Crazy hard curveball of a week

Before I get started, let me put in this picture...it soothes me...hopefully it will soothe you.

I'm working on this throw, it shows 2 completed strips and the start of the final row. (I'm now on the last block of that last strip)  Life has thrown us a curve ball.  My mom had to go to the hospital late Tuesday night, calling 911 is such a scary but wonderful thing.  You call 3 simple numbers and they are at your door within minutes.  Bringing help.  She has a history of heart problems and seemed so very sick.  With 2 sleeping children upstairs, I didn't go with her to the emergency room.  We've been through this several times, I know the wait is long and uncomfortable in the emergency room.  There is nothing I can do.  So I waited at home.  In the dark.  I cleaned upstairs.  My girls sleeping soundly.  Me, crying silent fearful tears as I picked up the clutter in the family room.  Our dog Gadget sitting and following me around as I worked.  He usually sleeps with my mom and didn't understand where she went.  After running tests and tests, mom came home Friday with a heart monitor she has to wear for the next two weeks to give them more data.  In between running to the hospital each day, getting the girls to school, getting Emily to her first round of ortho appointments, I showed up at work.  I'm grateful I have an understanding workplace, because the amount of work I got accomplished during the 3 days I was here last week was not on the grand scale.  I knit and spun yarn late into the night at home.  It helped keep my fears at bay.  I'm grateful.

And on a brighter note, I'm now signed up for two craft fairs.  The first one is at the Maple Grove Community Center, on October 9 from 9-4.  My friend Ellen is doing this with me.  She does hand embroidered table linens.  I will have my handspun yarn and various knitting I've done.  Shawls, hats, scarves, the above lap blanket, another cream ruched afghan, some socks and other delights.  I think it will be great fun, if nothing else a day with a good friend surrounded by crafts.  Then this morning I signed up for the "Wild Wool Market", it is held at the Susan Hensel gallery in South Minneapolis.  I've never been to one before, but how wrong can I be at something called the Wild Wool Market!  I'm participating in the November 27 market, from 10-4.  And this time it is all about me.  I'll have a small space and I'll have my handspun there, possibly some knitted items, but primarily my handspun.  After the last week, I'm looking forward to having some wooly goodness surrounding me.

A fresh start

Yesterday was the first day of school.  My girls are growing so fast it seems.  Both had great days and Emily was just so happy and excited.  Can you see her smile?

She was listening to the Zac Brown Band singing Sic em on a Chicken.  grin...something about seeing such pure unadulterated joy makes my heart sing. 

I finished a scarf on Monday night.  I started working Cinnamon Grace, but I altered the pattern as I went.  The original had the straight section only worked for 17 inches, that would have given me a pretty short scarf, so instead, I knit the straight section for 30 inches, then decreased per the pattern.  The next change I made was to the border.  I just didn't like the original border, I thought it was pretty, but not what I wanted to end up with, so instead, I added a ruffled border.  I love how it looks but holy cow was it tedious to knit that many stitches.  I had them crammed way tight on my needle and I'd inch worm my way around.  I kept weighing my ball of yarn to be sure I had enough yarn left.  I probably could have knit one more row on the ruffle before starting the bind off but just between you and me?  I was TIRED of struggling with the knitting and wanted to get it off the needles.  So I popped in a Stargate SG-1 movie, The Ark of Truth and two hours later the galaxy is saved from the Ori and I had a scarf off the needles that I'm really pleased with.

And finally here is the next skein of yarn I finished, let me introduce you to Caramel Apples.  A perfectly squishy yarn for fall....a hat?  mittens?  cowl?  who knows... for now I'll just enjoy it on the shelf.

What a weird week

I'm writing this with very little sleep.  Not a good combination, but such is life.  Emily was so sick this week, started with a toothache on Sunday, Tuesday morning had her in the dentist, they pulled a tooth.  Thursday morning I had her in the emergency room because of the pain and swelling which resulted from an infection.  She was in such pain it was awful.  But one day of antibiotics and she is back to her regular self.  I'm a wreck!  But I'm at work.  Another not good combination, but one that is necessary with the time I had to take this week.

I did complete some spinning.  Late nights and all, plus Emily likes to fall asleep watching me spin.  So here is 40 below.  I should have taken a picture of the roving...so I'm shamelessly borrowing the picture from Caryn Lantz's Etsy site, Fuzzy Noodle Knits.  It still amazes me the change from the roving to the finished yarn, the blue really took over the color and the white was muted.  But the result is sparkly and pretty and soft.  Not bad.

I also finished this - I'm calling it Spring Time Garden.  This is one squooshy yarn.  Very nice and I'm very happy with it.

I'm participating in a craft fair this October in Maple Grove.  I'll sell my yarn and few handknits as well.  So I need to keep my head down and spin...and what choices I have... stay tuned.

End of Summer panic

I suddenly realized that school starts for the girls in a matter of weeks.  Short weeks.  And even shorter weekends.  Which means we are now scheduling the long promised massive sleepover at our house, four neighborhood girls and my two girls add up to way too many girls in my house!  And who named these things sleepovers!  Very little sleeping will be involved, however, I'm anticipating much laughter and giggles and thumping and eating and movie watching and computer playing will ensue.  The only thing I said was it had to be on either a Friday or Saturday night so I wouldn't be heading to work on a short nights sleep. 

We are also heading up north on Lake Superior for a long weekend next week.  I love Lake Superior.  The temps are always cool and pleasant (ok, maybe not so much in the dead of winter, but now?  heaven!).  Then there is Labor Day Weekend and school starts.  So the girls are packing in as much fun as possible in these last few weeks.

