Inglenook Day 7

Inglenook Day 6

 I'm halfway done spinning......

 ....here's what day 6 looks like spun

Yesterday Bailey was getting tired of me taking pictures of fiber and the wheel and not him, he was happy finally getting all the attention. He's got a new Buster in his mouth.....a stuffed golden retriever that's almost as big as he is.......old Buster is in the mortuary. Bailey doesn't kill his babies but does constantly have them in his mouth so a favorite such as Buster eventually is pretty thread bare.

Inglenook Day 5

 Day 5 spinning done early this morning...…..

….turning towards a golden brown...….so far the colors are not what

 I envisioned from the graphic the fibers are based on...….but they're still lovely.

Inglenook Day 4

Day 4 of the spin-a-long

Here it is spun up on my electric wheel

Spinning has commenced.....

 I started spinning the Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas spin-a-long fiber. Day 1 is very black with bit of color...….

 …..Day 2 has the same bits of color but is a charcoal gray...…

…...Day 3 is moving into the greens...….

Day 4 spinning will have to wait until tomorrow as I can't/shouldn't open up that packet before day 4 is actually here......well, I could as no fiber police are going to come and lock me up but I'll keep with the program and open and spin only one packet a day. 

Inglenook Day 3

Here's Day 3 of the Inglenook Fibers Spin-a-long. I may start spinning today as I've come up with a plan.  I'll take a little bit of each piece of roving and mix it with the next days to make a smoother transition although the transition is looking pretty smooth right now.

Inglenook Day 2

Day 2 of Inglenook Fibers Spin-a-long......still going to wait for a few more days to see what the color progression looks like to decide how I want to spin this.

Inglenook Day 1

This was the inspiration for Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas Spin-a-long for this year.

And here is Day 1 - today, Christmas Day.  I'm not going to start spinning it yet as I want to see a few of the packages and the progression of the colors so I can come up with a spinning plan. This will be great fun.

Happy Holidays

Happy  Holidays from my home to yours

Festive.....

Festive wear for dog walking. I knit the rolled brim hat a couple years ago but never wore it because I wasn't sure if I'd gift it or keep it. I decided I needed some mittens to match so I found some red wools in my that matched pretty good. I'll wear this set on morning walks when I'm in a red mood as opposed to the purple mood. Tomorrow morning will definitely be red as it seems very festive.

Nesting

Today was a much needed day of nesting here at home. The only time I left the house was when we took Bailey for a walk this morning. Have I said how much I love this neighborhood for walking? It's the best. There are some hills but they're good for us.......

I sewed up some valances for my studio spaces. Here in the weaving room I made a short little valance from cute llama fabric from my stash. The fabric makes me smile. Yes, that's a ladder in front of 'Rose Lane' on the side yard..........we've got to find a place for it so I don't have to see it out my window.

Here's the sewing room valance - it's hard to see in the picture but the fabric is a print of thread spools, also from my stash. Really tough to see but there is a cow out the window.

And I couldn't stop sewing so I made covers for my 3 sewing machines (the ones that stay out). For the back machine, the serger, I used the same spool fabric as the valance. The front two machines are in a graphic lettering fabric, also from my stash. The left machine is the little Brother embroidery machine - when I need the Bernina serger I just change places with it. The machine on the right is my Bernina regular machine. I did hang a couple of things........maybe tomorrow I can hang the rest of the 'stuff' for the weaving and sewing rooms and gradually move into the rest of the house. It's about time to get artwork on the walls instead of them leaning against the walls.

Mittens

I decided I needed a pair of mittens for when walking Bailey. I have a knit rolled edge cap I wear that's in shades of purple so I checked my stash for a matching wool - yep, that huge stash had exactly the right color. Instructions were a bit of a challenge but then what is one to expect from a free pattern - in the end I figured them out.  Next up is to make a pair in reds to go with a red handknit cap I've got - those will have a bit longer ribbed section and maybe a stripe or two.

