I signed up for the Tour de France KAL (knit along) even though I've never watched the Tour and I'm not a cycling fan. Or wasn't. I watched yesterday (last second sprint-from-behind finish) and today (20+ rider pile-up less than 3 km from the finish) - and I think I'm hooked. And I've gotten Dick hooked too. He recorded today's session so he could watch it when he got back from his doctor's appointment.

Not only am I enjoying the cycling and the little factoids I'm learning, but the TV coverage is also a great travelogue. Who knew Belgium was so gorgeous, with such stunning castles and chateaus? It's moved into the top 5 on my 'must visit' list.

So, am I knitting during the Tour coverage? Um, well, no. At least not yet. My goal is to finish the lace washcloth I started in class. But lace pattern + new knitter = not in front of the TV, especially when the race gets exciting. I will get the lace done by the end of the Tour. I'll just work on it at night rather than in during teevee time.

Today, I did this - started warping the loom for a huck lace towel sampler. (You can see a description and picture of one type of huck here.) I have 250 ends (pieces of yarn) to thread through the heddles (the white string things). I got 125 of them done during today's Tour coverage.

The next 125 are going to take me awhile . . . cause I goofed up. I used 40-something heddles for the right half of the warp (on the first harness), so I need 40-something for the left side. But I only have 27 threaded on there. Yeah. I can't count for beans. I think I can take some off one of the other harnesses and put them on #1. We'll find out soon. Cross your fingers for me!

Look Over There

I've got projects underway but no real progress to show. I finished a knitted block for my block-a-month project (seed stitch; not going to be my favorite stitch); I have warp chains lying all over the house - 1 is partially on the floor loom and the other 2 are waiting for Dick to fix my table loom so the new reed will fit; I wrote up the beaded purse pattern for the crochet class I'm teaching Tuesday night - nothing like waiting until the last minute. So I thought I'd distract you with some kitty p0rn.

Snickers is the prettiest of my three girls. She's recently decided that my studio is an OK place to hang out. She avoided it in the past, probably because her arch-nemesis, Oreo, spends most of her time in here.

Oreo is spending her time sleeping on my bed, usually with her head on my pillow. And she sleeps with her paws curled. So cute.

Crochet FOs

I do still crochet and I have a couple of FO's to prove it. This is a bathing suit cover-up/ poncho for Addy. It's based on a Lion Brand pattern; except I changed the yarn from brushed acrylic to natural organic cotton, made up my own sizing, and added stripes. I also had to make up my own increases and decreases because somebody forgot to put the 'how to's' in the instructions. (It wasn't difficult, just odd that it wasn't included.)

The stitch was different from any I'd used before. It made a neat texture. Hope Addy and her mommy like it!

This is another Sock Yarn Shawl, also based on an LB pattern. The pattern calls for doubled strands of crochet cotton; I substituted Trekking sock yarn. I love the colors and how the fiber changes from solid to variegated, light to dark. I blocked it last night and it's ready to wear today- if it wasn't so dang hot.This is the sample for the class I'm planning to teach in September or October. It uses only double crochet and chain stitches, with increases thrown in to keep it interesting. It's easy enough for beginners but more advanced stitchers should like it too. I get lots of compliments on my first shawl, so I'm hoping this will be a popular class.

It's Back

The bird is back. He sits outside my studio window, cackling and harassing whichever cat is on the counter. AJ is the only one I've heard actually talking back to him - she coos and chirps, just like a bird. You can almost hear the translation . . . .'here little birdie, birdie. I want to eat you little birdie.'

Happy Birthday, America!

I love fireworks. It's as exciting as Christmas for me - without all the stress of presents and decorations and cooking. Traditionally, we go to the Street Fair in Ventura in the morning, then Dick barbecues - although Matt and Chris took over grill duty this year to celebrate their new house - and we go to Thousand Oaks to see the fireworks display.This year the fireworks came to us. The city changed the location from a local park (next to an animal shelter; bad planning) to the high school right across the freeway from us. We were able to sit on the sidewalk in front of our house and watch the display (and all the illegal rockets being set off a few blocks away.) Instead of 2-3 hours to get out of the parking lot in T.O., we were back inside the house in under a minute. Love it!

A Little Too Warm

We're in the midst of a heat wave (cue dramatic voice-over "Heat Watch 2007. Film at 11.") Being near the coast keeps the temps down a bit, so we only got to about 87 today. That's hot for us! I'm not going to get any sympathy, especially from Vickie - temps in her area were supposed to reach 107.

Just think how much hotter it would feel to be covered in fur - Oreo was making the best of it, passed out in front of open windows, with her foot on some cold metal.

Leave me alone. I'm sleeping.

And speaking of Vickie, look what Dick made for her birthday. (Happy 30th, V!) This is how it started out - as a cherry burl tree branch. Pretty nice transformation, yes?

And how did I spend my day? By taking this off the loom. Before washing, it's 17" wide by 72" long, not counting the fringe. Handpainted brushed mohair. A tad hot for this time of year, but I love it!

I Won!

I won the first week's prize in the Six Weeks of Socks contest on the We Love Annie blog! You can watch a video of the drawing here. Too fun! And while you're there, please consider making a donation to Annie and her family. Annie's husband Gerry is battling Multiple Myeloma, a terminal cancer that strikes plasma cells. A donation gets you entered into that week's drawing. You too could win a sock kit - yarn AND needles - and hear your name announced in blogland!

Addicted

Hello, my name is E and I'm addicted to weaving. It's been 2 hours and 17 minutes since I threw my last shuttle.

