Tangled and Warped

Unfortunately most of the hell I’ve been put through this week cannot be blogged because it’s not fit for public consumption at this point.  Maybe in a few years, months, decades when the edges soften a bit I’ll share my personal hell with you.

But for now, we will be taking a page from the Life of Brian and looking on the bright side of life.

Knitting:  I seem to be in a knitting funk right now.   I have a sweater started, a hat started, several socks started,  heck I even started a washrag/cloth and have ripped that out about 4 times.  So no pictures today.

Instead of knitting, I’m spinning.  I just wish I liked and could master spindle spinning, because although my Lendrum wheel is portable, it’s not like I can just carry it around and pull it out whenever I get the urge to do something with my hands.

No Christine! I am not buying a Victoria at Rhinebeck, or any other wheel for that matter.  I’m not, I’m not, I’m not…  if anyone sees me at Rhinebeck buying a wheel - kick my butt look the other way and pretend it’s not me.

I do want to buy fleece however, lots of fleece…

I’m really excited about going to Rhinebeck for the first time.  I really need to get out of this knitting funk and finish that sweater before I go.  Maybe I’ll get a little jump-start and juice from the NH-SnB group on Sunday.  Greeley Park ladies and gentleman? 

Saturday I will be at the Lowell Open Studio.  I’ll be at the Western Avenue Studios, number 306 (I think).  Classic Elite yarns right there too If you go into the Classic Elite entrance, take the elevator to the 3rd floor and I believe the studio is to the right but it’s right there basically. 

Yup I did it this weekend.

It’s still looking a little flakey and icky but I love it!

Update:

The design is kind of my own - nicked bits from here and there.  But it represents the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother and Crone) with the three phases of the moon.  But in this case it’s also done with yarn with 2 knitting needles and of course with my sobriquet “Witchypoo” :)  I’m glad you all like it.

Rachel is a fantastic artist - she did my friend Lynnie’s tattoo for her 50th birthday and Pattie’s Lost Angel that same weekend.  I even ran into Liz who was there for her design consult.   Rachel is currently working at Mayhem Ink in Nashua, NH

Lynnie’s Tat (sorry for the blurry pic)

Pattie’s Tat (Lost Angel)

so please click here.

You too might win a pink Dyson Vacuum

Br-r-r it’s been cold in the morning and there has even been a little frost. I’m trying to get myself psyched for the coming of winter.

Autumn has always been one of my favorite seasons. There is just something magical with the colors of the leaves and the hint of fog, the smell of apples and fresh baked bread. It makes me want to put a big pot of soup on the stove and bake an apple pie.

BTW, I am currently searching for the quintessential cream of mushroom soup, so if you have a yummy recipe please let me know.

Last Friday night was fun. I met up with Jennifer and we worked on one of the badges (the drinking and knitting badge). I think there needs to be a Drinking II Badge, because I am sure we met the requirements.  We met at Chili’s and I enjoyed Marguaritas (yes that is plural!) and some nachos. I got about 4 inches on the back of the raglan sweater done only to notice at some point I had made a mistake at the beginning of that four inches. I figured I would just fix it at a later date, when I was a bit more clear headed and a bit more patient. Unfortunately when I finally was ready to deal with it, I looked a bit closer and it appears at that point I got my work turned around and had started knitting in the wrong direction. Poop! so I  ended up frogging the entire 4 inches. LOL!

Saturday I spent the day spinning up more handpainted superwash. Saturday night I met up with the Bride-to-be and Bridesmaids for a bacherlorette party. We went to La Carreta, my favorite mexican place. Of course this meant more Marguaritas. Sunday was a quiet day.

Here are the pics of all the spinning I’ve been doing. It’s all pretty much medium sock weight.  So you see I have been busy.

The colors are pretty close, I know my photos suck, but at least you can get an idea that I have actually been doing some spinning. Only 2 more bumps of the superwash to go. One is almost done and I should be able to finish up and ply it tonight.

Note: Spell check is not working, so I apologize for the typos in advance.

Have you seen this yet?

Here are the badges I have earned so far….

Knitting and drinking?  See you in the bar at Chili’s on the DWH in Nashua tonight - we will be in the bar drinking marguaritas whilst knitting.  Note: there are no rules that state you can’t frog everything you knit while drinking the next day.

MacGyver Level 1 - I have successfully used a paperclip fashioned as a needle to kitchener stitch the toes of a sock.  I have also used various found items as stitch markers and stitch holders while camping in the woods.

MacGyver Level 2 - I have used and bent multiple size 8 needles getting the hoses of my vaccum cleaner unplugged.  I have used crochet hooks and bent needles to fish things out of that space in your car between the windshield and dashboard to get thing that are blocking the defrosters out.  I have also used an odd knitting needle as a plant stake .  I have even used cotton dish rag yarn to truss up  a turkey on Thanksgiving.

