Final SP Package!

I got my final SP package last night, from Zimmie! Kind of funny really, since I was HER SP last year! Each of my packages has had a very specific color theme, and today it is BLUE! Blueberry Tea (this looks WONDERFUL!!), chocolate with blueberries, a blue cat tape measure (he's got a cute little tassel-y tail that you pull!), and the best part? Turquoise CTH Supersock! One more option to consider when I decide which skein of CTH I will use for the Judy Pascale bag class next weekend!! Thanks Zimmie, it's all wonderful!

Alpaca Farm Visit

When I mentioned two weeks ago that we were going to an Alpaca Farm, my friend Judy said "I've never seen an Alpaca!" Well, of course she hasn't, because Judy is blind. However, it sparked the idea that we needed to rectify that! I contacted Jane of Land of Green Ginger Alpacas, where I had spun Alpaca fleece during their National Alpaca Farms Open House in September, to see if we could arrange a farm visit. Jane mentioned that they'd be having another open house today, so we were welcome to come out, and I could even do some spinning! That was perfect, since I had begun spinning a bobbinful of Ginger colored Huacaya Alpaca on my antique Saxony yesterday while at the St Augustine Spin In (I'll post more on that when I get copies of the pictures). So, I hopped in the car (the wheel was already there), and headed off to pick up Judy. For most of the afternoon, I spun, she knitted, we chatted with V who showed up at the same time we did, and had a lovely time. Once the crowds (sometimes 20-30 people at a time!!) left, Jane and Steve went to get two of the boys, put harnesses on them, and brought them out into the yard so Judy could meet them. The first Alpaca she met was Opie - short for Optimus Prime... Here she is just getting to meet him:

Feeling the head and ears to see what his face looked like:

And now down the neck to the back. Opie was VERY patient and SUCH a good boy the entire time he was with Judy. Alpaca are naturally extremely skittish about having their heads and necks touched, because that is how they fight each other, by attacking the neck. So, you can imagine the astonishment while he sat perfectly still:

Judy bent down and touched his legs to see what they were like and he lifted his foot for her without any irritation or stress. Again, their legs are only touched when it's time to trim their hooves, so not a favorite place to be touched. Steve commented that he won't even do that willingly for THEM! Proceeding on, she checked out the tail end of Opie:

And back to the blanket. You notice that hand really digging in to the fleece on his back. A testament to how thick and soft his fleece was!

And back to the neck. See that look on Jane's face? That's utter shock at how amazingly good Opie was with Judy.

Ahhh...and time and again I see in my pictures, Judy kept coming back to that hand buried in Opie's blanket... and yet you can see on his face, he is completely calm and not remotely stressed.

We did visit with a second alpaca... He wasn't quite as keen on the experience as Opie was. While Judy was petting this guy, I gently reached out to touch Opie's blanket and pet him a bit. Even with that simple motion, he shied from me just a little, and seemed somewhat anxious.

After meeting her new friend, Judy came back to pet Opie again. And even though he'd shied from me in the meantime, he was as docile as can be when Judy approached him again!!!

Overall, I would say we both had a WONDERFUL time at the farm. Judy and Opie seem to be fast friends for life! We did try to go in to feed the girls, but they had a lot of attention and quite a few treats throughout the day from the various visitors, so by that time they weren't really having any part of it. So, we'll have to go back again on a day when we can see the girls too!

Final Ravenclaw Quiz

1. Who loves containers of all sorts? Esmerelda Beanswallow
2. Who dyed her fingers blue? Lavender Ackerly
3. Who is related to William Shakespeare? Celestina Cadogan
4. Who wants to own an alpaca farm? Victoria Black
5. Who hates carrots? Selina Starfire
6. Who is from the Muggle town of Bagshot in Surrey? Patonga Pinkstone
7. Who was searching for radishes in the winter? Madam Ferula McGonagall
8. Who got a gift certificate to a LYS from a Slytherin boy for Valentine's Day? Cecilia Kettleburn
9. Who discovered ghosts and house elves drinking tea in the Great Hall at midnight? Ophelia Hopkirk
10. Who took an extra credit class called Muggle Fantasy Literature? Selina Starflame
11. Who attended a Muggle music convention? Patonga Pinkstone
12. Who taught herself to purl backwards? Sera Starfire
13. Who sports Ravenclaw Spirit socks? Minee Quickspell
    
14. Who would like to work in Muggle Relations after graduation? Allitrya Spelling
15. Whose Mum is named Henrietta? Avada Finch-Fletchley

New Spinning Tools

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!!! Spinning tools!! Both items are hand turned, courtesy of Fred. He has an Etsy store, and his wife has a blog.


