Aaron knits…and spins, and weaves.

Good morning and happy Saturday!

Before our two canine house guests went home last Saturday, we acquired a new foster dog. This new foster dog has a relatively short stay here with us because he gets to go to his forever home tomorrow. This last week has been fun, but it has also been a bit challenging. I had been looking forward to reclaiming my craft room when our friends’ dogs went home, as that is the only room we have space to set up an extra crate. The arrival of foster dog meant that I would have to sacrifice that space for just a little longer. We knew he would only be here about a week, so I was okay with that. I will be able to remove that crate later today.

Continue reading “Just a few more days”

Good morning and happy Saturday! Four years ago on Labor Day Weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the West Coast Men’s Fall Knitting Retreat for my first time. Until then, I had only attended the Spring retreat here in New York. I had a fantastic time at that retreat and met a number of friends in person who up until that point I had only known online. Many of those same guys are back in Seattle again as that retreat is happening again this weekend. I have been enjoying the pictures and posts on Facebook, and I am hoping I get the opportunity to join them again some time soon. Continue reading “Remembering one fall retreat, and my growing excitement for another”

On our way home from Provincetown last Saturday, before we got off the cape, we made a quick stop in Barnstable, Massachusetts. For most of our vacation we kept to no specific plan or schedule, deciding what to do as we go. This stop in Barnstable was different, and had been part of the plan for weeks.

Back at the beginning of June, Halo’s breeder, Lori, called me to see if we might be interesting in having another pharaoh hound come to live with us. I had told her in November when Halo and I were visiting for the Purina National Dog Show that Michael and I were open to taking in a dog should she need to re-home one. Well, that’s exactly what she needed to do, and she thought the dog would be a good fit here. Continue reading “The New Girl”

Good morning and happy Saturday! Michael and I have been here in beautiful Provincetown, Massachusetts since last Saturday. Today it is time to go home. In fact, by the time this post publishes we may already be on the road home. There’s just one stop we need to make in Barnstable on the way, and I will have more about that next week.

Our journey here last Saturday was uneventful and started early enough so that we did not get stuck in any traffic waiting to cross the bridge onto the cape. When we came out for the weekend last summer, we didn’t get as early of a start, and we sat in the car inching along for about two hours before we could even see the bridge. Timing is indeed everything.

There has been knitting on my vacation this week. I brought the slipper socks to finish up for our NEMFKR KAL, and then began a new sock with some Cascade Heritage Prints sock yarn from my stash.

For as many afternoons as I could, I joined some dear friends at the coffee shop in town for knitting. I didn’t think I had spent as much time during the past week working on this first sock as I apparently have. It was cast on Sunday, and now by the end of the week I am well on my way to completing the foot and then toe. In addition to coffee shop knitting in the afternoons, this sock has accompanied me to the beach and the pool to keep me occupied as I bask in the beautiful cape sun shine.

I can pretty much guarantee that the second sock will take considerably longer to complete.

There has been a bit of spinning here this week too. I couldn’t bring a wheel. Well, I could have. There was plenty of room in the car and there is plenty of space in the condo we rented to set one up. Still, as tempted as I was, I left them all at home and stuck with a spindle project instead.

The fiber is undyed Targhee and the spindle is from Jim Johnson, and I packed several of Jim’s spindles for the trip because I was unsure of which one I’d use to start this project. I chose the lightest of the spindles as I wanted to keep the singles as thin as possible, and if you have spun Targhee before, I am sure you know why. Targhee puffs up a surprising amount during the finishing process that gives the yarn a distinct springiness.

While we had an incredible week on the cape, I am glad to be going home. We miss our dogs, who have been in the care of friends since last Saturday, and I’m sure they miss us too. I hope they like the surprise we are bringing home with us.

Have a great weekend!

There is nothing on my needles. No, not even a sock. Nor is there anything on any of my wheels or looms. One of my spindles has some green merino on it that I have been spinning, but that is really just a time filler and not something that I am worried about when or even if it gets completed. This is kind of odd for me.

Not having a project on any of my wheels was sort of planned. When I finished spinning and plying the Romney batts that I started shortly after the retreat, I surveyed my stash and realized that the hand spun portion of my stash is now just about equal to the commercially spun portion of my stash and that is not a bad position to be in at all. Keep in mind that my stash is quite modest. I know people with entire rooms (sometimes multiple rooms) to house their stash, whereas mine is mostly limited to the stacked storage drawers in one closet. Continue reading “WIP Wednesday, you say?”

Good morning and happy Saturday! Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. The cute little Cardarelle upright wheel that I fell even more in love with after its recent refinishing, has found a new home.

Continue reading “The Cardarelle Wheel Finds a New Home”