2013

Happy New Year! I'm excited for the things this new year will bring - the learning opportunities, the creativity, the possibilities.

How about some Goals?

1. Go for a walk every day and soak up some fresh air and sunshine. I'm registering for the Crescent City Classic 10K (March 30), and I'd like to finish with a spring in my step - daily walking will help.

2. Learn new weave structures, and do some designing.

3. Continue to cultivate a simpler life, by decluttering (PURGE!) and choosing simplicity over complexity.

4. Set up a planning board for upcoming weaving and spinning projects.

5. Incorporate more fresh seasonal foods into our usual grocery fare.

6. Devise and implement a more efficient yarn storage solution in the studio.

7. Find an additional market for my handspun and handwovens - Etsy sales have slowed dramatically.

8. Teach my daughter to weave - she's expressed interest, and I want to encourage it.

9. Read more - I've challenged myself to read one book a week plus 13 (for the year date) for a total of 65 books. See my Goodreads page for my progress - link in the sidebar.

10. Weave some Saori yardage for clothing - I want a few comfortable cotton shirts, a vest or two, and several jumpers - things I can mix/match and wear with jeans.

11. Spend more time with my siblings - the time I've spent with them over the holidays was precious, and I want to make the time for that at least once a month.

12. Manage my music better on my computer and phone. I'd like to organize it into playlists and get rid of stuff I don't ever listen to. Songs that I skip every time you come up in the shuffle, I'm looking at you...

13. Get used to my Mavea water filter pitcher. I dislike our tap water, so I drink bottled water (delivered by 5-gallon bottles). I've bought a water pitcher, but didn't like the water as much. I want to try it again and get used to it - it's cheaper and has less impact on the environment.

There! 13 Goals for 2013. I'll keep them in mind and revisit them as the year progresses - I think pursuing them will bring me great benefits.

I pray that the new year will bring you love and health and joy. Thanks for reading my little musings here - I enjoy sharing what's going on my studio and my heart. Here's to 2013 and its opportunities!!

Handspun Kitsune/Harvest Sweater in progress

I cast on for my new sweater (Bailey cardigan - Ravelry link) last night. I have a self-imposed deadline for this one - I want to be able to wear it by the time cold weather arrives. Here in the Deep South, that's the end of November. :)

I'm sure it'll be finished before then - this yarn is such a delight to knit. I'm loving the fabric... the silk content added to the polwarth wool gives it a wonderful drape, and a subtle shine.

Kraken Sweater - Beginning

After 11 years of dabbling, I'm still a beginner knitter. Oh, I can knit a mean (basic) sock, and I can knit/purl a ribbed scarf with the best of 'em, but to me, advancing past "beginner" will entail knitting real SWEATERS.

Now, I've knit two sweaters, but they were both child-size and the same pattern, in the round with a 3-needle bind-off at the shoulders. No piecing, no seaming. I knit them from Reynold's Lopi, for a charity serving Russian orphans. They were simple, WARM, and bullet-proof.

But an adult sweater has not yet sprung full-born from my needles. I've started one, the Oatmeal Cardigan, in (appropriately) oatmeal bfl, handspun of course, but the staggering neutral yardage bored me to tears, and it languishes in a knitting bag somewhere.

Handspun handpainted - now THAT's the way to go, to keep my interest during both the spinning and the knitting. So I joined the SCF & Friends Sweater SAL/KAL (Rav-link) because I knew the wonderful members of the Southern Cross Fibre forum on Ravelry would encourage me and give the kick in the pants I'll need when the going gets tough.

I chose one of my very favorite Southern Cross Fibre colorways - Kraken - and one of my very favorite fibers - polwarth.

 (picture courtesy of David at SCF)

(Isn't it scrumptious???) I have enough fiber for half the sweater, and David (one of the best dyers on the PLANET) was happy to dye more. It's shipping today (from Australia). I'll wait until I have all the fiber together, so I can split it all up to combine the dyelots, for a nice blend throughout.

Since this is my first real sweater, I knew I'd need a simple pattern - the Bailey Cardigan (Rav) is great for handspun, and has good clean lines. My friend Sandi has already knit it and I was able to see (and feel!) it in person on our last Montana trip. I'll knit mine in fingering weight yarn rather than in DK, because I want it to be lightweight and useful for indoor wear.