The first is a spinning wheel hook. Just PERFECT for my antique Saxony wheel! The colors match VERY well. Now I just have to figure out how or where to hang it. The danger is that I can see it as a VERY popular cat toy if I'm not careful...

The second item is what's known as a wool finger. It was used to turn the wheel of the Great Wheel while spinning. Some versions suggest it was to give the spinner additional distance before they had to wind on. Another indicates that it was to prevent oils from the hands from getting on the wood of the wheel. Whatever the purpose, there is documentation dating back to at least the 14th Century of the use of a Wool Finger Luttrell Psalter. This one is a reproduction based on an actual antique.

I love how well the colors match the colors of my wheel! And look at the detailing! I'm not sure if that was the original detailing, or if Fred added the detail based on a photo of my wheel, but it looks GREAT!

Now I REALLY need to get spinning. The frantic cleaning is starting to abate somewhat, although there is still more to be done.

Ooohhh Baby (Alpacas...)

What a Saturday!!

Left the apt at 8:45 to drive up and meet a spinner, C, who was selling a Babe Spinning wheel. We chatted for 15 min and she showed me the basics of the Babe which is in excellent shape. I put it in the car and headed to the Alpaca farm. Got to Southern Oaks Alpacas by 10:03, parked in the end of their neighbor's driveway - it was a LONG drive and the place was for sale, so it appeared vacant. Sat there, window down, enjoying the breeze, the animal sounds, etc, and knitting, for about 45 minutes until everyone else arrived. The location was gorgeous, hidden under old Oak trees, covered in Spanish Moss, breeze sighing through the trees.

We had a lovely time with the alpacas. Their animals are almost ALL Suri alpaca. They had ONE Huacaya alpaca, one llama, a great pyrenees dog... They had several babies as well, most in the 2-3 month old range.

Oh, did I forget to mention the cats? There were at least two, but this one was definitely the hit. I think we took more pictures of this cat than we took of the alpaca!!

What, you can't see the cat? Ok, well, let's let that white alpaca (who happens to share my birthday!!) take a breather and maybe you'll be able to see the cat better...

Yep...cat just laid there...the entire time we were there, letting the animals eat around him.

Another favorite of ours was Suelita... She was one lovable alpaca! Here she is giving J a kiss! Incidentally, her loving behavior made one thing clear...despite recent attempts otherwise, Miss Suelita was definitely NOT in the family way. Apparently when she gets preggers she turns into a moody hormonal grump! Not that way today, that's for sure!!

In fact, she laid right down on the ground in front of us so everyone could pet her, love on her, and get this great photo op of the whole group!!

I also wanted to introduce you to Twister. Poor baby. He's a little distraught right now, as he is being weened from Mama, and so he's separated from the herd. He does have another little boy in with him, to keep him company. He's not too interested in a friend right now, he just wants his mama. Mama has been relocated to another farm for some "adult time"...so in another year or so, perhaps Twister will be getting a baby brother or sister!

Oops...there goes the guy with the food wagon! Bye, bye alpacas!

The animals were beautiful. We spent an hour or more with the animals, then went to see the owner's workshop. She showed us some of the needle felting she does (most of it is on a fabric base). She also had a beautiful display set up with yarns, roving from their animals, and raw fleece. Her prices were very generous and everyone took full advantage of the opportunity to get some amazing yarn and fiber. I ended up with something over two pounds of raw fleece in a luscious dark chocolate brown.

After the farm we went to a "greek" restaurant right down the road. It had greek, italian, cuban, and creole options... Very tasty. While we were at the Alpaca farm, V said she'd been looking online at directions for making drop spindles and I said I had all of the ingredients plus the fiber available if she wanted a kit. She jumped at it, so I got the spindle together when we went to lunch, gave a demo, etc. Turns out she lives not far from me, so I expect I'll be seeing more of her.

After lunch I headed to Uncommon Threads in Palm Harbor. Was talking to one of the spinners there and had mentioned something about knitting at the pioneer event in Dade City. Then mentioned that we were knitting because there was already a spinner there, but then we went by to visit the spinner and I got to spin on a great wheel... She looked at my quizically and says "What was the spinner's name? I said "G"...and she said "What is YOUR name?" So I told her. She said "There was another person with you, with a drop spindle?" I said "yeah...." She went to a guild meeting FRIDAY and was chatting with G who was telling everyone all about the beautiful yarn I spun on the Great Wheel!!! I had it in the car, so brought it in so she could see it in person. Geez, it REALLY is a small world!!

