be too harsh for the merino…am I right in thinking that?  If any of you out there have had some success with this blend, I would love to hear your thoughts :-).

Ken and I are heading out for another day of enjoying the beauty of the area we live in today, before the weather turns as blustery as the weather men are promising.  (I think I may take that red sock along for the ride :-))

Enjoy your day~

Kicking a pebble by the side of the road,
Watching it tumble pell-mell.
Chance and randomness become order.
Deng Ming~Dao

Last weekends events made this little verse even more meaningful to me this week.  Sometimes in life complete chaos can at one point all come together and become…..order.
On a day where anything could have gone wrong, the forces lined up and the best of all possible outcomes happened.  The temperatures, the wind, the karma was all right…….along with the incredible people of the search and rescue teams of NH.

I was visiting with Ashley and Brian this week when NH Fish & Game came to interview him and to return some of his things.  I was disheartened to hear how strapped this organization is for funds.  Because it is a state funded agency, it’s constantly facing big budget cuts, which is sad.  In speaking with him though, he did mention that supporting the different agencies such as the New Hampshire Outdoor Council and the various Search and Rescue teams; Mountain Rescue, Adroscoggin Valley Search & Rescue, Pemigewasset Search and Rescue, Upper Valley Wilderness Response Team helps them fund these rescues.

So, while I hope you never need any of these services, it is a good idea to check into your local resources if you live in an area where rescues might be needed and maybe help them out a bit.  The men and women who risk their lives to aid people who are in trouble are absolutely amazing.  I have always joked that living in a recreational, mountainous area, that I live in the "Land of Peter Pan", where grown men still think they are boys………..but on this week, I was thankful for those men who are willing to put that gear on and trek up the mountain in the conditions that were present!

Fiber or lack there of
Lack there of, is more like it.  It’s taken me until yesterday to pick myself up and get back to a routine.  Knitting on a big project does not make for many interesting fibery pictures, but I promise you, the cable vest is coming off the needles this weekend…whoo~hoo!  Wanting to dive into that scrumptious brown silky wool is pushing me on, as I won’t start Hypotenuse until I finish the cable vest……so today will be a day of dyeing, working and knitting cables 🙂

Keep warm……..in my corner of the world it was -4 degrees when I got up…bbrrrr!

After I posted last Sunday morning, I did indeed drag my husband out for an afternoon of picture taking.  The day was a cold one, but so incredibly clear. 

We started our trek on the front-side of Mt. Washington, going thru Pinkham notch.  The temperature leaving my house was a balmy 25, but as we rode into the mountains the temperatures steadily dropped.  By the time we reached the backside of Mt. Washington in Crawford Notch, the temperature was a very cold 10 degrees and it was extremely windy, but still very clear.  (Can you believe how good the zoom on my little sony camera is?  That is the observatory on the top of the mountain!!)

Once out of the mountains and back into cell phone range, our afternoon took an unfortunate turn.  I received a frantic call from my oldest daughter.  It appeared that my middle daughter, Ashley’s, boyfriend was lost somewhere on Mt Lafayette in Franconia Notch and had already spent one night alone up there.  He had been hiking with 2 of his friends when they became separated in white out conditions at the summit.  A search and rescue command post had been set up at the base, so I grabbed some stuff and headed right back into the mountains.

By the time I reached Franconia, it was getting darker and still windy, so they called off the search for the day…it was too windy for the Helicopter to go to the back of the mountain, where his friends though he was.  I can not describe the feeling of despair we all felt, leaving the mountain, not knowing if Brian was alive and knowing that if he was he would have to spend another very cold night alone up there.

Brian is a VERY experienced winter hiker, who has completed some first responder courses thru an organization called SOLO.  (I am going to post more tomorrow about these responders).   Brian is also extremely levelheaded and very strong.  We knew that he had good equipment with him…that combined with his physical and mental abilities gave us hope, but man o man, it had been bitterly cold with the 100 mph wind gales, which put the wind chill temps at -60.

The despair that we had felt when we left the mountain and all throughout the night, was replaced with encouragement when we returned to the mountain early in the morning.  The outpouring of Search and Rescue responders was incredible.  Brian’s stepdad who is serving in Iraq with the National Guard and was able to make some contacts and a close family friend of ours who owns SOLO, along with the fabulous men of the NH Fish and Game Department kept in touch with us as to how the search was being organized and executed.  Slowly thruout the morning we got little pieces of encouragement.  His poles had been found and  a little later,his water containers.  We knew if nothing else, they were in the right area, now we were just praying that he would be found alive. 

Shortly after noon, we got the word that he had been found and was ok.  Absolutely amazing that this young man had not only survived 2 nights in the extreme weather conditions that were present, but came out with only a few spots of frostbite and very sore muscles from shivering.  I can not say enough thank you’s to the people who were praying for him and sending so much good karma in his directions and even more so to the men and woman who put their lives at risk to help find him. ~THANK~YOU!!!

Friday I told you how I love Winter, when it was a greyish day and the snow was still clinging to the branches.  This mornining when I went to let the dogs out, the brilliance of the sun reflecting off of the snow was stunning. 

Winter makes me feel alive.  Remember when you were a child and went outside to play when it was cold?  Your nostrils would stick together with each breath…..and the cold air would catch you in the throat.  Or when you came in from the cold, hanging your wet mittens up to dry, your cold toes were tingling from the inside heat and your cheeks red and rosy.  You may have been cold….but you surely felt alive!  I think I will drag my husband out for a ride in the valley today for some pictures of what January means to me…it’s such a beautiful morning!

A Little Fiber

Lest you think that this has ceased to be a fiber blog, I thought I would show you what’s been happening in the dye~pot. 

I am getting ready for the NETA Spa and the dyepots have been fired up again.  Because I dye my sock yarns once skein at a time, the going is slow….but it is fun to be at it again.

I have also been diligently working on my cabled vest and perhaps tonight while watching the football game (yay Pats!!), I can get the final front panel finished or close to it.  I’m still loving this knit!!

I Love Winter!!

A little while back, I mentioned how I had "hoe’d" the barn and cleaned out some of the clutter.

Well, this week I have started in on the house.   For the last 3 days, my house has been in shambles as I have been flushing out every corner and every basket that is in view….or hidden :-)….every book, pattern and magazine.

We have had to eat dinner these last few nights in the kitchen, as my dining room table is hosting this mess while I decide what goes where.  What gets packed away in my nice neat barn and what gets tossed.  As my husband was passing by the table, he picked up this basket of sock yarn and asked the questions…..  "Do you think you have a tendency to accumulate things?"

You know, I think he just may be on to something….LOL