A Blast of Color While Waiting for Spring

This one annoys me because the color transitions came out choppy.

I wanted to test out dyeing with PAAS Easter Egg dyes.
I bought a few packs on Easter clearance.

The dye blank looks very intestinal wrapped up in Saran wrap.

Quite pleased with the dye results.  Though, I toned it down with a coffee dyebath to cut the brightness.

The finished cowl matches the kitchen.

 And strangely reminds me of port wine spreadable cheddar cheese.

Some sewing, to round things out.

Sorry

I have been away from posting on this blog for several months.  I guess I got too busy with life to slow down and write about it.  Not much has changed.

Next weekend is Stitches West in Santa Clara, California.  I am going.  I love getting away from the Michigan winter for a few days of knitting, yarn and fiber love, and friends.  I will try and take a lot of pictures and notes so that I can bring the experience to the blogiverse.

See you soon!!!

Garden Summary

I thought I would do a quick summary of how the garden grew (or didn't) and spare the boring details.

What Worked:  German Paste Tomatoes,  Roma Tomatoes,  Black Beauty Eggplant,  Polish Dill Style Cukes,  Dill,  Cilantro,  Basil,  Grapes (though I don't know what do do with them-  they are seedy with tough skins)

What Failed:  Brandywine Tomatoes,  Broccoli,  Zucchini,  Summer Squash,  Pumpkins,  Blueberries

I am blaming the drought,  my late start with planting,  and having the irrigation turned on rather late.  Another thing I noticed is the wild apple trees didn't produce anything.

Thanks to the supplemented tomatoes from the farmer's market,  I was able to try canning sauce for the first time.

It wasn't as hard as I imagined,  though you have to be organized and keep everything sterilized.  I got one jar that had a traveling crack,  no explosions.

I tried some refrigerator pickles that came out pretty tasty.

On the knitting front, I started a new cardigan (about six times).  It is the Gnarled Oak  and it is a bitch to get the gauge right.  I think what I have going now will work....hopefully.  "Gnarly Man!!!"

Allegan Road Trip

Yesterday,  I loaded up the truck and my two knitting pals,  Kat and Jessica, and we hit the highway for the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan.  Jess baked and brought some tasty lemon squares and healthy snacks,  I brought candy and soda to balance things out.  We had a smooth trip with no mishaps,  just a pitstop at a Meijer for a tank top, sunglasses and hair clips -always accessorize.

This rooster marked the entrance to the fairgrounds.  Once I saw the rooster, I knew we were in for something special.  On the marquee we noticed that Kiss and Motley Crew were coming soon,  what a delightful combo.

Once inside the fairgrounds,  we were quickly consumed by the fiber/yarn fumes.  Seriously, check out this yarn.  What an assault of the senses.

Maybe we fell into this merino vortex.  It was a huge barrel of processed merino roving,  and it looked just wonderful.

Some vendor thought it was a good idea to sell a taxidermy coyote.  Just what everyone needs to complete their fiber studio  hallway.  I think I'll pass for now.

Bijoux Basin had some gorgeous bison/yak blended yarns.  Check out these jewel toned colors-  one of the benefits of the tents was being able to see how things looked in natural daylight.

The naturally dyed yarns were subtle, yet beautiful.

One vendor had some bast fibers (not sure what exactly).  They did some demos of how to smack the daylights out of it.  Fun and somewhat primitively scary.

I took a photo of these size 35 knitting needles.  They were HUGE!  I don't know how comfortable they would be for knitting,  I passed on those.

Check out this cutie.

This guy wore his white pants.  I think I got too close because at this point my camera quit working.  Perhaps some hay, or alpaca fiber jammed up the lens mechanism.

I got one sweet photo of Kat (before the camera mishap) holding some muted colored rovings.  I love her  soft muted palette.  I didn't get any Jess photos.  I guess I will just have to do another trip with her.

Here is a photo of my haul. Two pounds of merino for dyeing and spinning.  Four ounces of plummy polworth roving.  And a big book of Haapsalu Shawls.  It has great photos, history, and charts with all of those nupps.

I had a fibery blast.  Now to settle down with that kettle corn....

This Week in Photos

I made progress on my 'Waldo' striped shawlette.

I found a weak stitch in an Estonian test knit project.  I admit,  I almost cried.....again.  And then managed to wrangle together some reinforcement with duplicate stitch

I did some sitting at the state park beach, while daughter was at a class at the NMC library.

This goofy duck family owned the beach.  They walked up to beach blankets,  waddled into the surf,  and then got tangled up in somebody's lean-to style cabana.  I loved how they were fearless.

We had a campfire.  And cooked our dinner (brats) on sticks

My toasted marshmallow face.

Baking in This Heat?

Summer is here and we have been busy bees.  Jerry's mom came to visit,  which meant lots of cooking and eating.   Katherine wanted to show off her baking skills and we made the cinnamon rolls from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  They were gigundo.  There was a glaze that involved maple extract, confectioner's sugar, and little bit of coffee (or cawffee, if you're from NY).  I was so jealous of them (they were not gluten free) I could almost cry.

My garden is going good.  It seems a little slower than last year,  but that's okay.  I am trying pickle cukes this year.  I only got one so far.

I have a bunch of dill ready.  Come on cukes,  get growing!!!

I cranked out a zig zag pair of socks this week.  They were a fun pattern called Go With the Flow, that were engaging, yet not too complicated.  I loved how the colors morphed.

There was also a trippy part where you knit the heel flap heel then turn the sock inside out to complete the heel.

I took advantage of this gorgeous day to do a mini photo shoot at Boardman Lake,  behind the library.  There were kids having sailing lessons.  Check out my white legs!!!

Yarn Bombing

On Saturday,   I packed up some knitting, grabbed a daughter and some folding chairs, and headed downtown to World Wide Knit (and Crochet) in Public Day.  Steph and I parked ourselves and worked on some yarn bombs.

This is my big 'Kraken' yarn bomb.  My friend Lyn helped me install him in front of the bar where we knit on Friday nights.  He can be our batlight.

The heart bombs got divided between two locations.  Here's a tree with some of them.

We all agreed to knit letters to form an acronym banner.   That 'K' was a beast.

I cranked out i-cord for vines.  It ended up embellishing the above acronym banner.

Jane did some fabulous Alice in Wonderland themed yarn bombs.  I love the bunny.

Lyn made a supersized teacup.

On Sunday, Jerry bought me a Red Wing hockey gnome.  I am now a Red Wing fan.

I am so glad I participated.  That whole week was a freaking blur.  I am also glad that it is over for a while.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mothers Day!

To celebrate this day,  Mr. Soxchik rented the Merry Tiller to fix up Soxy Gardens.  

 As a bonus, the gang gifted me with a garden cart for the shire.  I was overjoyed!

           I am ready to plant but the sprinklers have to be turned on (plus I still have a fear of frost).

The gnomes are chomping at the bit.

On the knitting front, I have been test knitting some Estonian lace.  It is a beast, but once it is off the needles and blocked out, it is going to be a dazzler.

 I am also knitting up some yarn bombs.

This one is my favorite so far.

Enjoy your day, Moms!!!