Rows Red » 2009

Jun 30 2009

Pondering Perfection

Category: Knitting,WIP — Mistress Rows @ 3:49 pm

I haven’t really talked about mom’s shawl for a while, so I figure it’s time for an update. Rather than show you another macro shot of really pretty cat yack, I had my work-mom Connie take a photo of me yesterday with the shawl. May I make note that yesterday was one of the few sunny days we’ve had this month.

Yesterday, sunny.

As I type this we’re experiencing a torrential downpour.

Now, torrential downpour. (That was earlier at work, it looks like that now at home too.)

So, remember, that is the shawl, unblocked (of course) and bunched up six ways to Sunday on the needle. It’s going to be HUGE. Epic in it’s proportions, I kid you not. I am thrilled to be able to say that I am on the last chart, where all the fancy footwork apparently takes place to make the luscious scalloped border. I’ve never worked a chart with huge gaps in it (not to be confused with black squares that mark ‘no stitch’), and I’ll tentatively say “so far, so good.” I knocked on wood while I typed that, so you just step off, Fate.

One thing I’ve been pondering while knitting this shawl is the multitude of mistakes I know are in there. I fixed as many as I could, whether by dropping down or tinking back, but I will not lie and say I didn’t fudge now and then to make it work. When each row is, by now, almost 950 stitches long, there’s only so far a Type B personality like me is willing to go. I know this shawl is far from perfect, but the good part is there’s only one meltdown knitted into it. Only one! By far this shawl is full of happiness and good thoughts for my mom. That wouldn’t be true if I tried to make it perfect.

So, I’m guessing I shouldn’t bother entering it into competition? It is the fanciest thing I’ve ever made, but it is not perfect, and I know it. What are your thoughts? Don’t worry, you won’t hurt my feelings.

Tags: Knitting, WIP

Comments (4)

Jun 29 2009

Recap: 2009 Hudson River Stitch & Spin

Category: events — Mistress Rows @ 10:15 am

Saturday’s Stitch & Spin was more fun than I could have imagined, and I owe it all to my friends and the help of my husband, Steve. While no strangers joined us for the event, we were rowdy, we were living it up, and we were dry. Join me for a pictorial tour of our day.

Thanks honey!

The day started like this.

And part of the day it looked like this.

Seeing as how the clouds were looming on the horizon, and given the way fate is fickle, Steve and I went straight to the gazebo and set up there. Why cart everything over later? Considering it rained on and off all afternoon, boy was I glad that I reserved the giant gazebo ahead of time. Go me! I think I’m going to do all my park events like that from here on out, to be honest. The floor of the gazebo is smooth and well kept, there’s electricity and lighting in there, and even a couple of picnic tables to set up the rest of our stuff. It’s really convenient, and no one needs to use a drop cloth to keep their wheels clean.

Everyone really appreciated the gazebo.

There were less attendees than last year, but what we lacked in numbers we more than made up for in how much fun we had. I was thrilled with how many folks drove quite a distance to attend, and I thank them for the extra effort! I laughed so hard my face hurt, Diane apparently got a wild hair and was sassing Jess, which is kinda like poking a cat with a stick. My mom told the tale of how my dad got his butt burned by an iron. Lesson learned, don’t piss off a hot, pregnant woman. Risa talked tech-head with Steve and Ian, it sounded like a foreign delegation for a while there.

To my right.

Working my way to the left.

Coming around to the left.

And wow, our newbies were all kinds of awesome, new knitter and spinner Maeghan spinning away with her new custom exotic wood spindle and new spinner Wendy finishing up the roving that came with her wheel… “I’ll ply it when I get home”, she said. How far they’ve come! I didn’t teach either of them (well, a little bit with Wendy) but it makes me so excited and proud to see them having fun and thriving in the craft.

Maeghan, going for broke on her new custom spindle.

