baby steps ...

Last week I was swatching for the lace skirt just to try memorizing the lace pattern. Tonight before pub knitting the math was done for the appropriate cast on for the skirt and off I went. The first rounds are for the gathered waist. The skirt is 130 rounds and I have 6 1/2 rounds complete. It doubles in diameter after 24 rounds of pattern and again after 48 more rounds. I just set up a little excel sheet to track the progress and I see that I have 5% of the rounds complete and 2% of the stitches. It's probably not a good thing for me to see but the pattern is quite clear so I summed the stitches and it works out to 89,640 stitches for this project. We are at 1,755 st complete. Baby steps and I will complete it in time for the next ice age. WIP pics to come soon.

I had high hopes for the Ravelympics but I didn't completely fail. I spun some Cormo that was dyed earlier in the month.

I did get one project complete and hopefully I will have more time to focus in 18 months when the Winter Olympics come around.

Last but not least I received a shipment from my upstream SP 12 partner. She contacted A Mano Yarn Center and had them to ship me some pure silk roving. Two lovely hanks of beautifully dyed Bombyx silk by Nancy Finn of Chasing Rainbows. The colors are perfect! I'll post pics tomorrow when I can get some decent pictures.

OC Pub Knitters, alive and well

Wednesday night we returned to OC Pubknitters. Bree, the young lady with the pink hair made a suggestion to try the Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa/Newport Beach. We arrived a few minutes before 7:00 and it looked like a high traffic establishment at other times of the week but subdued when we walked in.



We walked around the multiple rooms and looked for a good place to sit thinking of at least 4 or 5 would join us. Within 10 minutes, the group of six had met us and joined us at a well lit table away from the pool tables, foosball, and out of sound contact of the multiple big screen TVs showing every possible sporting event on the airwaves.


For those partaking of the "libations", their are over 121 beers on tap with mixed drinks for the non beer drinkers. Peanut shells on the floor and classic rock playing on the sound system but not too loud so we could still carry on normal conversation. Quite happy to have free soft drinks for the DD (me) Many would consider this place a dive but we all enjoyed the atmosphere and people watching between stitches. Bree, the organizer of this came back to the table after getting a beer and shared a comment from the bar tender; "I cant tell you all the things I've seen happen on that table, but never have I seen anyone knit." We all just laughed.

As the night progressed the age group got younger and the music changed in content and volume until we called it a night a little after 9:00. What a fun time! Yes I was knitting too. Swatching the flickering flames lace pattern to try and capture the repeat in my aging memory.

Complete spinning projects and dye experiments

Not much knitting going on here but some dyeing and spinning.

I finished the fiber needed for the Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny swap. We had to swap 4 ounces of fiber unspun, 4 ounces of hand spun and goodies as you see fit. The unspun fiber was easy because I have plenty to spare. I wanted to do something special with the handspun, I chose Rambouillet because it's not commercially prevalent and wanted to hand dye it myself.
The spinning was different than what I was used to but after a little experimentation, it spun very well.




The colorway is made from four graduated one ounce segments and 2 plied into the semi-monochromatic "Malachite" yarn.

For some of you this will be a re-run. Mrs. Twisted shared some of this but I will share a few more details. She had an idea for a yarn colorway and I asked her to show me and with some crayons. I took the colors we had and blended them to match the swatch the best I could. The inspiration was pansy inspired.

The base yarn is Henry's Attic superwash merino. I tried three different dyeing styles, the left is all blue and splatter dyed with the plum. The center was dyed blue, steam set and dried. After it was dry I carefully over dyed the dry hank with plum. The right hank was normal space dyed and steam set. The goal was to see the end result in stockinette for future reference.

We liked the center version because it looks like each stitch is a different color sort of like the Araucania brand coloring.

Many of you know me pretty well, I tend to share a lot of my feelings and outlook on life here. some of you may not know I'm left handed. the only reason I even mention that is because Wednesday August the 13th was World Wide Left Handed Day. My son is a lefty too. The only two in all of the extended family. I'm not surprised though, it seems like there is a "world wide xxx day" for everything now. So to you lefties out there high fives all around.

