Thursday, October 17, 2013

SPINZILLA!

This whole last week was Spinzilla.  Oct 7th thru Oct 13 was National spinning and weaving week.  An organization developed spinzilla as a fundraiser to promote fiber arts and provide mentoring programs for such arts. Some of my friends and I joined teams and then spun as much as we could all week long all over San Diego.

Monday we spun in Karalyn's machine knitting class.
Next on Tuesday Margaret (my spinning teacher) and I went to spin at Summer's Past Farms and they were closed???  So, we went to Margaret's Studio and spun for a couple of hours and had a nice visit.  Karalyn called in sick and Tammy went back to school so we were it for the day.  Got a lot done that day.  I went home and spun some more until bed time.
Then on Wednesday we spun in our spinning class of course.  There were several teams represented.  Kelly, Margaret, Tammy, Terry, Susan and I were on Team Meridian Jacob.  Some others in class, Karalyn for one were on Cotton Cloud team.


 I know I got a lot spun and went to knitting class after and then home to spin some more.

Thursday we met at Lake Muray in La Mesa to spin at the lake to meet other friends to spin.  Karalyn, Margaret , Tammy and I had a spinning good time. 



 

 Then on Friday we went to Two Sister's and Ewe to spin (yarn shop in La Mesa)

Tammy made us tags to hang on our wheels.  And then for the weekend we all went to the Vista Fiber Fiesta!!!
That was great fun.  I helped Gary and Patricia some in their booth.  I spun the fiber that Gary was carding and ended up filling a bobbin with that.




When this weekend was over I had spun 2912 yards all week for Spinzilla.  The goal was to spin enough yarn to reach around the world.  Our team Meridian Jacob spun a grand total of 38,366 yards of yarn.  That's 21.8 miles.  Whoot whoot for us!
 
 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Day three Continues.

The Needlecraft Cottage in Pacific Beach was next


the yarnover Truck was at the Needlecraft cottage too.  So another look at that one.  The we headed up to Ramona fo the Alpaca Farm La Dolce Vita.  It was quite a ways off the beaten path and I had never even heard of it.  We finally got there and it was very nice. 

Now it was on to Beryl's Weaving Academy open house.  WE couldn't wait to get there and had a pretty full day. 
They had a Birthday cake there waiting for us and it was yummy!  What a wonderful day spent with friends and lots of laughter and good things going on.  My hair looks a little lighter don't you think?  I guess I'm getting use to it. 
 

Day three Yarn crawl.

Had to start over to do day three.  Still haven't mastered this blog stuff.  Sometimes it just won't do what I want to do.    Anyway on to Day 3:

We had a big Day on Day three and it was on my real Birthday so I was so excited by now and we were really going to get to every store. 

First it was on to Chula Vista to the Yarn at Border Leather.  I had been there a long time ago back when they sold mostly mill ends and stuff.  Now they had lots of beautiful yarn.  I fell in love with a hat pattern there and had to buy more yarn.
 We finished up there and headed out to the Grove in South Park.  Another wonderful yarn store

The Grove was in a place I have never been before and it was very different.  They had all kinds of different things including yarn.  It was  very interesting to browse through, but we needed to get the move on if we were going to make it to all the stores.  We asked someone to take our picture and then we were on our way to the next stop.  The Needlecraft Cottage in Pacific Beach.

Very Fun Birthday Week End!

This past weekend was my Birthday weekend.  Tammy and I had been planning all kinds of crazy things for our Birthday weekend.  My Birthday Sept 28th and hers is Sept. 30th.  The last few years I was always back east visiting the kids so we have never been able to celebrate our birthdays together.  Well this year is different and we had great plans.

First of all we had decided to dye our hair.  My favorite color is blue, and hers is purple.  I had seen her hair purple before so I knew it would be even better blue.  We had planned other things, that I can't even remember now, because then the Yarn Crawl was announced!!!  How wonderful, right on our Birthday weekend.  How much better could that get???  The Yarn Crawl is the first for San Diego.  How exciting!  There were 10 or 11 stores/Alpaca farms participating. 

The object of the Yarn Crawl is to visit each and every store participating during a four day period.  The stores were from Chula Vista to Encinitas, From San Marcos to Ramona.  You have a Pass Port to have signed at each store proving you have visited them and each store had a gift (tape measure, scissors, buttons, free patterns etc.) for each person.  What fun!