The highlight of the event was Don Rooney, classic car detailer, and now spinning wheel tattoo artist. Jess worked it out so that Don, who attends the same car shows she does, would come out and spend a while tarting up our wheels. He’s local, we had money, what’s not to love? Turns out all but three of the wheels in attendance had a little somethin’ done up. Some people brought photos or sketches, others used the vast power of The Internets to give Don his reference point. Harriet’s was done straight from verbal description. Everyone was tickled pink with their wheel tats, and I’m going to see if I can get a day-pass so we can have Don come to Wiawaka and give other WOOL attendees the same opportunity. Jess says we can always just smuggle him in wearing a dress.

Don Rooney

Tools of the trade.

Painting a cauldron of transformation on my wheel, Circe.

My wheel tat!

Clockwise, starting top left: Diane, Jess, Harriet, Risa.

I’ll try and fix the photos when I have more time.

Thanks to everyone!

Again, thank you to everyone who braved uncertain weather to attend the Stitch & Spin, I appreciate it more than I can say! Next year I’m going to have it coincide with World Wide Knit in Public Day and I’ve already predrafted a publicity kit to send out to local yarn stores. Now, who can we sacrifice to the weather gods so we can have even just one dry summer Stitch & Spin?

Tags: events

Comments (9)

Jun 26 2009

Stitch & Spin Weather Advisory

Category: events — Mistress Rows @ 8:48 pm

Just a heads up folks that if the weather gets violent and the gazebo isn’t an option, we’ll have to adjourn to the Hudson Muddy Cup. If it’s just raining, we’re ok under the gazebo, but if it’s gusting and we’re getting wet, we’ll have to make a run for it. Just my luck to have rain two years in a row!

Cross your fingers. I’ll update again tomorrow depending on what we see.

Tags: events

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Jun 26 2009

Happy Place

Category: Gardening,Ramblings — Mistress Rows @ 1:02 pm

Steve and will be sharing a rare Friday night together this evening. I like having a night to myself once a week (he gets Tuesdays), but it’ll be nice to spend the evening together. It’ll be even better when we have a new house and new living room furniture so we can sit next to each other again, the seat next to mine is sprung and he has to sit all alone on the sofa as it stands now.
The farmer’s market opened last weekend while we were away! I can’t wait to take our first stroll of the season through the giant warehouse by the river, which is also right next to the dock where we got married.
The Stitch & Spin is tomorrow, and despite a more current forecast of possible thunderstorms, I’m still hopefull we’ll get a little sun. I’ve reserved the gazebo, hopefully it’ll be warm enough so that even if it rains, we’ll still be ok. Please? Can I get a little sun?!
Freeing up bobbins is an awesome feeling. With the Romney done, and the silk blessedly behind me (though still on the bobbin), I can finally start spinning the second half of the stormy roving I bought from Cris. If you see me at the Stitch & Spin NOT using my spinner’s gauge, please don’t hesitate to remind me. I really want to start remembering to use it, especially when I’m ‘coming back’ to a project.

Lastly, my garden makes me ridiculously happy. It may look runt like compared to everyone else’s due to all my plants being grown indoors as seedlings instead of store bought, but oh my god does it make me happy. I’ve always wanted to grow things as an adult, and as a Pagan I have a deep seated conviction that you should grow things besides houseplants, that you should nurture green life from seed to flower or food.

My bed.

I check on my garden twice a day, every day. I can’t help it! Now that it’s stopped being so overcast, I check to see how they’re growing… if they’re healthy, do they need water? That last part is a joke, it’s rained almost every single day for the last two weeks on and off. But still, if the sun has shone I go to see how they’re doing. The raised beds, of which I have my one allotted, are small but full of life. I love just standing there looking at them, knowing I made them start from a sleeping seed to a green and living thing. They’re happy, healthy, and I didn’t screw them up! I really need a good book on vegetable gardening for beginners though, my ignorance is profound.

I could use more sugar snap peas, but alas.

