Twilight's Dream

Another Great Pennsic with Nuala

2008-08-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well we've been back from Pennsic a little over a week now and i feel so refreshed. Nuala had a great time just like last year and was such a good girl...she loved playing in the tent...

as well as social activities like the women in white procession to the battlefield...she just breastfed in her sling all the way last year, but this year she was just taking it all in and loving it...i was very proud of my girl

this was her first woading and i think she looks awesome...straight out of the mists of avalon!

Garden Party

2008-06-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

Everyone is asking for pictures of Nuala, and i took these today and had to take the time to put them up...she and i were weeding the garden and she did her part by checking the ph of the soil with her saliva...or maybe she was just hungry...

She definately didn't get to nurse until we'd had a shower!

Trip of a Lifetime...

2008-03-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm in the library and the baby's sleeping...one handed typing...great story...so, i'm driving the cats to the new house which is a one and a half hour drive...halfway there i remember i forgot me and nuala's bathroom stuff and my pillow so i turn around and go back then head out again after feeding nuala...when we are about halfway there again i hear a scratching at the plastic in the cat kennel, so i plead "no,no,no,try to hold it, it won't be long" and then there is silence (see i didn't put their litter box in with them since it was a short trip!) also, i put them both in a larger kennel together and it takes up the whole passenger seat AND i put the metal grate side facing me so they would be comforted, so it was like right beside me...so back to the silence, then i smell the lovely poo and yummy cat pee wafting out, then the unthinkable...i am suddenly sprayed with cat pee...i feel it hit every exposed surface, my arms, the side of my face and everything i was wearing...then it happened a few more times after that...yuck! so, having pee all over their legs they were flinging it at me. When we got home timmy carried in the cats and the baby while i had a quick clean up. btw...i got to give the cats a bath in a laundry slop sink for the first time...it was perfect...i want one forever

Where did that year go?!!!

2008-02-29T22:45:00.000-08:00

ok.....so, i'm a big fat liar.....i didn't post for a whole year....ooops

i've been busy cooking all kinds of things....

My beautiful Nuala has occupied all of my attention and i love it! She is by far the most amazing person i have ever met and i am so blessed

Happy New Year!

2007-01-15T02:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been forever since I blogged! I got a second job working for Chris Roberts-Antieau back in August and it has been fun, challenging, and overwhelming all at the same time. I do sewing for her and I get to work from home, which fits in well with my wacky sleep schedule.

Another grand announcement, which has kept me preoccupied the last few months, is that I am four and a half months pregnant! We are so excited and I'm so grateful that my morning, afternoon and just about anytime sickness is over. Timmy and I got married in our living room on the Solstice and it was Perfect!

I'm going to put up a funny picture of me on a mechanical bull last Monday night. Let it be known that I didn't actually ride it, although I wanted to so bad. I did get to pose on it though, and I'm sure it was very entertaining watching me get up on that thing. Notice its horns had been knocked out already before I got ahold of it...and dig the red eyes!

I will sincerely try to be better about blogging in the New Year so talk to you all soon!

String Skirt

2006-07-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

I've been working on the string skirt a bit and i'm done with one side of the ties and i've started the waistband and skirt...here's a pic...

and here is the other side...since it's double weave there is an opposite image on the other side which makes this a reverseable garment!

As i was researching this, i found that the Viking Answer Lady had the most info on how to actually make it...it should go pretty fast from here on out because all i have to do now is weave and do the sprang to connect the strings at the bottom

They don't really say what kind of underwear, if any, was worn under the string skirt but Timmy has some fabric that would be perfect for some little skivies for me...we wouldn't want my bum hangin' out

New Spindles and a Marsupial

2006-07-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

Oh my...so, of course i have too much to say and i feel overwhelmed...let's see...this has been a great week so far. Last night i got to teach spinning at my knitting group again and, like last time, i had so much fun. I want to send out lots of thanks to Lisa, the organizer of our knitting group, for helping out so much with making the spinning nights happen. While i was there this wonderful woman, Joann brought in some great pyrenees hair and i was spinning that last night and it's nice to spin and so soft and white...i can't wait to ply it...

also, Timmy and i made more drop spindles and they turned out lovely...

