Another Christmas Present

I guess I need to post something that I made just to prove that I DO actually build things once in awhile! This is the doll bed I made for our middle Granddaughter, Lily. I made it out of 4/4 and 8/4 butternut and even turned the spindles myself on the mini lathe. It's approximately 15"x27" and while it's made for her dollies, SHE was the first "sleeper" to get into it! I wish I had managed to get a shot of her laying in it since her legs were draped over the foot board! (This is the reason I tried to build this bed strong enough to park a truck on!)

Merry Christmas!

Well.....Christmas has come and gone again. I think the older I get, the faster it runs over me from behind! I mean....it IS the 25th of December EVERY year....it's not like the date changes! Try as I might, I seem to be less and less ready every year. This year, after dealing with catastrophe after catastrophe due to weather and vehicle problems, Susie and I found ourselves burning the midnight oil in the final days prior to Christmas eve to get presents ready in time. This baby jacket was for our newest Granddaughter , Liberty, who was born in November. The pattern was from Elizabeth Zimmerman and is called a "Baby Surprise Jacket". Susie used a baby yarn that I picked up locally (which is another story revolving around security being called because of how long I stood in the yarn isle!) Susie managed to get HER project done with time to spare...but I was still putting finish on MY project almost as the grand kids were walking in the back door! As soon as I can, I will post a picture of Lily's new butternut doll bed!

Merino Roving -#3

Here we are! This is the FINAL yarn from the Merino. We were both very pleased with the finished piece since the color blended well and the "visual" effect of the different weights being plied together is extremely pleasing! Once Susie decides what she is going to knit with this, I will post a picture of that as well! (I apologize for making multiple posts to tell a story but for the life of me I can't figure out how to place photos throughout the post. Everything I try "piles" them all at the top and I don't like the way that either looks or reads!)

Merino Roving-#2

This is the first stage of the finished yarn. Susie stripped the roving out into thicker and thinner sections, then spun both a "thick" and a "thin" yarn. Once these were done, she plied them both together again on the Country Spinner and once that was finished, we skeined it off and washed it. I will post a picture of the "final" finished yarn momentarily!

Merino Roving

When we purchased the Ashford Country Spinner from Alaska, we were sent a fair amount of dyed Merino roving as well. This was something somewhat out of the "norm" for us since we tend to mainly spin natural colored fleece. I have a hard time knowing what the finished yarn will be like by just looking at the top or roving, but Susie felt the end result was going to be very nice. (I don't have ANY problem knowing if I like it BEFORE it's spun but the finished piece can sometimes be very disappointing!) These colors blended well at the wheel and the spinning went very smoothly. Susie has something different she is doing with the yarn and I will be posting pictures of that as well!

The 2010 Cotton Is In!

We finally got the rest of the cotton that was planted this year in today. This was the first time we had planted these three varieties and even though we got them in almost 2 months too late, they still produced very well.
The browns were Mississippi Brown and Sea Island Brown and the green was called Eileen's Green. Even getting them in as late as we did due to the flooding, the plants still managed to grow close to 6 feet high and were still setting blossoms after the first frost!
Where we live, the growing season is JUST long enough for cotton IF (key word here is IF!) nothing goes wrong! This year EVERYTHING seemed to go wrong from the May floods that destroyed not only Nashville but many of the roads and structures around here, to the unreal heat and humidity we experienced the bulk of the summer! If we had been able to get the crop in sooner, I have no idea if the result would have been more or if it would have all died from drowning!

Today we spent several hours cutting the remaining branches that were heavily laden with unopened bolls and bundling them in groups. Once bundled we tagged each one (experience is a HARD teacher!) so we would know which ones were which, and hung them in the living room to hopefully continue to dry and open. I'm curious if the quality of the cotton may suffer somewhat from not naturally maturing but it's a chance we are willing to take at this point. The only other option would have been to leave hundreds of unopened bolls out in the garden to rot. At least this way we have a chance to get some more! Next year we hope to return to planting white Pima AND get it in the ground much sooner. If all goes well, I will be documenting the planting and harvesting next year and will post it here!