Because I still had some room, I did go and augment my bed with some nursery plants. Mistakenly, I bought lemon balm instead of lemon basil, so if any of my local friends would like two very healthy 1’ high lemon balm plants (good for teas, oils, and healing balms) let me know. Along with those two came a yellow squash, a zucchini, two bush style cucumbers, and two culantro plants (cousin to cilantro, but very different in looks). I’m planning to take the lettuces out and put them in old window box planters I have at home to free up space for more herbs. I’m thinking some thyme, actual lemon basil, and maybe some oregano?

Yeah, proud mama here… don’t worry, I’ll keep the garden chatter down as much as I can. At least it’s not house chatter! More on that when we hear back from everyone involved as to whether our negotiating pans out or not. Enjoy your weekend!

Tags: Gardening, Ramblings

Comments (0)

Jun 25 2009

Spinning FO: Wood Nymph

Category: FO,Spinning — Mistress Rows @ 1:47 pm

Fiber: “Wood Nymph” 100% Romney batts from Longmeadow Farm, Freedom NY
Wheel: Lendrum DT, 8:1 ratio whorl
Weight: 8oz, 233g
Yardage: 540 yards, 2-ply
Diameter: DK
Techniques: Spun worsted

Wood Nymph

While I wandered around Clermont, lost and confused because my usual crack dealer wasn’t in attendance, I found myself in front of a new vendor to the event. Sadly website-less, Longmeadow Farm’s booth was full of beautifully prepared and lusciously colored bags of batts. Whether or not I was going to buy a bag wasn’t a question, it was which color to choose.

16 oz of autumny-goodness batts from Longmeadow Farm.

What makes this fiber such a stunner isn’t just the natural luster of Romney, or even how well the batts were prepared. What truly knocks your socks off is how they blended the colors. I stood there transfixed, trying to decide if I liked the bag of ocean blues, or the woodsy brown shot with jewel tones. I ended up coming home with the “brown”, which I’ve named Wood Nymph. What else to call something that is so earthy, and so magically complex? The 1lb bag came home with me, and I consider it a true deal at $35/lb.

That's some easy spinnin'...

You want to know how easy this fiber was to spin? It was SO easy to spin that I didn’t even have to unwind the bats. I just left them looking like giant rolled cigars, pulled up a peak and spun straight like that. The crisp fibers just flew from my hands, and while I spun it somewhat thicker, I could have easily spun it to a very fine lace weight if I wanted to. That’s something I like in a fiber, that willingness to please; no fighting involved.

Single.

Can I talk about the colors again? From a distance you see a rich reddish brown, but up close, oh… it’s just so incredibly beautiful. This is one of those things you really have to see in person to truly appreciate.

Rich & complex.

Anyway, I finished plying (in the dark, watching Hellboy) and then it went for a bath. I was surprised how much the yarn plumped up after a bath and a whack. I was expecting sport weight, what I got was closer to DK over all. The yardage was less than I’d thought, 540 yards when I was thinking it would be closer to 600, but I will say that something about the fiber seemed puffy on the bobbin, even though I was spinning it worsted as I usually do.

Pretty consistent, not perfect, but good.

So, suffice to say that I’m very pleased with this yarn, and trying to decide if I want to enter it into competition, or if I want to start my frogged Garden of Allla shawl over with this yarn instead.

It makes me happy just looking at it.

Tags: FO, Spinning

Comments (8)

Jun 24 2009

Ready or Not!

Category: WOOL,events — Mistress Rows @ 11:11 am

I can’t believe it, the Stitch & Spin is only 3 days away! With so much going on because of the house I haven’t promoted it as much as I should have. I put notices on local Ravelry boards, and also sent a listing to the Times Union Fiber Arts blog calendar, but still, I’m thinking that attendance will be down from last year. I should have reached out more to local yarn shops, and that’s a lesson learned. Even though I think the crowd will be smaller that doesn’t change my excitement looking forward to it. It’s not about attendance for me, it’s about how much fun we have. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in “the more, the merrier.” The weather is looking to be GORGEOUS, low 80’s and scattered clouds. We have the gazebo though so it really is rain or shine. Bring your picnic basket or buy your lunch at the concession stand and be prepared for a good time. And yes, the trees have stopped molting. Thank the gods.