After I left there, I called D who lives in Tampa. He was out and about. He gave me his $.02 on the directions I had, etc. We talked while I headed across town. He had to hang up to get gas. I then got lost, so called him back to figure out where the heck I was. He walked me through where I was and where I needed to go (I had fixed myself mostly). Got to Knit N Knibble, looked around for 5 min before D met me there. Picked out some needles, then asked the guy behind the counter if they had any CTH Garment patterns... He showed me what they had, which didn't include mine, then he went looking at the books...I said "oh, no, it's not in a book yet". He said "well, maybe we could order it for you"...so I said "well, no, I was actually looking to see if you carried it...it's my pattern that I designed". Then he was intrigued and insisted on knowing more, so I went out to the car to get the pattern and yarn. He came back when he'd finished with his next customer and I showed him the pattern and the back of the sweater... which looks like this now:


He LOVED it! Said he wanted to knit it, (and had enough CTH at home to do it!!), loved that I had photographed the frog instead of doing a drawing... So, he wrote down all the info, and will talk to the owner to see if she'll carry it. They carry tons of CTH, and we both agreed, the ability to sell 10 skeins for a project is a big deal! He helped me with the needles I needed and got me checked out. The good news is that with the needle purchase (and the stitch markers and pattern that I picked up at Uncommon Threads), I have all of the required components for my Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap! Now I just have to pick up a couple of the "optional" add-ins then it'll be on it's way!

After the yarn store, D and I dropped by the mall for a bit, then ran by Panera so I could grab a bite for dinner before heading home.

Grand totals for the day?
Mileage: ~200
Purchases:

• 2+ pounds lovely raw alpaca
• 8 oz Ashland Bay Merino in contrasting colors that will be beautiful plyed together
• Stitch markers for HSKS4
• Sock pattern for HSKS4
• DPN's for HSKS4

People enabled: One - V for spinning. She also bought two pounds of raw alpaca for spinning!

Celebrated St. Patty's Day today by making Corned Beef & Cabbage with carrots, turnips, and homemade Whole Wheat Beer Bread! YUM! D came up to share my holiday repast.

And now, it's sad to say, my weekend ends and the new week will begin.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

The Word of the Day for March 13 is:

distaff \DISS-taff\ adjective

1 a : related through a mother b : inherited or derived from the female parent
*2 : female

Example sentence:
The Solheim Cup pits America's best distaff golfers against the top European women.

Did you know?
A distaff was originally a short staff that held a bundle of fibers -- of flax or wool, for example -- ready to be spun into yarn or thread. Since spinning was a basic daily task customarily done by women, the distaff came to be the symbol for the work or domain of women. This symbolic use of the noun "distaff" dates back to the time of Chaucer and is found in several works by Shakespeare. Eventually "distaff" came to be used for the female branch of a family and then as an adjective, as in "the distaff side of the family."

To sign up for daily WOD emails, go to the Merriam-Webster website.

Quidditch ~ Round Three

Quidditch ~ Round Three
1. When Rita Skeeter prints a bad article about Hagrid in the Daily Prophet, which Professor teaches Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class while he is away?
c. Professor Grubbly-Plank

2. What was the article Rita Skeeter wrote about Hagrid called?
c. Dumbledore's Giant Mistake

3. When the school champions were being chosen from the Goblet of Fire, whose name came out first?
b. Viktor Krum

4. What is the spell Ludo Bagman says to magically magnify his voice when he commentates?
a. Sonorus

5. What kind of dragon did Cedric have to face in the first task?
b. A Swedish Short-Snout

6. Who raised the trophy after winning the world cup?
b. Troy and Quigley

7. How many bedrooms did Mundungus Fletcher claim to have?
d. 12

8. For what did Moody mistake his birthday gift of a carriage clock?
b. A basilisk egg

9. What did Mr. Ollivander produce for the end of Cedric's wand?
d. Silver smoke rings

10. The dark mark is on Snape's left arm.
a. Yes

Picture Scavenger Hunt
Karkaroff
A Basilisk
Mundungus Fletcher
Amos Diggory
Snape

Disaster

Woke up this morning...cat yak on the bathroom floor. Cleaned that up... In the living room...more cat yak...but this one was wet cotton string... Wondered what string I'd left laying around, because I really do try hard to pick them all up.... Hhmmm...that cord is braided white cotton...like candlewicking. Quick glance to Phebe - uh oh...no drive band... A further look? Remainder of the drive band stretched across the floor... All I can do is hope that no significant pieces were permanently ingested... :( I didn't exactly measure the length of wet chewed band...

