yarn

some are merino/bamboo/nylon, some are merino/nylon, some are merino/seacell/nylon, and a few are merino/cashmere/nylon

roving for sale

(top photo) bottom 2 - 100% domestic wool

the rest are 100% New Zealand Romney except top right - it's BFL

$12.00/braid


(bottom photo) 100% domestic wool - $12.00/braid

all 4oz braids
price includes US/Canada shipping

Fiber from Fiber Christmas

Fiber from Fiber Christmas
Originally uploaded by morandia

Combed top - some BFL ($12), some Superwash Merino ($13)
Dyed for Fiber Christmas

100% merino

100% merino
Originally uploaded by morandia

100% superwash merino - aprox 420 yds
dyed for Fiber Christmas

Seacell

Seacell
Originally uploaded by morandia

4oz - aprox 375 yds 70% superwash merino/30% seacell

dyed for Fiber Christmas

MIB Darks

MIB Darks
Originally uploaded by morandia

These are some of my work for Fiber Christmas. 100%SW merino - aprox 420 yds

Bamboo Blend

Bamboo Blend
Originally uploaded by morandia

These are some of the yarns I took to Fiber Christmas.4oz - aprox 420 yds. 70% SW Merino/20% Bamboo/10% nylon

time to dye

Sadly, no photos yet, but... I have about 15 lbs of roving and bunches of yarn to dye for Fiber Christmas in July. I'm very excited! I just have to get to work!! This will be my first time dyeing wool/seacell and wool/bamboo blends.

Hopefully all will go well and I'll make enough $$ to help on tuition. Fall term is just around the corner. I've really enjoyed my semester off. I've gotten more knitting/spinning done. I guess I really should take some photos. I might give it a go this weekend.

I'm also about to start a fleece washing experiment. I'm going to try a cold wash - where you put the fleece in cold water and leave it for about 5 days. If all goes correctly, the water will basically get very nasty and smelly - it will pretty much ferment. This will then clean the wool. I will remove that wool and add more to the icky water to clean that fleece. Keep your fingers crossed for me!!!

Note to self - dizziness hasn't gone away. /sigh

funny

Haven't posted much lately. Thought I'd throw out this funny though:

Since my friends from the UK were just here, this has special significant. No, they aren't Welsh, but they did suggest that I move to Wales and raise sheep, so... Guess I'd better get a cat so I can learn the language!

great idea and weekend plans

I want this - what a wonderful idea!!!

As to weekend plans, I'm heading toward Prairie Grove, AR tomorrow. Saturday is the big sheep-to-shawl competition. Ok... big is a relative term. I think there are 3-4 teams - but since it's my first S2S it's big in my opinion. I must admit, I'm nervous. I know it's all supposed to be done in fun, but I don't want to let my team down. I'm an ok spinner, but am self taught, so definitely not a technical spinner. Hopefully all will work out.

Oh.. and I'm picking up 3 lbs of Todd!!!! I'm so excited. If I ever get my home computer back, I'll try to post photos. The new mobo is on order. Hopefully it will be in by Friday and MAYBE I can get my baby back on Monday. I miss playing Oblivion!!!! I miss being able to post photos! I miss my computer!!!!

Spring Fling update coming soon

I'm back from Spring Fling '09. It was amazing. Sadly, my home computer had died - the new one I had built in December. /sigh

So no photos, nothing yet. Once it's fixed, I'll post more - including photos of all the crazy/wonderful people I met!

The Amazing Susan Boyle

here If you haven't seen this video, you should. A 47 year old woman takes a chance and manages to get a standing ovation. What a voice. I'd buy an album if she puts one out - and I normally don't buy much music at all. I have purchased one CD in the past 4 years!

100 Best Novels

from Random House - this is the Board's List.


