So When It Rains for Three Days I.....

Blend wool and angora on the drum carder....


.... and crochet a few fine loops and stitches...


...and ply some lovely Corriedale singles....


...and ply some Cheeky batt....


...and cuddle a cheeky kitty....


...and let sleeping dogs lie...

And I knit, too, but I can't show pictures of that, as I'm actually going to knit Christmas presents this year for a change. Betcha can't guess what people are getting.... Has anyone ever tried to knit with TWO cats sleeping on your lap? Good thing the little one is, well, little.....

Finished Objects and Other Treasures

Je Suis Jolie Mitts

You folks may get bored with fingerless mitts before I'm done; I do apologize. But I'm obsessive...what can I say? These were a fast knit, just a 3/1 rib with a silly little flower and a vintage button. I love the silly little flower. I'm not girly that often...

Lots of handspinning getting done. It's dark outside so I can't take a picture yet, but I finished plying the Fire Ant Ranch Cheeky Batt. The yarn turned out nice and I think it's kind of interesting. I'll talk more about it later when I can get pictures. I've started plying the Corriedale singles I've been spinning since April. I'm planning to make the Every Way Wrap from the Interweave Knits Fall 2009 issue with them.

And speaking of treasures, Natalie brought some of her gorgeous new yarns today! Some of them did NOT want to leave my hands and make it to the shelves!



Name the kitty!



This little one still needs a name, so head over to our podcast, listen to Episode 7, and then enter the contest! Here the little darlin' reveals the usual state of my knitting/spinning/crocheting/book work table! (P. S. Votes for a name over here don't count...you have to visit the podcast to find out what to do!)

Little Feet

We have another baby....

...found in a basket on my doorstep. No, not really; she arrived on Bent Road and couldn't stay because the resident cat did NOT approve. Fortunately things have gone better for her here. Barnabas is baffled, Lily regally disdainful, Deuteronomy frankly delighted, and TJ chastened. Rudy, the bird, keeps a wary eye on her but so far kitten has been very ladylike.

And kitten needs a name. I think her little face looks like a flower. Names that begin with "P" present themselves, for no clear reason that I can understand. So I'm considering Posy, Petunia, Paisley....any suggestions? Not Pansy, please; that name was ruined for me by the Harry Potter books. Penny? Princess? Precious?

I've finally managed to get some work done at the shop today, although that means that all the people have gone away. That's not so good but I got all the vendor checks written at last, a blog post done at Meadows of Dan, pitiful though it is, and the newsletter for the shop is out. Sign up in the pink box to find out about a great review by Tammy of Footheel Sock Knitter.


Je Suis Jolie Mitts

This is a simple pattern, so far, by Clara Parkes that appears in the new Interweave Knits Accessories 2009. This is another pattern that also appeared in an earlier Interweave publication, this time Knitscene, Fall 2006. I'm not sure how I feel about all these recycled patterns, Interweave, appearing in a $15.00 magazine. Anyway, the yarn is my Greenberry House angora/merino millspun sport weight. Since I can't bear to take the Wine and Roses Mitts off, I figure I should have another set waiting in the wings. I'm eying some cotton in my stash, too, for some summer styles!


Shiny

This is my version of the Moss Fern Wrap by Kimberly K. McAlindin from the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Crochet. The yarn is from Unplanned Peacock, one of my vendors, and is a beautiful and very fine laceweight merino/silk blend in the colorway Quail. Since my obsession with mitts I haven't worked on it a great deal but it's still coming along nicely.

With all the wet weather there isn't much other news. We managed to walk a couple of mornings this week and then it poured. No moon, no stars, just wet dogs and me. Last night our community organization was invited to Primland for our meeting and a tour of the lodge. The hospitality was great and the reserve is beautiful. Check out the web site, or better yet, come visit Meadows of Dan and Primland in person!

Natalie came up on Monday and we recorded Episode 6 of the Knitting in the Round podcast. We're really going to try to be more regular with our releases. Honest! Natalie is planning to come up every Monday, and when I cut back on the shop hours after Christmas I'll be able to go down to Mount Airy. Such sacrifices for our public!

Oh, look, it's raining again. Surprise...

Falling for Fall

Wine and Roses Mitts

Look out, Sock-a-nistas, you may just have met the Mitt Diva of Meadows of Dan. I've fallen in love with these things. Tried one on for this picture on Monday and didn't want to take it off. Then got obsessive, since it rained all day yesterday, and sat listening to knitting podcasts and finished the second mitt. I think my eyes may recover in time but at least my hands are warm! I've already wound up a ball of my angora/merino blend to cast on for another pair of mitts in a different (and simple) pattern!

In other news...it rained. And it's still gloomy out there, with the wind whipping across the porch and snapping the flags. A great day for knitting or crocheting, although I have a newsletter to get out, an agenda for a meeting tonight to type up and the minutes of last month's meeting to dig out and organize. So more news later...we have an announcement that involves the pitter patter of little feet here at Greenberry House!

Winding Down into Winter

Such Nice Friends...