We made a plan.  First we mapped out all the stores and then made a plan as to how we would visit each one.  We knew we had to do it in Three days because we weren't going to try to do Sunday.  We both have church and Tammy has no nurse for her son on Sunday so she really can't go.

We decided to do 4 things on Thursday because they were pretty much close.  so first day we went to the Alpaca farm/processing mill in Crest.  Then to Two Sister's and Ewe in La Mesa,  then to Yarn and Thread Expressions also in La Mesa.  The Yarnover truck was to be at the last place too so that gave us 4 on Thursday.  I can't tell you how fun. 

I first of all have to mention the hair dying thing.  We did it on Tuesday afternoon because we are too busy on Wednesday with spinning class and knitting class and Tammy has an apolestory  class on Wednesday night.  We are busy girls!

I mentioned how great Tammy's hair always looks dyed purple and how I thought mine would look great too.  I didn't realize that with so much more grey hair on my head that I would have waaaaaaay more blue than she has purple.  In fact with my blue hair no one even noticed Tammy's purple hair. 

Day 1 of Yarn Crawl:
This is at the Alpaca farm Simpler Times in Crest.  They have all things Alpaca and also a processing Mill where they process your Alpaca or Llama into roving or spin into yarn.  Very cool operation and they gave us a tour.
Then on to Two Sisters and Ewe in La Mesa.
I said to Karalyn as they were going to take our picture, "oh no I have my glasses on"  she said "you have blue hair what difference does it make???"  I nearly laughed my head off.  Too funny.  Can you see Tammy's purple hair?
Next stop Yarn and Thread Expressions and The Yarnover Truck.
Two wonderful places with lots of yarn and goodies galore.  the yarn truck was so fun.  It is something Ron and I have talked about for years.


 
 Our other friends Karalyn (my machine knitting teacher) and Margaret (my spinning teacher) went with us the first day. 

Day 2:
On day two we had three stores planned.  One of the stores had a demonstration for free form knitting that Tammy really wanted to see  so we headed out and went to San Marcos first.   The store there was Yarning for you and this is another one I had never been to so was raring to go.  There was a photo opt we had to take advantage of and Karalyn was still with us for the second day. at least my hair matches the sign.
Then we were off to Encinitas for two more shops.  They are on the same street so we parked in what we thought was the middle and walked after lunch.  We wanted to see the demo by Colleen Davis on freeform knitting at Black Sheep.  It was fabulous and we all wanted to make a sweater or something using her technique.  I didn't get a picture, but did buy some patterns and some roving.
Next stop, Common Threads down the street that ended up so far away that Tammy and Karalyn had to go get the car and come back and pick me up.  My knee couldn't make it and it's a good thing.  It was much farther than we thought. 
At Common Threads there was another photo opportunity we couldn't pass up.  We shopped and bought more yarn for making socks on the knitting machine and other do dads and stuff. 
By now we were all pretty tired. so we headed back to my house to get Tammy's car and unload our loot.

Monday, September 23, 2013

New fun going on!

While I am still knitting on my sweater made with Molly, and my new knitting class of squares for an afghan there is more fun to be had!

We are having a yarn crawl this weekend, Sept 26-29th.  We have four days to visit all of the participating yarn shops/fiber stores in San Diego County!  My friend Tammy and I have been planning this weekend for weeks.  It is our Birthday weekend.

First we are dying our hair, hers will be purple and mine will be blue (of course).  Then we have mapped out all the stores by days so we will get to them all.  Except for Sunday when we will go to church, have a pot luck there and them Cake and Ice cream at her house after.  My birthday is the 28th and hers is the 30th.  (Sunday is in the middle so a great day to celebrate!

I have never done a yarn crawl before and am looking forward to it!  Pictures to follow for all to see.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Working on an Afghan for a hand knitting class

I signed up for a hand knitting class this semester.  I have wanted to do this for a long time.  I just kept putting it off, and now that I have someone who wants to take it with me, I am taking the plunge.

The project for the class is a pattern stitch Afghan.  Which means it is 42 squares in different pattern stitches put together to make an afghan.  I haven't even got to go to the class yet. But my friend Kelly did and brought me the directions and I have started knitting the squares.  We are 5 squares behind.  I missed the first week because I was still working and then my dr's appointment was last Wednesday.

