Surprise!

Here I am again... I believe I could win the Most Sporadic Blogger award this year. Anyone who is active on Ravelry might have noticed that I haven't been entirely absent, though my knitting and spinning are at a low.  And it's been long enough since I've posted that Blogger went and gave their posting-format a makeover without my notice. Sheesh.

Anywho, onward...

I finished a pair of socks and gifted them to a friend.

They're knit from some hand-dyed merino I received in a swap and spun up ages ago, when I lived in Maine. They came out well, and according to the recipient, are "the most comfortable socks EVER! It's like I'm not wearing socks at all, but my feet are warm." Fine praise indeed.

I worked quite a bit on my handspun sweater, and finished it nearly to the neckline before I decided I could no longer ignore the fact that it really didn't fit the way I wanted, so I ripped it out to the mid-torso (about where it was in my last post) and put it in time out. I think I'm about ready to work on it again...

I finished another Baby Surprise Jacket, for the newest addition to our island community. Her name is Jennifer, and she was born in February to my friend Adela and her husband Ignacio.

I'm hoping to get Jennifer for a modeling session sometime soon - she's honestly one of the most beautiful and well-tempered infants I've ever known. 

I wish I had lots of earth-shatteringly exciting news to report. Really, it's been daily life that's been keeping me busy lately. The normalcy has been comforting.
I've been spending a lot of time with my dear friend Carol, who had a baby in December. Both she and her husband have been friends of mine for a long time, close enough that they are like family. (We call each other "psudo-siblings.") Their son Thomas is my unofficial "nephew" and has been part of my near-daily routine since his first week home.

BSJ knit by Auntie Loribird, of course

Though it would appear he's always sleeping, that's hardly true that; for the first few months it's been easier to take Wee Monkey's photo when he's slumbering peacefully.
Thomas' mother is a photographer (in the interest of full disclosure, the photos above are hers) and she's been teaching me a few things over the winter. I have acquired a new fancy-pants camera and will be playing with that in the months (and hopefully years!) to come. I have a usb cord on order; once it gets here I can start posting the results of my new hobby.

On the subject of hobbies, I've re-disovered and re- taken up running.
If the idea of taking yourself out for an hour-long jog on the warm, sunny beach sounds nice, you have an idea of how I feel on a good day and how I could become addicted; if you can imagine 15mph winds at 31 degrees F, clouds looming with imminent rain, and still imagine running with enjoyment for 6 miles (even after said rain begins to fall,) then you know something of my winter. (And if you think I'm out of my mind, you're certainly not alone!)
I've always enjoyed running, and did it competitively in high school (cross country.) I wasn't the best, but I was far from the worst, so I kept up the practice into my adult life.
The past few years (during my marriage) were the least physically-active of my life, so returning to an athletic lifestyle has not been entirely easy. I've noticed that my most joy comes from distance, loooong distance, rather than quick 5K races like we did in school. I'm planning to run a marathon or half-marathon next November, and I'm finding that training for it is both less difficult and more enjoyable than I expected. There is rarely a day when I don't look forward to my next run. I've spent the past couple weeks dealing with a hip injury, unrelated to running but it's kept me inactive; I'm amazed at how much I miss it. Hopefully I will be back out on the trail again by next weekend. You can definitely expect to hear more on this subject in the future - hope you don't mind!

That's all for now; I'll do my best to keep you updated - for REAL this time!

Oh hai!

Ha! Bet you thought it would be another few months until you heard a peep from me again! Not so! I've been very busy getting my life back together - working two or three jobs to build up a savings, finding a new place to live... I spent the first months here crashing in the attic of my father's summer house, and while I was grateful for the help, it was hardly a permanent solution.

Housing here on the island is a premium commodity; to find a good year-round rental takes time and connections. I finally moved into a beautiful house, probably as nice as any I've ever lived in, with a good friend who makes an ideal roommate. There is plenty of space, hardwood floors and huge windows overlooking the marsh, and an ample fenced yard for Rudy. The house is in a great neighborhood, set back a ways from the village, so there is little traffic and noise in the summer when the tourists are here. All of this at a price I can afford easily even in the off-season; we're renting from an old friend who decided to put her house up for use by year-round residents rather than cashing in on the seasonal weekly-rental. I am feeling extraordinarily blessed.