What? You mean you think it's too soon to be thinking about winter? Let's not kid ourselves, people. Time is flying by so fast...and I kinda like it! October is over and we had a fair season, allowing for the bad weather on the weekends, and I'm turning my thoughts toward knitting, crocheting and especially spinning. Wintertime thoughts!

Road trip alert! I had to go down to West Jefferson on Wednesday to deliver the hat yarn I finished to Jane, so she can knit the hats up before our deadline. It was a lovely day for a drive, even with getting lost a few times...don't ever place all your trust in Google maps. It was Wednesday knitting group at Spin A Yarn, Weave a Web, the local yarn shop, so of course that's where we met! It's always wonderful to get together with great friends, and what could be better than throwing yarn in as well?

The shop is even nicer than it was the first time I visited, with a more focused look and lots of great books and yarn. They still have their great locally produced honey, meat, eggs, cheese, flour and so forth, which is an awesome addition to the yarn and fiber offerings. There were also some lovely baskets around and hanging from the ceiling. I really liked some nice handmade and commercial project bags they carry. One of them said something about "Old hippies"; I was really tempted but it didn't have a price on it and I forgot to ask about it!


Spin a Yarn, Weave a Web

It was great to see Nancy and Christy again...they are Facebook buddies but it's better to talk in person. The knitting group was fun; I knew some of the women already through Jane. We had a fabulous lunch brought in from a pizza place nearby. I can't remember the name but if you're down in West Jefferson there are several nice places to eat, apparently!


More Yarn and a Book

And of course I couldn't leave without yarn! And a book of crocheted wraps and shawls. I'll probably be reviewing it soon. The white yarn is a pima cotton from Peru and feels very nice. I haven't worked with cotton for awhile so I'm looking forward to it. I'll be making a shawl out of the book with it. The brown big skein is an 8 ounce, 300 yard millspun merino/rambouillet/alpaca blend from Nancy's Fox Holler Farm. I haven't decided what to do with that but whatever I make will be beautiful!

The trip back up through the mountains around West Jefferson was lovely, even though I got us lost again. There's nothing nice than driving along a narrow country road that winds along a beautiful river, even if you're not sure where you might wind up!


Completed Seine Scarf

Did I mention how much I'm loving listening to podcasts? In the mornings I've been settling in with a cup of tea, my knitting, and my favorite podcast playing while I work. My current favorite, which I may have mentioned, is Brass Needles. As a science fiction fan and knitter I've really enjoyed her commentary on movies and more. I've listened to them all, though, so this morning I downloaded a few more, mostly recommended by Miss Kalender, and look forward to listening to them. And I discovered that iTunes has books, too! I started listening to BarknKnit yesterday because I found her on Facebook somehow. Her podcast is fun, and would probably appeal more to those among us that aren't into science fiction. (Are there really people out there who don't LOVE Dr. Who?)

I started two more projects this week, both from recent Interweave magazines. I really need to get back to brandishing my crochet hook so I decided to make the Moss Fern Wrap from Interweave Crochet Fall 2009. I'm making it with a skein of Unplanned Peacock's laceweight merino and silk in her Quail colorway. It's making a slow start setting up the first row of shells but I think it's going to be a beautiful shawl. I love the softness of Natasha's colors and yarn.

I also started the Wine and Roses Mitts from the Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009 issue. This is a pattern that also appeared in Interweave Knits, Winter 2006. I guess I just wasn't ready for lacy back then. I'm knitting them in a yarn that was almost a pair of socks, but I lost the love just after I finished the cuff of the second sock. They've been laying around for over a year so I decided it was time to jump in the frog pond! I've put up photos and descriptions of these two projects on my Ravelry page.


Cheeky Batt

I finished spinning the Teeswater/Cotswold Cross roving very quickly and it plied into a nice variegated yarn in shades of brown and white. Next up for spinning on the Reeves wheel was this interested striped batt from Fire Ant Ranch in Georgetown, Texas. I picked it up at the Estes Park Wool Market when we were there in June, mainly because I had never seen anything like it. The white is Gulf Coast and the black is Black Welsh. The textures of the two wools are very different and it's a lot of fun to spin. I keep thinking that Lily has crawled into my spinning basket, though!

Yesterday I had had more enjoyable crocheting time, visiting with Tammy and Lynn, who came to meet each other at long last. Bloggers often become great friends over distances, and Greenberry House served as a good location. Each blogger brought a friend and relative, so we had a nice visit getting to know each other better. Then the Thursday night knitting group got together, and I had more fun while crocheting the new shawl. so it has been another week with wonderful fiber friends.


Early Morning TJ

I woke up early this morning, got TJ his walk in and then settled down to knit on the first mitt cuff. Lily curled up at my feet and Barnabas, the black cat, decided that the chair arm was the perfect place to settle with his head against my elbow. I rearranged the living room a bit when we had to turn the heat on and now the big chair has the lamp beside it. Lily doesn't like that much because on the couch she could curl up right against me. Barnabas finds it an improvement. TJ sort of resents it as well, since Lily has possession of the dog bed at my feet. He generally settles down on his couch by the window though. The toy that Chris gave him has survived. So far.

