Month: October 2020

Happy Fiber Friday

by T, posted in Uncategorized

Welcome to Fiber Friday! Ok maybe just for me and anyone who is following Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair on Facebook this year. https://saffsite.org/ Check out the Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissingSAFF

I discovered this a few days ago and I look forward to visiting in years to come. In the last two weeks, I’ve gone from no new hobbies!!! to extending out my current hobbies through the roof. I picked up my spinning wheel and picked up some gorgeous alpaca roving. I dyed with Jacquard dyes for the first time. It was a learning lesson for sure and the dye the yarn did soak up looked great.

I spun up some white wool years ago. I added this to a bobbin of merino/nylon mix and grey alpaca. I dyed the single white wools separately in Jacquard 608 Pink Acid Dye.

I then hung it for a few days. I plyed the three together rather quickly and wrapped them around the knitty noddy. I washed it gently with warm water and Dawn dish soap. The fun part was thwacking it against the kitchen counter.

Now I’m knitting up a cowl for my coworker. I’m thinking about dyeing over it again more pink but we shall see.

In between all that, I brought my husband and kids to a local farm to purchase my first fleece. Technically it’s not a new hobby but I also ordered a hackle and comb set to be able to prepare said fleece.

Arbormeadow Sheep Farm raises Coopworth Sheep in Steele’s Tavern, Va. It’s a georgous area and we got to walk around and talk to the owners. I purchased a lovely natural fleece and immediately went home to clean it (Dawn plus hot hot water. We ever so gently placed the fleece in said water.) Rinse it (Same thing but no Dawn dish soap) and placed it on an old screen door to dry. It was a lot of work but I had a few helpers.

So that’s where I am. I may be a touch over my head but I love it.

Baby Knitting

by T, posted in Uncategorized

My friend recently had a baby after many, many attempts at IVF. It’s her miracle baby. Unfortunately she didn’t find out the sex until after birth so I’ve had to rush knit. Here are my favorites!

Ten Years

by T, posted in Uncategorized

I’m a little late but it’s been over ten years since I started this. So much has changed but a few things changed.

10 major life changes:

1. Master’s degree & CPA

2. Left Florida moved to Virginia

3. Lost IVF baby

4. Adopted 3 lively children

5. Left government job, started higher ed job, left higher ed job, started higher ed job

6. Sold a house, bought a house, bought a house, sold a house

7. Lost Mom, Lost stepfather (prior to ten years, lost dad)

9. Got spinning wheel (thanks mom), continually restart spinning

10. Picked up cross stitch- mom’s first craft

Another Year, More Hobbies

by T, posted in Uncategorized

I cannot believe it has once again been over a year and a half since my last post. I had knit a whole baby blanket and posted the simple pattern in February of 2019. At that point, I was still home on leave after surgery. I returned to work shortly after and was back in the whorl wind of catching up at work, dealing with the kinds and then before I even knew what hit me, we were moving to Virginia.

Our family of 5 picked up and moved from Southwest Florida to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. It was hard but it is definitely worth it. So we had a medical crisis with our oldest, moved, started a new job, bought a house, started a new school, sold a house, had a wreck via deer, had a violent tragic loss of a family member followed immediately by a global pandemic.

How am I holding on? On a whim, I bought a sewing machine. I picked up quilting. I took a quilting class. I forgot how to quilt. I got chickens. I raised chicks from 1 day old. I started a massive garden. I got camping everything and we started camping. I picked up cross stitch. I made tons of projects. I researched backpacking. I planned a 5 day backpacking trip. I called my husband to pick me up less than 24 hours after starting said trip. I got a camper. I knit three sweaters, a blanket, a baby dress, five pumpkin hats and another blanket. I got a popup camper and redecorated and sewed some covers and decorations. The camper broke and now I’m waiting for our appointment to fix it. I got alpaca and picked up spinning again. I started researching carding wool. I may be unraveling but I certainly have the equipment to spin myself back together.

I ready this article and oh boy- if they thought 2016 was one hell of a year, I wonder what they are thinking right now!

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/why-knitting-is-the-best-form-of-mindful-meditation-240240

I’ve been thinking a lot about this rampant running through hobbies that I have been doing and why it is that I always return to knitting. In the most challenging times of my life, I could be found working on a blanket. I think this is because certain projects are mindless (moss stitch or K5 P5 are my favorite blanket stitches) but meditative. It was my bodies way of calming the mind down. I can’t just sit and meditative because I get antsy and start fidgeting if I don’t full blown get up and walk away. I’m trying to pick up on meditation again and I find it easier if I’m doing something, like taking a walk or knitting. I actually found some youtube knitting meditation videos that are great. I find my daughter does the same thing. She was in the middle of her behavioral therapy online and was twisting the belt of her dress to the point where it was going to rip. I got up, found a few lengths of yarn and tied it to the desk. It did the trick.

I don’t have any magic words except this time is stressful for all of us. I am so grateful to have these crafts and to continue to learn and practice.