03.29.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 6:47 am by Lynette
For most bloggers, knitting bloggers that is, Friday is considered ‘Eye Candy’. This means you take a photo of something really stunning and post. There are several reasons for this. One is we need to use those expensive digital cameras we all purchased. Another is we (insert I) have problems comming up with blogs every day. My life is pretty routine and Eye Candy Friday gives me a free pass as it were. It also requires me to actually ‘do’ something in the week for show and tell.
So here you go, this is the new dye color this week. I am trying out the new Ashford Dyes we will be putting up on our Internet Store, Connected by a Thread, and am very impressed. The colors are bright and vibrant. I was shooting for a confetti look to this sock yarn and I am sure when it is knit up into socks it will look just like a ticker tape parade. I saw a Ticker Tape parade when I was 12, it was in Ohio for the National Soap Box Derby.
I really want to call it Crayon box but I don’t want to get in trouble with the copywrite police. Here are some of the other considerations for names: Box of Six, Color Box, Primary Melt. I really want to come up with something unique and interesting but, apparently, my unique and interesting mind is not working today. Maybe it was those two donuts I had for breakfast. But wait…how about Ticker Tape? I like it….
Hmmmm…..enjoy your weekend!
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03.27.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 10:41 am by Lynette
As promised in the previous blog, here is the photo of the
completed Country Girl socks. I’m very pleased with this colorway, it turned out exactly how I wanted. It reminds me of NECO candies.
We awoke today on the Pacific Northwest Coast to high winds and rain. In fact the electricity was out for about 30 minutes and thanks go out to those Pacific Power guys who fixed it so quickly. But with this weather I figured it would be Chicken Noodle Soup, salad and rolls for dinner. When the electric went out my plans to grind some fresh wheat flour went out the window (or blew away!). Instead I opted for the Big Soft Pretzel recipe I’ve perfected over the years.
Can’t you just smell them? See the seam rising up? Yum! There isn’t anything better than having the kids come home from school to the smell of fresh bread! I makes me feel like I actually accomplished something today.
Speaking of accomplishing something, here is the photo of the latest scarf to come off the Ashford Knitters Loom. 
Now I know I said I would not weave. I remember saying it SEVERAL times. But this is really too fun. The yarn used is Cascade 220 to warp and an Opal to weave. I like how the self-patterning sock yarn makes a random stripe pattern. After washing and pressing it feels very nice. I am so impressed with myself, but I am not weaving!
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03.26.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 8:13 am by Lynette
Click here to see our wild ride at the Snowblast park. The laughing is my husband. The feet are mine!
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03.23.07
Posted in Knitting at 9:23 am by Lynette
A while back I remember posting that I would show the process I go through to hand paint self patterning yarn. I’ve been dying yarn for about a year and have almost completely converted to using my own product in my socks. I still have a few skeins of commercial yarn to finish up though.
The process actually covers about 3 days. The first day I measure the skeins then the’re wound on the peg board. I didn’t take a photo of that, it is kind of boring. Next is the dying and wraping using plastic wrap to keep all those mini skeins separate. I’ve decided I should purchase stock in cling wrap. I use a lot! After that is the steaming for 40 minutes to set the dye.
Here you go, three skeins of dyed, wrapped and steamed yarn.
Next they have to be unwrapped, rinsed and spun in the washer to remove as much water as possible. Then they are hung, in this case, in my sunroom to dry.
In the winter they hang in front of the Monitor Heater and usually dry over night this completed the 2nd day of the process.
Up until now I’ve kind of enjoyed the process. But next comes the really tedious part, for me at least; the unwinding. You see the yarn, after drying, has to be put back on the winding board and unwound into a skein. Usually I can do a skein in about 15 minutes. I put in a good movie, cross my fingers and hope that I didn’t get any knots during the previous steps.
This is also the time I finally get to see what it might possibly look like when knit up. I really don’t have a specific formula when I dye yarn but I do a test skein before I actually dye the lot of 10 skeins. I keep a detailed dye sheet on each colorway so I can reproduce it. After several months of doing this I have learned what will work and how it will look when knit, but it is always a surprise to see how a new skein will look.
My DH makes these winding boards by the way. They cost $20. If you are interested email me here and I’ll send the specifics to you.
After trudging through the unwinding process I rewind it into a ball so I can use it to make socks or skein for sale.
Here is the finished ball of Country Girl Yarn.
You really cannot truly see the finished patterning in any of these processes. I really don’t know how the yarn will knit up until I make a pair of socks. So, tomorrow, the finished socks.
Sure, this is a long process. There are many steps but I do enjoy most of them. As in most hand created items, the general public is usually not aware of the time and effort that goes into, in this case, one skein of yarn. So the next time you purchase a skein of hand paint yarn at your LYS, realize you are buying a work of art. In my case, each skein is individual, a unique item and I sell them for $18.00.
Since spring is officially here, I’m in the process of dying new colors. You can visit here to see what is completed. More to come.