And… this just in, Jess is working on trying to get the classic car pinstripe painting guy from the car shows who “tattooed” her wheel to come to the Stitch & Spin! Yes, you heard that right, you may be able to pay a talented artist to tattoo your wheel with a design of your choice! I’ve already got a design in mind, something revolving around the fact that my wheel is named Circe. The latest word is that he’s going to try and be there before the event ends, so cross your fingers and bring a $20 or so, just in case.

Don works his magic on Jess's Sonata, Amelia.

Pretty girl!

Speaking of attendance, I have received registration for my 22nd known WOOL attendee! I say known because there were quite a few people last year who organized themselves once the Lake House filled up and that made it a lot of fun to see what my total count was. I look forward to seeing whom else signs up as the time draws near. Can you believe that it’s only roughly six weeks away? Six weeks! I’ll have flyers at the Stitch & Spin to help promote it to any strangers that attend, as it stands we’re only two spots shy of last year’s total and there’s still quite a bit of time to go yet. Holy cow, it really does blow my mind. I can’t wait to see you all there… to sit in the sun on the dock, laugh so hard my face hurts, and while away the hours with friends new and old.

If you’ve been putting it off, were unsure, or have a friend who might like to attend, there’s still time! WOOL is magical, you’ll be glad you came.

Tags: events, WOOL

Comments (3)

Jun 22 2009

Family, Fun, & Freaking Out

Category: Life & Stuff,Loot,Spinning — Mistress Rows @ 6:06 pm

The weekend was good, and while hectic, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. Saturday Steve and I drove up to Warrensburg, near Lake George, to join my parents for Father’s Day weekend. Despite clouds of killer mosquitoes, it was a really good time. Nuala nearly gave herself an aneurysm, she was so happy to see us. Mom and Dad had fun showing us all the ins and outs of the RV, or as I like to call it, The Palace. The best part was being able to spend Father’s Day with dad, he is a wonderful father and I’m lucky to have him.

Big Mama, mom and dad's home away from home.

Te amo papi.

Dad: spicing chicharones. Mom: making arroz con gondulez.

We played Wii bowling, grilled, ate mom and dad’s really great Puerto Rican cooking, and even took a trip to Saratoga Springs so I could pick up a skein of yarn from Saratoga Needle Arts. Unfortunately, once there I was torn between two skeins of sock yarn and both ended up coming home with me. I won’t be eating out this week, and that’s fine with me.

Saratoga Needle Arts, a very nice and well stocked yarn shop.

Yeah, that puppy was coming home with me.

I don't have any of this yarn, and how could I pass on this rich spice?

I love Saratoga Springs, it truly is a great tourist town. I got lots of good shots while I was there, some of which came out really, really well. I love good landscaping! Even better was meeting a little boy chihuaha even small than Nuala and watching them check each other out. The owner was very sad that Nuala was fixed, what beautiful babies she and Chompers would have made.

The owner pretty much wanted to take Nuala home.

Oh the cute! It burns!

On the crafting front, I got a goodly amount of spinning done just prior to going and while I was away. I’m plying two bobbins of the gorgeous batts I bought from Long Meadows Farm (site-less) at Clermont in April. I had bought a 1lb bag of a woodsy Romney shot through with almost every color of the rainbow. The effect from a distance is brown, but close up it’s like a forest jewel. I’m about halfway done plying them together for a worsted weight two-ply.

Romney goodness.

While away I forced myself to work on a bobbin of Ashland Bay merino silk blend I’d bought at Rhinebeck ’07 (?). This I am NOT enjoying spinning, but at least I’m just a few minutes shy of being done with the bobbin. I have just over 2lbs of it, and figured I’d make myself a sweater of some sort, so I started spinning it thicker so I’d get a roughly worsted weight two-ply. It’s fighting me every step of the way and making it so I don’t even want to work with it anymore. I think it really wants to be a cobweb or lace weight single, which would then be plied. Can you imagine spinning 2.1lbs of lace weight yarn to be plied for a plus-size sweater type object? Oh my god, I’m having fits just thinking about it. Maybe I’ll just spin a couple more bobbins up and get a mega skein of lace weight and knit a shawl out of it someday.