1. ULYSSES by James Joyce
2. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Read
3. A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN by James Joyce
4. LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov
5. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
6. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
7. CATCH-22
read
8. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
9. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
10. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
Read
11. UNDER THE VOLCANO by Malcolm Lowry
12. THE WAY OF ALL FLESH by Samuel Butler
13. 1984 by George Orwell
Read
14. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
15. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
16. AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY by Theodore Dreiser
17. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
Read
18. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
19. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
20. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
Read
21. HENDERSON THE RAIN KING by Saul Bellow
22. APPOINTMENT IN SAMARRA by John O'Hara
23. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
24. WINESBURG, OHIO by Sherwood Anderson
25. A PASSAGE TO INDIA by E.M. Forster
26. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
27. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
28. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. THE STUDS LONIGAN TRILOGY by James T. Farrell
30. THE GOOD SOLDIER by Ford Madox Ford
31. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
Read
32. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
33. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
34. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
35. AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner
36. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
37. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
38. HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster
39. GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN by James Baldwin
40. THE HEART OF THE MATTER by Graham Greene
41. LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding
Read
42. DELIVERANCE by James Dickey
43. A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME (series) by Anthony Powell
44. POINT COUNTER POINT by Aldous Huxley
45. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
46. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
47. NOSTROMO by Joseph Conrad
48. THE RAINBOW by D.H. Lawrence
49. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence
50. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
51. THE NAKED AND THE DEAD by Norman Mailer
52. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT by Philip Roth
53. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
54. LIGHT IN AUGUST by William Faulkner
55. ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
57. PARADE'S END by Ford Madox Ford
58. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
59. ZULEIKA DOBSON by Max Beerbohm
60. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
61. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
62. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
63. THE WAPSHOT CHRONICLES by John Cheever
64. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
Read
65. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
66. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
67. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
Read
68. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
69. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
70. THE ALEXANDRIA QUARTET by Lawrence Durell
71. A HIGH WIND IN JAMAICA by Richard Hughes
72. A HOUSE FOR MR BISWAS by V.S. Naipaul
73. THE DAY OF THE LOCUST by Nathanael West
74. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
75. SCOOP by Evelyn Waugh
76. THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE by Muriel Spark
77. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
78. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
79. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
80. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
81. THE ADVENTURES OF AUGIE MARCH by Saul Bellow
82. ANGLE OF REPOSE by Wallace Stegner
83. A BEND IN THE RIVER by V.S. Naipaul
84. THE DEATH OF THE HEART by Elizabeth Bowen
85. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
86. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
87. THE OLD WIVES' TALE by Arnold Bennett
88. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
Read
89. LOVING by Henry Green
90. MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN by Salman Rushdie
91. TOBACCO ROAD by Erskine Caldwell
92. IRONWEED by William Kennedy
93. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
94. WIDE SARGASSO SEA by Jean Rhys
95. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
96. SOPHIE'S CHOICE by William Styron
97. THE SHELTERING SKY by Paul Bowles
98. THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE by James M. Cain
99. THE GINGER MAN by J.P. Donleavy
100. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington

wow.. now I'm depressed... haven't read most of them. Although Charles Dickens isn't even on the list, so maybe I don't feel so bad.. Hmmmm.... No Herman Melville.

ok.. I'm all better now.

I'm Flabbergasted this happened to my dad

For those of you who don't know me or my family, my dad happens to be a softball umpire. He's done this for years. Last week he came home from a tournament and told us a little story - there was a team from Wynne Arkansas at the tournament. He made a comment to a random woman there about the music minister from our church being from Wynne and that he wished they would take him back. He was making a joke. No big deal - just an off-hand joking comment. Well, it turns out that the women he made the comment to was the music minister's sister!!! And she told him that!! oops... oh well - no big deal you'd think, but NO..... it seems it is a HUGE deal.

Today my dad got a call from the pastor of the church!!!! He was told that if he (my dad) has a problem with a member of the staff, that he (my dad) should bring it to the minister.

Can you believe that? An off-hand joke and my dad gets called to the woodshed by the pastor of one of the largest baptist churches in Jonesboro! I never realize that freedom of speech ended where the church began! I want to know how the pastor even got involved in this! Did the sister call the pastor and say "one of your members is talking about my brother - would you please make him stop?" or did the music minister hear it from his sister and turn to the pastor and say ".. he was mean to me - go beat him up for me". GEEZ!!!! My dad is in his late 60s. He's been a member of the church for over 40 years - it's not like he's a deacon or anything - he mainly just goes to Sunday School, yet a casual joking comment warrants a call from the PREACHER himself!

Having told a friend of mine this store out at a restaurant tonight, I'm waiting for the phone to ring so the pastor can chew me out for talking bad about the church - or whatever...