SP Qustion for week # 9

This weeks SP 12 question came a few weeks late, or so it seems.

Question of the Week #9

This week. our question is about your knitting... In many communities, "the fair" is a great place to visit and spend time with your family. It's also where many have entered one product or another (jams, cakes, even knitting)...


Have you ever entered your knitting (or anything else) in the fair? Would you ever consider it?

Would you ever consider entering your knitting in a competition?)

I've only been knitting for a few years and never thought about entering my knitting at the fair. Our county fair has a competition here where you submit your table setting around a theme of your choice. I thought about doing that, or maybe some sort of cooked item but my meals are more consumption than exhibition. When we attended the fair this year we walked through the items submitted for judging. Lots of quilts and crocheted afghans but only a few knitted items and only three hanks of hand spun yarn. I'll definitely will be submitting some hand spun yarn as well as a hand spun, hand dyed, knitted object next year.

Have a nice Friday everyone.

Sheep-less Shepherd's Pie

Question of the Week #8

What is your favorite supper for a hot summer evening?

For added flavor (Get it?..."flavor"...I crack myself up!), post a photo or recipe link.

Really, the weather here is pretty moderate year around. I don't really have summer or winter meals like you would have in the North East so I just thought I would post what I cooked tonight. I do most of the cooking in the house and we cycle through about 20 favorite meals. Occasionally I remember a meal my Mom used to cook or one that peeks it's way out of the deep recesses of my aging brain. The hardest part is to cook for 2 people. Most of my recipes are for 4 to 6 and this is for three very hungry people or four adults.

The Sheep-less Shepherd's Pie

10 ounces of lean ground beef
2 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups frozen peas
8 servings of mashed potato
Just a sprinkle of shredded mild cheese.

I use instant potatoes in this recipe because you can achieve the right stiffness
Idahoan is my choice of instant potatoes.

2 2/3 cups flakes
2 2/3 cups water
1cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
Prepare the 8 serving method on the box in a medium saucepan.

Brown the ground beef in a skillet and drain the excess fat
open the cans of soup (do not add water to the soup) and mix over a medium flame.
Add the peas and bring to a soft boil.
Remove from flame.
At this point I transfer the meat filling to a glass mixing bowl and rinse the skillet.

Spread the prepared potatoes in the 10" skillet to form a pseudo crust.
I use a tea spoon to lift the potatoes and give it peaks. This helps to brown in the last step.

Take the skillet and put it in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.

Add the garnish of cheese for taste and color and serve.
MMMMMM good and very filling.

Triple shot Monday

I've been slacking the last few weeks at answering the SP questions. So here is a triple shot.

Question of the Week #5

Boy, time flies. Summer is when many of us head out on vacation/holiday. So, this week’s question/s has us wondering:

1) Where is your favorite place to go for vacation/holiday?

I like to go somewhere new that I've never been before. Research all the neat locals only nuances and take the back roads.

2) Where is one place you’d like to go?

Bora Bora

Question of the Week #6

Since thinking about holidays/vacations is SO much fun, let’s continue with the theme…

Questions #6
What is your favorite type of project to take along on holiday/vacation?

I usually take a small portable project. I have a rug in wip that normally is my travel project. 9 inch squares on circs.

If you’d like to share a story…Tell us about a time that you packed too much knitting or were stranded without knitting.

We attended a dye party with the intentions of dyeing and didn't bring the spinning wheel or knitting and paid the price.

Question of the Week #7

We are all creatures of habit and when it comes to sitting down to knit, it’s no different…

What is(are) your favorite place(s) to knit?

I love to spin on the south facing balcony. Depending on the project I like to walk for lunch and knit while I walk listening to some tunes. Knitting with my friends at the various knit groups is always fun.

and

What supplies (besides yarn & needles) make the setting perfect for knitting?

Comfy chair if I'm sitting, my MP3 player if I'm alone, and a cold soft drink (cherry coke)

Happy July

It's been a longer than I wanted since blogging. Summer is flying by and I'm just trying to keep my head above water with obligations.

I sent off my fiber swap and the teal seacel/merino was well received. Next up is the Hush Hush Handspun Hootenanny swap on the spinning wheel.