*sigh*

We'd been doing so well. But this is probably my fault, since the food dishes are rather empty right now... NEED to stop on my way home tonight. THEN I'll need to slice and prep a new drive band :(

Ravenclaw Quiz #5

Okay, Ravenclaws, it's quiz time again! This time I want you to summon up all your creativity and develop a spell for the following situations. Just the name of your spell will do:

1. Do my homework for me. Escribenum
2. Tidy up my bedroom. Organizum (I could REALLY use this one right now!!)
3. Make a delicious chocolate cake. Cocoayum
4. Make my professor stay in bed today. Petrificus Totalis (What? That's already been used?? Nah...)
5. I would like breakfast in bed, please. Ovus Resticus
6. Stick all my Quidditch opponents' feet to the floor. Tarfuticus
7. Give everyone the giggles. Hilarium
8. Dye some yarn in my favorite color. Colorificus
9. Unravel the mess I've made with my yarn. De-spagheticus
10. Knit my Prefect the perfect bag! Sackoloricum

Good luck! A prize goes to one lucky Ravenclaw!

It Has to Get Worse Before It Gets Better...

Someone made this comment yesterday, and it's OH so true...

The arrival of Phebe has prompted me to make some changes to my space. With all of the yarn, books, etc, it's been rather cluttered.

I made a trip to Ikea on Sunday to check it out, see what they had, etc. I've decided on this shelving unit (probably in Black-Brown) to help me get organized. I'm also going to pick up a couple of these baskets for several of the shelves, to help organize random things that tend to float around.

So, in the meantime, all boxes, books, etc have been removed from the "target area" of the apartment...which means they are stacked in a big pile in my hallway. There are stacks near the utility close that will go up in the top, replacing yarn and fiber which will come down into the "new yarn room". Yes, that's basically what the shelf will be.

L is meeting me at Ikea, we're loading this stuff into her truck, then coming home, assembling, moving, etc. I did take before pics...so maybe I'll share before and after once this odyssey is complete.

Nope, haven't been knitting or spinning in the last two days...too busy trying to get the apartment ready for tonight.

And the verdict is....

Yes, that's right, this was spun this evening! The Violin Rosin was what put us over the edge. I did tighten the tension a bit, loosened, then tightened the leather straps on the spindle, oiled the leather. (Took your advice and sanded and oiled it, Can you see the shine on the spindle?) I actually had to apply the rosin 5 or 6 times...I think it needed to build up a bit on the drive band. We'll see what it does the next time I sit down to it. Oh, and I think the wool makes a pretty big difference too. The wool I started with is wool that we use for new spinner drop spindle kits... It's kinda sticky and dense. The wool I switched to is a sample that some vendor sent me a couple of years ago with my order. It was much lighter, less sticky, easier to draft, and helped with the spindle issue.

It's definitely a learning process, and it'll be interesting to see how she behaves the next time I stand up to her, since she will have had some time to sit.

I mentioned that K and I spent the day dyeing last Sunday. We had a variety of dyes - some Jacquard dyes that she had, some acid dyes that I had. Everything was hand-painted/space dyed. We laid all of our fiber and yarn out on saran wrap, painted it with foam brushes and/or condiment bottles, rolled up the saran wrap and fiber, nuked for about 4 minutes, rinsed in cold water several times, rinsed in a bit of vinegar, then clear water.

My first attempt was this fiber. It's a Merino/Tencel blend. I found once again that Merino/Tencel is VERY difficult to handle when wet. The fibers will completely pull apart when wet. As you see, it's a little messy...not a nice neat tidy roving, but gorgeous colors!!

A close up! Look how soft that fiber is!!

After the fiber, I moved on to some KnitPicks SW Merino/Nylon sock yarn. Here are my two skeins. The first was Ravenclaw colors, the second used all of the different colors we had mixed. I CAN'T WAIT to see how this knits up into socks!! Yum!

The Ravenclaw yarn is actually a preview...of what I'll be sending to my HSKS4 downstream! It'll be a little while before I send it out (still need to make some stitch markers!), so all of you who are drooling and wondering if it's yours will just have to keep wondering ;) Below, your yarn and bag.

May I Introduce Empress Phebe!

She's here, she's here!!! I'd like to introduce you to Empress Phebe!


