Pumpkins!!!

I invited middle child, Alex, over for dinner (he lives on campus at SUNY Potsdam) with his girlfriend, Victoria and they promised to carve for food!!! YAY! I am not much of a carver and it is fun to see what they come up with! Victoria insists she can't carve either but the boys just laugh at her and she came up with demonic eyes and a wide smile on hers! Too funny...and Alex came up with the scary pirate and Noah with...hmmm...tooth monster! So they earned their dinner then Alex and Victoria went back to school! I miss having my kids around, the pushing and shoving and playing that boys seem to love! "Someone is going to get hurt!!" Sort of bittersweet to see them so grown up!

So even though we don't get any trick or treaters we are ready to scare away bad spirits at our house!

Happy Friday, everyone! xo

A Dyeing Day!!

Well, a new friend came over on Monday and we dyed all day!! I got ready the day before, winding skeins from my naturals stash, laying out all the jars (some of which had to be washed from the last time and I'm not going to tell you how long ago that was!) and all the dyes and the plastic wrap, gloves, measuring spoons, soda ash for setting the dye and urea for mixing the dyes. Oh, did I mention that my Noah actually cleaned my workroom so I could get two people in it? :) (He did that so I wouldn't move everything downstairs to the playroom and make a mess that his friends might see!!!!) :D I have big pieces of plywood covered in heavy plastic set up on tables so we didn't make too much mess. After the actual dyeing we rolled each skein up in plastic wrap and put it in a bucket to set for 24 hours. Then rinse---an rinse, and rinse, etc. on and off all day. Right now I'm ready to hang the skeins up to dry (even though it is raining AGAIN!) and will take more pictures!


I really had a wonderful day and it was so much more fun with Sue! Thanks for bidding on and winning the dyeing day, Sue!!!

Happy Wednesday!! xo

New Triangle Scarves

Finished two warm triangle scarves and have to take more pictures before I load them onto Etsy! These two are not as dressy as the other ones I have done--they are thick and warm and yummy, I think!! I haven't had time to do more triangle work though I have a class to teach on this in early November--maybe I will bring one to work on while I teach because I hate to have nothing to do!!!!

Just finished a dyeing day with a woman who won this in an auction to benefit out local arts council in Potsdam, NY. We dyed many, many threads which I had made up into skeins and soaked in soda ash for 1/2 hr or so. She also brought a length of cotton which we soaked and put in the middle of the table and we used it to mop up spills and she will use it to make confetti quilts! I don't know how she will do it but I want to see the end result! She has promised to come back in a couple of days when she has rinsed and dried her piece and I will take pictures of my threads when they are finished "cooking" in plastic wrap!

It was a wonderful day spent with another fiber person and on top of that I got a lot done! Have a happy Monday, everyone!!

Chocolate!!! Well, Sort of!!

Well, what I thought was chocolate colored rayon boucle and rayon slub was actually cordovan and has a somewhat purple cast to it but I like it anyway and it has the most marvelous drape! Haven't loaded it onto Etsy yet and I'm finding that my right hand and wrist is getting numb from all the mouse work...hmmm. I'm so addicted to Etsy...maybe a pillow under my wrist will help!! Gary says to take vitamin B6 so I took one...hate taking pills but maybe I'll take another one... :) Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this scarf, and have two more to go as well as cuffs! And I took off the cuffs from the "neutral" scarf (renamed Frosted Garden) and have to wash them before I photograph. My model, Katie, should be back from her trip today!! YAY!! I miss her.

I found a riding buddy last week!! I'm really happy about this because she is older (NOT older than me!! I'm older than dirt!!) and she loves Duke (how could you not!!). And next week we are both having my trainer come over for a lesson! The horses will go into shock, I know, but it is good for them!! I've been riding Dommie more and as he has gotten more in shape he has become a bit of a handful and he wants to run free in the fields when I think a trot is just fine! But at least he is forward and it's been a lot of fun with my new buddy, Anne!!!

Have a wonderful evening!

xo

My "Neutral" Scarf!!

Finished the scarf!! AND got it photographed and loaded on Etsy!! Quite a productive day because I also wove 4 cuffs on the green warp. I know, I know, this is green, too...sigh...The other warp is greenER. AND I'm thinking about CHOCOLATE!! A scarf, not the candy...though candy would be good, too...My chocolate hat has inspired me and I'm off to see if I can find enough threads!!!

Hope everyone is having a creative, wonderful day!!

xo

Winding on my "Neutrals" Scarf!!

From the warp pile on the chair (which has been carefully taken off and daisy-chained from the warping mill) I bring the warp up and over the loom and wind it onto the back beam with paper keeping the threads from sinking into each other and spoiling the tension.

The warp below is wound enough and hanging from sticks, ready to thread.

Then I sit in front of the loom and pull each individual thread through the heddles in the order I previously prepared on the warping mill and then through the reed. Once that is complete I tie it onto a bar attached to the front beam and I'm ready to weave!!