Ok, maybe it's not quite that bad, but I can't stay away from the loom. Today's project is a shawl made from brushed mohair I bought on our last trip to Estes Park. I had planned to crochet it into a triangular shawl, but changed my mind when I caught the weaving bug.

I wound the fiber directly from the swift onto the warping mill. Since mohair sticks to itself I thought this would be easier than winding it into a center-pull ball and then fighting it into a warp chain. The shawl is a loose weave, so I only needed 108 trips around (and around) the mill.

I'm still working slowly, double and triple-checking everything as I go. Deb's suggestion to sit on a low stool while warping has made the process so much easier and less painful. And - Dick's shocked by this one - I'm taking lots of breaks to stretch my back as I go.

The shawl will be 18" wide by about 2 yards long. The colors above are much more accurate than the ones below (at least on my monitor). So far, I've woven about 27" and I think I can finish this one tomorrow. Hmm, I wonder what I should warp up on Tuesday . . . .

Kid At Heart

I bought a bunch of kid's plastic building blocks from a store that was going out of business. I soaked 'em and scrubbed 'em and set 'em out on the kitchen counter to dry before packing them away for Addy or William's next visit.

Somebody found them irresistible. Gary may be 2 months away from 18, but he's still a kid at heart.

Spinning And Weaving

Eleanor is finally up and running. I've had this wheel for almost a year and haven't done any spinning on her. I've tried several times, but something was always wrong - wrong drive band, broken spring, bouncing bobbin, something. I was seriously thinking of selling her but she's so beautiful with her cherry wood and purpleheart accents that I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Last night, Susie set her up for Scotch tension rather than double drive and we were off and spinning. I forgot to bring fiber to spin night, but fortunately Melinda was willing to share her Merino top. So not only did I get Eleanor working, I spun from the fold for the first time. Piece of cake! A couple of people in our spin group were looking covetously at Eleanor when they thought she needed a new home. Looks like I'll be keeping her after all.

I bought a pre-cut warp scarf kit last October with plans to make it for the spinning and weaving conference in March. That didn't work out - but I got the kit out today, warped the loom, and wove a 5" wide, 96" long scarf. Or maybe it will be two scarves - I definitely have enough yardage for more than one. I'll finish the ends and cut it off the loom later tonight. I'm hoping to wear it to a fiber blogger meet-up on Sunday.

Are You Surprised?

Anyone surprised that I couldn't stand waiting overnight to finish the sampler pieces? Anyone? I wanted it badly enough to break out the dreaded sewing machine last night so I could stitch the ends. (Wenona, see what happens when you desert me to go on vacation?!? I have to do my own sewing!) The Fox cotton towel is my favorite - it's soft and beautiful, despite a couple of obvious mistakes. Shrinkage wasn't bad; it went from 10 1/4" x 21 1/2" to 9 1/4" x 20". Want to hear a funny story? I took this to lunch today to show a friend I've known for about 20 years. I didn't think she had any interest in fiber arts; I just knew she was a good friend and would admire my pretty weaving. Turns out she did a bit of weaving when she was in high school. And her sister, who just moved back to Ventura, has an unused floor loom sitting in her bedroom. At first, Terri thought I should buy the loom but we came up with an even better plan - entice her sister (who has a degree in fine/fiber arts) to join the Guild and start weaving again. I like it!
Fun Fiber Links

Lots going on fiberwise in Blogland.

• Tour de France Knitalong is accepting sign-ups until July 7. I'm not a big Tour fan, but I'm hoping this will give me some needed incentive to work on my new knitting projects. I got a lot of spinning done last year when I joined the Tour de Fleece, so maybe it will work again this year. There are several levels (colors) to choose from. Anybody interested in starting a Team Ventura? Oh - and there are prizes!
• Crochet Along - A blog to share crochet projects you're working on. I love seeing all the projects at the Granny Along, so I'm happy to see this new blog. Even if you don't want to share your projects, there's a lot of inspiration in seeing what others are working on.
• We Love Annie - Knit and crochet designer Annie Modesitt is going through some hard times. Her husband Gerry is battling Mulitiple Myeloma, a terminal cancer that strikes plasma cells. Make a donation and become eligible for weekly prizes.
• Granny Along and Ripple Along - these have been up for awhile. I especially love the Granny Along. Who knew you could do so much with granny squares? The projects and color choices are inspiring (and sometimes a little scary.) Happy Hooking!
  

Off The Loom

I'm so excited! The sampler is done and off the loom. I finished weaving just before dinner and AJ couldn't wait to check out the fabric. I'm just grateful she waited until it was off the loom. I put on a 3 yard warp but didn't get as much fabric as I'd hoped because a couple of the back ties broke as I neared the end. I was close enough to finished that it wasn't worth doing a real fix - I just tied the loose threads to the back beam and weighted them down so I could get in the last few picks.

This is green, light brown, and dark brown Fox Fiber organic cotton. The fiber isn't dyed, it's naturally grown that color. This section is about 10" wide by 22" long. The dark brown is a tabby border, with the other 2 colors in an opposing 2/2 twill. (Greek to you? Basically, one section leans one way \\\\\\ and the next section leans the opposite direction ////// . Makes a neat pattern. ) The colors are supposed to get darker when I wash them. I'm looking forward to seeing that, along with how much shrinkage there is.

This one is the cotton/poly towel fiber. It feels very stiff, even off the loom. I hope it will soften up when it's washed. Each stripe is a different 2" twill pattern with a 1" plain weave border. If it doesn't shrink too much, it should be an OK size for a towel. A little narrow at 10" but the length is good. Tomorrow I'll stitch each end, cut the sections apart, and wash the whole thing. Excitement!