I'm back!

These past few weeks have been unusually busy for me. My to-do lists seems to have mushroomed from doing laundry, buying groceries and dyeing some yarn into long lists of must be done sooner rather than later.

I'll make an effort to keep this post shortish since there are no pictures at the moment, and you probably don't want to read the entire short story of my errands, chores and adventures of the past couple of weeks.

Let's hit the highlights, shall we?

I went with Gale of Gale's Art to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival. I went with Gale last year to both this show and Rhinebeck, and I'd been planning only on going to Rhinebeck this year. However, and if I'm repeating myself, I do apologize, this year the Dalai Lama will be here in Atlanta on the same weekend as Rhinebeck. His Holiness or a major fiber event. Needless to say, an opportunity to hear him in person won.

When I called Gale with the news, I asked if I could go with her to Wisconsin again this year. I took a look at the class schedule and signed up for two classes.

People who have worked with me know that I've got a strange brain. We all have different ways that we learn, and while seeing a demonstration of something does help, I can read a book and learn how to do whatever it is I'm trying. However, if I then have the chance to take a class from someone who really knows their stuff, I'll take the class.

The first class I took was how to dye self-striping sock yarn. I think I've mentioned before that what I was most curious about was the math involved. I know how to dye self-striping sock yarn, as I'd read it in a book, but Nancy has methods for determining how long each painted portion needs to be in order to make your stripe so many rows high. Her class was for the hobbyist dyer who only needs a skein or two, not a production dyer, yet I did learn the math part.

The second class I took was soapmaking. This is something I've had an interest in for a very long time, but I now have a much more urgent reason. Lush has discontinued their I Should Coco soap, which I dearly love. Honestly, as much as I love it, I don't buy much of it. At $40 a pound it's a special treat. It's also a softer soap, melting away into a puddle of dried coconut in my shower way too quickly.

The thing that has always held me back about trying soapmaking on my own is the lye. The book I have from the mid 1990's made me feel about as comfortable handling lye as I would handling the nuclear waste from Chernobyl. Lye was my personal stumbling block. There were also all these things that could go wrong with your soap.

I've now handled lye and even survived having a few droplets land on skin. I'm ready for soapmaking here at home now, sometime between the yarn dyeing and that batch of plum jam that I really want to make.

However, a rather odd thing happened in the soap class. The class was full, having had 12 people sign up. Only 10 showed up. When it came time to divide into teams, I found myself alone. In my youth I would have been so upset that no one liked me. As a more mature adult, I did puzzle about it for a minute. Is there some "otherness" about me? I pushed that aside when I let it fully sink in. I wouldn't have any partners to mess with. I actually prefer working alone. I knew in theory how to make soap, and now I could learn how, just like I would at home, alone where I could think and not have to answer any questions. However, one attendee had brought a friend who went and signed up, and she became my partner. I can't remember her name, but she actually was quite good to work with. She was intelligent, understood the processes, and it was great to have someone else to share stirring the soap while it underwent the thickening process. One batch of our soap turned out great, and it's still curing. The other batch did not turn out, and I threw it away after consulting a couple of books. It seems that when she measured out the water for it, she measured by volume and not weight. I'll fully share the responsibility about that as I saw her measuring the water, and I wondered about it, but not enough to grab the teacher and ask. I learned from reading that this is a common mistake among new soapmakers, and it does explain why the second batch didn't behave quite as it should.

All in all, I had a great time. I'll have to write about the food a little later this week.

I finally uploaded a few pictures.

These pictures start a few weeks ago, so I've put them in some semblence of chronical order.

You may remember, if I blogged about it, that I thought I had searched in vain for a second bobbin of singles. I finally found the fiber, unspun, of course. The finished second bobbin is the one on the far right. I had divided the fiber before I spun it, in an attempt to spin two bobbins of the same weight. Didn't happen. I have

much to learn, and probably not nearly enough time to learn all I'd want. Honestly, I'd have to be immortal to learn all I'd like to learn.

Can you imagine? Becoming a vampire so you'd have time to study all that you would like? I could take astronomy classes, learn Hindi (for watching Bollywood movies) - I'm digressing.

This next picture you see, depending on how blogger decides to edit my post, is the yarn on the swift. I think it must be the single as you can see loopy, tightly twisted areas. My finished yarn was actually quite nicely balanced.