If you would like to take a class from me and learn how to dye your own self-patterning yarn, the class will be offered at the Shaniko Wool Gathering in September. Registration will start on April 1st.
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03.17.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 10:00 am by Lynette
We’ve left the flatlands to take a weekend trip to Sun River Oregon. 
The reason for the trip is snow. A couple of years ago we discovered that Mt. Batchelor has this wonderful tubing activity that is sponsored by the Portland FOX station. On the way we saw Mt. Shasta. Usually this mountain is shrouded in clouds and fog but on Friday it was a beautiful sunny day and we got our first sight of snow.
After a 6 hour drive that was very uneventful, 3 naps, 1 stop for lunch and a stop for a rootbeer float at A & W in LaPine we arrived, opened the doors to the truck and stepped out into……………..75 degree weather! What the heck? This is suppose to be winter. What about all those ski clothes, snow boots, bennies, gloves and wool socks? As two very young and cute 13 year old girls walked by us (scouting out my 11 year old son who looks 13). They were wearing flip flops, shorts and tank tops. I thought…we’re in trouble. We have no shorts or tank tops.
But we got up this morning and found frost on the golf course. So the DH and kids dressed and are gone to the snow park for the day. I sit here at the condo because this is a bad lung day for me. I woke up at 5:30 with a coughing fit and realized today would be a down day. That is OK, I know tomorrow will be better and we’ll all go and have fun. 
Here is a photo of the kids before they left. Can you see what is wrong with this picture? No Snow and sunshine in the background. But they look very cool….don’t you think?
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03.15.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 1:43 pm by Lynette
I find there are days, more than not, that I buzz through life not really looking at my kids. 
Not really paying attention to the little things like freckles, dimples, blue eyes and curly hair (other than when we are trying to brush it!)
Yesterday my youngest was sitting next to me and caught my attention. I grabbed tha camera and took these 3 pictures. She is growing up so quickly. Since she is the youngest of 4 I will always think of her as the ’smallest’. But she is turning into a beautiful young lady who still likes to play with Barbies, tea sets and sleeps with a bed full of stuffed animals.
We used to call her ‘mini me’ because she looked just like me. Other than the curly hair, we look nothing alike. How quickly the past 9 years have gone. I’m glad I took the time to get these images.
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03.13.07
Posted in Knitting at 8:45 am by Lynette
Have you visited the web store yet? 
This is the new item listed this past week. Socks in every size in the Forget-Me-Not colorway.
Here is a picture of my Forget-Me-Not flowers.
I’m flurting with disaster these days. I purchased a 1 lb cone of Colombia Wool with the thought of making socks on my LeGeare circular sock machine. You see I am vending at the Shaniko Wool Gathering in September and thought it would be a nice touch to actually have some socks made from the authentic wool that was sheared from the sheep bred for that area. But when I received it I find it’s very loosley spun and pulls apart easily. So I’ve scrapped that idea and have gone on to knitting a simple vest using two strands. After it’s completed I will wash the heck out of it to get it to full/felt a bit.
How am I knitting with disaster? 
I am not following a pattern and I’ve blindly cast on 150 stitches knitting on my size 6 needles. I don’t even know if this will go around my middle (which is 51 years old!). So today I’m actually going to measure it and see. Worst case senario, I will have a nice jade plant cozy! If you’re not 51 you probably don’t understand the sweaty palm fear that a tape measure can cause. This may require some yoga before I actually pull out the measuring tape.
Ok, Ok, I went ahead and measured and it is about 2″ short of my middle. That is good because I was going to knit a separate cable edging to go along the fronts and this will work out great! Sometimes I even amaze myself.
Here is what it currently looks like. Yes, it is a nice gray but I am also flurting with the idea of dying the completed vest a nice navy or perhaps a light brown. There are some purists out there that think the wool needs to stay in it’s natural form, gray in this case. But I don’t really like gray and I don’t think I look good in it. My complexion is, to quote my dear husband, the color of boiled chicken. My argument that pale skin in the 1900’s was a sign of wealth goes over his head. In any event, I’ll decide upon the dye job when the vest is complete. I’m leaning toward Navy.
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03.11.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 1:21 pm by Lynette
This weekend, this beautiful sunshiny 
weekend where the temperature is 80 degrees in the sunroom I am slogging through my laundry room. After repairing a leak in the cealing, the DH, trooper that he is (actually he really had no choice but to do it) climed the ladder and put up accostical tiles. Half way through the job he had an AH -HA moment. He was doing it wrong and found, when he followed the directions written on the box, that there was a better and easier way. Now it is my turn. 
Painting the laundry room, 2 coats and all the ‘cut in’ work and my shoulders and hands are on fire. But it will be complete today, we’ll make the trip to Home-Boy depot and get indoor/outdoor carpet and we’ll be it will be finished.
In fact we will be so done, except for a few clean up, touch ups and a wiring of the cealing light, that I just may call the realtor next week to come a take photos and listing information. Of course I cannot actually have her list it until the following Tuesday. We’re going on a well-deserved mini vacation to Mt. Batchelor. We’ve asked the older boy come home next weekend to ‘baby sit’ the dog and cats and to watch over stuff. I’ve informed him he is to have no parties, and leave the house like he finds it. I’ll be just a little bit concerned.
