I've been looking forward to this day for some time. Feeling the strain of getting back on my feet and also having a desire for more company in the woodworking studio, I created a contract position for seasonal help. Fortuitously, Sylvie Drescher of Imogene Froward (she has an Etsy shop!) has answered the call.

Hello, October. How I love you.

Wet weather (which I don't mind), fall colors, holidays.

Halloween is my favorite celebration of the year. Costumes, parties, and candy. Granted, I haven't celebrated heartily in a few years. Today, I put up some purple lights and thought about printing some decorations for the windows. Sort of ticked off that they wouldn't be visible from the street. So I am going to keep my eye open for cheap dollar store decorations. I'm also looking for some of those orange jack o'lantern leaf bags. So that when my giant maple tree dumps, I have some fun decorations for the yard too.

Speaking of yard. Over the past two months, I have been prepping beds and doing some experimental planting.

The bed (fenced in by chicken wire) to the far left contains peas and beans. The ones I'm working on in the picture are now planted with spinach and a few cabbage sprouts.

For the past week or so, I have been enjoying "yard snacks" of purple and yellow bush beans. The peas are flowering and have itty bitty pea pods emerging.

Today, I planted some collard greens sprouts along a back fence area which gets excellent light all day. I also plan to plant some chard and other overwintering plants in a week or so when the sprouts look robust enough to harden and be transplanted.

Along that back fence, I also have a pumpking plant which I planted very late in the season and which has been kicking out small pumpkins which the squirrels and crows seem to steal almost as they emerge. Some animal is also scavenging the big yellow flower buds. I'm learning for it, and I plant to net the pumpkin plant I'll try to grow next year.

We've had a few small outdoor fires last month. Our next door neighbors, a family from Beijing and their tenant (also from Beijing and going to pastry school) have stopped by a few times to enjoy a little campfire action. Cecilia (the pastry student) sometimes makes me special desserts which magically show up with my hubby when he comes home from visiting next door. I officially have the coolest neighbors ever.

Rachel came by to visit last week also. She brought her spinning and visited with me while I finished spindles. She's a 911 dispatcher, and I met her through the Fantabulous Tuesday Knitting Group that I host in Green Lake, WA. She's been working full-time, so we've been making time for each other regularly to catch up and play with yarnz around her wacky schedule.

This weekend, we took Judy the greyhound to several parks while the weather was still nice. She's been acclimating to homelife really well and everyone she meets remarks on how sweet she is. She met lots of children who get to feed her treats (which we provide) so that she can get comfortable with greeting strangers. She's so used to treats from strangers that she approaches everybody in sight with a "please!?" look, expecting a handout. She also got to visit a pet store with a grooming station and had her nails trimmed down. At the pet store, she gets to meet lots of dogs in a friendly manner. She's still very shy of other dogs, but we hope to show her that dogs of all shapes and sizes can make good friends too!

Oh jeez. Has it really been two months since a proper blog entry? I think it would be silly to try and give the blow by blow, so I'll try it in bullet form.

• Still love the house.
• Still love the new shop.
• Have a new shop mate and access to a bunch of great tools.
• Been doing a lot of yard work in preparation of our first spring.
• Been on a reduced spindle production schedule because my feet are still very messed up.
• New gastroenterologist and meeting with a new dermatologist.
• We're pretty sure that Remicade is the cause of 10 months of agonizing lesions on the soles of my feet and not psoriasis. Started methotrexate at 25mg/week to kick my immune system down even more. It's taking some getting used to.
• Adopted a greyhound from Greyhound Pets, Inc in Woodinville WA 7 weeks ago. Her name in Cantonese name is Siu Jai (see-you-jay) and English is Judy.
• She's amazing. I love her very much and she fits in just right.
• My 16 yr old male cat accepts her, and she accepts him.
• 80 yr old neighbor across the street is Siu Jai's new BFF and they see each other every day for quality time. Neighbor has huge fenced yard and loves to doggy-sit whenever I can make the time to bring her over there.
• "Paul" is a hilarious movie. See it.

I'm very tired. But it's a specific flavor of tired. I'm both allergic to something (causing hives on my torso for the past month) and having a psoriasis flare which is eating away at the bottom of both of my feet. I've seen physicians for both complaints, and so far there's no consensus as to what is causing or influencing either. My belief is that I am producing antibodies to a biologic medication I am on, and am in the pool of the 1% of folks who express a very specific form of psoriasis in response to the medication. I'm not sure where to go from here. My next action will be to seek a physician who knows my condition, and can create a schedule for figuring out how to live in harmony with my treatments. As much as I personally like my doctors, they're not effective any longer. I felt very lucky, as the psoriasis expression seemed mild. However it started with small bumps (6 months ago), and now is spreading all over... at a very slow but consistent rate.

I am dependent on the biologic for intestinal lesions, and so I either have to learn to live with this inconvenient side-effect, or I will have to seek out a new treatment for the primary condition. Them's the breaks. What does this have to do with Gripping Yarn and spindles? Well, if it affects me... it's going to influence the business and my availability. I'm usually quite punctual, outgoing, and have contributed endless hours visiting on Ravelry. But these past two months have been an understandable challenge.