As my new life becomes more settled, I am finding time to create again.

"Gypsy"

superwash merino roving dyed by Enchanted Knoll Farm

4.23 oz., 600 yards light-fingering weight

Here in the south, winters are not as harsh as in Alaska or Maine (understatement of the year!) I have had little need for heavy gloves and sweaters, though warm things in lightweight yarn and patterns are certainly usable during the fall and winter months.

I knit myself a pair of 'Toast' mitts to warm my wrists and hands while walking and riding my bike.

The pattern is as simple as can be, just a stockinette tube knit to lenth. I opted for no thumb-holes so they really are more like wrist-warmers than fingerless gloves. They're great for morning coffee as well.

"Toast mitts," pattern by Leslie Friend (ravelry link)

1 skein (200 yds) Peruvian Link 100% superfine alpaca

Then I decided a nice cowl to go with them would make me happy. I was right.

"Pretty Thing," pattern by the Yarn Harlot Partial skein of Peruvian Link 100% superfine alpaca

This was another great pattern, and fun to knit. I found the chart really easy to follow, and in fact the pattern was easy to memorize after a few repeats. I will probably be making a few more in the same pattern, as I get a lot of complements on it.

On a whim the other night, I started a project that has been in the works (at least in my imagination) for nearly five years.

When I lived in Alaska, my friend Kari owned the local yarn shop and she carried some handspun yarn. I fell in love with it, with the shifting colors and slightly-nubby texture, and wanted to knit myself a sweater from it. I couldn't justify the $150 price tag for the yarn, so I did the next logical thing: I started to teach myself to spin.

Numerous drop spindles led to the purchase of a wheel; many skeins of handspun yarn, pounds of various fibers, handspun shawls, hats, socks, and gloves later, and I still hadn't knit up a sweater of handspun. Last autumn I did spin a pound of Targhee wool (from Susan's Spinning Bunny, in her "Blueberry Patch" colorway.) I finally pulled it off the shelf and am knitting in into a self-designed (read: making it up as I go) pullover.

So far I'm calling it a success! (Though in retrospect, buying the handspun yarn probably would have been the more economical choice... Luckily I'm more into being experience-rich than financially-wealthy.)

All for now, and I promise there really will be more soon!

dog days

Hey there, Rudy-dog here. Just wanted to let you all know that me and mom are alive and well and things are good here. Mom works a lot, but we've got a great new house and some nice friends who like to pet me and give me treats. Now that winter is here, there is more time for walking, and I get to go on a long walk every day. My favorite place is near the water, I can run without my leash. There are birds to chase and sticks to chew, and sometimes even dead fish to roll in. Dog heaven! I'm pretty sure Mom is happier too, now that she has time to do stuff besides work. She's been trying out some photography, and spending a lot of time with one of our friends who is having a baby. I'm supposed to tell you that she's been knitting again, and is dusting off the spinning wheel as well. She promises to tell you about it in a few days, since she'll have some time off the next couple weeks. She says we're staying here in our new house and making dinner for all our friends here on the island. We even have a tree, it's inside the house, can you believe it! Yeah, life is pretty good. Just wanted to let you know! Bark at ya later!

Starting again

Where to begin? As viewed from the Hatteras ferry

How to tell the story when one wants to avoid attention, to move forward with only a small hiccup? And yet that hiccup has become too lengthy a silence to break without some explaination.

"Moonsongs" shawl, from handspun yarn. Details here on Ravlery

I have been in the midst of life-upheaval and have not wanted to write about it. For the most part I still do not have much to say in such a public forum.

Big surf as Hurricane Bill passed offshore

In May I relocated from Maine to my childhood home on the outer banks of North Carolina, a move that is the result of the dissolution of my marriage. I am finding my way again, trying to take the steps to make my new life in this familiar place, learning to dream about a very different sort of future than I had imagined I would have.