Can you believe this? It's not like it's a small church. It's not like it's that small a town even (100K or so population). GEEZ!!!!

When did it become the church's business to moderate and control what is being said casually by a member? I'm seriously considering moving my membership - even if I haven't been active there in a number of years. I'm shocked and appalled by this behavior. I don't remember grade school being this bad. At least we could have our own opinions and express them. We didn't go tattling to the teacher to have her mediate when she hadn't even directly witness the situation.

What childish behavior. I'm flabbergasted.

What drives people to steal precious books

here - this is astounding and so very sad.

Contradictions

People turn to public libraries Like this is a surprise to any librarians - yet still, many libraries are cutting hours of service due to budget constraints. It's a sad world we live in.

It's been a while, but....

I haven't posted lately but this one needs posting.

Arkansas State Takes the Randy Best Diploma Mill Route for Teacher Preparation

When I first heard about this, I found it a bit frightening. As I have learned more, I am more than a bit frightened. Sadly, I have no control. This doesn't seem to bode well for our upcoming students - both at the university and in grade schools.

Monday

Wow.... talk about a bummed out type of day. Seems everything is going wrong and I'm being overly sensitive. I hate this. I just have to remember - don't make decisions based on this. Give it a few days first. Otherwise I'll end up dropping out of something I really want to go to. At least I've learned to not make the snap decisions - usually. When I get a break, I think I'm off to find some Dr. Bach's Rescue Remedy. I'm out and right now, I sure could use some.

Yesterday was a blast. Went to the Memphis spinning guild meeting and learned lots about silk. Very exciting to see the different formats you can acquire silk in. We are continuing silk next month and even plan to dye hankies!

OMG this is.... er... not sure what to say

Marvel Now Promotes Gay Agenda With Wolverine Toy

note the website - christwire.org. That makes it even scarier.

Are you game?

The first three people to respond to this post will get something fibery from me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I send!
2- What I send will be just for you.
3- It'll be sent before the end of April (I'm swamped right now).
4- You item will be one of a kind.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a fibery gift by me - it might be a knitted item, it might be handspun yarn, it might be hand dyed yarn, it might be hand dyed roving! You might want to include info on whether you are a knitter or spinner. Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!Who's in?

I got this from YarnWench. It seems a cool idea, so I edited it a bit to suit me, but other than that.... and you are welcome to do the same - edit to fit your style for what you send.

Computers in Libraries

Seems I'm going! I just found out I will be going! and it's about 1 month away! I'm excited but as always with a trip, I'm a bit scared. I really don't know anyone else going - at least not personally. That makes for a somewhat nerve racking experience. It will be exciting though. I usually end up doing the state level conferences. This will be my first National conference since I was in library school those so many years ago.

Well, that's my news for the day.

Check this out!

Totally Awesome

ELECTRICITY!!!

Woohoo! We have Electricity!!!

wow....

So, as many of you know, there was a major ice storm that hit my area of the country last Tuesday. We lost power about 8pm Tuesday night. We got power back on Thursday afternoon. Now before you start cheering, we lost power AGAIN on Saturday morning. As of today - Tuesday, February 3rd, we still don't have power back. They are saying 2-3 days yet, but I'm guessing it will be longer. They need to sink a new pole (or maybe 2 or 3 - I'm not sure). Tonight it's supposed to be about 18 degrees, so can we say BRRRRRRR...... We do have hot water (hurray for a gas hot water heater - with NO electric starter) and a gas stove, so we are doing ok. I've been staying with a friend who does have electricity since my alarm clock isn't working well without power. The 6am alarm went off at 2:15 one morning. I think we can assume the backup 9v battery isn't quite working correctly. I'll be staying home tonight probably as I did last night, but if there is still no power, I'll be back at my friend's house on Thurs and Friday. Here's the real kicker - I rented a Wii game - Super Mario Galaxies on Thursday of last week - after all - we had power. Guess what I can't return due to it being inside my Wii and no power to eject?????? /sigh

On another note - I've managed to finish 2 books in January -
1. Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
2. Ender's Shadow - Orson Scott Card

I have other books "in progress" but considering I may have read about 6 books all last year, I've made a tremendous start on this year's reading. I'm working on The Pickwick Papers - Charles Dickens as part of a reading group on Ravelry. I'm also about to go check out The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith as part of another reading group. I attempted to listen to A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, but I just couldn't get into it. I like audio books because they allow me to knit while reading but this one just didn't do it for me.