I joined the Ravelympics this year in two events. Handspun Heptathlon and Synchronized Flirty Skirts. I frogged the flickering flames skirt in preparation for the start of the competition. I'm really only competing with myself but it's another way to keep inspired with my knitting.



Mary Frances and I did the county fair demo a week ago and I learned so much. Never thought you could spin cotton with just a paper clip but it was quite fun. Not like you want to do too much of it but you learn to draft and see the twist enter the draft zone in slow motion.

I felt like Carol Merrill from Lets Make a Deal some of the time but it was really fun


Here we are at the Fair.




After the little demo with cotton I spun on my wheel and even had a few takers to get a free lesson at my wheel.






More updates to come soon

Demo Date Correction

I posted about the OC NightSpinners demo at the Orange County Fair but I have a correction on the day. It's Tuesday the 15th not Wednesday. Here is the schedule of events. I guess I need to look at the Calender more often.

Swaps and demos

The swaps are in mid swapiness if you you can call it that. I dyed some merino seacel a little while back and carded it on Thursday night with thank to Melissa for letting me use her drum carder. This was for the Fiber Swap Club on Ravelry. We ended up with 4 batts in graduated tones from light to dark. It turned out fabulous if i say so myself. I just received my partner for Hush-Hush Handspun Hootenanny this last week. This is a swap where you send 4 ounces of hand spun and 4 ounces of roving. I have a nice partner who loves purple so should be quite fun. The Secret Pal 12 is chugging along well with my first package shipping this week. Not to many details since it's supposed to be a secret. The swingin-handspun-singles is going well too. I was contacted to swap some Sport weight singles. I really like this group in Ravelry because you look over the others in the thread that you want to spin and make contact. There are threads for lace, fingering, DK, Sport, Worsted, novelty and my favorite, luxury fiber. After the contact you decide on color and fiber content and then after you each swap 2 ounces you ply and share the pics of the 4 ounces of your combined effort. We are doing some dyed cormo, yes she has some too, and another swap of my merino tencel from me and Cormo soysilk from her. I cant wait to see what this looks like when we finish. :)

Last weekend I had the joy of sharing the love of spinning with one of our friends. She wanted to participate in the Tour De Fleece and I was more than happy to help her out. You can follow her here. Go Denise!!!!! She just jumped in and embraced the spinning like a pro and was making yarn on her first day.

Last but not least, I'm going to be spinning at the Orange County Fair and demonstrating as part of the Orange County NightSpinners. I will be there Tuesday the 15th between 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Feel free to stop by and say hi if you like. The Demo is at 1:00 PM according to the schedule.

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July to all of my American readers.

We love our home so much. The south facing balcony is wonderful because of the ocean breeze that cools us each night and tonight we added another benefit. . Tonight we had front row seats to the local fireworks show that were held at the local High school. The local High School is about a mile or so as the crow flies so we hear the football games on Friday night like they were right out side with the public address system. Twenty three minutes of fireworks without having to go anywhere. No parking issues, no gas worries. We actually had peaches while we sat on the balcony. MMMMM cold peaches were so good tonight.




Here is the final 20 seconds of the fireworks from our lovely perch.

Tomorrow is the start of the Tour De France and I'm taking part of the Tour De fleece on Ravelry where we spin fiber the during the tour. Not like I need another reason to spin but I love cycling and spinning so why not combine both loves.

To be young again just one more day to enjoy the Big Top Circus

Sad news today...

Bozo AKA Larry Harmon, passed away

I loved watching the big top circus.
My childhood seemed to be full of various mid day TV shows. The big three in southern Ca when I was young, Sheriff John, Bozo the Clown, and Hobo Kelly, at certain ages in my youth would either entertain or add something even if it was just a smile. Life was simpler then but I think it's looking at the world with the fleeting naivety that a child of the 60's had something to do with it.

It's just another piece of my life that is changing that I can't control. My mood shifts to melancholy when these bits of my childhood are gone forever except for the memories. Rest in Peace Bozo, we may have tears in our eyes but we will never forget the smiles you gave the world.

Camel is sooo nice.

