7.14.08

It occurred to me this evening that I might have just confirmed my neighbor’s opinions that I might be a bit crazy or ‘off’…

So…one of my new obsessions (to add on to the knitting and spinning) is natural dyes. I have been having fun over the last several months experimenting with all sorts of plants, etc - some success and a few failures. I have a knitting/spinning friend who has been inspiring me and also has been so very encouraging all along the way! She dyed some wool with the bark from a hemlock tree a few weeks ago and it turned out as a beautiful rosy sort of color. Just stunning!

Well, on Friday afternoon, the city crew cut down one of the trees that was damaged but not blown down during last winter’s big storm. Here is a picture of it.

My goodness, if you could have heard if come down…first the crack as it started to go…then it got even louder, and then THUD! as it crashed down.

I walked over to the park this evening and looked at the tree — with the intent of carefully checking out the bark! Well, it had that same reddish to almost purple layer right in the middle of the bark. So I spent nearly an hour pulling pieces of bark off of this tree, moving from branch to branch getting as much as I could. I’m sure the neighbors (not to mention the people in the park) are probably still wondering what on earth that weird lady was doing by the tree…

After filling by plastic baggie just as full as I could get it, and then carrying the larger pieces of bark (an maybe a couple of small branches) I carried them home. I started a pot of water boiling with about 2 cups of the chopped up bark. The dye bath turned a beautiful red color almost immediately! I’m planning on letting it soak for several days before I do anything with it; but I’ll share details once I have some results!

7.8.08

finished shawl

Originally uploaded by lauriknits

Oh my goodness!…blog posts two days in a row! Maybe things might be starting to get back to normal (whatever that might be…)

I just wanted to share the picture of my finished shawl. It turned out to be just the perfect size to wrap around your shoulders! The weight is just right too. And I absolutely love how the colors are displayed in the pattern.

Of all the items that I have knit, I really feel that this means the most to me. My mom gave me the shetland wool roving for Christmas last year (2006!) and I waited until this winter to spin it so I didn’t ‘ruin’ the beautiful wool with a crappy spinning job - I am so happy that I waited until my skills improved. I think that it is knowing that I made this work of art from the beginning (except for the dyeing of the wool - that was done by “The Fiber Denn” on Etsy.com.

I’m planning on entering this shawl in the county fair here. There is a class for handspinning and items created with handspun yarn. I wonder if the same item could be entered in 2 classes because if it could I’d also enter it in the shawl category too. (something to check up on.) I’ll keep you posted on the resluts.

7.7.08

Roses

Originally uploaded by lauriknits

I was going to blog about finishing my shawl last night and then blocking it today. But then I took this lovely picture of the roses in my front yard!
Nothing that I could make could possibly outshine this perfection!

I hope that everyone is having a good day! I had a ‘monday’ but it wasn’t terrible - just rough going back to work after a long weekend. I have a new intern that started today, she seems very nice and things should go well over the next 5 weeks.

Hope to have pictures of the completely finished shawl tomorrow. I’ll weave in the ends, and then get pictures at knit night.
Goodnight!

6.29.08

Lauri and waterfall

Originally uploaded by lauriknits

I did it!!
Yesterday was the Lake Quinault Cancer Fund’s “Rainforest Bike Ride” — 30 miles around the lake. I did it in just over 4 hours.

It was such a fun time. The weather was perfect for it - not a single cloud in the sky.

—
update on the sinus thing: well the CT scan showed pretty much what was expected: my sinuses are clogged up (the right side is completly filled with nasty stuff…) I guess that the next step is a referral to an ENT doc. I think that I’m starting to feel a bit better with all the meds that I’m taking. I wasn’t coughing continuously during the ride yesterday, only a few times. I still feel as if I’m running a fever at times though and that has me frustrated.

—
Oh - and I’ve been doing some more natural dyeing. If you want to see the fun pictures, go and click on the flikr sidebar on the right side of the screen and see.

I guess that’s all for tonight. Gotta get some sleep. Goodnight!

6.24.08

So, I am still alive…

There really hasn’t been a lot to blog about lately. I haven’t wanted to write a post to whine about this and that, so I’ve elected to just not blog. But I have missed this part of life. So I’m hoping that you all (if you are still out there reading this…) will put up with me.

I’ve been sick (but not SICK) for the last several months. Not really sick enough to even miss a day of work. Just enough to keep me with minimal to no extra energy. I’ve had colds, bronchitis, sinus infection, bronchitis again…and as of today the diagnosis is “chronic sinusitis” and I am on another antibiotic (the 3rd one in 2 months…) and I am scheduled for a CT scan of my sinuses tomorrow morning. So, to whine some more - I’m tired of coughing. I want to go out jogging or ride my bike to work, or even walk up the big flight of stairs to work without feeling like I’ve run a few miles.