Friends...Old and New!

Spinwych visits Greenberry House

It has been a wonderful couple of weeks...occasionally frantic but always fun...typical October. The lovely thing about this October has been meeting some great people that I've known online, as well as reconnecting with wonderful old friends.

Spinwych is someone I've "met" in various handspinning forums through the years. She was here from Central Victoria (that's in Australia, y'all) visiting friends and it was lovely to finally see her in person. Apparently from the web site I found for her she's now into photography and she has a fantastic eye. I'll be excited to see what kind of photos she posts of her trip to America and the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Also this past week or so a bunch of Facebook folk came in to visit and I was thrilled to see them. Some are like family, really, with close family connections to Meadows of Dan. Others are just great people I've come to know online in various ways. It's always fun to put a face to a name, though!

And I almost forgot to mention one of the best "old friends" that I met in person this weekend. Lynn of Rocky Creek Scottie Adventures came to visit! For some reason, mainly because I've been seeing her comment on Tammy's blog for quite awhile, I thought she was living in North Carolina. But she lives nearer me and she and Tammy are planning to meet here next Thursday. So if anyone is wanting to visit with blogger/knitter/spinners come join us! it was really fun to talk to Lynn and I look forward to seeing her again!


The T and his new toy

I don't know how I managed not to get a picture of Chris (ahem) that I could put up on the blog, but it was great having her visit from Connecticut for the weekend. She came down so we could go to SAFF together, but at the last minute I couldn't make it away from the shop and the dogs. Chris was good-natured about it, went down on her own, and then came back so we could have a lot of fun knitting and talking. She came bearing gifts...an awesomely fun shaggy toy thing for TJ, above, and a glorious bump of variegated roving from Still River Mill for me:


Mystery...

It's called a mystery batt because it's not the same all the way through. I'm really looking forward to spinning it, and thinking I might ply it with something else. This is a really cool idea!

While Chris was here we did a lot of talking, as I said, and had fun trying out all the restaurants around. Our first stop was in Meadows of Dan at the new Two By Two BBQ. They just opened last week, just in time for Chris to visit, and we told them she came all the way down here just to come to their place. The food and service were great and we really enjoyed the way they're fixing up the place. Nice red checked tablecloths and they're putting together a bluegrass music theme with photographs of bands they know from festivals.

We also visited Tuggles Gap Restaurant up the Blue Ridge Parkway and had a nice evening there. Good food and we sat knitting in public, which attracted the attention of another knitter that was visiting the area. She came into the shop the next day and we had a nice chat. On Sunday evening after Chris got back from SAFF we headed to Stuart for dinner with friend Linda. The two of them kept me in stitches (besides knitted ones) and we may not be welcome back to the Mexican restaurant there on Main Street!


Dyed wool yarn for hat project

It was lonesome to see Chris leave on Monday morning. But I pulled myself together and tackled all the stuff that has needed doing this week. Chris brought back some lovely yarns from Avillion Farm and Red Gate Farm for the shop, and I've been putting them up on the shop shelves and admiring some talented spinning and color work! I also spent most of this morning stocking some lovely roving from a farm up in the Buffalo that features some of the most gorgeous Jacob I ever saw, along with some beautiful Romney and some merino/Rambouillet.

And I hit the dye pots quickly on Wednesday, although at the time I wasn't sure I was going to get the yarn done in time. This was some coarser roving I had made up just for projects like this. My usual spinning doesn't generally qualify as hat yarn. I was pleased with how this turned out, though, and Jane from Fiber on the Mountain is going to be knitting the hats before long.


Teeswater/Cotswold Cross Variegated Roving

And so to treat myself after finishing the dreaded hat yarn roving, I started spinning this variegated roving from Black Hills Woolies. I bought the roving when we were in Colorado at the Estes Park Wool Market. My original intention was to spindle-spin this, but I haven't been making much progress on spindling lately!

I have made progress on the Seine Scarf, though...see the last post for pictures. 45 inches long and counting! Thanks to Natalie, I've was intrigued about podcasts beyond our own. I went out and bought a little mp3 player, an adventure in itself. I had one before, but realized I never listened to music unless I was in the car. I didn't know anything about podcasts back then. Now that I want to listen to them, I had no idea where the cheap player I had wound up. It didn't work very well anyway. I went out searching for a player and would up with an RCA gadget named "Opal". Seriously. That's what it says, anyway. After a bit of fiddling around to figure out how to download these wonderful knitting talkers, I've been really enjoying my morning knitting sessions. Check out my review of my current favorite podcast, Brass Needles. I've also posted a review of the new Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts 2009 issue.

Tonight I'm supposed to be helping with the Haunted Corn Maze, so I've spent the day in striped stockings and a black dress. Only a couple of people have looked at me like I'm a bit weird. Not sure if that is good news or not!

Creeping though the fields

Giant hay-der in the Corn Maze Fields

Come out and visit the haunted maze on Friday and Saturday (if it doesn't rain) this week and on Friday and Saturday (Halloween) next week. For more information check the web site.