I was so wooed by this one that i'm going to have to keep it...(it's hard to see, but there is a naked faerie on it AND glitter!)

here are some close-ups of the others...

so, i have to tell a story...a few days ago our dogs were VERY interested in the gutter on the side of the house that went into a pipe in the ground, and they kept going back to it over the course of a couple days...so, me and the neighbors were hanging out in the yard and Danica and Cullen are sniffing the gutter then suddenly, Willie stands up on his hind legs and starts pawing all crazy on the gutter then jumps down and starts biting it in this angry, aggressive way and in the process rips the gutter out of the pipe and off of the side of the house and now it's hanging there bent in two places AND THEN...a young possum falls out of the gutter and Willie carries it off, but we rescued it and eventually it got up and left (we hope), but what excitement!
Here are some pics of the gutter...notice the teeth marks and how it was ripped off the house...the neighbors were very impressed with Willie's show of exuberance...

my neighbor, Heather, has the pictures of the possum...i was too caught up in the moment and am apparently better at photographing the aftermath

The Crow is On!

2006-07-18T01:57:00.000-07:00

So, the part that makes me the craziest about tablet weaving is getting the cards threaded and setting the whole thing up...That took forever! I'm using Lorna's Laces Sock Yarn in Charcoal and Bold Red and it makes such a detailed, tidy and tight weave...it's lovely...so, here's the right side...

and here is the reverse...

well, im going to bed now to dream of threading cards...

A Weight has been Lifted

2006-07-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

on friday, i mailed out the silk skirt i knitted, that Annie Modesitt designed for her new book Romantic Hand Knits. I had so much fun knitting this skirt and giving feedback, but it feels so good to have it done and to finally get to work on all the crazy projects that have been bouncing through my head as i've been knitting the skirt. Here are the pics of me wearing it as a dress before it was blocked...It was knitted with Passion by Yarn Source, in the color, Cornsilk...Annie is going to do a crocheted embroidery on it for the book

My first project that i'm undertaking is trying to get familiar with card weaving again...i hadn't done it in like ten years...here is my first experiment where i've used different techniques and ways of threading the cards...

I used a rough spun silk singles yarn in red and purple by Himalaya Yarn Co., so the uneven nature of the yarn makes for a very rough looking weaving...all in all, i have decided that i like the look of the double weave (top row) the best for doing a two color image...i think it looks nice and clean and it makes a sturdier fabric because of the double weft.

Timmy and I are going to Pennsic in august, a big two-week SCA event in Pennsylvania. I'm only going for one week, but that's still alot of garb i've got to come up with quickly...my first plan is a belt for Timmy that is black with a red crow with wings outstretched...the group that Timmy has been doing Celtic re-enactment with for many years is a group out of Virginia called Clanne Preachain, the clan of the crow. I hope to start his belt tonight, now that i've determined that double weave is what i want to work with.
I'll post pics of that as it comes along...

Alright....Just One More....

2006-07-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

oh my goodness, so when i was at stitch-n-bitch last time Laurel told me that she had also knitted a junk warmer...but here's the best part...it has a little ring in the end...such lovely detail...

in other news...timmy and i are working on some new drop spindles...one of which i must just keep for myself...i'll post pictures once they're done

Junk Warmer Pattern Update

2006-06-27T23:03:00.000-07:00

so Lisa had posted a comment earlier inquiring about a pattern for the junk warmer, and i've been waiting to see Mary to ask her and i saw her tonight at knitting, so here's the scoop...she got it on-line and doesn't remember because she adapted it herself anyway, so i went looking and in the process i found a blog with all sorts of hand crafted naughty bits...and i have a comment to make here...i emailed the crocheted vagina girl once about a special request and she never emailed me back!...i was sad...but anyway, here is the junk warmer pattern they link to, so good luck...keep those boys cozy!

Pink Willie!

2006-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! yesterday i did major cleaning around the house and this included our three dogs...all of this may have been stimulated by the fact that i saw one of the new 'queer eye for the straight guy' in las vegas and this magician has dyed his dog pink with kool-aid...so i lamented the fact that i had not thought of this sooner (since i love to dye yarn with kool-aid) and went on-line to research...i thought the best bet was to dissolve the kool-aid in conditioner and put it on him...the on-line tips suggested leaving it on for like 20 minutes, but it's kinda burny to the skin if you have any cuts or anything and willie is sensitive so we maybe left it on for 8-10 minutes and then had a good rinse...i used the black cherry flavor because i felt cherry would give me too orange of results...so here's my finished baby...!!!

i think he looks adorable...the hue of the color is slightly inconsistent and seems to be darker around his shoulders and neck but is just what i had in mind...now i should knit him something in the Strawberry Satellite Stripe sock yarn so he coordinates...whew!