If you are one of the many people that I’ve been neglecting (family and friends) for the last months I am so sorry that I’ve not kept in touch - I just haven’t had the energy. I know it sounds silly to say that I haven’t had the energy to type an email, but it appears to be true. I hope to be better about keeping in touch soon. Hopefully the new antibiotics and other meds will start to make a difference and I’ll have more energy and pep.

I will be riding my bike on the Lake Quinault Bike Ride this saturday regardless of how I feel. It might take me the entire day to get all the way around the lake, but I’ve been looking forward to this for months. Oh, by the way…did you know that I bought a new bike!

I had to go out and spend part of my tax refund on something fun.

I guess that is all for tonight. I’ll post some pictures this weekend after the bike ride.

It is so nice to be back on here.

3.30.08

I didn’t exactly set out to nearly abandon my blog…I can’t believe that it has been over a month since my last post.

There just hasn’t been much to blog about lately - work, sleep, lots of coughing from a rediculous cold that just won’t go away, lots of rain…

I do have a few finished knitting and spinning projects to share:

Last night I finished the capelet that I made with the beautiful yarn that I got for Christmas! It is so warm and cozy that I just don’t want to ever take it off!

There has been lots of spinning going on:

Well, gotta go - I’m actually baking, and the pie is ready to come out of the oven in a few minutes! Have a great weekend.

2.20.8

crocus

Originally uploaded by lauriknits

I always love the first yellow crocus flowers! It is a sure sign that spring is coming soon!

I’ve managed to take a few pictures of the projects that I started on at Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat. And also pictures of the results of the shopping that I did. I’ll give details soon, but if you can’t wait, go to my Flikr site and see it all (Click on the pictures on the right sidebar…)

2.19.08

Hello…..

Yes I am still around, and I haven’t abandoned my blog.

Today was my first day back at work after a fun weekend at Madrona Fiber Arts Retreat in Tacoma. I had even more fun than last year! I also bought an obscene amount of fiber to spin…somehow I justified this with the thought that it was ‘ok since I didn’t buy any actual yarn…’ (please let me live in my little dream world)

I haven’t had a chance to take pictures of most of the fiber I bought, but it is just beautiful! Lots of lovely fluff from The Artful Ewe (I had to spend the gift certificate that I got for Christmas!!) And my newest favorite place for fiber is Tactile Fiber Arts Studio, they use only natural dyes, and the colors are just beautiful. I quickly spun up and plied the 1 oz batt that I bought on Saturday afternoon.

My class with Nancy Bush and Judith McKenzie McCuin was terrific! I learned so much…

I’ll post pictures, etc soon. Gotta get to sleep now. Have to teach an inservice at my staff meeting tomorrow morning.

2.2.08

Well, evidently Flikr is having problems: I typed up a nice post about how much fun I’ve had this weekend…from the ‘blog this’ section of flikr, but when I clicked to save and post, it said something about the settings being wrong…I know I haven’t changed anything!

I’m too tired tonight to try and type it all in again, here is the gist: I’ve had a terrific time over the last few days visiting with my family, sad to see them go, not quite ready to go back to work Monday, etc.

Instead, I will leave you with this picture I took this morning at Scenic Beach State Park. If it would have been warmer, I could have sat right here all day long.

1.31.08

Lynn, Jessica, Alex, Larry

Originally uploaded by lauriknits

We all went to the beach yesterday. It was a typical January day for an adventure to the beach! Wind, rain / sleet, and cold…Despit the elements, we had a fun time together.

(the weather was even worse today, so I’m quite happy that we decided to go yesterday!)

I spent last evening finishing the left front of the Nantucket Jacket sweater. I have this notebook in which I’ve kept (obsessive) notes about the sweater (the exact # of rows, when I did the increases/decreases, etc) so I did the pattern correctly, etc…well, when I finished last night and put the left beside the right, I was shocked to see that at some point my row gauge had changed the left side was more than an inch longer than the right!! After a few minutes of panic and wailing, I decided to pin it together with the clip stitch markers keeping the rows even…I think that it will all block out and be ok in the end.
Here are a few pictures of the pinned together sweater!!!

I started the sleeves this morning, and am making good progress on them. I’m knitting both at the same time.
My goal is to have the sweater seamed together by Madrona, so I can pick out some buttons while I’m there. (wish me luck!)