Let the Woodstove Season Begin!

We have arrived once again at that time of the year when we stock up the wood pile and enjoy the warmth of the wood stove! Yesterday was spent dragging down wood off the hillside out into the field where I can cut it without doing my mountain goat impersonation! While we managed to haul in enough wood for several weeks, it wasn't without "incident". I did manage to get hit in the face and broke my glasses, stabbed myself in the gut with a tree limb, and twist and hit my knee which is now black and blue. (Guess it's a good thing I enjoy cutting wood!) Besides stacking in a pretty good store of firewood, I also managed to set aside a pretty good pile of nice spalted oak and dogwood that I will use in the wood shop. All in all it was a good day but I do have to admit that the pain today is more than I expected. I guess manual labor on the weekends is rather rough after standing at a printing press all week.

After getting cleaned up and having supper, we spent the evening watching a new DVD from Interweave Press that I bought called "How I Spin" by Rita Buchanan. Susie and I had the pleasure of taking a class with her several years ago at SAFF and I for one was rather intimidated and in awe of her, although she appeared to be a very down to earth person. (Part of that was probably being "male" in what tends to be a primarily female craft) I think the thing that interested me the most in her DVD presentation on her approach to spinning is how alike her technique and Susie's are. Neither of us realized that, since during the class, she didn't really do much actual spinning. I was also interested to find that Rita has only been spinning a few years longer than Susie has! (And her studio is the stuff dreams are made of!)

Tonight's feature on the DVD player is another set I recently purchased called "Spinning Luxury Fibers" by Judith MacKenzie.......stay tuned for an update on it as well!

That time of the year.

We have arrived at that time of the year again when we have to go pick the Muscadine grapes before the crows and deer beat us to them. While the colored cotton is still growing and producing well, it is behind a 8 foot high fence while the grapes are in the middle of the yard and rather unprotected. This is the 3rd year that the grapes have produced and we are now up to our eyeballs with grapes! I need to make a trip to town SOON and get the "fixings" to convert about 50-60 pounds of these into a distinctive wine that can only be made with this variety of grapes. While not a wine drinker myself, I have tasted the Muscadine wine and it is very sweet....unless you try to drink it with cake and ice cream....which in that case it's more of a sugar overload!

Comparison Shot!

After making the last post, I thought maybe a "comparison" shot would be in order. Here is a picture of Bram modeling with the skein. Bram is a Maine Coon cat and weighs between 12 and 14 pounds himself so as you can see, this skein is not something you are going to normally find at your LYS. (Bram is 6 years old and is still growing too by the way!)

Steroidial Skein!

As promised, here is the "mighty skein" that came off the Ashford Country Spinner. Once is was washed and dried I took it to work and weighed it on the digital scale and was surprised to find that it weighed in a 2.678 POUNDS! That's actually more than even Ashford advertises the bobbin will hold! My first purchase of this roving was 29 pounds so if the math hold true, Susie will be able to do 9.83 more skeins! Our next step with this will be to divide this finished skein and do a dye project. After we have it dyed, we will give it a try for the project it's intended for (which I haven't yet mentioned on here!) and if it works as well as I expect it to, I'll chain Susie back to her wheel and watch her spin the other 26+ pounds....then order another 29 pound bump. I LOVE having a reason to buy wool!

"The eye of the master......."

"The eye of the master will do more work than both his (or her) hands." I guess being a printer I find it very easy to both appreciate and relate to the saying of Benjamin Franklin. I remember seeing this saying years ago on the front of a graphics art instruction manual and thinking that it was a rather profound saying. After taking this picture of Susie spinning at the shop yesterday, I thought of it again and pondered the relevance it had in our lives.