Emily had her first real orthodontist appointment preparing her for the jaw expanders.  It is so hard to watch her in distress, knowing that everything we are doing will help her in the long run.  But it is truly a long hard road we have to navigate first.  And she is so little.  But so strong.  I just hope I can be as strong as I need to for her. 

Much knitting has occured, I've completed several hats and headbands for the looming craft fair.  Now I'm thinking of how to display things to their best advantage, suggestions for displaying my handspun yarn?  I've got a couple different hat stands so that is covered.  I've got a wooden quilt rack that I can use for my scarves and shawls.  So I'm getting there.  I'm spinning nearly everyday.  I think it is truly a way for me to calm myself.  And that is a very good thing.  And getting yarn out of the deal...total bonus.

It's a hat...no a cowl...no a headband?

Well I was hoping the knitting fairy would smile favorably on me and I do believe she has.  I was working on the Mini Mochi hat, loved the colors, but started worrying I would run out of yarn before I could finish the hat.  I weighed the remaining yarn and did math.  Did I mention I hate doing math?  I was pretty sure I could finish and kept on knitting.  I finally decided it was going to be too close for comfort so I turned this into that.  And I'm quite happy with it.  I so love the colors and how they turned out and shine through.  The cowl is a sorta stiff cowl, not a droopy one, but the yarn is soft enough for wearing next to my skin so I don't mine.  It can also be used as a headband too, really wide so it is literally so close to being a hat.  It would be perfect to wear with a high ponytail.  I'll see if I can get Anna to model that for me.

Tonight I'll ply my northern lights yarn together.  I'm really hoping I was as consistent in size as I strived to be.  I'm hoping for yardage in the 300 to even 400 yards.  I've never been able to achieve that, so here's hoping.

And just in case you didn't know, even here in the suburbs of Minnesota we have gang activity....meet the summer mafia of the neighborhood.

This was taken Saturday night at dusk, temps were high 80's, humidity as high as it could go without actually having to swim through the air.  And my girls and their gang friends were walking around with fur trimmed hoods and long black pants.  Yup, that is my life.  I love my life. 

A spinning weekend looms

I'm trying to spin everyday.  I'd really like to get my consistency well more consitent.  And the best way to do that is practice.  So this week I've been spinning around an hour a night.  I do think it is helping.  I'm also working on the thinnest spin I've done yet.  I don't know if I'm achieving a true lace weight yet, but I'm hoping for a light fingering.  This is all gearing up to do a big spin to make a baby blanket out of the Girasole pattern with roving I have.  But in order to get the yardage I need out of the amount of roving I have, I need to be consistently able to spin a fine fingering weight.  A good challenge.  I love these colors, I'm debating if it is a springtime flower riot or northern lights.  I'll wait to see what it looks like after plying.  If I put my head down maybe I can finish the second bobbin tomorrow so I can ply on Sunday.

The other project I'm currently deep into is a Mini Moochi hat.  I started this once before but just didn't like how it was looking so I ripped it out.  This time I paired one mini moochi ball of yarn with some left over Julia yarn and this is what has happened.  I can't tell you how much I love this hat.  The green is a lighter spring green, not so olivey looking and the mini moochi variations just glow like jewels.  I'm also trying to finish this over the weekend and if I'm lucky, I'll persuade one of the girls to model it for me.  It does look a bit big, but if so I'm going to try felting it just enough to shrink it down.  But again, I'll wait to see how it looks when I'm finished.

Yippee!!!! One is Sold

I was messaged on Ravelry this weekend that one of my skeins of yarn at Darn Knit Anyway is sold!  I'm thrilled and she even said it was hard to choose just one.  That is an awesome compliment.  So I know at least one of my skeins has found a new home.  And guess what?  She initially was looking for local yarn to participate in a yarn swap with someone in New Zealand.  So just maybe my humble skein of Red Sherbet is going to wing its way to New Zealand!  I'm giddy...

Emily had her orthodontist appointment Friday to start the work needed before she has her bone grafting surgery this winter.  Her upper jaw needs to be expanded before the bone grafting takes place.  Lets just say that the dollar amount for the next 12-14 months means I better sell a whole lotta yarn!  I do have insurance, but I'm sure there will be issues before it finally gets paid.  But it will all work out.

And so you know I've been spinning like mad, here is part of the newest finished product.  And look, I actually have PICTURES...we finally had some sun and I was able to get a good picture of the heathery purpley blue with odd random bits and bobs of red chenile thread thrown in.  I still have probably 3-4 ounces left to spin, but this is finished.  I'm going to try for a bit of a chunkier weight with the rest of the roving.  Just to see the contrast between the two.

And on the knitting front, I'm working on Cinnamon Grace, another cross between a scarf and a shawl.  I'm using Dream in Color Starry and think it will turn out lovely.  I'm going to definetly increase the straight section from 17 inches to probably at least 30 inches, but currently it looks like this.  I love the color and the hints of shimmer.  I also think the border will add a lot to it.  I only have one skein of the yarn, since I'm doubling the length of the straight section, I may have to look for either another skein just for the border or a contrasting yarn to finish it.  I'll wait to see how much yarn I have left when I complete the knitting of the body of the scarf.

Now I need to get back to work, darn how that cramps my knittig/spinning style.  But I'm doing cartwheels inside because I actually sold some of my very own yarn.