The Tuesday night spin group moved to the next fiber in our monthly fiber study. This month it was camel, beautiful, soft & lovely camel. Janel gave me a little head start lesson a few months ago at one of the guild meetings so I felt pretty confident about spinning this.


The color is a soft tan shade, it just looks a little washed out here. I'm not sure how much more pure camel I will spin. Maybe enough to make a lace scarf or a scarf, hat, gloves set. I can see this blended with silk or merino or even silk and merino. I can see a maybe someday sweater in a blend of camel. This was wonderful to spin, easy to get the fine lace thickness we all strive for.

perfect stash or almost perfect?

Secret Pal Question #3

What would you consider the perfect amount of stash?

I had to give credit where credit is due, Mary Lynn had a great answer to this question. When you can go to your stash and start a new project without having to go to the LYS for more yarn. Mrs Twisted added; when you can do the next 5 sweaters in your cue and enough sock yarn and lace weight for many years to come.

I see the stash almost as a living being. It changes as my or in this case OUR knitting wants or needs change. When you see new yarn in the magazines it inspires new projects or when you see someone knitting at your local S&B you may secretly covet that new fiber or at least project that yarn into a future pattern. The stash has now taken on more importance because the fiber that will become "future stash" in yarn terms. But it in itself is stash. Most of us grow in in our fiber knowledge and capabilities as we knit or spin. As we grow our needs change, when we knit new things, hopefully it inspires us continue this process. I digressed a bit... My perfect stash? When no matter what the situation, you have the right fiber in the right color that inspires you to knit any project that comes your way. The ability to spin and dye various fibers helps to supplement the stash and fill the voids when store bought yarns seem to fall short. The perfect stash is a moving target that's more of state of mind. Not having a finite quantity of yarn but knowing you can knit what you want with what you have.

The fiber dye fest was a little less than we had hoped for. Some of the people organizing had some family issues to deal with and I hope everyone is ok for all involved. We were looking forward to the workshops planned but it turned into free form dyeing free for all. Multiple people said "oh come on, just wing it." We have wung it or winged it on our own but I don't just do things willy nilly. I do like to experiment but I still want to document what we do so if it's good it can be replicated. If it doesn't meet our expectations the parameters can be altered with controls in place. The many guild members were very welcoming, the home where this occurred was just amazing. A few blocks from Hollywood and Vine, they had a large craftsman style home where they host this annual guild event.

A few pics of the guild members enjoying the day.

hand spun lace first

Just a little post to share some hand dyed, hand spun yarn in a little sample swatch.

This is a little less than half ounce from the first Cormo fleece. A little acid dye and the new steamer gave us results better than expected. You know we're a little snobby when it comes to yarn and we both love the results.

It went from this ....

to this......


and finally to this



It feels as soft as Malabrigo lace weight. Just a little taste of things to come and all we can say is oh my!! Great hand and dreamy softness. The Mrs is now asking for enough for a top. This was almost lace weight but I think doing a three ply will give it the right thickness.

Off to bed so we can get up early for the dye fest.....

Hand spun purple yarn and summer child memories

Secret Pal Question #2

As a kid, what did you look forward to most about summer vacation/break/holiday?

Hmmmm I really didn't look forward to summer for the vacation as much as not having to get up early in the morning. My parents both worked from about age eight and as long as the TV was low they wouldn't know how late I stayed up. I had two older brothers but they both went to bed around the time my parents did. Back then I would stay up late and watch Johnny Carson then Tom Snyder and whatever else came on. Late night cereal with my favorite talk shows and late morning reruns of Father Knows Best, Ozzie & Harriet, Leave it to Beaver and the Donna Reed Show. Later in my youth it was daily surfing and working at the local gas station.

I finished some new yarn for Mrs. Twisted last night. Some roving we bought a couple months ago is now some pretty purple yarn.

All plied up and ready to take a bath

468 yards of long draw kitchen sink merino/silk/ and ???? mostly soft to the skin yarn.

The Mini groups were announced for the Ravelry fiber swap club
We share 4 ounces of fiber per month with the other three in the mini group. The first month I'm partnered with a lady who is serving in the Navy. It's an open swap so not completely secret. We discussed fiber but I'm going to dye it this weekend at my spinning guilds dye fest.

