Darn It!

now that the hollydaze are nearing a close-ahhh! yes! maybe i can get back to my regularly scheduled life. always relieved when this happens. all in all in was low key and mellow-so i can't complain.

all you sock knitters out there know and understand the horrors of:


yes, that's right-holes in your precious beloved socks. all the hours of work spent knitting and bam-it happens. and like most of us sock knitters, darning socks is a dreaded chore. i hate it. let me repeat myself: I HATE IT!(yes, that statement deserves capitol letters!!!) until now! recently, while discussing this with a friend, she said- why don't you do what cat bordhi (sock knitter rock star extraordinaire) does? needle felt them baby!!!!! really? never thought of that. so here is my post about needle felt darning.

supplies: styrofoam ball or egg.

felting needles: be careful! extremely sharp torture devices!!!

felting fiber: preferably in a color that matches the socks. make sure your fiber is NOT superwash. you want this stuff to felt!!!

okay- so my fiber doesn't really match the sock but hey- when have i ever been a "matchy" type girl? go with the flo!

stuff a ball into your sock and grab a needle.

lay a piece of fiber over the hole and just start stabbing. if you have a 12 year boy around-this will become his favorite past time. stabbing stuff with sharp implements what more could a boy ask for? my boy was so excited about this project i couldn't get him to do his math-he just wanted to darn socks. in fact he said he'd darn all the socks that needed to be done. yes!!!!


we turned them inside out and did it on the other side as well. keep stabbing till the fabric is real dense and flat.

note math book in back ground!

wah-la! you're done in no time!!!! so quik and easy- and fun!!! great stress reliever too. stab stab stab stab!!!!!! i will keep you updated on how they wear and hold up. one thing i didn't like was using styrofoam-yuck! plus you get little pieces in your sock that you have to clean out. will work on finding an alternative(sponge?) any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

this is my last post of the year. i look forward to the new year. may 2011 be all that you want it to be. be careful what you ask for!!!!

OOPS!

OOPS! yes, with capitol letters!!!!!! Horrors of Horrors as i was paruising(my word) the net this morning it came to my attention i made a big blunder on my last post-which i have since made good. it was not the "lime and violet" gurls attending the grand opening at "VERB" but the STASH and BURN gurls. then my friend Luci emailed me and confirmed my blunder-gads how could i be so lame. like i said-i don't keep up with such matters-i'm fairly luditey (another of my words)-and must admit i have never listened to a podcast in my life. i don't really know how...despite WonderMike's many attempts to help me with this issue.

my apologies to Jenny and Nicole!

A VERB..............

saturday morning rhodi and i planned to leave the security of our hill and head to oakland. why? you ask why would we leave our nests of comfort and quiet and head to the city despite the snowy weather. well, it's a 5 letter word baby!!! FIBER! seems like the only reason we leave the hill these days.

i get a phone call at 7 am- a very groggy barbara sue says she needs a fiber fix too. so we head to oakland in rhodi's green machine-which by the way is a toyota with 350 thousand miles on it.- that is not a typo- 350 big ones!!!!!

you see one of our favorite fiber companies was having a big grand opening party as they just opened their new store. they used to have a teeny tiny store in bezerkely . if you haven't heard- A Verb for Keeping Warm has moved to oakland! i cannot begin to tell you what a fabulous job they did- the store is beautiful.

all of "verbs" yarn and fiber is naturally dyed. now they carry many other yarn companies which are not not naturally dyed but beautiful as well.

you can also get yarn that has not been dyed-just the natural color of the sheep-gorgeous! as well as locally raised fiber.

making choices was tough! here's another view:

barbara sue won one of the hourly raffle prizes!!!


and yes, there were celebrity sitings as well....WonderMike of the fabulous pod cast "fiber beat" was there. he teaches at the store as well.

the STASH & BURN gurls were there as well as lexi boeger. sorry no photos of these rockstars- didn't want to get too paparazzi-esque. i'm sure many other as well- but with the hermit lifestyle -you know i don't get out much or keep up on such matters.