Holiday Cheer

 I wasn't sure if I'd sign up for the Inglenook Fibers 12 Days of Christmas spin-a-long again but I did. My box arrived a bit over a week ago filled with these fun paper packages of fiber numbered with each day. Spinning commences on Christmas Day. The inspiration for this years fiber is the cat graphic so it's looking like some beautiful neutrals. What I can't decide is if I should spin them in order like I have the past 2 years, spin them as mini skeins, or just open one each day and after I see the entire grouping decide if they get spun in order or if I mix them up. I still have plenty of time to decide. It is tough not to sneak a look but I'll wait until Christmas morning along with everyone else.

I know I've posted my inkling tree in the past but thought I'd post it again. It all started with an article in Handwoven many years ago with directions showing a handful of ideas.  Well, I took off and had so much fun over the years with this. They have been gifted to family and a handful of friends over the years. I took a couple breaks, haven't made any since 2015.......but I've got an idea, if I can pull it off there will be 2 new inklings for the 2019 holiday season.  Here's a list of what I've made so far, many years I made 2 of them.

1996 - Santa and Angel

1998 - Native American and Mexican Cha Cha

1999 - Flower Child and Mother Earth

2000 - Flying Nun and Briggatine Monk (nun one of my favs)

2001 - Clown and 2001 A Weaving Odyssey (based on our nw conference of that name)

2002 - Uncle Sam and Knitter

2003 - Geisha and Samurai (2 of my all time favorites)

2004 - Wendy Weaver and  Spinster Sue

2005 - Merlin the Wizard and Eskimo Pie

2006 - Pumpkin Pie Me Oh My and Frosty

2012 - She Sells Sea Shells

2013 - Bee Happy Honey

2014 - Amish Amy the Quilter

2015 - Lahela (Sheep's Friend) Mele Kalikimaka

Hanging in there.........

I am still here although I haven't been posting.  There has been so much going on and so much of my time consumed with things that are not creative at all. Hopefully I will soon be spending time in the studio again.

We actually decorated this year, we haven't done anything for 10 years other than put a swag down on our gate at the old house. This year, in the new house, we actually have outdoor lights - that's a first, ever. The porch still needs something other than my wreath......maybe next year.  There are 6 trees up in the house - the big one, 3 small northwoods style trees that have all sheep/fiber related ornaments on them, a table top tree with my inklings and a tiny miniature tree. Stockings are hung by the chimney with care. It's looking very festive for the holidays.......for a change. 

The dolls above were made by my grandmother. I must have been in the 3rd or 4th grade so they're around 55 years old. I remember sitting at her dining room table watching her hand sew the clothing. The women's outfits are complete with petticoats and lace bloomers, cameos at their necks and not in view from this angle are gem baubles on their hats. That left muff is real mink. The man's outfit is all wool. I treasure these dolls and hopefully one day when I'm gone someone else in the family will treasure them. There were several sets made for my mother and aunts so there are others floating around the family - mine were my grandmother's set.

We did sell our old house - closed escrow on Nov 30th. What a sigh of relief not to go into the winter worrying about that house. We hadn't expected to own it for so long after buying this one but the fires this summer put a damper on houses moving in the area. I hope the new owners love living there, it is a beautiful house and piece of property. Now that we've sold it we can start thinking about some remodeling here at the new house....sometime after the holidays A new kitchen is in order, appliances are newer so those are fine but new cabinets, countertops, sink, backsplash are on the to-do list. Then a new gas fireplace which entails removal of marble tile and new tile and a different mantle. Some new lighting......which I've been looking for already but just haven't found exactly what I want. There are more things we want to do here but these are the first on the list.

Another issue taking up time was health related. An area of my breast with radial scarring found during a routine mammogram, followed by a core needle biopsy (yuck) and then a lumpectomy just 2 weeks ago. In the end all is fine, no cancer found, but still un-nerving. I can't say how impressed I was with my nurse navigator and my surgeon, not to mention how caring everyone was at the hospital. They all made, what for me, was a stressful situation so much easier. Man, am I glad that's over. Once those steri-strips fall off the incision I'll really consider it over.

Now I'm working like a mad person trying to play catch up with getting gifts together. I am so behind this year. This entire year has been consumed by not so fun or creative things - I'm determined next year will be better and I'll be spending much of my time in the studio. 

Off to Santa's workshop to finish up some small gifts.........