One last thing. I started plurking last week. Some of the bloggers and or Ravelers in the knit world are already there. Wendyknits is like a super plurker. What is Plurk you say? It's another way to chitty chat with your friends. Curious? click here and enjoy

Hush-Hush Handspun Hootenanny questionnaire

Hush-Hush Handspun Hootenanny questionnaire.

1. How long have you been spinning? What skill level do you consider yourself?

I started spinning the end of February this year. I’m still a beginner but I see a huge difference in the last two months. Most people can’t believe I’ve only been spinning a few months but I try to spin daily to gain more constancy. I’m spinning more “long draw” now and enjoying the fine fibers.

2. What kinds of yarn do you create (singles/2-ply/3-ply/art yarn)?

I’ve only spun 2 and 3 ply yarns so far. I really only spin what I want to knit so it’s mostly fingering to DK weight

3. What do you spin with (spindle/wheel/both)?

I have both but I spin mostly on the wheel. I’m taking a business trip soon and I’ll bring the drop spindle to spin with while I’m gone.

4. What are your favorite fibers to spin with? Anything you don't like?

My favorite is Optim and Cormo. The Optim is like silk and the Cormo is the softest wool in my stash.

I don’t like rough, itchy, scratchy fiber like Corriedale, Romney, Jacob, etc.

5. Who are your favorite crack dealers fiber sources (etsy or otherwise)?

I have three fleeces that I purchased from Rupperts Corriedales & Cormos and my favorite supplier of dyed roving is Lori Lawson. It’s hard to pick favorites because I have purchased from so many with good results from most of them.

6. What kind of fiber do you want to try?

Vicuna, Guanaco, Qiviut,Yak, Baby Camel/Silk

7. Is there any techniques you would like to learn?

I’m learning the Paula Simmons Spin for speed and softness method and I’m taking a speed spinning class this August. Spinning is very relaxing but I want to relax faster lol

8. Do you dye fiber? If not, would you like to learn?

We purchased a steamer and have had good success so far. This Sat. is my spinning guilds dye fest and I’m bringing so much to experiment between the three workshops planned.

9. Do you have fiber prep tools (and like to use them) or would you prefer ready to spin fiber?

I plan to purchase a Pat Green “Beverly” drum carder this week if everything works out. I don’t plan to process fleece because I live in a condo and I don’t want to worry about the VM and lanolin in the pipes. I figure a couple combs may be in the future too.


10. What do you do with your handspun? What projects have you completed?

I’ve gifted most of the handspun so far. Swap pals have received some and my wife is getting the latest singles after I ply them hopefully tonight.

11. Are you in need of any spinning gadgets (WPI Gauge, threading hook, etc)?

I’m a guy, I love the tools but I’m looking at a bobbin winder right now. Next is a squirrel cage and an electric skein winder. My wheel has a Delta orifice so it doesn’t require a threading hook. I have what I need and I buy what I want when the need arises.

12. What colors "fall into your shopping basket"? Any colors you just can't stand?

I’m always drawn to the monochromatic colors and deep purples are my favorites. I’ve been edging closer to the ruby red – pink – vermillion lately. Cobalt blues and sea foam greens look nice too. I dislike muddy browns, oranges and yellows. Pastels are low on the list with army greens or any faded tweedy colors.

13. What is on your wheel/spindle right now?


I spun a sample ½ ounce of my vermillion hand dyed Cormo and I love it.

14. What other crafts/hobbies do you have?

I see them as other obsessions….. Music, Guitars, We’re looking at learning archery.

15. Other than crafts, what are you passionate about?

I rarely do things half way. If you know me, you’ve seen the zero to a hundred miles an hour emersion curve.

16. Do you have an online wishlist?

I have an Amazon list on my blog.

17. Is there anything that you collect?

I don’t collect for the sake of collecting like coins or stamps. I enjoy rare music from selected bands & artist, autographed books and music when I get to meet the artist or author.

18. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What magazine subscriptions do you have?

If I want something I usually find it and buy it. I just subscribed to Spin off so I can read the adverts and such. Most of the magazines are geared toward styles that don’t fit my goals but I do enjoy leafing through the knit/spin/guitar magazines at Barnes & Noble

19. When is your birthday?

October 5th

20. What book or movie character do you most resemble in personality?

I don’t know any characters that weird.

