updates--knitting and spinning

Several thing shave been going on.
First, I sold my spinning wheel. I am not giving up on spinning, and have ordered two new spindles; a Turkish spindle and a spindolyn. The spindolyn is a hand-made supported spindle available on www.knittinganyway.com I simply realized that I do not spin enough to warrant the use of the wheel; I might spin a couple hundred yards, on a good day, and I can accomplish this with a spindle that can be packed away, versus a wheel that has to reside on the floor of my master bathroom vanity area for its own safety. And, I don't feel I have the time to devote to spinning, not as much as I'd like to anyway. A friend on Ravelry is loaning me her majacraft suzie wheel, which is waaaay nicer than most wheels out there, so I'll be able to keep my spinning skills updated, and get a feel for a different wheel. Thanks, Marin!!

Second, I have really taken to knitting. I have even started my first pair of socks on double-pointed needles--5 needles, to be exact. The stitches are divided among 4 needles and knitted with the 5th. A wonderful woman at my Wed. night knitting group got my started on them last night and I have 18 of the 20 rows I need for the cuff. Yay!!! Thank you Kerry! And thank you stephanie for giving me the beautiful Lisa Souza sock yarn!! My Wednesday night knitting group is also going to be doing some charity knitting for the neonatal ICU and youth ICU in two of the hospitals here in Roseville. Tiny little preemie blankets are so adorable.

Kim Lehner had her thyroid tumor removal surgery yesterday at 8:30 a.m. I haven't gotten any updates yet, but I know the hotel where they were staying was charging for internet time, and Jared has probably been at the hospital with Kim. If anyone has any info let me know!!

Have a great Thursday!

knitting dish cloths

Yes, dish cloths. I love it! Fun, easy, quick; all my knitting requirements! I have been making Grandmothers' Favorite Dishcloth, according to this pattern:
http://www.jimsyldesign.com/dishbout/kpatterns/grfavorite.html

It's so stinkin' simple. I'll post some pics, but many of you will be receiving boxes of dish cloths. ;) They are soft enough to use on kids in the tub, too, I think.

Happy Saturday!

dupont kids

Here are some pictures from when the DuPont kids were here! Enjoy!

Ride 'em cowboy!

Evan rode Trigger today! When the lesson was over, Kristyn let Evan ride Trigger up to the wash/groom area. He loved it! Here is a pic of cowboy Evan. you can click on it to see it larger, just don't look at me!

my first real hat, and knitting knowledge

Here is my first hat, knitted in the round and finished on double-pointed needles. Fellow Raveler lesleyluu came over today with her girls and showed me how to use the DPN's. Yay! The DPN's make sense now, thanks to Lesley, and I plan on making more! Lesley also brought me some beautiful cormo fiber that she had combed up, and some combed fiber that I gave her as raw wool. Thank you, Lesley, I owe you one!

What I have learned from knitting:
I hate Lion brand yarn. I hate acrylic yarn. I am a yarn snob.

I have learned that knitting in the round on circular needles or double-pointed needles (DPN's) is nowhere near as complex as I thought!

I want to knit smaller projects like hats and dishcloths.

I don't really like knitting scarves.

I have a short attention span. (Yes, you already knew that!)

My busy week

On Sunday the 20th, Carolina, Rory, and the kids arrived at our house. Carolina and Rory left Monday afternoon to go to SF for her surgery. Their kids did really well here, and it was good for my kids to have other kids to play with! Evan only bit Maddie once and it took him until this Thursday to do it!

My niece and nephew spent the night on Wednesday, having arrived at 7 a.m. that morning. So, for Wednesday and most of Thursday I had 7 children in my house. Not as bad as you may think, as my niece and nephew are 9 and 11 and I put them to work! :)

Carolina and Rory got here to pick up the kids around 2 on Thursday and hung around long enough for Carolina to rest a bit and Rory to load up the Jeep. She looked really good--no bruising or horrible circles under her eyes. She said she felt like she had a terrible sinus cold, though; lots of pressure and drainage. Yuck. Rory will be home with her for two weeks, so hopefully she will keep her little butt in bed. ;)

When Drew got home last night I left for an hour by myself, and went to Filati Yarns in Rocklin. Great selection, and the woman who runs the store is in my Wednesday night knitting group! I bought a beautiful purple hand-dyed, hand spun wool yarn by Manos de Uruguay. It is lovely!

Today is horse back riding lessons again, at 8 a.m. Evan napped yesterday from 4:30 p.m. until about 7. Wonderful! Not. I was up with him until 10:30. We have to leave at 7:30 this morning to make it to the stables, but the girls are looking forward to it. Good to get them outside in the cool mornings. Evan likes wandering around and trying to climb under every fence he sees. *sigh* Last week, at their first lesson, Kristyn spent almost two hours with the girls, instead of the one hour I had paid for. She is being very thorough and is quite competent.

After riding lessons today, a Ravlery friend is coming over with her two little girls for some spinning and she is going to teach me how to finish my very first REAL knitting project with double-pointed needles. I am making the Easy Peasy hat on circular needles--patern and needles from www.knitpicks.com I have a few needles and some yarn fro that website, and am addicted. Their metal needles are responsible for my beautiful hat! Love them!

I will post pics of the hat as soon as it is finished!

Lambtown let-down

Well, not really. Let me say that the event itself was great--the fiber, fleece, yarn, tool, accessory choices were great and there were a lot of fibery vendors! My kids loved looking at the rabbits and the animals near the fiber fair building. The bummer parts were the complications and frustrations surrounding the event.

First off, my mom had to work so my dad would've been here alone all day with my kids. That's a bit rough on him! :) So, I brought Dad and the kids along. All went well until we got to the entrance of Lambtown where one of the many security guards told me that I was not allowed to bring in the peanut butter sandwiches I had packed for my kids. Are you kidding me? I refuse to be forced to buy food. So, Dad took the contraband pb&j's back to the car--luckily I had a cooler.