50/50 Merino Wool Silk, not my favorite fiber to spin.

On the house front, we had our inspection today and it was absolutely horrifying how much needed to be done in repairs. We are being counseled as to what options are available to us, but let’s just say that we’ve met the “single repair costing at least $1,500″ back-out clause of the contract several times over for many times more than that total. I’m dumbstruck how a house that’s several years younger than I could have such an intimidating list of issues. We’ve got a lot of estimates to get and some serious concessions from the seller. If not… we’re out $500 and we start all over again.

Tags: Life & Stuff, Loot, Spinning

Comments (6)

Jun 20 2009

Reminder: 2009 Hudson River Stitch & Spin

Category: events — Mistress Rows @ 9:54 am

Steve and I are off to Lake George to spend time with mom and dad for Father’s Day, but I’m squeezing in a moment to post this reminder:

Hudson River Stitch & Spin 2009 Saturday, June 27th from 12-5 p.m. Dutchman’s Landing Park, Catskill NY 12414

Knitters, crocheters and spinners… all are welcome! The event is free to the public, with donations accepted on behalf of the park restoration fund. This is one event you don’t want to miss if you’re within driving distance. Deep-fried Oreos, spinning and stitching under the shade of a giant Maple tree, the brilliant Hudson River sparkling in the sun… what’s not to love?

This event is rain or shine and I have reserved the gazebo in case of inclement weather. Please bring your own lawn chair or picnic blanket. While purchased food is available, you could also consider bringing a picnic basket.

I hope to see all the usual smiling faces there and then some! Bring a friend and make a day of it, just be ready to laugh so hard your face hurts.

Tags: events

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Jun 19 2009

Asstastic

Category: Friends & Fun,Life & Stuff — Mistress Rows @ 2:40 pm

Welcome to my 100th post on this blog. I’ve had quite the day today, and I blame it on packing. Apparently, this morning I grabbed a pair of jeans from my toss stack instead of one of my keep stacks. This pair of jeans had a medium size rent at the edge of the pocket, which, over the course of the morning, widened horrifically. I didn’t notice, and neither did anyone at McDonald’s or when walking in to work, because I had a very long cardigan on. But later I took it off, walked down the hall of the office, and a work friend happened to notice. She said “you have some really pretty panties, but I don’t think you want everyone to see…” Yes, panties and bare ass, hanging out for all to see. I almost died of embarrassment. I actually started shaking I was so upset. Thankfully, between a bag in a desk drawer and another in my car, I had a complete (and very cute) skirt and shirt outfit.

I should mention that the hot, young intern was walking with my friend. And that the last thing a morbidly obese woman with good sense wants to do is flash people. I have a lot of dignity when it comes to that kind of thing, I try very hard to look as good as I can for my weight, without resorting to a burkah. If I wasn’t living in the village I’d light those jeans on fire. Or maybe I can just light my hair on fire, run screaming down the street, and be done with it.

Momma doesn't approve of me OR my knitting.

Anyway. On to better things. I started the Garden of Alla shawl knit along that my Beau Knits friends from the lace study group are doing. They started last week, so I’m a few days behind, but I’m not in a hurry. After all, I’m also still working on mom’s shawl. But for now, I’m enjoying working stupid simple lace in DK weight yarn on size 9 needles.

Kinda busy, but hopefully not TOO busy.