21. What is the climate like where you live around this time (need to know for careful shipments of anything meltable)?

22. Tell us one weird fact about yourself!

I cook most of the meals and many dishes that I would ever eat or even taste. My wife she says it’s weird how I can make something taste so good without ever knowing what it’s supposed to taste like.

Favorites
favorite painting/picture(link):I love sunsets at the beach. Different ones, each day is prettier than the last.

Candy: Reese’s sticks

Food: Mexican, or fresh seafood

Drink: Dr. Pepper or Cherry Coke

Movie(s): That Thing You do, Shall We Dance

TV Show(s):Weeds, Dead Like Me, House

Book(s): Lee Child Novels

Guilty Pleasure(s): 50’s doo wop music, Window shopping or clothes shopping for my wife even if we are just looking. I love to see the glow when she tries on a new outfit and she likes how it looks.

Dyefest preperation

Many things on the horizon. A week from Saturday is the dye fest held by our spinning guild. In preparation for the dye-fest I gathered some bare roving to play with and experiment under the tutelage of Janel Laidman, spinner, fiber artist, scientist and renowned author. What is all this? Well, I wanted to sort out some fiber to bring and the more I contemplated this the more involved it became. I pulled out all the undyed fiber and sorted through it. I measured five ounces of each and divided that into one ounce hanks ready for dying. Eight different fibers, BFL, Targhee, Rambouillet, Optim, Seacel, Cormo, Australian Merino, & Falkland.

Why five ounces? I was hoping to dye each package the same, and maybe if they turn out ok, I'll spin them into sock yarn. I'm being optimistic here so wish me luck. I'll post lots of pictures as I always do so all of you can come with us in spirit.

Wednesday I spoke to Paula Simmons on the phone ( it was really exciting to me) about the proper drum carder for the type of fiber I want to use. I learned that the problems that most people have with neps, is caused by the front drum ratio being too high. Fibers with lots of crimp and fine to extra fine need slow speed and a slower licker drum ratio. She said the Supercarder was the best choice because the licker drum is independent from the large drum besides I don't have $2,600 set aside for a drum carder. I've decided on the "Pat Green Beverly" at least for this week. :P I was all set to get something else but why buy a drum carder that I can't use on the fibers I want to spin or already have.

A little post script here... Ariadne or Stevie left me a comment about wanting to spin. We meet every Tuesday night from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at Yarn Lady. Please e-mail me @ e1jerryt@sbcglobal.net if you want to meet up for more spinning. There are multiple spin groups in the area if you like.

Favorite Summertime Drink......

I'm a little lax in the answer of this but after reading other participants, I'm not alone... :)

I'm playing in the Secret Pal 12 exchange and they are asking us to reply to questions each week. This was last week's question;

What is your favorite summertime drink??

Being Summer really doesn't mater to me. I drink soda most of the time. I have a few vices and soda is one of them. I drink coke with my breakfast. ( not with a bowl of cereal though) At work I drink hot tea just for the caffeine and to reduce the caloric intake. As far as summer or winter, we live in southern Ca and the weather is pretty close to 70-75 degrees 300 days a year. That being said, I have a few choices. Cherry Coke/Dr Pepper are my two favorites. Fountain drinks when I'm out? Coke over Pepsi every time. McDonald's Coke is the best because the mix is always correct at least around here. We only eat breakfast there but the coke is almost as good as in the glass bottle at our local McDonald's. Yes I like unsweetened sun brewed iced tea. Various fruit juices and ice cold milk depending on what I'm eating. Mr's Twisted even wonders if I can taste the drinks because I drink so much so fast. The 12 oz can is literally 2-3 sips. The 16.9 oz water is 1-2 sips. Bottom line is that Cherry Coke, Dr Pepper or Regular Coke works just fine for me.

Fashion trend setting

The last 4 days or night have been filled with spinning like never before. Saturday I spun for hours at the picnic for WWKIP day. Sunday at the Huntington, last night at Rumplestiltskein, one of the Monday spin groups, and tonight with the Yarn Lady Tuesday spinning group. This arrived last night and I wanted to share the newest trend.



