Hand over the Wool!

Catch Up Time

I may have been absent from this poor blog but I have been busy. Some of my current projects include the Bath Mat from "One Skein" and a plain garter stitch triangle shawl.

Years ago my mother tried to teach me to crochet. That's about 3 decades ago. She seems to remember that I did catch on and knew how to 'hook' but my memory is not corroborating her story. Well this past Thursday I had a frantic whim to learn to crochet (possibly for the second time, is this memory thing contagious?) and my pal Kalkette was over and got me on my way.

My bath mat is almost done and I'm half way through the plain garter stitch shawl. It was one of those " I'm tired of all my other WIPs and spinning isn't working out and I've had this yarn in my stash for way too long " kind of knitting nights. We've all had them. The yarn is some ancient Knit Picks sock yarn in a forgotten colorway. The orange, blue and yellow colors are not my usual colors but I'm thinking of giving this to Critter #1 for playing outside in since it's superwash. She's been beggin for a sweater so this might just satisfy her. I'm just happy to knit up stash yarn!

Thank the Lord fo Podcasts!

My real life job has taken over any time I usually can devote to my fiber life. The only thing keeping me sane is listening to Lime n Violet, Never Not Knitting, and other fiber podcasts. Hopefully in a week when the insanity simmers down I'll be able to post more.

Critter #2 Has Arrived! Sale Time! Got to Make Room!

She's here! Critter #2 arrived a little early and has been keeping me busy ever since. She's the very image of her big sister, who is getting used to sharing mommy time, although slowly. We're starting to get the hang of a routine and nursing is going much better this time than it did with Critter #1. Critter #2 goes to work with me every day, and during the hour or so of deskwork nurses and then naps in my free arm. I'm getting pretty good at typing one-handed with either hand, even though I'm right-handed.

Today I knit one round on the Green Monkey socks, still trying to finish the first one after reknitting the toe twice. I'm adding another pattern repeat anf then planning to do an assymetrical decrease for ergonomic toes. It could work.

Here's the other socks I've been working on, I dyed the yarn in my Blue Lagoon colorway. The yarn is a beautiful 70/30 Merino/Silk and shimmers in the sunlight. It's also really soft and lovely to knit with. The pattern for these socks is called "Spring Forward" from Knitty.com. So far I've really enjoyed the pattern and found it easy to memorize, which for me is never an easy task.

And last but not least, I'm running a sale in the Etsy shop, in honor of Critter #2 joining us. I have lots of fiber to share with you all and I need the space, so everything is 20% off in the shop, handoverthewool.etsy.com through the end of May. Check back for updates as I'm trying to post as much as I can to the shop, including washed and raw fleeces.

Post Surgery and Big Shop Update

I did a big shop update last night, FREE SHIPPING thru 2/14!

     

My surgery was moved to 7am on Friday. Which meant I had to be at the hospital by 6:30, no food or drink since midnight the night before. This terrified me more than surgery. No food!? For a pregnant gal!? Are you nuts!?  I did survive, but barely.

If you care about carpel tunnel surgery, read on. If not there is pretty colorful wool at the end of the post, you can skip to it. There is one very small picture of my healing incision, so if you are freaked out about that skim past it.

They actually got me into the OR about 7:20, place the IV and shot my offensive wrist and hand full of Novocaine (which was the most painful part of the surgery), and washed and draped my arm. Because of my pregnant status, Novocaine is the only painkiller my OB and I felt safe with. He thought I could maybe use a sedative too (as he saw me giving birth to Critter#1 with her ginormous head {90th percentile for newborns, poor women who give birth to those babies with even bigger heads!} which was aided with Demerol) but I declined any sedatives, didn't want the risk.

My surgeon came in around 7:40 and tried to tell me every little detail about the surgery as it was happening. Ha! I very politely asked him to keep quiet, and told him "ignorance is bliss Doc!", and I was striving for bliss at that moment, or at least a glimmer of my happy place (anywhere with wool, of course). I don't like needles and I don't like to be cut open when I'm awake and not sedated. I focused on the heart monitor and my deep breathing, trying to not let my heart rate get above 85, and did my best to stay calm as they did not use a tourniquet during the surgery either.

All said and done, it really wasn't that bad. I was stitched up and back in my little recovery room by 7:55. By 8:45am I was at home, prepping for a much deserved nap. Here's the bandage I had to keep on for 3 days:

Then Monday morning I was allowed to move onto my normal brace. I know the thumb can go through the little hole, but then I use my hand too much. This way is better for now. Like this I can still ply yarn.

The incision is barely 1 inch long but looks worse as they stitched it under the actual cut. It really doesn't hurt that bad, and is getting better everyday. By keeping my thumb immobilized I really reduce my ability to over do and cause injury to the healing area.

Of course, there's no real way to keep me totally fiber free unless I'm unconscious. On Saturday I was going crazy just surfing fiber blogs and really needed to do something. I tossed 8 oz of Corriedale pencil roving in to the roaster and went wild with color. Can't wait to see what this looks like spun up!

