Spinning!

I LOVE my new Woolie Winder!! LOVE LOVE LOVE.. I finished Emma's "Tidepool" Roving. It went so quick and compacted extra lovely.
I started the pale green mohair which the consensus was that it smells like machine oil. Its not yummy wool smell. To bad the outside spinning season is over.. cuz of "rain".
Oh, and I believe our Saturday group will be moving back to Third Place Books. It was hinted that we take up to much space. Regardless of the fact that at least 4 of the people in the group can be considered vendors of this shop. We've been unwelcomed .. sigh!!
On a fun note.. JERICO is making DINNER!! I'm so happy!! BBQ chicken Calzones. yummm yummm!

Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival with Friends

Friday morning at 4:30am, about the time my husband gets up to go to work, Ginger taps on my living room window and we're off to OFFF before I have time to register that I'm even awake! Next we pick up Emma. On Gingers site you should see how thrilled and awake we all were. She was snapping pictures all over the place.
Most of the trip was a blurr. It was still dark till we hit the coolest gas station that looked like it belonged on some castles grounds. There besides getting gas we got a great view of Mount St. Helens with the sun behind..just coming up.
We got lucky and got to park inside the first day. At first we thought.. is this all there is??? The Festival actually didn't start till Saturday. We walked around and saw that very few people had set up and this place had the potential of being HUGE! Ginger had a class right after we got there so Emma and I sat and spun for a few hours..moving here and there to either get some sun or avoid it. We all got very burned.
Sometime during that day we hooked up with Betty and her mom Martha and Teresa. Betty has the coolest and most unusual spinning wheel. If you saw it there..you'd remember. LOL!
Well, I won't get into the day by days. Lets just say we all had a wonderful time. Bought way to much!!
I in particular felt horribly guilty about my purchases. It seems I left my glasses somewhere on Friday. The ones my husband had given me so much crap about buying in the first place. I knew I was gonna "get it" when I got home so.. mmmm.. should I buy more and just roll with it.. I mean I'd already be in trouble, right. Or, be more conservative? Really, how often do I get to these things? Like never!! Ginger was surprised to find out that this would be the first time Bill and I had been seperated for more then a day.. ever! I'll get back to the glasses story in a bit.

Ginger, Emma and I shared a room at the Super 8 motel in beautiful Wilsonville. I was a bit worried. After all, I'm nearly twice their age. Not been away from home or family for probably 35 years. Used to Scratching ,belching and farting at will. LOL!! I think we all slept very well except for me on Saturday morning I went to shift/ turn in bed so as not to shove Ginger out and flipped my stupid self outa bed onto the floor on my knees!! OH yes I did too fall outa bed. How embarrassing!

The rest of the weekend was kinda a blurr. I'll try to remember. Saturday I hung out with Martha, Betty's mom, cuz we both move kinda slow. We looked at all the animals.. goats, sheep, yaks, llamas, alpacas and 2 young camels. I bought some beautiful alpaca that was spun by the ladies selling it which was made from a combo of all these ladies alpacas. I also bought some a hank of silk roving and a hank of merino roving in the same colors.. Deep purples. I think I'll spin them seperate and then ply them. I went to wander threw one of the buildings looking for Ginger and came across the wooly winder guy. I don't know why I thought they wouldn't have one that fit my Ashford Traveler but they did. I couldn't buy it fast enough!! It didn't even matter how much it cost. Which leads me back to the glasses............

Sunday morning, I check with lost and found for the umteenth time and still no glasses. Sigh!! I wandered threw one of the buildings with Ginger and Emma for awhile and run into Sam and Jen at Sheila's booth glassnut booth, afterwards, I decided to go outside to sit. So, I sat at the same table I'd been sitting at on Friday. All day Saturday a group called PDX bloggers had been sitting and knitting/spinning. I'd given up finding the glasses ever. I turn to look at the booths and there in the middle of the table are "MY GLASSES.. WTF!!!" Some guy sitting near started laughing(I'd said it rather loudly) and told me that things happen for a reason which I took to mean I needed to BUY MORE!! But, since I found some of the members of the afore mentioned group to thank them for my glasses maybe I was supposed to make new friends? Who knows!! After that I relaxed a TON and bought some more.. lol

Here you see most of "the Spoils". On the bottom is a brushed Alpaca shawl from Peru..left to right.. very pale green (kid mohair) roving (1.1lb) the purples I mentioned above. Some Aqua squeeshy stuff (1lb) that I had to have. A PINK drive band for Beatrice (my wheel) and a Woolie winder also for Beatrice. the black and white is a little over a lb of Jacobs fleece (like the sheep on the left) from a 5 mo. old sheep named "Thistle" I had to buy it. NOTE: One of my favorite Vases ,that I made years ago is called "Amy and Thistle" the painting is of a young girl with a Fairy sitting in her palm. The girl is the picture is a remake of a drawing my mother made of me when I was 14. The Fairy was just for giggles. Anyway.. I had to have Thistles fleece. The gentleman that sold it to me told me her brothers name is "Thorn" and her mama "Bramble" I love that little touch of history.
Here are Emma,Ginger and I after buying our fleeces.