And since I want the sweater to be wonderful and perfect, I knew I'd need to sample and swatch. (Yikes.) I did both. I spun samples of 2-ply, 3-ply, and navajo-ply:

(My camera washed out the colors - they're actually rich and vibrant like David's fiber photo above.)

I really like the 3 ply best, but needed to knit a swatch, not only for gauge, but for the look and feel of the fabric. So I knit my first ever swatch:

(top, n-ply; middle, 2-ply; bottom, 3-ply)

I love the look of the n-ply, but for socks, rather than for a sweater. I prefer the heathered transitions of the 2-ply and the 3-ply. In the end, I chose the 3-ply, because its fabric gave me the look and feel I liked best. It's so soft (yet durable) and pliable, and it drapes nicely.

I cannot wait to get started on this project! I'll keep you posted...

Can't CONTAIN my Excitement!

Yesterday my husband brought home plants and seeds and started our container veggie garden. I am so happy!

Vegetable gardening is one of the many things in my life that falls victim to my tendency toward perfectionism - "if I can't do it perfectly, it's not worth doing at all." Which of course is self-defeating, but governs many of my actions nonetheless.

DH finally took the bull by the horns and just DID it. And because I wasn't the initiator, I can enjoy it without being critical of myself. Of course, we're first-timers and will make lots of mistakes, but if we get a few veggies out of the venture, and learn a few things, it will all be worth it. I ordered a compost bin this morning, and I've started saving veggie peels, eggshells, and coffee grounds.

Here are some pictures of my babies -

Cucumbers:

Eggplant (note the invader ALREADY munching on the plant's center - he's dead now):

 Onions:

Peppers:

Tomatoes:

Zucchini (seeds):

The containers lining the edges of the patio, in full sun:

And for color, on the front patio, Petunias:

In fiber news, I've spun 3.59 miles of yarn this year. (I added a widget in my sidebar keeping track.)  I'm aiming for 15 miles by Dec. 31st - just a fun goal I've set for myself. Now that I'm RETIRED, I have so much more time to spin and weave, and it's such a joy to have the time to dig into my fiber bins and choose bags of lovely soft color to spin.

I just finished this one, 700 yds of fingering weight 2-ply, from Enchanted Knoll Farm's "Black Magic Woman" batts. I love spinning this sparkly, silky stuff.

On the wheel right now, some lovely rainbow fiber for a customer. Bright color for spring!

A year? Really?

It does not seem like a year since I posted here. Yet I cannot argue with the calendar.

I've no idea how time passed so quickly. I've thought about updating here, like you would think about calling an out-of-touch friend - you pick up the phone a hundred times, then put it down again because catching up would take so much time.

I'd really like to use this space, so I decided to pick up the phone one more time. (Metaphorically speaking, of course.) It would be impossible to try to catch up, so I will just pick up here where I left off. I've added another loom (a LeClerc Voyageur 4-harness table loom) and another wheel (a Majacraft Suzie Alpaca), and countless skeins of handspun have accumulated since last I posted. I'll add pictures over the next week.

I've opened an Etsy shop in the past month ('DebbieB Handspun, Handwoven') - and am offering handspun yarn and woven items.

We're getting closer to realizing our dream of moving to Montana - planning a trip to Bozeman this June to check out possible areas to buy a house.

I've put this off for way too long... Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?

Day the First

Day the first.

Solstice - a time for starting new things, welcoming back the light.

The blog title? Explained well here. (I'll make this prettier later - just wanted to get things set up and running.) It encompasses my desire for balance, harmony, centeredness - in a world that seems to contain none of those things.

This is a place for musing about fiber - spinning, weaving, knitting - and random bits of nonsense concerning cats and family.

I don't promise to update daily, or even often - this place is for me, though you're very welcome here. Have a seat and a cup of tea. You may put up your feet on the furniture and make yourself comfortable - I hope you're not allergic, because if you sit down and make a lap, it will quickly be filled with a cat or two.

Debbie
(DebbieB on Ravelry)