You remember that we're waiting on pins and needles waiting for the results of Lily's biopsy. In the meantime, let me share a picture of Lily sleeping on top of the curio cabinet in the kitchen. She found our round baking pan to be the best spot ever for about a week. I don't think I can even begin to tell you how we have worked to disuade her from getting on the curio cabinet. Luckily for us, she just found one of Scooter's cat beds, and that has become her choice for napping.


This past week Gale and I drove to Gastonia, NC, to go to Mary Jo's, a huge fabric and notions store that is 32,000 square feet large. Can you say total sensory overload? It was amazing, but as I told Gale, next time I need a list. I went with plans only to check the place out (yeah, right), and I, of course, made some purchases. That said, I got an awful lot and didn't spend much at all. Off the top of my head I'm not sure how much fabric I did get - I'm thinking about 5 yards total, as well as zippers, buttons, and a pressing tool. It's not a tailor's ham, it's the round one that fits into sleeves. I should have just gone on and gotten the tailor's ham too. Drumroll please......I only spent about $55. Some of the fabrics I purchased were Amy Butler, and they were between 35% to 40% off what I could buy them locally.

Never fear. I will continue to purchase locally, as this was an all day excursion, spent mostly in Gale's mini SUV. Mary Jo's has seemed like an urban legend. A place whispered about in quilting classes, so I had to see it for myself. Wow! Just wow!

Now for a little knitting. This bright orange project is stoma cover #7, knit from Cotton Classic, using US size 6 needles. This is one of the formerly amigurumi yarns, but I know someone will just love this vivid orange. I actually enjoy a good eye-searing lime or purple yarn too. (Maybe not wear except as a hat or mittens, but I do love 'em.)


Last, but certainly not least, is my February Lady Sweater in progress.

This morning, while waking up and thinking I needed to wind the next

ball of yarn, I realized that I am going to run out of yarn. Yes. I am going to be short.

This wonderful Malabrigo Merino Worsted has been marinating in my stash since 2005. It's from the very first shipment of Malabrigo that Needle Nook ever received. I'd purchased it with a project in mind that I've never gotten around to knitting, and when I decided to make this sweater instead, I had enough.

And herein lies my error. I had enough for the size I thought I needed to make, but after working on in for some time, I realized I needed to make a larger size. I charged right ahead, making that huge mistake of not rechecking my yardage. As the end of ball 3 looms in the near future, I only have 2 balls left to finish knitting the body and the 2 sleeves.

Can I take a minute to point out to less experienced knitters that we all screw up? We all make the silliest mistakes with our projects. This is why I tell people to buy that extra ball of yarn when I'm working. It's just for this reason.

Now, I'm not sure just one more ball of yarn is going to fix this for me. What I will do is continue to knit. I can finish the body, and in the meantime I can start looking for the same color of Malabrigo and see if I can find a reasonable match. I know it won't be the same. Malabrigo kettle dyes their yarn in batches of 10. However, since it is kettle dyed, and there are inconsistencies in color, I should be able to find something I can use. If not - well, I'm sure I can think of something.

Now, it's time to go enjoy this frigid morning. It's the first hard frost of the season. Poor Sassy is outside as I didn't want to stay out there and wait while she searched for a place to do her doggy business. (Sometimes it takes a really long time to find the perfect poop spot, and I figured I could blog instead of spending 15-20 minutes outside waiting while she sniffs every square inch of the yard. She does have one of those insulated doghouses, and she waits in it while watching the back door. You can see her nose sticking just out of the doorway flap. She also starts her special "let me in" bark which I haven't heard yet, so maybe there is a lot of squirrel chasing going on right now. Whatever, it's time for her to come back in, warm up and have some breakfast.) Enjoy your Sunday!

Rhinebeck recap

Wow! I've been to Rhinebeck. It is huge. Just freakin' huge for a fiber show, especially when what I have to compare it to is SAFF.

The food was so wonderful too. Aztec Cocoa from Taste Budds. Utterly delicious chicken pot pies. And the Double O Grill across from the fairgrounds entrance where we stopped in for lunch and went back for dinner that night and the next two, eating something different and incredibly mouthwatering every time.

Honestly, I'm not sure what I can say about Rhinebeck and be able to do it justice. I saw bloggers I've read. I got to actually meet the brains behind the Nefarious Yarn Club. And I didn't buy a darn thing!

Part of it is that we are so fortunate in Atlanta. We've got a lot of great yarn shops that compete with each other to bring in new indie dyers as well as standard yarn lines. While I can't get all of everything here, Stitches South brought more of them here last year, with more to come this year.