Bread, Dyeing, Plying, Critter and The Offensive Wrist

Remember the blue batt I paid Karen as rent on the Supercard? Go see what she did with it on her blog posting from 2/3/09. I'm so glad she liked it!

I plied some of the Orange-Red yarn last-night:

And dyed some Merino/Silk top:

And made a loaf of bread for today's meals:

As you can see DH's lunch and our breakfast has been deducted from the loaf already. This bread does not last very long in our house. :-)

And Critter #1 is starting to potty train. The red star necklace under her leg is her favorite accessory and even graces her nightie first thing in the morning. Little honey.

 

And to finish the post out, the last picture of my offensive left wrist before my excellent surgeon spend a very quality 15 minutes (if that) performing Carpel Tunnel Release surgery on it tomorrow afternoon.

It kills me how much the world's shortest surgery costs, but as I'm experiencing nerve and muscle problems and I'm only in my mid 30's I see this procedure as an excellent investment in my future. After not knitting for more than a month, my had still goes numb on the steering wheel and while working, not to mention at night even with a brace in place.

Don't forget! Free Shipping in my shop through Valentine's Day!

I'm Back

I have been knitting. And spinning. Really.  See?

I started the Fiddlehead Mittens back in September, and after 4 attempts at the cast-on, restarted them at least 2 more times in October, and again in November. Finally I found a way to get the two-color knitting to work. I can only do it if I drop the color I'm done with to pick up the color that is needed. Then drop that color, pick up the other. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. You get the idea.

It seems cumbersome, and I really admire those who make it look so effortless. They have been doing it for a long time, and actually once I get a rhythm going my way goes quite smoothly.

As for spinning, I have finished the Coopworth Spinning Saga. 2 lbs, 7.8 oz.

It's a bulky fluffy yarn, just as I wanted it to be. I'm still thinking about doing the Bog Jacket by EZ with it.

Ok, my hat goes off to all those women who manage to be pregnant and work full-time jobs outside the home, still manage to get their house to be immaculate, cook meals, do all the shopping, and take care of their older children. Oh, and some still have time to knit or sew. I have accepted that I am not one of those women.

I manage to play with my daughter for an hour each morning, get DH's lunch made, feed everyone (cat and dog, too) and clean the kitchen before my mother comes over to watch the Critter for about 4-5 hours while I go to work. Then I try to get errands and any shopping done with DD in tow, start supper, make a loaf of bread (love the Kitchenaid stand mixer) for tomorrows lunches, play with the daughter, run the dog, maybe do a load of laundry, bathe the daughter and then collapse in a chair in the living-room after the little sweetie goes to sleep. Notice there is not a lot of time devoted to tidying up the house? I manage to put away toys about twice a week and vacuum the dog hair out of the carpet once or twice a week. How the dog is not bald still amazes me.

DD really is super sweet, and according to many other parents she is almost too easy to care for, as good natured and happy as she is. She plays by herself really well, and at 18 mo. plays well with the neighbor kids ( family of 4 children with another due any day). Which makes me a little nervous for the next Critter to pop out. Will Critter #2 be as good as #1? Will #2 really stick it to us? I mean, you deal with what you have to, and hopefully payback will skip us this one time.

Big Announcement

I know, I've been scarce the last month. Take a look at the left side bar and you will see why. Yep, there's to be an addition to the Royal family. I'm too tired to do much most days, and fiber work is the first to suffer. So I'm getting ready to do a big catchup post of the knitting and spinning from the last month, and then hopefully I will be back to posting more regularly.

While I Was Away...

So, how are you? Oh, that's nice. Me? Nothing new here. Unless you count becoming a PARENT. Yep, I'm a MOMMY. Dear Lord, I'm a mom. She's adorable and super sweet. Everything went normally except for the last minute or so of delivery, but both the Critter and I are fine and have no problems to worry about. Look, the tiny fist of a future knitter:

I actually started this post 2 weeks ago, but with the whole caring-for-a-newborn thing going on 24x7, I haven't even had much time to read other blogs. We are starting to find a bit of a pattern, as much as a schedule a 3 1/2 old baby will stick to, but I'm surviving on about 3 hours of solid sleep with maybe another couple hours here and there. During this whole time I've thought about knitting or spinning, and that's as far as it's gotten. I even missed a guild meeting for the first time in a year, as even with my mother coming along to help with the Critter, I just didn't feel up for it. Next month I'll make it for sure.

I also missed the Shepherd's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival last week. Don't worry, I'm not hurting for fiber or yarn or projects, so I'm sure I'll survive until next year. Speaking of projects, since it's been more than 4 weeks since I've picked up the baptismal gown, and the fact that our church does not have AC and the Critter will be baptized at the end of June, I'm rethinking this WIP. At this time I'm pretty sure it's not going to get done in time as I'm not the speediest of knitters, and I'm expecting 80 degree weather and forcing my lovely baby Critter to wear wool, even lacy wool for an hour during a church service (even the praise band service where no one notices a crying baby) just doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun. We'll have to see.

