Category: Blog

We’ve just returned from a few days down in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
It’s a great spot to just go and hang out and do not much for a while.
Which is exactly what we did.

Here is the view from out room (+work in progress)

Don’t think I’ve posted about this current project yet- it’s a Brooklyn Tweed Brownstone for me!

I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a while, but other projects kept pushing it down the priority list.

This will be the first project spun entirely on my new lateral treadle wheel, and is a blend of Edgar and Griff, with a little touch of white from a forgotten source that just happened to be about the right weight.

The red tips are the same Edgar/Griff yarn dyed with a blend of red-pink Kool-Aids that I had hanging around.

I am really excited about this sweater. I’m expecting it to be a lightweight yet sturdy staple in the wardrobe. A workin-around-the-homestead sweater that I’ll live in most weekends.

And I didn’t really plan it to, but it kind of has a traditional sock-monkey color scheme going on.

Cool.

‘Tis now my Monkey Sweater.

I mostly just knit, read, played scrabble and drank coffee in Cannon Beach, but in case you are planning a trip to the Oregon Coast, I should mention that there is a nice little yarn shop there:

(sorry for the funny face there- the sun was in my eyes) 🙂

And an awesome but tiny restaurant, The Irish Table, that you should not miss! They are located in the same building as Sleepy Monk coffee roasters, and don’t have a website.
Amazing food, super service, cozy setting.

I always kind of enjoyed having the chickens running around the yard being crazy.

And they seemed so happy having the run of the place.

Chickens don’t mean to be destructive, but they can’t help scratching and dustbathing and making messes everywhere.

Things were getting a little bit out of control.

So we’re introducing the New Deal.

Welcome to the Chick-itat!

It’s pretty comfy. Plenty of room to scratch, peck, run, flap, etc etc.
About 40×60, and lots of nice shade and cover from the giant portuguese laurel.

But now the silly girls don’t have the option of roosting in the woodshed (and pooping all over the firewood).

Yeah, we’re pretty happy about it. 🙂

In sheep news,, we’re all looking forward to shearing in about a month or so-
here are some fleece previews.

Chone

Edgar

“It’s all about the wool, baby.” 😉

Sweater Pieces!

Hadn’t blogged about this previously, but I’ve just finished the pieces for a special request sweater-

It’s a long cardigan vest, kind of like this but without sleeves.

Its the first time in a long time that I’m working with commercial yarn (and superwash, to boot!) and it does behave a bit differently from my handspun. Now that I have it washed and blocking, I think that it has grown too much lengthwise. I might have to make some adjustments.

Stand by for minor sweater surgery.

Today I spent a good part of the afternoon doing final preps for the WSU Country Living Expo that will be happening next Saturday.

I’m teaching two classes this year- Basics of Wool Processing, which I’ve done a couple of times before, and Spinning Wheels 101– a new offering this year that I’m pretty excited about.

But between the two classes, there are a lots of materials that I need to bring!

For the Wool Processing, I bring my drum carder, combs, hand cards, flicker brush, dog brushes, lots wool samples to illustrate different characteristics, and bunches of wool for people to play with.

But for the Spinning Wheels class, I had to do a little more prep- carding wool for everyone to work with.

I’ve asked that people bring their wheel if they have one, but I don’t have any idea if anyone will, and I want everyone to get some hands-on spinning time. So I’m bringing wheels!

Sophie the little Serbian, Hank the Pirtle bulky spinner, and a borrowed Ashford Traditional.

Wasn’t sure how they were all going to fit, so today I did a trial run with packing up the Subaru.

Not bad, actually!

Hank and Sophie both sit nicely in the backseat,

And I found that the Ashford fits nicely laying down in the back, resting safely on a foam pad to save her the bumps and vibrations of the road. So think this is going to work!

But Sadie is bummed out. No room for car pups.

Sorry Sadie 🙁

I am excited about the classes. Teaching two 2-hour sessions doesn’t really leave me any time to do much else (like attend some of the other workshops!) but hopefully at least I’ll get some time for lunch and to check out the trade show.

It’s cool to be able to talk about wool all day and not have people roll their eyes and think that I’m a total psycho.

Maybe we should do it more than once a year! 🙂