I’ve reconciled myself to the fact that there will be no crowd of people standing in our driveway applauding our accomplishments over the past 5 weeks, no TV crew filming the improvements we’ve done, no kudos from anyone but we know the changes are many. I’ve had to accept that some things will not get done. That I cannot sweat the small stuff like the 
10 foot pile of brush piled at the back of the property; the tractor tracks left from the septic guy; the unpainted shed and the weeds in the front flower bed.
We’ve spend more money on this ‘clean up’ than we wanted to. There have been times I’ve been far too concerned by the small stuff like the fact all the electrical outlets the DH put in are recessed and the sunny side of the house is missing the final coat of paint. But everyone has been troopers. The kids have pitched in and the older daughter motivated me to get alot done.
I’ve said all along I didn’t care if the house sold. My theory is I’ve got everything done I wanted repaired/completed for the past 17 years. But I will be very discouraged if we get no traffic to look at it. I think it is a great price, in a wonderful area on a private road with 1/4th of the acre in forest. 
I guess we’ll just have to see.
So this week I have to finish up a few things and I can get back to the business at hand. Making my 1900’s costume and knitting some socks. Oh yes, I guess I should pack for the snow. Sometimes vacations are more work than they are rest.
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03.09.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 6:51 am by Lynette
Say Hi to Gem. She was born last week at Riyescott Ranch and is just too cute. What you can’t see is her white tail. Lambing is almost over for my friend and that is a good thing because we need to get on to bigger and better tasks like…
* Getting our booth design set up. We are vending this year at the Azalea Festival, Black Sheep, Shaniko Wool Gathering, 2 Holiday Bazaars and a Ren Festival. These are all multi day events and we need to get a feel for how the set-up will go.
* Start working on our attire. We have decided to dress in era appropriate attire. Our era is the early 1900’s. This was a time for transition for both England (where Linda is from) and the U.S. With WWI coming and all the changes that brought, the early 1900’s are kind of lost in the historical re-enactment thing. So I’ve been watching a PBS series called 1900’s house. If you’ve not seen it I suggest you get it from Net Flix. It is very interesting and really gives you an idea just how difficult it was to be a woman back then,.
* Continue with the sock, yarn dying. Today is actually dying day for me. I will add a post to this blog tomorrow showing the steps I go through to dye yarn. There are many but, as we all know, good things take time.
* Continue inserting products onto the Web Store. If you’ve not visited our new web store, please stop by and check us out at www.connectedbyathread.com.
In fact here is a challange for all you blog buddies. Visit the store sometime between now and Sunday midnight, email me at joylyn@charter.net and tell a name of a pair of Wool Socks. I will put all the names of the emailers in a drawing and choose one person on Monday morning. That lucky person will receive a pair of my hand crafted socks for FREE. Such a deal.
Well I’m off to get the kids up for school. Here is one final picture of Whoopie and her baby. Why is her name Whoppie….you should see her before she is sheared!
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03.07.07
Posted in Redwood Living at 7:09 pm by Lynette
Today started early with me driving up to Brookings for a Webfoot Weavers Guild meeting. It was a very busy meeting that went way too long but we accomplished a lot of business. The real reason for driving up to Brookings was to look at houses. I have to do the ‘pre look’ house looking in our family. I don’t dare take the husband to house hunt until I’ve found something he would remotely live in.
Well it wasn’t pretty. I am sorry to say there really isn’t anything out there in our price range that…
1. Was built after 1970
2. Has a floor that is level
3. Has bathroom fixtures that aren’t turquoise or pink
4. Has windows that will actually keep a winter storm out
5. Is not located next to billy bob and the hunting dog population of the Pacific Northwest. (apologies to any billy bobs out there!)
So I then went to plan B. Plan B is a new manufactured home on a lot or some property. This is a more feasible possibility because we can get a home, set up, with a 2 car garage and 1800+ sq ft. for around $150,000. So now I’m looking for that piece of property/lot will run about $100,000. I’m not sure how lucky I’ll be but at least I feel this is the direction we are going.
* * * * * *
Have I mentioned I got a new camera? My Minolta bit the dust, actually I dropped it and it broke. So I purchased a Kodak Easy Share. An alright camera but when you’ve had prime rib, who wants to eat hamburger? I researched and bought a Cannon Powershot. It didn’t cost as much as the Minolta but it is much better than the Easy Share. How much better? I give you my trip home.
It has just stopped raining and I’m shooting toward the ocean. Can you see them?
How about now?
Not yet….How about this one?
There they are, a flock of Aleutian Geese. The migration has started and Del Norte County is one of the stops along the way. We have a Geese festival and if you are adventurous and get up really really early, like 4 am you can stand on the beach and see thousands (or at least hundreds) of these beautiful birds take off from Castle Rock.
Finally here is the zoom…..
I love my new camera.
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