Enough for now. Just wanted to touch base since I've been a bit out of touch.

Last week

I purchased a Nintendo Wii!!! So far the only game I have is the Sports one that came with it, but I'm planning to get the Wii Fit when I get the $$ together. I rented Super Mario Galaxy - this game is CRAZY!!! You actually have to figure out how to deal with waling upside down and such.... It probably wouldn't be half as amusing if I wasn't currently reading Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Ender is dealing with orientation in zero gravity. Having just read this and suddenly finding myself not in zero gravity, but in a totally disorientating game, I've found this hilariously fun.

I also rented Animal Crossing: City Folks. I'm not sure about it yet. I think I would enjoy it more if I were connected to the internet on the Wii and could talk to friends.

As it stands now, I will purchase the Wii Fit when $$ is available, and I also plan to purchase Super Mario Galaxy. Beyond that, I'm not sure of any other games. A friend has highly recommended Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition. I may give it a try. I'll have to see if I can rent it at the video store. Oh well. Enough for now!

Loopy Ewe Swap Package

Mine arrived last week! What until you see all the goodies I got!


Pretty isn't it? Well, here is the unveiling:


Enclosed were:

* a wonderful pair of blue/green socks - the photo doesn’t even come close to showing how beautiful the colors really are.
* a “knitted mug” full of dark chocolate (I’ve been eyeing that mug),
* a skein of Nova Scotia Casbah!!! My very first skein of yarn with cashmere! and talk about being my favorite colors!!!
* a box of butter waffle cookies - amusingly enough, I was talking with a workmate just before coming home about waffles - and we were looking at waffle irons online… how’s that for precognition??
* Peet’s French Roast Coffee. I LOVE Peet’s coffee. That was my favorite when I lived in Portland, OR. I was a regular at their shop
* a Burt’s Bees Overnight Bee-uty Bag - Burt’s Bees is fantastic stuff!
* a package of Dark Chocolate Mint Creams - how can anything ever be wrong when you have dark chocolate and mint??
* a copy of “Things I Learned from Knitting” by the Yarn Harlot! A lady in my knitting group keeps telling me how good the book is - she was supposed to loan me hers… now she doesn’t need to!
* a bar of Hand Repair Soap - Jasmine - from The Blue Ridge Soap Shed - soap specially made for knitters!!!
* a package of coffee candy - again, how can that ever be a bad thing???
* a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn in Violeta Africana - what can I say - it’s MALABRIGO…..
* and an absolutely adorable card.

WOW…. how’s that for a list? I’m flabbergasted. Thank you so much cjaknit!!

Knitting Goals - 2009

Goals:
1. organize my stash and get at least 75% on ravelry
2. get 90% of things off needles - either finished or frogged and inventory my needles
3. finish Icarus shawl (first quarter of the year)
4. start a complicated shawl (one of two - not sure which) to be finished in a 2 year period
5. design 2 patterns - at least one will be a cowl - and have them ready for publication

For the Sock Yarn Marathon (starts Feb 1):
Overall :use up about 3 miles of my 9.56 miles of sock yarn
1. Clapotis with 2 skeins of Wollmeise Franz
2. Socks with opal Harry Potter yarn
3. Beaded scarf
4. Mitts. I definately need some fingerless gloves or mitts

Not sure after these 4. I'm sure I can come up with something!!

Socks finished!

Well, I finished the socks I've been knitting for the past month. Now if I can just finish the other pair on the needles. /sigh

Not much else going on. I'm trying to decide what patterns to knit with the beautiful Wollmeise Laceweight from the last post. I have a good idea, but it will require some modification to the original pattern I have in mind. I'll have to do some testing first.

In the mean time, February 1 is fast approaching, which means it's time to start balling the sock yarn to be knit. I'm planning to start with a Clapotis in the Franz colorway of Wollmeise sock yarn. I have 2 skeins so can make a nice large wrap (which is a good idea since I'm a large gal). Originally, I thought the colorway I had on hand was Franz with chicken pox. I was rather confused how my yarn suddenly was healed of its malady, but then I realized that I had given a skein of Franz with Chicken Pox to a friend and that I had only had one of those, hence finding the two skeins without chicken pox. Oh well.... Either way, that will be cast on hopefully February 1. The only potential problem with that is that I will be working that day. Seems I end up working every year on Superbowl Sunday. Of course, I thought yesterday was Superbowl Sunday, so it's not like I'm a sports fan who cares....