Rudy enjoying the sand

I am doing very well, working a lot and spending time with friends, new and old.

End of summer Ladies' Night with co-workers

Knitting and spinning have taken a backseat for awhile, though as you can see I've not been entirely idle. With the approaching autumn I hope to revive both my craft and my blog.

Simple handspun socks Details here on Ravlery

So, welcome back! I'm glad to see you again!

Just a little bit longer...

Hello to the blogosphere and beyond... I will be away for only a little bit longer, as the changes in my life take me full-circle. Thank you for all the kind thoughts and words, both here, in person, and on Ravelry. This photo is from a vacation I took a couple weeks ago on the outer banks of NC, where I will be returning to live this summer. Once I get settled, I hope to get back to blogging and show you some of the knitting and spinning I've been doing this winter and spring. Until then...

Come one, come all...

... come young and old, come see the sights at Lori's Destashing Sale! I've got a bunch of fibery goodness listed for sale on Ravelry, lots of yarn, some books, and some spinning fibers - I'm looking to make some room for fresh things and some space to breathe. Speaking of breathing fresh things... Have a good one! **check out my Etsy shop too - I added a couple new skeins of handspun and lowered prices in a general mood of clearing the air!

Startitis

Though I certainly have enough projects-in-progress, seems that lately I'm always game for a new distraction... For starters I've finally jumped on the bandwagon and started a February Lady Sweater (Ravelry link.) My friends Opal, Megan, and Lisa are among the culprits in this one, though with over 4000 versions of the pattern listed in Ravelry I suppose it was inevitable I'd join in eventually. That many knitters can't be wrong. I knit a baby-sized version from Elizabeth Zimmermann's original pattern awhile back and was very pleased, so I'm hoping one in my size will be just as flattering.

We are happy to be part of the flock. Baaaaa.

I'm knitting mine in Brown Sheep's "Cotton Fleece" yarn, a cotton/wool blend that should make for a great three-season garment. I've started spindling again too. When I first got my wheel, it was all about yarn production: how fast can I churn it out? Now that I've got a shelf full of handspun waiting to be knit, I feel drawn to the more deliberate pace of spindle spinning.

This is a 50/50 wool/soysilk blend, two ounces worth, dyed by Hello Yarn in a colorway she calls "Frosted Forest." I'm spinning it up into a laceweight two-ply to get as much yardage as I can from this fiber. It's the first time I've spun with soysilk, and so far it reminds me of a wool/silk blend. Very shiny stuff, and it likes to be thin. Now, that's not to say I've been neglecting the wheel either. I'm working my way through a set of superwash merino batts from Enchanted Knoll. These are a colorway called "Good Fortune," a delightful mix of greens with a dash of brown and a dollop of blue for good measure. You can see the gold sparkles in there too... I'm leaning towards another laceweight yarn with this one, or maybe more of a light-fingering weight. Or a three-ply sock yarn... I can't decide! I did finish a pair of socks, though they've been off the needles long enough to be worn and sent through the wash a couple times already. These are the "Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch" from Nancy Bush's "Knitting Vintage Socks." I used Paton's Kroy 4-ply sock yarn as the main color, and Knit Picks Essential (in "Dusk") for the contrast.

I just love that striped toe!

Last, though certainly far-from-least, this is my newest time-sucking project: The yarn is a merino/silk blend I handspun mostly on a spindle, beginning over a year ago and finishing up last summer. I love the colors, but was having trouble finding a shawl pattern that wouldn't get lost in the self-striping of the handspun. I believe I've found a complementary match. The pattern is called "Gail (aka Nightsongs)" (Rav link) and can be downloaded as a pdf from this blog. I'm utterly enchanted with it, I love the bold leaf pattern that sweeps through the shawl... I'm working on the fifth repeat, surprised at how quickly it's going. So that's all for now. Thank you for all the welcome-back and well-wishings - I'm so thankful for my blog-friends, you warm my heart. See you again soon!