Best of all, here is the beautiful Kristine-proprietor of this amazing venture-pictured with partner Adrienne-who helps out in so many ways.

it took ALL day to decide on what to get-it was agony. too many choices. i ended up getting 3 skeins and a pattern.

from left to right: think prairie here, a gorgeous golden and yellow 65% falklands wool 35% tussah silk blend-going to make a shawl. the other two are superwash 70% merino 30% silk-sport weight. socks indeed!!! happy socks!!!! the pattern is a coco knits(local designer)design called "sabine"-seamless and top down-my kinda of sweater! the day was made complete by visiting an old friend that i haven't seen in like 20 years!!!! he came to the opening! what a great day!!! the best i've had in along time. still glowing.

well, the bewitching hour was approaching and we needed to head back to the hills before we turned into trolls or possibly worse. we waited for one more raffle and departed at 4. wow! the 3 hour drive turned into a 5 hour escapade- torrential rains, lightening and a pee stop at a starbucks in marysville turned into a car unable to start-wet starter perhaps. to make a long story short which involved barbara sue's adventure with a CHP officer, a tow truck that luckily wasn't needed as we got the green machine started and white out blizzard conditions on scary canyon roads-we did all eventually make it home safe.....all in the name of FIBER.

crafty update

i interrupt the central coast vacation posts with a crafty update! besides gallivanting around california i have been busy in the crafty sector. i'm finding it very hard to focus on the this post but i'm trying to get my mind off the fact that i have the worst case of poison oak i've ever had. short of peeling off my skin or killing myself i've tried all remedies i know of- except a trip to the doc for a heavy duty cortisone treatment-which i'm sure i need. i've been suffering for a week straight-it's so bad i have the chills and feel like shit. if no improvement by monday it's off to the doc i go!

i forgot to add the benedryl to the assortment-didn't touch the itching but gave me a wonderful heroin type nod that allowed me to sleep at night. man that stuff is potent! for the safety of everyone around me i only took it night. had to stop taking it....making me weird out.

before looking like a leper rowan and i made ceramic buttons at a ceramic studio at willow springs-it was great fun and i want to make more! thanks for your guidance penelope!

they look like candy huh? here's a better look:

i finished the baby vest made with my hansdpun merino yarn.

away from home i was able to finished my tidepool socks.

in case you weren't paying attention-i actually finished a pair of socks-yes, a pair-2 socks!!!! instead of getting bored and never finishing the 2nd sock i persevered. you can't see me-but i'm doing a little happy dance:) i love them so much i have to post another picture. love the picot edging.

the yarn is from hazel knits in the sweet crush colorway. washable merino-yum!

being that the colder weather should be heading our way i immediately casted on another pair of socks-worsted weight on side 3 needles- my favorite needle size for socks-i hate knitting with tooth picks! this yarn is a washable merino as well, from orange flower.

geez- what a crappy picture! will update soon-promise! before i go slather my body with slime i wanted to show you what grew in our garden this year-and we didn't even plant it!

what a treat!!!

central coast: part one

haven't been able to post recently as wooly and the family have been gallivanting around. pops got some time off work and we decided to camp the central coast. we decided to head to the salinas valley first-here's our favorite early morning coffee/tea/ gotta go porta john stop before you hit sacramento. this little blue closet has saved us many a time-there's even toilet paper in it.

being that we were headed to steinbeck country we thought it appropriate to listen to this book on tape during the many many hours we'd be traveling in the car. glad i remembered to check it out of the library.

there was something wrong with our tape player- it was speeding up the tape so that it sounded like we were being read to by david sedaris with touch of munchkin. trippy! it took a while to get used to but we we eventually got used to the helium induced voices. Come to think of it i think David should get a gig reading the classics for audio books. can't you just hear him reading jane austin or dickens! maybe i need to contact him.

we saw so much of california's agricultural land-it went perfect with the book.

we made it all the way to salinas and thought it appropriate to have a picnic at the public library. the truth of the matter: everyone was hungry and cranky and we couldn't find a place to eat our packed lunch after blindly driving around town we stumbled upon the library.

the lunch was eaten heartily and we didn't even mind the wet sprinkler grass:

i needed to check out the library-WOW! it was swarming with patrons-this town loved it's library-awesome! i checked out the steinbeck section. Impressive.