While I understand the thought and meaning behind the quote, I both agree and disagree with it on several levels. First, I agree that while many people can do many different things....not just in spinning or printing....its the person that has "mastered" their craft or trade that uses not only the hands but the eyes as well. This sort of person has the ability to "see" what their doing and be able to change or adjust along the way to produce something that transcends what is normal or acceptable. This is what sets something apart and above the rest. This is the difference between an "heirloom" and a "throw away" piece....again, be it a shawl or the printed word.

While I say that I disagree with the quote, maybe it would be more accurate to say that in many instances, I'm disappointed with the outcome of what I do. There are many, many times that while I can "visualize" what I WANT to do, my hands have yet to MASTER the ability to fulfill what my EYES can see! I find this very frustrating at times. At other times I find it more to be a challenge. I know that years ago when I learned to make oval Shaker boxes, I had read and studied the process for close to 15 years BEFORE I actually made my first one, and while the first attempt was not perfect, it was sure a lot better than had I not been able to "see" the box made and understand the steps involved.

How does this then relate to our lives? I think I find it to be a word of challenge and encouragement to always strive to master what we are about. I know that it probably means little or nothing to those around us but Susie and I both want to make sure that we hear those words, "Well Done!" when we finish here on earth!

"Full Circle" Spinning

Susie started spinning about 28 years ago when a girl I went to high school with offered lessons in exchange for printing. Kim offered to teach Susie on her Ashford Traditional and like most beginners, spun a nice, fat yarn. I bought Susie her first wheel in 1982 and it came the day our son was born and the rest had been as they say, history! Over the years she has become more and more proficient and her yarn has gotten finer and finer. Over the past few years she has been spinning more in the lines of lace weight or cobweb yarns so the addition of the Ashford Country spinner has been a REAL departure from the norm. One of the things Susie has wanted to work on is rugs and with the larger orifice and bobbin capacity of this wheel, spinning a thicker yarn is a lot easier and efficient. The only problem is having been spinning finer and finer, going to a bulky yarn has proved to be harder than either of us thought. From my perspective, it just plainly looks funny since I'm use to seeing a bobbin filled with yarn that wraps at around 25-30wpi and now this wheel is sitting here with this HUGE yarn that wraps at more like 6-8wpi. I'm telling you, this is going to take some getting use to! The first bobbin is now full and has been skeined off (at 1096 yards) and as soon as we get it washed to set what little twist there is, I will weigh it and post a picture of the finished yarn. Ashford advertises a 2 POUND capacity on the bobbin and I'm guessing that that may be somewhat conservative. Stand by for future updates!

A Much Needed Time To Reflect!

I know from talking to the few people that I actually have a chance to talk to that "life" has apparently gotten increasingly difficult. In our life there are times when the struggle to simply "survive" becomes seemingly overwhelming and I get discouraged and feel like giving up! Then there are those other times like last night....the weather finally cools down and the man eating bugs decide to dine elsewhere rather than ingest us and we get one of our rare opportunities to just sit down, have a fire, and relax!

We NEED nights like this! Total quiet, a small fire, and a chance to just sit and be quiet and think! (Actually I took a nap as well!) There is no noise out here....no traffic sounds, no dogs barking, no neighbors yelling...just tree frogs, crickets, night bugs, and a plethora of owls. One can almost be lulled into the delusion that all is right with the world and that the daily insanity our lives seem to have become is nothing but a thing of the past! The struggle to make ends meet seems to vanish as we watch the moon break over the ridge top and shine through the trees with such illumination that you can actually read a book in the middle of the night. Other than the occasional jet passing over from Nashville to who knows where, you almost get the sense that there's nobody left on earth but us. Sometimes this is a good feeling...sometimes it isn't.

For hours we sit with hardly a word being spoken. None really are needed at times like these...especially after all the years we've spent together. In between napping, I rehearse in my mind the day before and dwell on images of Susie turning the print shop I work into a "fiber studio" while I ply my craft on the press, churning out printing of no relevance, doing work that pays the bills but I consider "mindless". I LONG to print things of beauty and meaning but for now, this is my lot.