It took a bit of searching to find a handspun mega-skein with what looked like enough yardage. I looked up the skein on my old blog, and it’s over 600 yards, so I think I’m fine. The yarn is called Spice, and it’s cinnamon and sage colored, spun from a batch of Buckwheat Bridge roving I bought a couple of years ago. It’s undocumented on Ravelry, which I’ll have to rectify. During that search I had initially chosen Gloriana, fully prepared to make a scarf-shawl if I didn’t have enough. Turns out I didn’t have to worry because the skein I thought I’d rescued and safely interred in a plastic zip bag with mothballs had old internal damage from last year’s… problem. It had at least 15 breaks worth of problem. 100 grams of kid mohair and cormo in a lovely French lavender blue and gold in the garbage. I almost cried.

Shit. And here I thought this was going to be the happier end of the post. Argh. Here’s happy… Some friends are joining us tonight for our first “official” installment of Make Do Movie Night. This is where we dazzle our friends with our handmade ($40) 7 foot wide screen, second hand digital projector, ancient portable surround sound, and motley collection of folding chairs. Our equipment is old, cast off and/or creatively made, but it works and we love being able to do this for friends.

Make Do Movie Night

We’re making flavored popcorn. It’s going to be fun. I need some fun today. Just don’t mind the mess, we’re packing.

Tags: Friends & Fun, Knitting

Comments (3)

Jun 18 2009

Garage Sale Gold

Category: Life & Stuff,Loot — Mistress Rows @ 8:41 am

In a step back towards the less life-changing, but still pretty cool, I will now recount this past weekend’s tale of garage sale gold.

When I was a kid, and into my teens, I had a serious fetish for Wicks ‘n Sticks, a regional (now mostly defunct) mall-based candle shop. Not because I wanted to pay for overpriced candlesticks, but because they carried an enormous array of Peña fantasy statuary. I loved them all, from the smallest figurine to the full size pieces, cats, unicorns, and dragons all. While there was no way I was going to be able to spend $80-$100 on one of the larger pieces, I did hold out hope that I’d have enough babysitting money to afford one of the tiny 3” pieces. Even then (late 80’s, early 90’s) they ran over $40 each, if I remember correctly. Remember, this is 80′s pricing, it’s double that now. You know how it goes at that age, when you have no allowance to speak of, that’s a lot of cash. I never did buy one.

There were two pieces in particular that caught my eye. One was a black Flap Cat with bat wings. I loved their little faces, especially the one who was sticking his tongue out. Their jeweled collars and iridescent wings were so incredibly beautiful. You’d think it would have been the dragon hatchlings. Cute as they were, you could find dragon statues plenty of places. But Flap Cats? No one had those.

The other, my absolute favorite, was baby Ki Rin. How elegant! How sweet that little face! From her golden horn to her golden hooves, Ki Rin just did it for me, and still does. Ki Rin are (traditionally kinda ugly) Asian unicorns, said to herald momentous events to come, seeing one was a portent of good luck and more. Baby Ki Rin and I had long, silent heart to hearts as I stood in front of the shop display, I’m sure that they watched me like a hawk to make sure I wasn’t going to steal her.

So, while out garage saling with my mom, imagine my surprise when I saw on a table, unmarked and with the box standing behind it, a Siamese Flap Cat marked as made in ‘88. Not the black cat I’d always wanted, but with the right face… and still, a Flap Cat! I checked the box, which by the way was marked for a black cat, and there was no price. I asked and was told two dollars. Two dollars! And it was in great condition, only a bit of schmootz to clean off with a damp cloth!

Baby needs a bath.

Let me tell you, I was thrilled. I got home and checked online to see what they were worth. Were they still in production? Turns out they are, but the Siamese cats are no longer made. Prices for the cats (Buy It Now) start at $80 on Ebay and go to $120 or more! The downside to all this research and reunion with my former loves is that I found out the Baby Ki Rin is completely discontinued. The only way to get one is to stalk Ebay and that’s probably not going to happen for a while what with buying the house. Maybe I can ask for one for Christmas.

Still, to find something that makes me smile every time I look at it, in such an unexpected place, and for such a song… well, that’s a gift if ever there was one. My inner 13 year old is jumping up and down, squealing in glee.

Tags: Life & Stuff, Loot

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June 2009
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