both sides! i found my favorite steinbeck-

cannery row-i know how original. but it is. i just love that book. must admit i'm a bit smitten with ed ricketts who is portrayed as "doc" in the book. He's a fascinating person and i would have loved hanging out with him in his lab. i started reading "the log from the sea of cortez" and there is an excellent bit called" about ed ricketts" by steinbeck in the beginning. something he wrote after ed's horrible accident which killed him in 1948.

i could have stayed there all day. but we had other things on the agenda. next stop:

wonderful place for any steinbeck lover. i took tons of pics inside but i don't want to be the annoying person showing you 50 million pictures from their vacation that you really don't want to see...i can hear the yawns starting already! plus-if you've never been, i'd hate to spoil it for you. i did think the publishing penguin time-line was cool. back into the car; the journey continued......

quik update

my goodness it's been over three weeks since i've posted! what's up with that? where the heck have i been? well, I've been to chicago and back, a celtic festival, put out another edition of the town newsletter, homeschooling and just dang busy. too dang busy. i start getting pissy when i haven't the time time to post- just ask the family. i have future blog posts planned for my trip east and the magical world of gaelic fairies, sacrifices and strong men in kilts-but alas, they take time. more time than i have right now...as i prepare dinner, weigh wool, look over liam's science paper, knit on 3 different projects simultaneously while working on my blog-oh yeah, did i mention all at the same freakin time. no wonder i'm frazzled. i just can't do one thing at a time.
all i have time for is a quick upate on knitting projects and a few misc. things.

here's my tidepool socks. i'm so loving this pattern.

i'm STILL working on the sleeves of my catamount sweater.

been doing some spinning:

this is some merino i dyed with "baby" items in mind. started another vest:

im also involved with the criminal minds mystery kerchief knit along-this is a very fun project!!!

been harvesting rosehips.

been cooking with our own garlic and now it's time to get a new crop in the ground! i'm so not ready!!! thinking of turning current garden into a goat/sheep pen this coming spring.

enough for now-need to get busy!

bear poop and other treasures

major busyness for wooly these days! first off- i haven't been getting much sleep lately. the dogs on our hill have been going off(barking excessively) all night long-mine included! i recently found out why. on my driveway is a big pile of:

bear poop!!! with lots of peach pits inside. at least we know the bears are getting some proper nutrition before their midwinter nap. just stay away from my chickens!! did i blog about the bear in the chicken coop? need to check on that. it was very exhilarating and scary.


every september liam gets very excited as it is time for the annual d'ville antique bottle and insulator show. it's his passion. i must admit i get a bit thrilled myself. as i always find all sorts of treasures. affordable treasures!!!! check out my score! below are some great old prints from Ca. Fish and Game, a Maxfield Parish print, and a whole collection of bird and animal prints by Jacob Bates Abbot. total score! can you see the postcard sized thing with an old english manor on it? it a sewing needle kit from england. it originally had 50 needles-i think half are still there. too bad the darning needles are all gone.

i just love old pyrex and enamel. i finally got a set of 3!!! been wanting these forever-but way too expensive at antique stores and hard to find in thrift stores.


and the cool thing is my buddy Birdsong just gave a one of the blue ones in mint condition with a matching silk and merino undershirt she found at a thrift store the other day . thanks bsong-that made my day:)-i am rich with treasures!!!

i also got these nifty enamel bowls-they look great for display in our craft fair booth.

the garden has been giving us beautiful heirloom tomatoes this year despite the weird weather. livin on homegrown tomatoes rocks!!!

i want to end this post with a thank you. many of you know we recently had a large forest fire close to home. too close to home. our road was closed and many friends were evacuated from their homes. i want to thank everyone- firefighters and all for an excellent job kicking ass on this fire and getting it contained so quickly. you all amaze me! some of our own local fire firefighters were away in other states fighting fires when their families were being evacuating. over 1ooo acres burned. i am so very grateful!!! thank you!!!

photo from yubanet. here's a picture of blue watching the fire planes fly over our house.