I worked Saturday in town which is something I rarely do and rather than stay at home, Susie spent the day there with me working on her fiber projects. She finished filling her first bobbin on the Country Spinner which is so huge it seems comical compared to the bobbins on her other wheels. Once filled, she skeined it off and did her calculations on yardage, then weighed various fibers on the ink scale, measured dyed roving, made COPIOUS notes, and took pictures of everything she did! I'm very proud of her and her work and truly stand in awe of her talents!

So....as the clock approached midnight, we folded up the chairs, put out the fire and made our way to the house....my head still swimming with the visions and sensations of wool and dyed roving...of Merino and Gotland....of Jacob and Stansborough...of yarn and roving...and I think about the fact that we DO have a roof over our heads and we DO have plenty of food....I AM employed and the house IS full of fiber! I also realize that tomorrow IS another day and that GOD IS ON THE THRONE and life IS in fact good! Yes....we NEED days like this!

Long Time, No Post!

I see that it's been MONTHS since I have posted on here! It reminds me of the admonition I had growing up, "If you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all!"....thus a large reason for the silence. Besides the non stop problems that we have faced this entire year, it seems that "mother nature" (that comments for all my LL friends!) is bent on killing us off! We survived through the floods in May....have been dealing with UNBELIEVABLE heat and humidity...dealt with a tornado that tore the farm up and now this last week dealt with more flooding. It's beyond bizarre especially since our families up in Illinois have been largely dealing with drought! The mowing has been a non stop challenge since Susie hurt her foot chasing the grand kids and couldn't mow and every time I try to mow, I am either rained out or have to mow so carefully due to the heat index, I barely get it done before it's time to start again! As I type this posting, we are without water, which in itself is rather ironic due to all the rain we've had. Something is amiss with the pump and so we are waiting for a plumber to come out in the morning to check things out and see if he can get it going again. He thinks it may only be a pressure switch which would be an answer to prayer due to not really wanting to replace the pump at this time. My second job has come to an end with the company filing bankruptcy for protection so we are down to just a single income that hasn't seen an increase in over 5 years....not to mention no over time in over 2 years! All in all life has been a real challenge this year!

On a positive note, we are the proud owners of our 8th spinning wheel....an Ashford Country Spinner! We had wanted one for a LONG time and found one back at the beginning of the year from a gal in Alaska. It was shipped to us fully assembled but was broken during shipping down here. Since I had to take it apart to fix the wheel, we decided to take it ALL the way apart and sand and finish each piece individually which took longer than I expected but the end result was worth the wait! Our cat Mithril is seen modeling with it and the picture doesn't do the wheel justice! Seeing the finished piece, we wish now we had taken this much time and effort with several of our other wheels! Once we get the water running again and the weather cools down some (Like maybe DECEMBER!) I want to get all 8 wheels out and get a "group shot" of them all...Id like to see them all together in a "family" photo!

New combs are done at last!

Nothing like taking FOREVER to accomplish something! I had no earthly idea that these were going to take this much time to finish but now that they are done, I do have to admit that they turned out very nice for a pile of welding rod and some barn boards and firewood! When I started this project, my intentions were to make a 2 pitch set of Viking combs but mid construction, we signed Susie up for a class on working with Icelandic fleece. Once she was signed up, we found out that for this particular type of fleece, single pitch combs were better suited so I set aside the wood for the double pitch and grabbed some nice black walnut logs that we had salvaged from a down tree that I couldn't bring myself to burn. I turned the comb handles and the threaded "lock down" on the comb holder and ground another 38 tines! All in all the grinding process was a bigger pain in the.....well....lets just say that unless I figure out a more efficient method of grinding and polishing tines, I probably will not be making too many more of these "implements"! As far as the combs go, they are rather larger than most that we have seen but from what we had heard from others, a larger working load seems to be something that most folks wished they had. I haven't spent a massive amount of time using these since at present I'm still working on the mountain of gray fleeces for our matching sweaters but from what little I have, they seem to work very well. (At least the teacher at the Icelandic class was VERY impressed with them, so that's at least something!) My next set will be the originally planned double pitch set made from some absolutely "drop dead" flame Birch I've had for years! Stay tuned for pictures of them....maybe I can manage to get them done sometime before I RETIRE!