Love to be a fashion trend setter LOL

Memories?

I saw this on Mary Lynn's blog

If you read this,
if your eyes are passing over this right now,
even if we don't speak often,
please post a comment with a memory of you and me.
It can be anything you want -- good or bad.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people remember about you.

Spinning At the Huntington.

Today we went to the Huntington Library for a spinning demo that we found out about at our spinning guild. I feel almost embarrassed to admit that I grew up in Southern California and have never been until today. They are known for a few high profile antiquities and wonderful gardens;
Thomas Gainsborough's "The Blue Boy",
Thomas Lawrence's "Pinkie"

and the Gutenberg Bible.

I found that the grounds and gardens are just as amazing as the library, artwork and furnishings.

We were set up in the herb garden and had a chance to share our craft with the public as they strolled through the various gardens. Randall Hayden sat in our group and we had some nice long talks about obsessions and fiber. What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Outside in a beautiful place spinning among wonderful people.

I have a flickr set if you want to see more pics.

WWKIP day

Happy WWKIP day.

We had a huge gathering at a local regional park. Some of the ladies from All Things Strings organized this event instead of our normal beach bar-b-que. We had a great turn out of 5 or 6 local knitting groups being represented. This was organized on Ravelry and the various yahoo groups for the last month or so. We even had a few knitters who read the post and just showed up looking for a place to knit today.


I counted 6 spinners, at least 35 knitters, multiple dogs, various kids, a rodent of some sort, some spouses, two guitar players, one of whom was in a utilikilt, many jugglers, a few archers and we even had a baby alpaca show up. Can you say diverse?

Yesterday I bought a new EZ-Up to use for these open events and it was nice to have the shade.
We made a little sign to have some fun. Rancho De Twisted-Peeps to include both of our Ravelry names.


Left to right, Shanda, Denise, and Knitterotica

Kristie who spins with me in multiple spinning groups and the Spinning guild.

We parked close to the archery range because a few of the attendees were also archers. This is the learning range where they have free lessons including bows and arrows. Mrs Twisted and I will return next week for free lessons. Can you smell a new obsession? :)


They also have a full size range where Jen had brought some special long spears for some of us to try. I've never even heard of these before now. Atlatl Spears were the precurser to the bow and arrow. I wish Mrs. Twisted could have brought the camera over to the range while I attempted to throw these. The link shows the proper method, I was getting the idea but it was a humbling experience.

Karen, LoopyKD was there with her daughter. We spun together last month in Irvine park.

Someone had a map with all the groups in the area with a small synopses if you wanted to attend more knit nights in your spare time.

I love to watch the Jugglers. Very hypnotic to me.



The Jugglers play dominos when not juggling I guess. At least these seemed to enjoy it.

We had a few knit related games, one was like a sock wars type. It was a mystery pattern that someone test knit. It turned out to be a stuffed fish. When you finished you went to the person you were assigned to and they were out. You completed their fish and this continued until there was one everyone was eliminated.

Here is Robert who I think won. There were 12 playing this game, it looked like most had a good time. I didn't play.... Too busy talking and spinning

Shanda and Denise holding their fish after being killed.

There was also a "can you identify the fiber"contest.

The musicians enjoying the day.

I had to take this picture of Jeff. Playing the guitar strings in front of the All Things Strings banner.
Yes, he was the one in the Utili-kilt. Way to go Jeff!

This young girl learned to spin today on Anne's wheel. Passing on the craft....

Towards the end of the day someone showed up with a baby alpaca freshly sheared.
Zona's little girl wil be asking for one of these for Christmas this year. :) He loved her barrettes.

Two of the ladies, Zona and Rachel saw the Hula Hoops and thought "I wonder if we can knit while we Hula Hoop"

You have to see the video to believe it.




Thank you to all the ladies who put in so much effort to make this happen.

When I came home I found the latest shipment from the Woolgirl sock club on the doorstep.

Dashing Dachs sport weight superwash merino hand painted yarn and lots of goodies. Never seen this kind of stitch gage tool. It has a 1x1 square hole.