ALSO we're at the tail end of purchasing the house, which has been full of stress and hangs ups. At the moment we're waiting on a re-inspection by an FHA appraiser (his second visit). The first one did not go well, and he requested $3K worth of repairs before he would pass us for financing. The sellers felt they had done their part by buying us a new roof and extending more money towards closing. So, we either had to walk away or assume responsibility for repairs on a home we did not yet own. We corralled a great team of friends and family, and were able to get the majority of those requests addressed within only a week at a cost of about $1.5K out of pocket and a few hundred dollars worth of favors. My husband took an entire week off of work to assist the crew and direct things. 

In my current condition, it was impossible for me to be on site and be helpful. So I maintained my regular schedule and worked through my second to last week of orders in what will hopefully be my former workshop by the end of this month. A friend had a good suggestion - save a bit of sawdust from the last spindle I turn and toss it in the outdoor stove as a finalizing gesture. I liked the sound of that, so I plan to do so.

Saturday was my 36th birthday. We planned to visit another friend's outdoor party for some BBQ and outdoor music. Since I only knew a few of the attendants as acquaintances, I was told I could bring a small group of people to help me celebrate my own birthday and we were welcome to camp out. At the last minute, my bestest local friend called to let me know her whole household was sick with some kind of flu. The larger party ended up being sparsely attended as well, the overall vibe was a bit weird, and I ended up becoming even more exhausted than I had already been. However, the host is and remains one of my most appreciated friends. So we got up early the next day, helped clean up his property, packed up camp and took him out to a nice pancake breakfast.

I managed some nice photos of the BBQ too!

You'll have to take my word when I tell you that I've spun every day of Tour de Fleece, photographed my progress, and had my heart in the race. I simply have not been able to upload photos or felt up to blogging. Occasionally, I have been able to check in on the team groups on Ravelry. But the volume of posts is so huge that if I neglect a day, I feel hopelessly lost and haven't found the inspiration to post much of my own just yet. I sincerely hope I find more energy in the near future to be more present.

And we're off, ladies and gentlemen!

I've opted to start stages 1 and 2 with my Team Corgi project - Russian spindle spun 4 ounce batt from Corgi Hill. Something old, something new, nothing borrowed, but something blue. Heh.

I sampled the fiber two nights before, and here's the specs. Estimated time of completion of project will be about 12 hours (spinning through to plying).

.2 ounce sample, spun up and plied in about 35 mins.

The start of the tour also coincided with baby Charlie's first birthday (friend Billy's grandson). And he invited us up  north to some family property in Sedro-Woolley, WA for a BBQ. (Woolley! Woolley!)

View Larger Map

Boys in the man-car, and girls rode in style in Joyce's convertible. Open top, so no spinning on the ride up.  But while there, I was able to get a little done. The view and the company were fantastic.

This is Grandpa Billy (we call him Billy Bodacious) and his grandson Charlie.

Breathtakingly beautiful view from the property.

I brought with me one of the first spindles I ever turned (probably somewhere in the first 20). It's a Ziricote GY Russian, and the wood was a gift from a dear woodworking friend (Dave Morris). Kicked back with a grilled burger and this gorgeous view before spinning out about a quarter of an ounce on the project. We needed to make it back into town so Billy could teach guitar lessons, so we only were able to stay for about 2 hours.

Wind whipped and a little crispy, I opted to trade seats and invade the man-car for the ride back home. Very productive hour, and was able to spin the entire car ride back home.

TdF Day 1 spinning progress.

Jazzed by my good progress from yesterday, I approached today with optimism. I also had planned to stop by the Fremont open market. Heidi Kunkel http://www.heidispottery.com, a new friend and fellow Raveler, had expressed an interest in collaborating on some spinning bowls! We met in person a week ago, talked about dimensions. She also had a 2 hour spinning lesson with me (to give her some perspective), and I was really impressed with how quickly she took to it. One of the fastest learners I've yet to teach.

She called me about two days ago to report that her first two bowls were out of the kiln and invited me meet her at her booth in the market to have a look.

Here's Heidi with a table in her tent. She's selling handknit goodies, her incredible pottery (bowls, knitting bowls, cups, etc), and much more! She'll be at the Fremont Market (Seattle, WA) all season long (Sundays). So don't hesitate to stop by and flaunt your Ravelry street-cred. She's very friendly.

The spining bowls are gorgeous! I couldn't resist, and snapped one up for my very own.

Here you can see one of her knitting bowls in contrast with the new spinning bowls. I also lent her one of my Russian spindles to test the bowls, and it made a beautiful display. I hope it sparks conversation!

After picking up a few goodies (hubby got a new straw coyboy hat). We left Heidi, and motored on to our next adventure.

Yet another birthday to celebrate! My good friend Sherry (who incidentally bought me my first spindle) was having a not-such-surprise party at The Little Red Hen (a country/western bar) where she works.