Spinning Madness

2006-06-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

i have had such a fun week! on tuesday, i taught a spinning class at the weekly stitch-b-n-bitch meeting that i go to...everyone did really well and i can't wait to see what they do with it!

but on monday, Timmy helped me make the prettiest little drop spindles (i can't tell you how much this wooed me!) and truth be told he did most of the work of making them pretty; i seemed to be mostly in the way!...here they are drying in the sun...i hope to have them up for sale within the next few days

Junk Warmer!

2006-06-13T23:17:00.000-07:00

ok...so real quick...i'm watching this show on some ghost hunters trying to find the ghost of Janis Joplin (as if Janis doesn't have anything better to do in the afterlife) and apparently they have recorded en EVP of Janis saying hello...so, i'm laughing and they're so serious AND THEN the dogs start barking at the tv when they are playing the EVP on a loop...too spooky! so does this mean my dogs can communicate with dead rock-n-rollers?

i went to knitting group tonight and it was fun as usual and then half way through the evening it was brought to my attention that Mary was making a wedding present for friends...a matching outfit you might say...here's the highlight...a junk warmer for the guy!!!

see, it's all nice and g-stringy and it appears to have a nice bow above the 'junk'...i knew i brought my camera for some reason!

Back and Blabbering

2006-06-09T21:55:00.000-07:00

So, I had the most amazing week last week! Annie Modesitt, the author of Confessions of a Knitting Heretic came to our knitting group on Tuesday evening and hung out, knitted and chatted and what fun energy she brings to a room! Then, on Wednesday I had the opportunity to take a class on millinery with her and we made these little hat brims that are so cute and now that the basic concept has been absorbed I'm excited to start a full size one.

Then on Thursday we had a class on making cables without a cable needle...it's brilliant and fast! here's a swatch from class...the bottom is learning to cable all freeform and then a couple horizontal i-cords then a couple horizontal i-cord cables...so fun!

and while i'm thinking about it, did anyone notice the great sweater that A.J.'s girlfriend was wearing when he met her on the construction site on the Sopranos? I loved it...it's verticle panels of lace and cable with a horizontal cable towards the bottom...and...at Annie's cable class i learned how to knit a horizontal cable so i made a quick swatch that would look alot better if i had blocked it and if it has been in a solid color yarn but you get the gist...brilliant!

so while i was out of communication i learned to nalbind or nailbind...it's basically sewing fabric into being with many finite lengths of yarn...it's what they did before knitting was the thing to do...i learned from a little book that Timmy got me at an SCA event that we went to and he also got me a needle so i was off...and, tada...my first project was a hat that i still need to finish off...

the fabric is thicker that knitting and more like crochet and then it seems a little stretchier than crochet though...it's fun and i enjoy it...here's my second project...it will be an elfey type of hat

It's been so nice to blog again, and i can't wait to have more to say! i can only hope that i will be more consistent with the blogging...we'll see!

ahhh, success...

2006-04-10T07:47:00.002-07:00

wow...so what a weekend we had! on saturday, Tim brought his dog Cullen home to meet my dogs for the first time and it is going better than i would have ever expected...dum, dum, dummmmmm...and then...late that night while Tim was playing with them all in the back yard a gigantic tree root grabbed and twisted Tim's foot and leg, throwing him to the ground...he broke his leg and his ankle

i only have one thing to say about the next picture...'and i thought my dogs were spoiled'... 8)

this next pic is for Darren and all you other crazy cooks who worry about all those dern chem-trails in the sky...we saw these on the drive to the emergency room on sunday

and tada! i have finally finished my lacy socks...they are way comfy...i am pleased!

and below that is a pic of the socks i started in Puerto Rico on Lorna's Laces new yarn Swirl DK in Neon on one size US3, 35" circular needles (yay for big needles!)...the yarn has a swirley effect because the merino and silk plies take the yarn differently...

so here's a close up of the ankle of the sock...not a great photo, i know, but i wish i could photograph the depth of the texture, yummy...

well i'm totally ready to change tasks so this is good timing...i'm currently conjuring up a wonderful raglan sweater in my mind...with the help of Jen and The Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan Sweater Generator...i will let you know how it is progressing in the next couple of days

I put some yarn on Etsy!