September Update

Ok.. here are some pictures of the new bathroom. Its slowly coming together. I will be doing a painting across those doors of a branch and cherry blossoms. Just waiting for Bill to quit messing with it. See the cute Frog door pulls he found? Awesome!!
All Wood surfaces are a rich Mahogany. The colors here are washed out by the flash.

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Countdown.. 2 days till Oregon Flock and Fiber. Looks like its Ginger (driving) Emma, Jane and I. Hope we all snore. Cuz, I do. I'm so nervous..and excited!! I don't have a decent camera anymore so hope someone brings a digital.

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Jerico gave up on buying a Sailboat. He went out yesterday and Paid cash for a Landrover!! WHITE! It was noted that if I traded my Bronco out for the Lil Mercedes around the corner ( that I LOVE and is for sale ) that we'd all have WHITE cars!! Is that a bad thing?

Its September

Time is moving way to fast! Where did the summer go? I think I only saw a few days that were actually hot! Sigh... I hate being cold!
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The bathroom remodel is coming along slowly. At least the shower is done..so we're clean. Now, we are working on a Linen closet. I painted and primed the shelves that are now a lovely Aloe green same as the walls around the shower.

Next come the doors. Bill has been working on them for weeks. Seems an Old neighbor gave him just the perfect doors, when they moved away.. 10 years ago. They were so perfect he had to add wood at the bottom and add a piece of mahogany to the inside edge. OH, and so things don't get damp he fashioned a dealie to make round holes the size of CDs in the top and bottom of each door. He spent all day yesterday making mahogany slats to fit in the holes. One little strip at a time.. amazing. I will be painting the doors today. With the slats they should have an Oriental feel. I have planned a simple mural across them with minimal branches and leaves and a few red berries. Its a theme I use on alot of my art projects. I may have to put a light spray of a willow yellow where the mural is going because I think the green will wash out the leaves. I can maybe use the airbrush for that. Haven't used it in years. Thinking with my fingers again..lol
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On the Knitting scene......working on socks for Marshall out of Dalegran Falk in a not to annoying charcoal color on size 5's. Going really fast.

Bought (I know I said I wouldn't buy anymore yarn, so I lied) some mushroom zephyr to make the lily of the valley shawl out of. Can't wait to start it but need to finish Marsh's socks first.
Jyll came knitting,at Village Yarn and Tea, Saturday. It was wonderful. I miss having my daughter inlaw close by. She made me (pfffft) buy pale green tofutsie sock yarn.

Got to play with the grandkids when we went home. Always amazes me to see them. They grow to fast!! My middle son is 31 now..to me he's still that dreamy looking 17 yr. old. He used to have lustrous waist length hair that I would braid and run my fingers threw while he sat at the computer. He's buzz cut it all off.. can't get used to that.
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Ginger and Emma tell me I'm going to Oregon Flock and Fiber with them in a couple weeks. I haven't gone anywhere without Bill in so long....will be really wierd. I'll try to have a good time tho. I'll have to buy yarn.. or roving.. its like a rule.. isn't it? Oh my goodness.. sigh.. whatever shall I do!!

Life as I know it

Just a quick catch up. Life has been a bit more interesting then usual. Not in a totally bad way.
My Eldest son, Jerico is staying in the "Yarn Room" till he can get his own Apt/boat.. whatever. Trying to talk him into sharing an apt with Marshall but so far I hear. I'm 40 and I need my own place. So, whatever! So.. ahem.. he lives with his parents. Oh well, its only till November when he goes back to his ship. He got a few months off.

Its interesting having him around. I always enjoy his humor. There is Alot of laughing when he's around and alot of running around it the car. Usually, its really quiet around here. So, it livens up the joint. Till it gets old.. anyway. I never heard anyone discuss heatedly with the Tv set ,like he does. And, laugh wildly with the same old commercials. Its amusing.. for the moment.
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I am knitting. Socks mostly. I can't seem to resist the new sock yarns. I mean.. I don't really 'wear' socks. I'm a barefoot person. But, they are just so pretty!! On the needles now I have a pair of blue/purple megaboot socks. I had to cut off the toe and make them longer. Do you ever just wanna get them done NOW and do that? Well I guess I did. Also, started a pair of Grey socks for Marshall, who actually wears them. He's told me he LOVES them and even ventured into Village Yarn and Tea to pick out yarn for more pairs. Theres a good kid for ya.
I seriously(eyes to heaven) want to make the shawl that I posted below. Every yarn I've tried so far is to fat or to something. Annie's Pearl isn't going to work. I have to much of this yarn and not enough of that. I guess, I should just suck it up and buy more yarn but I'm trying reallly hard not to buy more yarn. Theres no more room in the drawers!

Its September already.. where did the summer go?