Enough blather for now. Time to get back into librarian mode and man the reference desk. Oh... and Happy Robert E Lee Day as well as Martin Luther King Day. Seems they are both the 3rd Monday of January here in Arkansas. What a pair to share a holiday...

wollmeise laceweight

Got 2 skeins of the coveted wollmeise laceweight yarn in yesterday:




just had to share....

L&V Sock Marathon 2009

I mentioned it in the previous post, but.... Now I've gone though and calculated how much sock yarn I have and I've set my goal. It seems I have acquired approximately 9.56 miles of sock yarn. I have no idea how that happened. I think it's multiplying while I sleep. That has to be it. Well, with no further adieu:





That's a LOT of sock yarn. Sadly, I'm sure I've missed counting a few skeins because they are hiding behind all of my lace weight yarn or hiding under the bed or something.

My goal: Between Feb 1 and Aug 1, 2009, I hope to knit 2 miles of sock yarn.
There. I said it. I'll have to post progress posts along the way to keep myself honest.

I shouldn't be buying anymore sock yarn - not for a while anyway. I looked at my credit card statement and almost had a heart attack. No, not from all of the sock yarn purchases - those have been a slow accumulation over the past 5 years. I find myself in 2 fiber clubs (spinning fiber) plus I bought 2 skeins of wollmeise laceweight yarn ($$$). I'm also going to the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling and paid my deposit on that. I think the heart attack comes with the idea that I still owe $400 for the Spring Fling and I have no idea where I'm going to come up with the $$$. Fortunately, I should get a tax refund. That will help LOADS.

I did manage to sell 10 skeins of my handdyed yarn on Saturday to Yarn To Go in Memphis. She also wants some roving, so hopefully I can get that dyed up pretty soon. Rainbow Yarn and Fibers purchased a couple of braids of my roving also, so that was a rather successful trip. I made enough to almost pay off the drum carder I bought from the Raven's Nest going out of business sale. Maybe I can card up some batts and sell them soon. We'll see.

I think that's enough typing for today.

New Year, New Blog

I'm tired of my old blog, so thought I'd start fresh with the new year.While the past year was productive, I'm hoping this year will be even more so.

Currently on needles (only the ones I'm working on now):
1. Socks. I'm on the cuff (toe up)
2. Cowl - in Wollmeise!
3. Icarus - in a holding pattern

Spinning:
1. Scraps
2. Enchanted knoll farms batts - Tia Dalma from Happy Hooves
3. Troll in Romney from Spunky Eclectic

Currently Reading:
1. Free Range Knitter
2. It Itches
3. The Waste Lands (audio book to listen to while knitting)

I just got Indie Dyer Experience: The Superwash Manifesto DVD - I'm hoping to watch it and review it here. The little bit I've seen of it so far is very good.

Goals for this weekend:
Figure out how much sock yarn I have for the Lime and Violet Sock Marathon 2009. If you aren't sure what that is, this is what is said on Ravelry -
“Rules”
-Post a picture of your stash, telling us how many yards/miles you have.
-Then set a goal for yourself (if you are participating, cheerleaders encouraged), say I have 10 miles of sock yarn, my goal would be say 2 miles.
-The Ending Date would be August 1st, the starting would be February 1st. That gives everyone 6 months, perfect for those gifts coming up in the cooler months.
-You must hand make the garment. Machines can only be used for only 20-30% of your goal.
-Buying sock yarn is still ok. Don’t worry there are no police for this. You can knit and buy. I might do that as an incentive for myself.
-Socks/projects that are in progress only count for the sock/part you knit during the Marathon. So if you are knitting a pair with 400 yards of yarn and you have one sock done before February you only count the last 200 yards.
-You don’t have to make socks, make anything that uses sock yarn.
-Use up as much sock yarn as you can, incentives are good (mine is Stitches West).
-Have fun!

Not much else is going on. I hope to do a better job of updating this blog than I did the last one.