So what badges have you earned?

These spun up absolutely fantastic.  I did them in 6 oz (approx.) bumps and I have spun all but two of them up.  I’m getting betweem 300+ to 400+ yards of 2-ply at about 18-20 wpi.  I’m sure it will fluff up a bit after I soak the skeins and set the twist.  I suspect it will be a nice mid-weight sock yarn and there appears to be enough per skein to knit a lovely pair of socks.

It never ceases to amaze and delight my with how different the fiber looks as it goes through the different stages, first dyeing the roving then spinning the singles, then plying, and finally knitting.  There is something very satisfying to want it transform at each stage.

The Annual Lowell Artists Open Studio Event in Lowell, MA on Saturday and Sunday, September 29th and 30th from Noon until 5:00pm.

For details and a list of the artists and studios that are participating - check out this site.

Please put this on your calendars, it’s a lot of fun.  If you think you might be going, drop me a line, because I will be spinning and hanging out in my sister’s (Cynthia Hughes) shared studio over on Western Avenue.  Cindy will be at the Brush Art.

Popham Beach, Maine - Wading at low tide searching for shells and sand dollars

Popham Beach, Maine - the quintessential New England Beach

Fort Popham, Maine

Morning Glory - I want to dye fiber to match this.

Or this

Not a Saturday Sky but this was the sun set we saw on our first night of camping.

Now for the fiber content….

I did get to Borders for knitting on Sunday. I got to meet Brian (hi Brian!) and Kathy (Hi Kathy!) and Kali (Hi Kali!). Brian is knitting this gorgeous Pi Shawl - see his blog for in progress pictures. It was a nasty rainy day, but perfect for meeting new knitting friends and hot chai tea lattes. I worked for a bit on a sock and started a plain and simple raglan cardigan out of the Cascade yarn I got at Webs awhile ago. I really want to finish the Mystery stole, but I seam to have lost steam. I guess now that there is no longer a mystery, I’ve lost that loving feeling.

Other weekend news:

Mary and I had our annual Salsa making Saturday. We canned 20 pints of yummy salsa. Here’s the approximate recipe.

12 -15 cups peeled, seeded and chopped ripe tomatoes

3-5 cups of chopped onions (a mix of sweet and bermuda)

1 1/4 cups fresh squeezed lime juice

2-3 bunches of cilantro chopped

salt, pepper, cumin to taste

4 large poblano chilis, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

6-7 jalepeno peppers, roasted, peeled seeded and chopped

**** forgot to add  *****

2 heads of crushed garlic

I think this is the best salsa yet.

I also made Chicken Enchilladas for supper and heres the recipe for those

Saute on med-high heat one medium chopped onion in olive oil until translucent, add 2 cloves of garlic minced.

Add in 3 tablespoons chili powder, 2 tsp. cumin, and 2 tsp. ground corriander - saute until you can smell the spices.

Then 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken (I just bought a roasted chicken from the store), stir until chicken is coated with the spice mixture

Add 2 - 8oz. cans of tomato sauce, and 2/3 cup of chicken broth

Turn down heat to medium and simmer until chicken is heated

Pour this mixture into a mesh strainer and push as much of the sauce into a bowl.

Heat oven to 350F

While that is draining. Heat your (10) corn tortillas, by placing them on a cookie tray and spraying them with cooking oil spray and heating them in the oven for 4 minutes.

To the chicken, add 1/2 cup of pickled jalapenos chopped and 2 tbsp of chopped fresh cilantro.

Prepare a 8 x 12 baking dish, by spooning in and coating the bottom of the dish with some of the sauce.

Take your torilla, and spoon in about 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture, add some shredded chedder jack cheese, roll them up and place the seam side down into the baking dish. Once you have rolled all your enchilladas and put them into the dish, pour the rest of the sauce over them and top with more cheddar jack cheese.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.

Top with shredded lettuce, fresh chopped avocado, sour cream and of course some homemade salsa.

Black beans and spanish rice made this a really yummy dinner.

when you are having fun.

These past weeks just seemed to fly by, in fact I have no idea where the summer of 2007 went.  I know we did a lot of stuff, but now it just seems like a quick blur of events.

Camping was cool - the weather was sunny but on the cool side.  This works well for me.  I had packed well and was ready for the colder nights, DD was not… oh well.

I do have pictures to share… but need to get them off the camera first.

I did very little knitting, in fact I believe every thing I did knit has been frogged, so there is nothing to show there.

I did a little more spinning and finished up another skein of the hand dyed superwash, pics to come.

And now I am back at work.  Boo hoo.

I did get to meet Lucia for a quickie lunch - It seems like ages since we’ve seen each other.

And tonight I’m off to knit with the Java Room Girls at an undisclosed location