The idea is to knit 2 squares a week to keep up with the class.  That is fine, except I am also going to spin all the yarn that it will take to make this thing.  I have so much wool and it is silly not to use it.  Besides, when I am done it will be very special indeed. 

I am spinning Isabella (Columbia Sheep) and plying it with "Cotton"  (Moreno).  It should be pretty cozy.  They are both white, really a cream color and it will show the stitch definition really well.

This is the first square.  Four more to finish by Wednesday.  I probably will not catch up the first week.  I will just plug away until I am caught up.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Knitting the Circumnavigated Cardigan!

     This has been such a fun summer.  First off I got to go back to work at the Races so that was fun.  Getting to see all the people I have worked with before and a few new ones.  It was a pretty uneventful season and went way too fast!

     Then we started knitting the Circumnavigated Cardigan as a knit-a-long with my spinning group so I was truly motivated to finish one I had started two years ago.  I did finish it and am moving right along on my new one started this summer.

     The first one was knitted out of Encore, an acrylic/wool blend that I truly love to knit with.  It is machine washable and always looks great.  I usually make the kids slipper socks out of it.  This one was a tweed in Navy Blue. 
 
The new one I am knitting is from Molly's Wool and I am spinning the yarn as I go.  I have part of it done and love the way it is turning out. 
 

The knitting went slowly because it is so much finer that the yarn I used in the first one, but then it will be a lighter weight sweater.  The thing is it is wool so it will be warm.  It does get cold enough to wear this at sometime during the winter so I will enjoy it when that happens. 
 
I did work on a third sweater this summer that I started sometime last year.  It is all kinds of yarn put together to make a stripped sweater that is knit sideways.  I am not sure it will fit me, but it will fit someone.
 
That was pretty much it for now.  I am taking a hand knitting class this semester so I can learn to do better.  We are knitting 42 different stitch patterns in squares and then putting them together in an afghan.  I am using My Isabella's wool plied with My little Moreno "Cotton"  Should be pretty. We have to knit two blocks a week so I will probably struggle to keep up.
 

Saturday, July 20, 2013

BACK TO DEL MAR!

The racing season at Del Mar is in total swing!  Opening Day was the smoothest ever!  All were excited to get it going!  Now we have 37 days of racing.  The season ends Sept 4th.  Happy Racing to all.  Just a few pictures of the beauty that surrounds us every day!






Sunday, July 7, 2013

INDEPENDANCE DAY 2013!

Had a great 4th of July this year!  The holidays are so hard here all by ourselves.  I know my Mom and Ginger are here, but they don't really interact with us.  Ron doesn't care as much as I do, but after people leave he always says that was fun, I miss having people here.

Amy's daughter and I became friends after Amy passed away and I don't know if you call it friends, since I have known her since she was a little girl.  What I didn't know of her personally I knew her from stories Amy (her mother)  would tell me about her and her family.  I felt like I already knew them all because of Amy's stories.

Now I have gotten to know them all better and they came for the weekend.  Rick Wendy's husband and three of the four kids came to camp out and have a relaxing time.  The oldest daughter is married (Daphne) and even her husband flew in after getting off work on Friday.


Daphne is a ballerina and her husband Eric is helping her with a dance step.  Pretty interesting.
There was plenty of time to rest in the hammock.



We cook on the Bar-B-Que, mostly hotdogs and sausages.  I made potato salad and some great beans.  We had smore's and something they call campfire donuts.  Very good by the way.  and lots of long lingering conversations and lots of looking forward the future. 

Rick is training in Oxnard to go over to Afghanistan in Sept.  He will be there for almost a year.  I sure hope all that war stuff cools down.  I think America need a break from war.  This was the perfect time for all the kids that could come to spend time with their Dad.  They really made the most of it.

They went to Julian and had pie           
 
 
Another day they all went to the beach.  Daphne and Eric live in Arizona so the beach was a big attraction.  They all got wet and sandy and had a great time.
 
 
Two beautiful Sister at the Beach in San Diego.

There was plenty of time for tree climbing too!  Caleb climbed the Oak tree that hasn't had any one climbing it in a long, long time.  Fun to watch!
 

I just have to share my favorite family portrait of Amy's family.  I still miss her so much.  There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of something I need to tell her, or ask her advice on.  She was the kind of friend that you could talk to about anything and know you were loved and understood and never judged.


Most of the time My blog is for my family so they can see what we are doing and what is going on in our lives.  This one is for me.