Isn't she Beautiful?!? Phebe arrived today and quickly took up her spot in her new home. I've been working on a functional drive band. I have three, but all are slipping a bit here and there. Have been advised to get some violin rosin to help with this, so will try to get some while I'm out tomorrow. Current, and probably final, drive band is a large candlewick band. I think in part because her former band was heavily waxed, that is part of the reason it's slipping.

Here's a closeup of the wheel itself.
And the spindle head. It's a simple spindle, and quite likely not the original, since the spindle wood doesn't really match the rest of the wheel. The leather ties are new, but I've oiled them thoroughly. Once my band is regularly connecting with the spindle whorl, I think all will be well. I've tried it at a variety of tensions, but nothing seems to work.

Another view of the spindle. We did notice that the spindle itself seems somewhat rusty. Suggestions on what I can treat it with? This cop (that's what they call the wrapped up yarn on the spindle!) was the one I spun when we tried it out at the previous owner's home before it was rescued from being furniture.


I'm sure you'll be hearing more stories as we get to know each other over the next few weeks. I can't wait to actually spin on her!

HSKS4 Ravenclaw Quiz #4

1. What colorless and odorless potion forces the drinker to tell the truth? Veritaserum

2. If the spell to Apparate goes wrong and leaves half of you behind, you have been what? Splinched

3. Who wrote the Standard Books of Spells Grades 1 and 2? Miranda Goshawk

4. What is it called when brother wands meet? Priori Incantatem

5. Name the charm used by Ludo at the World Cup to amplify his voice. Sonorus

6. For what is the charm Aparecium used? To make invisible ink visible

7. What charm requires the use of a Secret-Keeper? Fidelius

8. What color should the Strengthening Potion be? Turquoise

9. What plants are used in preparing a confusing potion? sneezewort, scurvy-grass, and lovage

10. What condition is cured by Glumbumble? hysteria caused by eating Alihotsy leaves

11. What potion makes a werewolf safe so he can keep his mind when he transforms, and what substance makes it useless? The Wolfsbane Potion allows the werewolf some peace, sugar makes it ineffective.

12. When does Fluxwood, an ingredient used in making Polyjuice Potion, have to be picked? During a Full Moon

13. What color should a Shrinking Solution be? bright acid green

14. What potion is made from asphodel and wormwood? Draught of Living Death

15. For what are Jobberknoll feathers used? memory potions and Truth serums

Great Wheel Acquired!

But not mine...

K had called the guy for the one we saw on Craig's list, and he called back today and asked if she wanted to come see it. So, she, her DH and I piled into their SUV and headed out to the guy's house. It was a beautiful wheel. Very little wood failure that I could see. There was a crack on the wooden disc that the cop backs up to, but that was about it. The band that was on it wasn't optimal - it had a huge knot on it that often had to be guided over the spindle. No Miner's head - she can look for one later if she wants one. Oh, and the wheel support arm would move a bit without too much coersion (backing up or getting that knot over the spindle) and the band would fall off. Those minor issues aside, it's beautiful. So, she got it and we piled it in the car to take home. I haven't seen it since she made the adjustments we talked about, but she's planning to work on that this evening.

Tomorrow we are going to have a dyeing day. We have some Knitpicks sock yarn that we'll dye (I'm thinking I may dye the yarn for my HSKS4 Pal tomorrow!!). I have some Merino/Tencel and also a couple of silk caps. K has some Corriedale I believe... So we're going to have a fun day and dye all sorts of things. And I might try out the Great again while I'm there...make sure the new setup works properly of course...

Will show the results of our dyeing day in a couple of days...

Making slow progress on destashing and organizing too...

SP Package & Trunk Show!!

I got a great new package in the mail from my SP yesterday....

This was my "purple" package!! A really cool sewn sock bag in brilliant bright colors (including purple!), purple tea (Twinings Darjeeling - never tried Darjeeling before, thanks!), a cool heart shaped ornament in purple, and YUMMY purple wrapped dark chocolate! Oh wait, did I mention the purple packaged kitty treats??

It's funny really....Timothy has had treats a few times when he was a kitten, and occasionally over the past 15 years. He adores them and chows down. It's even more exciting if he has to "catch" it. Smokey? He'll go lick at it a bit and then walk away, leaving it where it sits. I've seen him do this with quite a few different kinds of treats. Strange cat. Timothy loved them though, and was more than happy to eat Smokey's portion :)

In other news, we had a trunk show at our knitting meeting tonight from Blue Heron Yarns! What a wonderful array of yarns! Some were mis-dyes, some were closeouts, there were all sorts of different materials, colors, etc. I took my camera to take pictures, and then I got so preoccupied, I forgot to even get it out!!! Everyone had a great time browsing though, and the prices were excellent. Here's a photo of what I got. These were each "Rayon Metallic" yarns, and about 550 yards per skein.