Feathering the Nest

OK, there's actually too many feathers in my nest, so I have actually been picking out the old junk that's been cluttering up our nest and making room for the baby. The wool room is now in working progress of becoming the baby's room. Took me long enough, didn't it? Let's see, I'm in the 32nd week now, and have known about the impending arrival of the critter since the 7th week. That's 25 weeks I frittered away when I could have had all this work done already. Want to see what I have been doing?

See the big open space in the middle, well, that wasn't there last week. There were 2 arm chairs and 5 bins of yarn and a bunch of half empty boxes cluttering up the floor. I knew the carpet was blue under it all as I could still see some of it by the doorway. The polar fleece stash almost out numbers the spinning fiber stash, but not quite. The trick is finding a suitable place to store all this fiber and fabric and yarn. I thought there was enough room in our bedroom, but then after attempting to stack the bins of yarn only, I realized I had a bit of an avalanche hazard. Only one blow of the lab's tail made the tower shake and sway. The tower of yarn will be moving to the basement guest room soon.

Between spurts of actual cleaning and organizing, I've been spinning on the BFL. Since I know I have about 4.3 oz total fiber, I want to split the fiber evenly between two bobbins. Problem is that I began spinning this fiber before the Woolee Winder arrived. I first wound the singles off the standard Majacraft bobbin onto another Maja bobbin, and then onto a pre-weighed (I also wrote the weight on each bobbing so I'm ready for next time) WooLee Winder bobbin. I wanted to be sure the singles were lined up for continued spinning once I was done. Here's a shot of the process:

That's my bobbin winder as purchased on eBay. Very cool toy, you must have one. I'm using a yarn guide from the jumbo plying flyer for my spinning wheel to guide the single onto the bobbin evenly. Because I'm not too worried about distributing twist I had a short distance between the lazy kate and the winder. Once I was all done with one bobbin winding, I popped it back onto the wheel and spun for another 3 hours.

I have just over 2 oz of this fiber spun into singles, and this took about 30 hours of spinning to accomplish. Its safe to say that when this yarn is done I think this will be the last time I spin lace weight yarn for a little while!

Croissant Anyone?

My little family had a nice weekend, kind of a mini-vacation. It's been about 3 years since we took a real vacation, one that actually entailed relaxing recreation and no work or household duties. Oh, we've had a 3-day weekend or two which have all been for holiday purposes and including presents and parties and things like that or went visiting our old neighbors for the weekend or had house guests for the weekend. But usually we work 6 days a week and DH sometimes is working for 14 or more hours at a time. In return we have a nice house, decent and reliable vehicles that aren't fancy but get us wear we're going, and overall a nice life.

This time we took ourselves off to the big city (Minneapolis/St. Paul) for one night of bliss. Before we got to the bliss-part, there was packing up the dogger for her overnight with very nice friends, prepping the cat for her solo night at home (read: dishing up 3 meals worth of food knowing full well she'd eat it all before we left the driveway), packing our overnight bag, double-checking everything and finally getting on the road around 11 am. Yep, we're highly organized folks (not).

Since this was sort of a Valentine's / 5 year anniversary / last moment of freedom before parenthood celebration we decided to spend the night at Hotel Sofitel in Bloomington. Very nice hotel, very good food, very helpful staff. After a lovely supper in one of the restaurants, we went to DH's sister's house for a birthday celebration for her husband, who turned 50 this month. The house was packed and everyone was talking at once and there was cake to be had so all were merry. When we couldn't stop yawning around 9 pm (yeah, party animals) we made the 5 minute trip back to the hotel and sat in stunned silence enjoying the peacefulness of our quiet, comfortable room. We zonked out about 30 min later. Like I said, we're party animals.

Here's how we woke up the next morning:

Yum! Over our in-room continental breakfast we watched "Stranger Than Fiction" (Will Ferrell, Emma Thompson). Such a good movie, and very, very good food again. When we checked out and were on our way to pick up the dogger we both sat in a peaceful state in the car, I commented how I felt like I had just had a day at the spa getting the full treatment. DH said he wasn't sure how that felt, but that he did smell "pretty" from using the hotel soap, shampoo and conditioner. Funny man.

There was very little productive knitting done this weekend. The mystery sock started the trip with the gusset almost finished, but after many try-ons, came home like this:

We'll try again later this week. I'm disgusted that I did not try the sock on earlier and therefore save myself from useless knitting. Grr.

On the upside, DH bought me some pretty pinkish sock yarn, a mini-noddy, some dye packets (for use after the critter (10 weeks to go) is born) and 4 oz of cashmere top. Yes, ladies, he is taken. He's mine, all mine. He got a fish-finder out of the deal, but since I got the cashmere and Koigu sock yarn, I win.

The yarn was bought at Yarnzilla, which by the way is way way way off the beaten path. It's in a business park, and if you've ever tried to find it and gave up, print out the map and give it another try. The sales room is really small, but she only displays one skein of each yarn, like a shoe store. When you know what you want and how much, she retrieves it from the giant warehouse next door. A different shopping experience, but at least you're not overwhelmed by the volume of yarn like in some stores.