Then, after meeting up with Marin and Angela we proceeded to the so-called information booth to find out where the fleece judging was. The people working the booth got on their radios, after a puzzled look, and went on to give us the times and locations for the shearing contest, the skein and textile judging, and any event other than the fleece judging. The staff never did manage to figure it out--Marin and Angela found out on their own.

The food vendors were not ready to begin serving food when we were there, even though it was about 10 a.m. and my kids were hungry, since we had been forced to send our snacks back to the car. And, the food vendors were not allowed to sell drinks as the Lambtown people were selling those. So, I had to walk further down the row past the stage to obtain drinks.

I got the things I went for; my fleece from Cormo Farms, an extra bobbin, some lovely alpaca/silk fiber and some really gorgeous merino/silk dyed fiber. YUMMY! But, that was all. I walked away an hour-and-a-half after arriving with over $50 left in my pocket, which I would've spent if my kids hadn't been hungry and thirsty.

I hope those of you who read this and went to Lambtown had a better experience than we did!

Riding lessons!

The girls had their first riding lesson with Kristyn Hoikka at Penryn Oak Stables this morning. They were so excited at home as they got their jeans and paddock boots on. Then, we got there and met up with Kristyn and her pony Trigger. (He really does look like Trigger!)

Emma and Elsa learned how to brush Trigger, clean out his hooves, saddle and unsaddle him, and put on a bridle & bit. Elsa got right to work and brushed the pony, and dug right in to clean his hooves with the pick. She was a trooper, and appeared to be in her element!

Then, it was finally time to ride. We went the small square arena and Kristyn, with a lunge line attached to Trigger's bridle, had the girls go through some balance exercises to get used to being in the saddle. Then they practiced starting and stopping the pony, and steering with the reigns. Elsa had a huge smile on her face the whole time, but was also very focused on what she was doing.

Evan enjoyed walking around the horse paddocks and arenas with me, and looking at the horses that were in the pastures. We heard some chickens, and he had an especially good time trying to catch all the "meows" that he could find. Luckily they seem to be tolerant of his rough handling! Then, you can see he relaxed on one of the hammock swings.

We can't wait for next Friday!

(You can click on any of these pictures to see a larger version.)

California State Railroad Museum

Last week the kids and I went to the train museum with Chris Garcez and his daughter Lexi. The museum was REALLY cool, and all the kids had a great time. It was much better than expected, a wonderful museum, and we will be back for sure!!

4th of July pics--finally!

We went to Galt for the 4th of July. Drew and the girls camped out in the back yard in Anne's tent, and Evan and I shared the guest room. The girls had a blast in the tent, and enjoyed the fireworks. Evan was done with the fireworks after the second one, and preferred to watch the rest from the comfort of the living room.

The neighbors were out of town, and gave us the use of their pool for the weekend. Yay!

Alpacas All Around

Susan Peterson was nice enough to open her home and her alpaca ranch to us and Abby, James, and Gregory Tomlinson today. It was so fun! We fed the alpacas, petted them, saw the newly sheared fleece, saw birds' nests in the barn, and picked plums from the tree. Then we went to Loomis park and had a picnic lunch. A full day, and Evan passed out on the way home.

Mission: Accomplished.

Horseback riding lessons/China Town

http://www.penrynoakstables.com/lessons.php

My girls start their lessons next Friday! We toured the Penryn Oaks Stables today, and had a great time with Kristyn. The facility is spotless, the people are great, and the setting is beautiful! We met Frances, the retired show horse, who will probably be the horse the girls will be riding. They will learn Western riding, and how to tack out a horse, and general horse care. Evan and I can hang out and watch the "meows" and "hossies" or meander down by the pond to visit the biggest frogs I have ever seen in my life!

Also, tomorrow, my mom and I are leaving Evan with my dad and Drew, and taking the girls to China Town in San Francisco. We will meet up with Ruth, and have lunch there as well. I will post pics as soon as I can. The girls are so looking forward to the trip; it will be their first voyage to China Town. And, thank you very much Carolina, they want pink parasols. :)

Sheep, useful sheep!

The following was "copy and pasted" from the Dixon Lambtown website.

From Sheep Hide and Wool

• Lanolin (used in lotions to help keep our skin soft and moist)
• Clothing
• Yarns
• Baseballs
• Insulation
• Tennis balls
• Carpet

From Intestines

• Sausage casings
• Instrument strings
• Surgical sutures
• Tennis racquet strings

From Manure

• Nitrogen Fertilizer
• Phosphorus

From Fats and Fatty Acids

• Explosives
• Chewing Gum
• Paints
• Make-up
• Dog Food
• Margarine
• Medicines
• Dish Soap
• Tires
• Chicken Feed
• Antifreeze
• Crayons
• Floor Wax
• Candles
• Herbicides
• Shaving Cream
• Shampoo and Conditioner
• Lotion

From the Bones, Horns and Hooves

• Syringes
• Gelatin Desserts
• Piano Keys
• Marshmallows
• Bandage strips
• Adhesive tape
• Combs and toothbrushes
• Buttons
• Ice Cream
• Record Albums
• Wallpaper and Wallpaper paste
• Cellophane wrap and tape
• Photographic film

More than I can say that I contribute to modern civilization!

Mike Rowe and alpacas

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v219062cqSReTah

Carolina called me last night to say that Mike Rowe was doing a segment on alpaca shearing and spinning. I had a different Dirty Jobs episode on our cable provider, but I found a video of it online. It's pretty funny. The alpaca looks un-amused. Pretty color, though!
Enjoy.


Mmmmmm...Mike Rowe...mmmmm ;)