I think the first two will make for a very nice sweater/shell for me. The blue/navy?...will make a DIVINE shawl... And the black...well, it's not quite a true black (which was why it was in the closeout bin), but it's pretty close...and will make a lovely elegant shawl for evening wear, etc. I've been in need of a black shawl for a while, and this one will be just great!

Fun was definitely had by all!!

Quidditch - Round 2

Quidditch ~ Round Two

1. With whom does Ginny go to the Yule Ball?
a. Neville
b. Dean
c. Seamus
d. Harry

2. When Harry arrives at the Burrow and Mrs. Weasley makes them all dinner the night before they leave for the Quidditch World Cup, what does her wand turn into?
a. rubber mouse
b. rubber chicken
c. rubber duck
d. rubber cat

3. Since some of the sixth-year girls didn't have any quills on them, what did they think Krum might sign their hats in?
a. nail polish
b. eyeliner
c. lipstick
d. lipliner

4. How old does the Quick Quotes Quill say that Rita Skeeter is?
a. 43
b. 44
c. 34
d. 335.

What color cloak is wormtail wearing in the Riddle house?
a. Grey (Gray)
b. Black
c. Gold
d. Silver

6. What color is "Mad Eye" Moody's magical eye?
a. Green
b. Hazel
c. Brown
d. Blue

7. What color are the robes that Rita Skeeter was wearing when Harry meets her at the Weighing of the Wands ceremony?
a. Lilac
b. Magenta
c. Mauve
d. Cerise

8. What does Sirius Black tell Harry, Ron and Hermione to call him when speaking around anyone else?
a. Tibbles
b. Snuffles
c. Scruffy
d. Padfoot

9. Which team beat Wales, disqualifying them from competing for the Quidditch World Cup?
a. Hungary
b. Romania
c. Uganda
d. Luxembourg

10. What does Madame Maxime say is the only thing her steeds will drink?
a. cabernet sauvignon
b. bourbon
c. single-malt whiskey
d. gin and tonics

Picture Hunt

Goblet of Fire
Madam Maxime
Dragon from first challenge
Viktor Krum
Madame Pomfrey

JOY!!!

Oh what a JOYFUL day!!!

Yes, that's right, this is the start of the back of my jacket! Some of you may recognize the bright brilliant colors in the center square. With huge thanks to Carla, I was able to obtain yarns in the original dye lots for my jacket. I cast it on today and began knitting it, and the only way to describe the feeling was that of utter joy. I said that and one of the women asked me if that was sarcasm. It totally is not. I felt fulfilled to be able to start this again.

For those who may be new readers, the ultimate goal is this:


The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, designed by me, published by Cherry Tree Hill.

Ravenclaw Quiz

Here is your House Quiz. How well have you studied the women of Ravenclaw? We'll see, because this is not a multiple choice quiz! Remember, answers are due by Friday, February 15, at midnight. A wonderful prize will be awaiting one person!

1. What is Professor McGonnagall's first name? Minerva

2. Who is the librarian of Hogwarts? Madam Pince

3. What is Madam Rosmerta's job? Owner and Bartender at the Three Broomsticks Pub

4. What is Rita Skeeter's secret? She's an unregistered animagus - a beetle

5. Madam Hooch is instructor of what subject? Broomstick flying

6. Who is Parvati Patil's best friend? Lavender Brown

7. What Quidditch position does Cho Chang play? Seeker

8. What is the name of Fleur Delacour's little sister? Gabrielle

9. Who is professor of Divination? Professor Sybill Trelawney

10. Who wrote "A History of Magic"? Bathilda Bagshot

GREAT Weekend!!!

I imagine I must have mentioned, if not here then at least in some of my forums, that I would be going to a Pioneer Museum event last weekend. This was something that K found out about and arranged. The deal was, they already had a spinner and didn't need any more, but they were happy to have us come out in costume and knit for the weekend. The venue was the Pioneer Florida Museum in Dade City, FL.