Also, this is the third fair/show I've worked for Gale's Art this year, and I find I'm a little jaded. Between the shows, working at a yarn store, the Internet, and having a rather decent stash, I find it takes more to impress me. If I were more of a spinner, I think I would have made more purchases. However, one only has so much time in a day, and while I enjoy spinning, I also enjoy knitting and sewing too. I've got to say no to something.

Finally, working a show is different from going as an attendee. While Gale is wonderful and sends me off to shop, we were very busy on Saturday, and by the time I got to take another look around, the things I'd wanted to purchase were sold out. Such is life.

I'm very glad I've had the opportunity to go. I've been there, done that. While it's not the same as climbing Everest or Denali, it's sort of a knitter's equivalent, and I can mark it off my list.

More mountain slogging

We've discovered that we'll be driving through the rain again today. Such is life.

I've had mountains on the mind ever since we've reached them. I love mountains. I was raised in the foothills of the Appalachians where they wind to an end in Alabama. I remember the first time I read The Lord of the Rings and Gandalf tells Bilbo about how Gollum ends up in the caves of the Misty Mountains, how I felt a kinship with Gollum. No, I've not been searching for the one ring to rule them all, but I feel that way about mountains. They hide secrets in their hidden coves and valleys. Caves are incredible too. I've never gone honest to goodness spelunking, but I do so enjoy a stroll through a commercial cave.

So today I'll enjoy the occasional glimpse through the mist, rain and fog at a valley suddenly opening to our side and dream of Middle Earth.

Misty Mountain slog

Today as Gale and I headed up the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains, we got to see fog almost as thick as that in Illinois. I can understand it better here, as we were driving along one side of the mountains, the valleys probably green and verdant beneath us. Who actually knows? The fog was thick and dangerous as we drove through the low-lying clouds.

Needless to say, it took awhile longer than expected to drive through it all. The leaves are changing colors, but the dense greyness of the drizzly, dim day gave us only glimpses of golds and burgundy reds. I'm really hoping the weather is more clear tomorrow.

I did take pictures that have to wait until I'm back home to upload.

This ran through my head for part of the drive. Here's to hoping for blue skies tomorrow.

Housework avoidance, now with more pictures.

Obviously, no mop touched my hand yesterday. Gale, Chicken Goddess and I went to the Georgia National Fair. Enjoy!

Chattanooga road trip revisited

As you can see by the title, I went on the road yesterday. The story begins last week when Gale decided she wanted to get some yarn for dyeing and asked me if I wanted to ride along. Sure, why not? Thus, plans were made for yesterday.

I arrived at Gale's house bright and early-ish, but it still took us nearly an hour to hit the road as I got to see some of the goodies she had recently dyed, and I had to pay tribute to Hobbs, her wonderful dog, with some vigorous petting.

I rarely go out I-75, so I did some rubbernecking while we talked about all sorts of stuff. It was a partly sunny day, which means mostly clouds with an occasional bit of sun peeking through the grey skies. I won't bore you with details of the trip up, as it was thankfully uneventful, just a lot of traffic, including so many trucks.

Our first stop and the reason for the whole trip was R & M Yarns in Georgetown, TN. This is a small store that sells mostly mill ends. Many of the wools were a bit scratchier than I would personally like for a sweater, but they had a lot of examples of felting with these wools. Someone there crocheted, since most of the felted hats were crocheted instead of knitted. They teach classes, including weaving, and there was a really lovely felted, woven shawl. I will admit to being very spoiled by the wide selection of yarns locally available here in Atlanta, so while their yarn selection wasn't the best, I would definitely shop there if I lived nearby. The two young women who were working are both very nice and helpful. One weaves and the other knits, and we had a good time talking to them. They did have a couple of colors of Brown Sheep's Wildfoote I haven't seen, and I almost never leave a yarn shop without buying something, so I've got enough for a pair of socks (of course).

I didn't take a picture of the shop as while we were there, another customer came in, and we got to talking about the local yarn shops in Chattanooga. Before either Gale or I knew what was happening, we had agreed to let her lead us to Genuine Purl in downtown Chattanooga. (They don't have a website, so I have nothing to which to link you.) Trying to follow someone down country lanes that they know so well, and you don't know at all is one thing, but trying to do that when the person who is leading you wants to go 20 miles over the speed limit is entirely another thing. Let's just say I wish I had known before we agreed to let her lead us. I am a Southerner, and I know there's nothing better than a out of stater going really fast down those two lane roads to the local police. I kept her in sight and drove more cautiously as I truly didn't want a ticket. She didn't lose us, and she led us to Genuine Purl.