I am working at weaving neutrals but as you can see I keep slipping into color!! I think, though, that I don't really have very much in the way of neutral threads so I will have to remedy that! I already have the first scarf off and ready to photograph! I have to idea if this even makes any sense to anyone!!! :)

xo

New threads for a new scarf!!

Just finished making the warp for 4 more scarves--I tried for neutrals but I seem to quickly revert back to my greens and purples! sigh...At the end of the month I will be dyeing with a woman who won a day with me (my way of giving back to the local arts council) and I will try very hard to round out my stash of dyed threads! I just got a shipment from Henry's Attic which sells wholesale and is based in NY state. They only sell natural colored thread which I then dye. I'll try to take pictures of my natural stash tomorrow. Meanwhile I'm off to weave!!

Happy Friday, Everyone!!!!

xo

More Horse Stuff...

Dommie didn't want to stop eating for his photo yesterday...but Duke wanted to sniff the camera and followed me all over the field while I tried to get his portrait! And I managed to sneak in a picture of Gary after he planted his garlic for next year! We originally bought Duke for a companion horse for Dom and for Gary to ride (a husband horse) but he has only ridden him twice in 1 1/2 years...so I am always trying to find a kind person to exercise him! He is very good, however, about being left behind and calmly stands in his stall waiting for us to come back...he doesn't have a lot of drama in him, which is wonderful!!

Riding is my outlet and a dream of mine since I was little--I didn't start taking lessons until I was in my 40s and then had to deal with the fear factor. But I have come a long way--I love dressage and trail riding (Dommie likes trail riding better than dressage!) and try to ride whenever the weather and/or bugs permit!! Horses were the bribe my husband used to get me out of our lovely home in the Village of Potsdam and into the boonies to a wreck of a farmhouse which we have been renovating for the past 15 years!! But life here is good and I am doing what I love to do!!

Happy Wednesday!!

xo

The Farm

It's a bit of a chilly day and very windy. We had to put a new section on my cookstove chimney this morning (I used the term "we" very loosely!). So the two of them went out the window overlooking the porch in front and Noah convinced his Dad that he was a little more agile than the "old people" so he went up to the heights. I climbed out the bedroom dormer window in the back onto the flat roof (I'm much safer there) and had the cell phone dialed 91 just waiting. But it was so beautiful up there that I started taking pictures out back. We don't have much in the way of color yet but it's still beautiful to me!!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!!!

xo

Chocolate Hat!

I just finished knitting this hat (bottom picture) last night watching Project Runway, of course!! ;) and felted it in the washer today. Actually it is still slightly damp now but the felting went rather quickly for once!! Usually I stand by the washer and wring out the hat a million times trying it on over and over until it is the size I want. This time I was waiting for a treasury on Etsy and when I got my treasury I checked on the hat and it was done! Amazing process really! The colors in the band don't show as much as I would like but it is a beautiful hat with a wide brim and I think very flattering!!

Happy Friday, Everyone!! xo

New Scarf Warp in Greens

New scarf in the making! Though I still have to weave off the rest of the towels to free up a loom because the other loom has pink scarves and my big loom has fabric in reds which will take me a while!! But I make warps when the spirit moves me and just tie them, chain them, and put them on the loom when I can! And who can resist pumpkins!! Gary grew these and if I can get Alex home and keep Noah home for Halloween they can carve them! My Adam was a genius carving pumpkins but he is in Hawaii for a couple more years! sigh... We are finally having a beautiful, sunny, breezy day and I might find the time to ride this afternoon!

Ahhh, the triangle scarf is done!! YAY! And it's already sold, packaged up and will be mailed out tomorrow! I was hoping for my model, Katie, this morning but she can't come until Wednesday so I had to use my stand for the photos. I have 6 or 7 cuffs to photograph, too, and load onto Etsy so we will be busy on Wednesday! And if I'm lucky she will be in the riding mood!! Hugs to all!!

The Horse Show

I couldn't resist posting these pictures! These two girls went head to head all through the competition until finally the jumps were raised sooo high the last picture shows it all! He thought "NO WAY" And what a seat this girl had! I would have gone over the jump without the horse! :) It was so much fun to watch even though I was working taking notes about which jump they did, etc. We had a blast and it wasn't raining! YAY!!! Now I have to finish my pink triangle scarf because it is sold and not done! Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!!!! xo

New Triangle Scarf

I'm working on a pink (mostly) triangle scarf which I started the other day...I will probably have it off tomorrow night but I also have to go to a horse show during the day and be a scribe! It is a jumping show and I do not jump nor do I have a trailer for my horses but it's fun to watch and those kids are braver than I am! I'm hoping to catch up with Katie, my model, there and see if she can come over for photographing some time during the next week! I need her wrist and her neck!!! :) Hope everyone has a happy Sunday!! We are supposed to have sun! YAY! xo