It's a great site, and they have a dozen or so buildings which have been rescued from other locations and moved to their little "town". Sadly I did not charge my batteries before going, so I have some pictures, but several that I wanted to take are not here. When we arrived, we were directed to the John Overstreet house, a lovely two story colonial built in the mid 1860's. The porch had a wooden porchswing, a stationary bench, and several other chairs. K and I took up residence on the porchswing end, since we were the first to arrive. She in a chair and I on the swing. We covered our non-authentics (Mickey Mouse tote bag and a Playmate cooler!) with a plaid blanket and sat down to knit.

The residents of the other end of the porch were a corn straw broom-maker and her mother, who was quilting. Each room of the house was set up with a little period display for people to look at as they walked through. Also found in the house, on the second floor, was a Great Wheel. Later conversation indicated that this was a working wheel.

K and I took turns walking around to see some of the displays and such. She went to find the spinner first, and directed me when I went for my walk. The spinner was a lovely lady who lives locally, spinning on an Ashford Traditional in a room full of antique sewing machines and spinning wheels. I took stock of her room while chatting with her...there were three great wheels in various states, and an antique Saxony sitting high on a shelf in one corner. The Saxony was missing the footman, but otherwise looked to be in good condition. There was a Great in the closet underneath it. Wheel was beautiful, but the upright and spindle/miner's head were missing entirely. On the other side of the room were two more Greats, one with it's drive band wrapped around the wheel shaft, the other with no band. Both seemed to have complete spindles. Talked with G for a while - she was trying to get us to bring our wheels the next day and come spin with her...only one problem - it was an hour and a half drive to each of our houses to get wheels. K tried to talk her DH into bringing both her Saxony and Lendrum, but he wasn't having any part of it. Said goodbye to G and that we'd be back the next day to drop in.

Saturday night we stayed in a local hotel...checked in in costume...when we came back from dinner, the desk clerk quipped "Oh, you changed clothes!" On Sunday we were off again. It was a little cooler and downright chilly in the shade on the porch. I decided to see the other half of the compound that I hadn't visited Saturday, so went to visit the church:

Then visited the little red one-room schoolhouse...

Was up in the front of the main checkin building when a man came in to talk to the front cashier, asking where he could find the "spinners"...well, of course my ears perked up, though I didn't say anything since officially I was a "knitter" for the weekend. She sent him around to G's room, so I quickly wandered out and down the path to drop in for a visit...

Turned out he had 300 lbs of Alpaca Fleece, and he was looking for someone who would sit in his friend's antique shop in town and spin it!!! His friend would get the benefit of having a spinner in house for atmosphere, and the spinner would be able to sell the spun yarn in the shop to make a little extra money. Ah, if only it wasn't an hour + drive to get to that town!!!

Anyhow, he left after a bit and I got to talking with G again. I was once again eyeing the wheels, and looking over the Greats. The more I looked, the more it looked like the one with the drive band might actually be spinnable! So, I convinced G to let me/help me turn it around (the spinning side was against the wall). We unwound the drive band and slid it onto the wheel. A turn or two and it fell off. We had already discovered that the wheel pivoted on it's axis....when we turned it around, the wheel ended up at a 30' angle to the base! So, we adjusted the angle a little more to try to keep the band on, and it worked!! G handed me a ball of fiber and I borrowed a bit of spun yarn for a leader, and tied it onto the spindle. Last year I had seen one of these spun very briefly, and had actually attempted to spin on it myself, so I had a tiny bit of a clue what I was doing (but only that!). It was definitely a little creaky, and the spindle didn't want to reverse very well... After spinning on it for a while, it was getting louder, so I borrowed the oil bottle from G and put a couple of drops inside each of the leather straps supporting the spindle, and a couple under the drive band where it connected with the spindle (it was a direct drive, not an accelerated head). Continued spinning and WOW! All of a sudden backing it off was a BREEZE! It definitely needed that little bit of oil!

I did finally go up and get K and let her know where I was/invite her back down. She came with. At that point she took this picture for me...the last one before the batteries died!

The wool is a merino/mohair blend, raised by G's friend in Massachusetts. He handwashes it, then indigo dyes, then combs into lovely lightweight roving. It's got just a touch of lanolin in it (part of G's schtick...getting the kids to feel the lanolin then telling them what it is). It spins great, and was a perfect fiber for the long draw needed for the Great Wheel. K came down to visit with us and hung out for a little while. She brought a drop spindle, so at one point we had a drop spindle, and Great, and a Traditional all going at once. It was fun to talk the evolution of spinning with all of the cool demos going on.

K got tired and went back to the porch (sadly it was a little close in the room...especially with three of us in there spinning). I planned to go back...really I did... The Great just totally pulled me in. G went to lunch...and came back...and still I was spinning. I finally decided to go to lunch, then someone came and asked how the Great worked....so I demo'd again... I did finally go eat...around 2ish! Overall, I think I spent about 4 hours spinning!