2006-03-28T00:36:00.000-08:00

so, i finally did it...i put like 12 things on etsy so i'll keep you posted as to how it goes...
www.TwilightsDream.Etsy.com

Out of the Fog...

2006-03-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

so, i've been experiencing a sinus infection for over a week and was out of it for many days...when i came to i was full of ideas and motivation and wanted to see happy colors...so i made prettiness...

the left skein is on the bottom and the right skein is on the top...

i also did some work...i have two new Crystal Palace yarns up on the website and ebay...there's a tubular knit yarn called Cameo and a gorgeous singles yarn called Fjord...and here's a pic of the socks i've been dragging around and working on a little at a time...since taking this picture i'm nearly through the heel gusset so maybe one day they will be done...they will be quite pretty and i can't wait to wear them...they are made from Lorna's Laces Striping Sock Yarn in Freshstripe on one 35" size 0 circular

well, that's all i've got for now...happy midnights...

Photo Update

2006-03-19T03:51:00.000-08:00

okie dokie...so i tried all day yesterday to put up pics but blogger wouldn't let me, so i'm very delighted that this is working at all...it's like 7am on my birthday...yay!...Timmy called a bit ago and woke me up with birthday wishes and love so i'm up and have eaten some left-over chinese food...love the Lucky 7...so here's the pic of the merino*tencel roving , the color is rockstar...

you can see the sheen of the fiber...it's very lustrous and has a feel more like mohair to work with...the fibers slide over one another more than with wool

and here is the finished two-ply yarn...it's very soft and should have a lovely striping effect between the pink and blue in the one ply with the chocolate alpaca ply consistent all the way through...so yummy!

and here's is a pic of Whiskey Before Breakfast from St. Pat's at Kraftbrau...that's Timmy on the right...the one with the blurry hand...well, i guess he's not the only one with a blurry hand...ok, the one with the drum...

and here's Timmy singin' so nice...

here's my feeble attempt at self-photography at 4:30 in the morning after driving home from K-zoo friday night...i apologize for the poor quality, but you must understand that this was alot of effort at this point in the night...i mean really...you got 4 views and i think one of them is actually not blurry

and because i love my irregular choice shoes i had to get a pic of those too while my feet were looking so cute...so humor me...

now...for a lovely story that startled and entertained me to no end on saturday morning...after photographing my sweater and shoes i went to bed and was so tired so i left my clothes on the bathroom floor to be dealt with the next morning...one of the pieces i left laying there was my bra that has these little tufts of maribou feathers on it...so on saturday morning i go in the bathroom right after i get out of bed and it's all peaceful and calm and then all of a sudden there is this huge ruckuss at the door and this cat arm comes under the door all the way to the armpit and grabs my bra and drags it under the door...the whole thing was so pre-meditated...i blame the feathers...it was like a nature program...that bra never knew what was coming...

Holy Crap!

2006-03-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

I did it....i designed and knitted this mohair sweater a couple years ago when i lived in chicago and as much as i loved it, it made me crazy and i've been dragging it's lifeless body around and haven't even woven in the ends, but today i did it!!! AND (the more shocking part) i'm going to wear it tonight...it's green you see...i'll post pics tomorrow, but gots to jump in the shower cuz i'm driving to k-zoo tonight to see Timmy's band at Kraftbrau IN MY NEW SWEATER!

just a teaser and a funny visual for those of you who will actually know what i'm talking about....Timmy says the sweater looks like the one the fiesty Irish chick wore on star trek when they ended up with that whole herd of irish peasants and their animals on their ship and leiutenant reicher was seduced by her sass...that makes me feel even hotter in it! i can see the similarities in the two sweaters, but they are actually quite different, but it's funny none the less...ahh...got's to run! happy st. pat's and may those that love us love us and those that don't, may god turn their ankles so we know them by their limp! (i know that's not quite right, but you get the gist)

Quick Babbly Update

2006-03-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well, it took me all of a couple days to be obsessed with the blog and then just another couple days to become distracted by life...the last week has been so fun; it's been so hard to sit still at the computer...