By this time, it's after 1:30, and we're starving. She points us in the direction of a couple of restaurants and sends us on our way. (Which was rather a relief as she could talk non-stop, and while we appreciated the kindness that was forced upon us, we didn't want her to join us for lunch.)

Northshore Grille was one of the places she named, and it was open, so there we went. Now, while neither Gale nor I are chubbiest women in the world, we're not slim either anymore. Gale, who is very outspoken, asked our waiter couldn't he tell that she enjoyed her food too much. He laughed and said he wasn't going to touch that one, so I said "good man" while laughing. So when Gale decided on fish and chips, he said, without missing a beat, "you know that's going straight to your ass". We both were laughing again, but Gale still wanted her fish and chips. Now it's my turn, and he puts his arm across my shoulders and asks what I'm having. I've decided on a turkey melt, but I'll be virtuous and have cole slaw as my side. He says, "it's bleu cheese cole slaw, and it's going right to your ass too". I laughed and said I'd have it anyway.

I really liked the Northshore Grille. I was describing it to Keith, and I told him it reminded me a little of Manual's Tavern and a little of Virginia's while it was still on Virginia Avenue. (That was before they moved to Krog Street and ultimately closed. I thought Virginia's in the old place was just wonderful.) Classic rock played in the background. One of the walls was painted with an advertisement, and since part of it was covered up, I wondered if the wall had originally been an exterior one. There is a very large bar area and a good sized restaurant. If you are a fan of classic rock radio stations, you'll like Northshore Grille.

As for the food, my turkey melt was pretty wonderful, except that I don't like pepper encrusted turkey. I had to take my sandwich apart and scrape off some of the pepper. I don't remember if the menu specified the turkey that way as I would have chosen another dish if I had known. Gale's fish and chips looked phenomenal. She did offer me some chips, but I declined in an attempt at self control. As for the bleu cheese slaw... I loved it, but I really like bleu cheese. Gale doesn't, so she didn't like the slaw.

This was when I realized that the camera was still safely stowed in the bottom of my knit bag. Sorry for lack of pictures. We got directions to Ruby Falls from one of the guys working there and headed back to check out Genuine Purl.

I thought it was a very nice shop with a very good selection of yarn. Right inside the door to the left is a small table were 3 or 4 ladies were knitting and chatting. They all stopped to look at us, so I said hello first. I then told them that I had worked at a shop in Atlanta, had heard about Genuine Purl and wanted to visit. I took the initiative as no one had even said hello when we walked in. Maybe we weren't who they were expecting. We wandered around the shop, which has 3 rooms devoted to knitting and a 4th with needlepoint supplies. They have Koigu, which I don't often run across, so I bought two skeins.

I will say, I do wish that R&M had the yarn selection of Genuine Purl. R&M would be my hands down go to yarn shop if I lived in that area except for the yarn selection.

After that, it was back to Kermit, Gale's Honda Element, and off towards Lookout Mountain. I had really wanted to take Gale to see Rock City as she had never been, but that's part of the Lookout Mountain tour. It was probably a bit after 3 when we arrived at Lookout Mountain, and the tour is $15.95. That's not bad if you have time for it, but it was a cloudy, winter day after 3 p.m., and at best we'd have to hustle.

Instead, I took a picture or two, and we went here. Yes, there is a Starbucks right across the street from the entrance to Lookout Mountain/Rock City. We refueled and headed over to Ruby Falls. Ruby Falls is a waterfall at the end of a pretty uninteresting cave. The whole point of going is the waterfall. I've been in other caves that have better formations, but none that have this type of water feature. It is a very easy cave walk, less than 1/2 mile roundtrip, so even the novice cave visitor can enjoy it. It was here that I finally noticed that the camera was still set for taking pictures of yarn, so my pictures are not that great. (Yes, technology is great, but the human using it has to have a clue. Isn't that what led to the rise of the machines?)

The last picture is looking straight up into the cave. Over the millenia Ruby Falls has shifted position, but it happened so slowly the stone around it eroded forming a cathedral like chamber. Sorry that my poor photography skills can't even begin to show the wonders of caving.

After that, I got into the driver's seat and took us home.

The worst part of the day? When I stopped to put gas into Kermit and could hardly move. Some parts of aging totally suck, and I had gotten really stiff driving Kermit. It amazes me that the angle change of a centimeter or 2 will put so much stress on muscles.