Greg, Billy Bodacious, Trip and Kebron (Kevin, my hubby) covering "Billy The Kid" at the Little Red Hen. Being a Sunday, it was open mic. So my hubby was up on stage with the good-ol boys. While there, I helped decorate as well as spun up about half an ounce towards the project.

After about 2 hours of hang-time (plus the market), I had completely blown through my crowd exposure alotment (immunosupressed, limited ability to fight infections). So, I needed to head home and get off my bummed up foot (WARNING GRAPHIC - only click through if you have a strong disposition, PPP psoriasis). My foot is raw, angry, and doesn't seem to be responding to available therapies. I'll need to head back in to the doctor in a week or so.

So, I'm home now... and I'm still expecting to spin up another half an ounce to round out the day. This will put me at about 1/4th finished with my Team Corgi challenge.

Here's an inside shot of Heidi's spinning bowls. Notice the very useful indentation in the middle to help center the spindle in the bowl. The base is wide and heavy to create a secure footing while balanced in your lap, or on resting on supporting surface.

This is the view from the side. Very clean lines! My new favorite bowl...

And here's a progress shot of today's spinning.

Phew! Onward!

 

I had hoped to write a few more articles concerning TdF training, but house buying and work responsibilities have had precedence.

Tonight, I dug out all the fibers. And I was in the process of taking pictures, but my camera battery pooped out on me. Good thing to remember, keep an eye on my camera battery meter. Don't want to miss out on a day of photojournaling waiting on a charge!

This evening, I put together a simple spreadsheet to help me keep track of my spinning goals. The columns are DATE, TIME (total time spinning during the day), SPINDLE, FIBER ID, PHOTO, BLOG, RAV UPDATE. The last three columns are check boxes to remind me to blog. I also highlighted days of rest (Jully 11th and 18th) and the challenge day (July 20th). In addition, I'll be micro blogging and taking lower resolution pictures on my iPhone and twittering to my grippingyarn. Follow me if you like, and I'll follow you back. We can support each other.

I have yet to do my samples. I'll get cracking on those tonight based on the photos I was able to take. Fibers still waiting to be photographed will be sampled tomorrow.

My new revised goals, all on various support spindles.

1) Spin 4 ounces of Corgi Hill Farm merino/silk/firestar blend in the Olive Heather colorway. (for Team Corgi)

2) Spin up 3.2 ounces Corgi Hill Farm  merino/angora/silk blend in the Dusty Red Rose colorways. (for Team Supported Spindlers)

3) Spin up 4 ounces of camel in a light brown, and .75 ounces of vicuna (YES VICUNA!), and ply them together for a unique luxury fiber. (for Team Spindlers) - This will be my big challenge.

4) Photograph and blog regularly, and update Rav with pictures and progress daily.

5) Don't lose my mind while we're trying to close on a house during the last week of the tour.

My tools.

1) Spanish Peacock Russian in Bloodwood

2) Three Treasures supported/semi suspended Gripping Yarn spindle with copper cap made of White Pear wood. The workhorse.

3) A Spinner's Lair Tibetan made of Walnut and Rosewood.

4) Various Gripping Yarn Rose spindles... Bloodwood, Cocobolo, etc... probably also have copper caps.

I'm ready for the 2nd... almost.

 

 

Been quiet on the blog updating because we've been busy hunting down a new home. We're in the escrow phase at the moment, and closing is expected around July 11th, 2011. That leaves me with just over 3 weeks to wrap up life in Green Lake, pack it all up, and move north to Lake City which about 3 miles from here.

Part of the deal includes the sellers putting on a new roof. We visited day before yesterday to experience a little bit of the excitement first hand.

And here's the back garden with a little sneek of the 2 car garage which will be converted over the next few years into my dedicated workshop.

The property is about 8,500 square feet, and house is about 1,400. The house was built in 1926, and its finest feature is the large livingroom which might be as large as 500 square feet. And there's a nice little gas insert in the fireplace to enjoy when the weather gets cool. Having two bathrooms will mean less fighting over pee-pee privledges in the AM. Heh.

Move isn't planned until the third week in July. So, I've still got a few more weeks work here in Green Lake. I'll be taking the 3rd week of July off to rebuild the workshop in the new location and get ourselves unpacked.

 

Do you have an out of control fiber stash? I didn't think I had one until a month ago. But then I went diving into boxes and every nook and cranny in the house trying to figure out where all my fiber tools had gone to. Seriously. I make spindles. How could I not have a spare spindle floating around?

I discovered pure, disorganized insanity. Dozens of projects or experiments forgotten in ziplock baggies on half-full spindles.

Since then, I have been working down all those projects and refused to start anything new until my "working project" box could be emptied.

Looks like I'm donating prizes for at least three teams for Tour de Fleece 2011.

Team Corgi 2011 - spinning Corgi Hill Farm fibers

Team Spindlers 2011 - Open to all spindlers.

Team Supported Spindlers 2011 - Open to all supported spindlers.

WOO!

Join a team! Win a prize! Most prize winners will be chosen by a random draw of participants.