Last week i got to go visit my friends Aviva and Lisa on Aviva's farm and meet her goats, sheep and chickens and turkeys...what fun! while i was there we got her spinning wheel up and running with the help of Toni at The Fold in Merango, IL...she is awesome, helpful and carries amazing fiber and wheels...please check out her Website when you get the chance...then Aviva and Lisa got their first taste of wheel spinning...i can't wait to see where they take this! We had a lovely lunch with homemade cheese...yum...

On Saturday i drove out to Cold Water to see Timmy's show at the American Legion and it was great because his family was there and i got to meet his Aunt Judy for the first time and that was an exciting surprise...i love Timmy's family...they are so easy to be around AND fun and interesting to talk to...for those of you who don't know, Timmy sings and plays bodhran in a celtic band and i don't get to see them as much as i would like to because they play in Kalamazoo alot and i don't like to leave the dogs at home alone overnight...i wish i had taken pictures, but i was enjoying the experience and it just wasn't a priority at the time...that being said, Timmy was amazing and his voice is beautiful and wooing...oh, here's his band's website: Whiskey Before Breakfast

Then when i got home it the wee hours of the morning i couldn't sleep because i was working out the Sam Cooke version of Frankie & Johnny on the banjo...i've been doing this great rhythmical muting of the strings when i play and it sounds awesome and adds alot of sass to the song, i think...so i haven't been fibering out the past few days because i've been spending my zoning time with that...

i have done some spinning though...i'll post pics later...i made this great two ply yarn with a chocolate colored alpaca (Catarine) and some brightly colored pink * blue merino and tencel roving from Blue Moon Fiber Arts...you can find the latter roving on The Fold's website...the yarn is so soft and yummy...and it's mine mine mine!

If you check out my website though, you will see that i've put up a bunch of new handspun, so that's worth the gander...

and jen...thanks for the psychic cattle prod...

Happiness with Moebius...

2006-03-06T13:28:00.000-08:00

so, i finished the moebius last night at a potluck me and timmie went to...everyone was very excited about my odd creation...thanks to darek and robin for their exquisite modeling

My First Blog Post....ever....Moebiously!

2006-03-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

well...i must first give props to jen...without her there would be no blog. also, without her inspiration i would not be currently still up at 6:23am unable to settle down from the excitement of beginning knitting my first moebius strip...yay!!! it has blown my mind and i feel as if i have gone down the rabbit hole of the knitting universe

jen, gotta love her, did it the proper way with the provisional cast on and all, but me, not wanting to feel too out of control, went searching for another way and found this:
http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/knit/scarfmb.shtml
instead of the provisional cast on she just picks up and knits into the loops below the cast on stitches, and then once you do that you can join the two ends and voila! you are ready to rock! here's a pic after a few rows...

i did opt for a k2p2 ribbing (instead of the garter stitch in the pattern) which looks really nice in the handspun merino and tencel i'm knitting it in...because i picked up stitches the beginning is not invisible like it would be with the provisional cast on, but the handspun is so fiesty that i don't really think it matters, but it makes more sense why she used garter stitch because it would hide the join quite nicely.....here's a pic of my virgin ball before we entered the rabbit hole together...

oh, and i used the crystal palace daisy circulars for the first time and after i gave the cord a 'what for' in some boiling water i was quite pleased with them and i really love how smooth and light they are to knit with

today has been a wonderful fiber day all around...i finally finished turning my beautiful alpaca roving into luscious yarn and i think i may just moebius that too! the heathery color is freckles and the dark brown is catarine...that's the name of the alpacas that produce such gorgeous colors...i got this roving about a year and a half ago at stitches and am so excited to have finally gotten brave enough to spin it...the shiny white is bits of raw silk fiber (thank you, lauren) thrown in there, yummy!

There's also one more picture i'll put up tonight...ok, this morning...this is yarn i've been conjuring in my head for a couple weeks and i love it as much as i thought i would! it's so soft and the colors have a beautiful contrast together that i just love...there's about 50yds here, perfect for a small and fiesty project...we'll see...

well, i'm pooped and i think it's time for bath and bed...gotta get some rest so i can moebius some more on sunday...