Then came the next challenge...what to do with the single that I'd spun?! Since there was nothing on the spindle, I really didn't have any way to slide it off and retain the shape. I wasn't really sure how I would go about plying on the Great either for that matter. I did have a nice sturdy, if somewhat "fuzzy" single. I think the Great lends itself to a more "woolen" fiber, since you aren't guiding/smoothing with the second hand. So, decided to wind it off onto my hand in an Andean style.
I did mention that my camera had died, right? So right near the end of the day this man comes along, asking about what I was doing, etc. He asks me if I read "The Laker"...turns out it's a local paper. For which he works. He asked to take my picture and said it might get published (G said she'd send me a copy if she saw it - since I live totally out of the area of that paper). I agreed and gave him my card so he could email it.

Finally got it all wound off...and it was 3:40. Twenty minutes to ply 180 yards of single into a 90 yard two-ply...spinning backwards on a Great Wheel... I tried it. Really. Plyed about two yards and changed my mind. Wound it back to my hand, slid the whole thing around my wrist (ok, so it was already there), and packed up our stuff. Packed the car, drove an hour back to meet K's DH, sat down at a restaurant and had dinner, then drove another half hour home. Yes, still with my big fat yarny bracelet. Got home, plied it on my antique Saxony (so it was still plied on a period wheel), then wound it off onto the Niddy Noddy. Ended up with right around 85 yards...to 1 3/8 ounces. Here's the skein:

And here's a closeup:

As I mentioned, you can definitely see that this is a more woolen yarn. Now I have to figure out what I can do with 85 yards of fingering/dk weight yarn - and what in a "colonial period" context.

So, what now? G has told us all about the event that they do on Labor Day weekend, which tends to draw a lot more kids. This event was in large part a Draft Horse pull and Tractor pull competition, as well as a quilt show, and therefore tended to draw an older crowd. Even though the temps will be a lot higher in September, the Great Wheel draws to me... I'm very inclined to come out for Labor Day just to spin on it again... We really enjoyed showing people the amount of work I was doing, then comparing that to G with her seated, treadled wheel and flyer uptake.

Oh...and there's something else... I WANT MY OWN GREAT WHEEL!!! This doesn't sound like such a huge request, unless you've seen my apartment...or my car... I live in a studio apt. 450 sq feet. It's small. It's crowded. There's really no way I can spin on a Great in my apt. But... I could take it to demo events and show it off THERE!! And I could hang the wheel from hooks on my wall... So I'd only have to find storage space for the base... Am I insane? I know someone who has a Great that she's been wanting to sell for the past two years...and there's another on Craig's list that looks pretty good too... Oh, and I have even more inspiration since I found this amazing wonderful, inspiring blog.

No more Excuses!!!

GREAT NEWS!! I got replacement yarn in the mail today to finally make my jacket with!! No, no, not from CTH. As it happens, Carla from Chez Casuelle (now Hanks) had some sample balls of the various colors that she had rolled up for people to play with while the contest was going on. When she sold the store, she retained all of those partial balls...so, I contacted her, because of course THOSE were the same dye lots that I made the original from...and lo and behold, she still had them!! They are pretty much complete skeins, with only a few grams missing from each, so there will be PLENTY of yarn for me to remake the sweater!! Hooray!!!

So, now I have no more excuses not to finish it... well... except for...

I'm in the middle of my bag for the HSKS4 Swap... It's coming along nicely...the pattern is sort of a hybrid between a few things I found online and my own design! It will be felted two color entrelac! (that's a hint, though it'll be a long time before it is received, so this post should have migrated down a bit and will be harder to find...). I'm still trying to get to a decent yarn store to pick out some sock yarn and needles...and I think a friend is going to help me a bit with my stitch markers.

This weekend K and I will be doing period reenactment knitting at the 18th Annual Quilt Show and Farm Festival. It looks like a fun event...too bad they already have spinners... So I'll be casting on a handspun woolen sock on Rosewood DPN's to work on for that event.

Trying to also get information on the St. Augustine Spin-In, which I've been to the past two years. Last year it was March 30th.

Ok, those might be the big things between me and my jacket... I would love to get it done for the Central Florida Fair, but that means completing it in 2 months. That's exactly how much time it took me the last time, but I was knitting REALLY hard to get it done in that time frame. Maybe it'll go into NEXT year's fair...