Fairy Stocking!

Well, even though we have been in the death grip of the "killer blizzard" of 2010, we still managed to not only get our daughter Emily's miniature Fairy Stocking completed, but we also managed to get out in the snow and use it as a backdrop to take pictures of it! I will never cease to be amazed at Susie's patience (AND her eyesight!) when working on small projects like this. She took embroidery floss and unraveled it so she could use just 2 STRANDS of green and 1 of silver, then knitted the stocking with #0000 needles. The picture doesn't really show the small size but the overall length from the angora trim...which Susie spun from our angora rabbit Buttons.....to the toe is just 2.375"! The length from heel to toe is a little under 1". What can I say? Susie's talent with fiber and knitting always humbles my attempts on the wheel or with needles!

Winter With An Attitude!

Now I will be the first to admit that in comparison to the weather that our family has been subjected to "up North", what we have been dealing with can't really compare! BUT....for us folks in Tennessee, this cold snap is rather out of the norm, especially after the past few winters that we've had. I mean, I kinda liked not wearing a coat all winter! But not this year! We have been in the freezer now since before Christmas and it's taking it's toll on me. We have worked on our "interesting" water system 3 of the past 4 weekends and haven't been able to get out into the woods to cut firewood yet. So far, the water is running very well....hasn't frozen (well....just once but that was MY fault!)....and even though the wood pile is getting rather sparse, the stove has kept us warm. In my own defense, I know that I've gotten rather "soft" after 21 years down here, but I do remember being the one that walked everywhere in Champaign regardless of the weather or the temperature. Shoot, I can remember sitting in a snowbank outside Baskin Robbins eating a banana split and enjoying an ice cold Mountain Dew while watching the "cold people" walk by at the mall. Sometimes I wonder if I was tougher back in those days, or just not as bright as I am now!

Happy New Year and Good Ridance to 2009!

As the new year starts, I for one PRAY that 2010 turns out to be a more "peaceful" year than 2009. We seemed to run from one catastrophe to another the whole year with the past couple months being the "icing on the cake". As we start the new year, we are dealing with a car that has a bad engine due to "routine maintenance" and wondering where the money is going to come from to either rebuild a car that's technically not worth rebuilding or purchasing another vehicle. Several years ago we got turned on to Dave Ramsey and after following his advise, we are living completely debt free other than the farm....which will be paid off in less than 4 years. Getting out of debt is a wonderful feeling so even the THOUGHT of going back INTO debt stinks and ISN'T going to happen! Stay tuned for the continuing saga of the KIA!

On a fiber note, Susie finished a pair of socks for our daughter that we have owed her for a long time. They are handspun out of Finn wool in both white and gray. (Trust me, it is gray even though my photography makes them look brown!) We gave them to Emily on New Years Day when we had the family out to celebrate our Christmas. Emily took them from Susie's hands and put them on and LEFT them on! She said it was nice to FINALLY have warm feet! Now that this project is off the needles, I need to make sure Susie finishes a miniature Tinker Bell stocking that's also for Emily. I'm looking forward to posting that project.....it was knit using embroidery thread that she unplied so it could be knit with just 2 strands! (I'm always amazed at her patience!)


We also recently purchased another spinning wheel for our "arsenal"! I took my Christmas bonus from one of my jobs and bought an Ashford Country Spinner....which we have been after for a number of years! It is being shipped from Alaska so we are waiting with baited breath for a call from our local post office telling us it's there and ready to be picked up. I can hardly wait!


I guess in retrospect, the last few weeks have been "tolerable" but I kid you not when I say I'm praying for a year without some of the issues we have had to walk through in the past year! Here's to a Blessed 2010 and Susie and I pray that your barns are full and your animals warm and happy and may your drive band never break and you never drop a stitch!