Friday morning, Scott and I loaded up the car and headed to Purdue University to attend Graphic Engagement.  We were part of a six-member panel of comic book creators and we fielded questions from a monitor as well as the audience.  Scott and I were the only “pure” independent comic book producers there, and we were an eclectic group.  With us was Top Cow writer, Troy Hickman, artist Bill Knapp (http://www.backporchcomics.com/space_prize1.htm), artist Onsmith (http://onsmithcomics.blogspot.com/), and Lafayette cartoonist, Bids (http://www.samandmaze.com/index.html).  It was a lot of fun, very informative and Scott and I enjoyed it very much.

Saturday, Scott and I set up at Lexpo for a day of meeting fans and selling comics.  Troy Hickman also had a table there.  While the crowds were rather light, it wasn’t bad for a first-time show.  I hope the folks who arranged everything and set it up will continue it as I see this could be a growing endeavor.  My only complaint was that there were no food vendors, which meant that we lost the public whenever they got hungry.  Having food vendors there means we have a more captive audience.

The Batmobile was there,…

…as was the Mystery Machine. 

While we were there I spun on some Wensleydale top dyed by Spunky Eclectic. 

This was my first time spinning Wensleydale and once I got the hang of how it wanted to be spun (long draw), it went very quickly.  I spun nearly the entire 4 ounces while we were there.

The most interesting thing that happened, though, was at the hotel as we came down the elevator for breakfast.  Another couple, slightly older than Scott and I, got on with us, and both glanced at my Johnny Saturn T-shirt.  Since you can’t see my shirt very well above, you can go to this link to see what is on my shirt.  They both frowned, glanced at each other and shook their heads.  Then they wouldn’t meet my or Scott’s eyes for the rest of the trip down.  Obviously, my T-shirt had offended them, but it only proved to me that they were the type to judge something they have no clue about.  The scene on my shirt is the villain, the demonic-powered Dr. Synn, being attacked by the good guys.  In the end, the good guys win.  Rather than be offended, they should have asked what it was about, I would have told them.

Sunday and Monday – Well, we rested.  Two busy days in a row and a night in a hotel meant that we just wanted a couple of quiet days once we got home.  I worked on some paperwork yesterday, sorted through some books and magazines, and took a load to Half Price.  I am setting aside several books that I think you guys might be interested in and will have an on-line garage sale in a few weeks.

I sure hope everyone had a great weekend.  The weather, here, was fantastic for once.  The temps were in the low 70’s, the skies were clear and the humidity was low.  It was lovely to be outside.

It’s been two weeks since I was at the Indiana State Fair.  Since I sweltered through the Sheep to Shawl event, along with several thousand fellow fair-goers, the weather here in Indiana has changed for the better.  This week we’ve been waking to temps in the 50’s (ahhh……) and the highs in the 70’s.  It’ll be hot again over the weekend, then just in time for the work week to start again, it’ll be lovely again.

So what do I have to show for my two weeks?  Well, I’ve finished a sock…

…started its mate…

…Warped a loom and wove a little.

I’ve gotten the laundry caught up – for now.

And I’ve gotten someone else to mow my yard that was quickly turning into a hay field.

But mostly, I have worked and slept.  For some reason, my energy level has been on the low side.  Knowing what I’ve got coming up in the next two and a half months, it’s just conserving energy, probably.

For example, tomorrow, a friend and I will be going to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, to the second largest genealogical library in the United States for a day of research.  I have been researching my family’s history since I was 16 when my grandmother gave me her mother’s family history notes for a school project.  During this time, I have found out that I have nearly every western European country in my blood-line along with Jewish, African and Cherokee Indian.  Our wonderful president joked that he was a “mutt.”  Well, let me tell you, he ain’t got nuthin’ on me, folks.

Then, on Sunday, I’ll be heading back to Greensburg to help Kristy rewarp her loom for her next set of dishtowels as well as to check out her first batch in person.  I enjoy working with her and her husband, David, and it will be a fun day.

Of course, I’ll take pictures.

Then on Labor Day weekend, Scott and I will be at Graphic Engagement  at Purdue University on Friday as part of the round-table discussion from 3 until 4:30.  Saturday, we’ll be at Lexpo meeting all our Johnny Saturn fans, which is always fun.  Sunday, Sandy will be over for a T-shirt dyeing session, and Monday, Labor Day itself, I’ll be washing out those T-shirts and cleaning house.

And the weekend after that?  Sandy and I are going to Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival!!!  We’ll drive up Friday night, shop ‘til we drop all day Saturday, then drive home on Sunday.  I cannot wait!  My LYS will have a booth there, so if you are at the Wisconsin fair that weekend, stop by The Trading Post for Fiber Arts’ booth.  Susan always has tons of the coolest spinning fibers and yarns around.

And, yes, I’ll take pictures. 

The yarn I mentioned and showed you in this post is finally on the loom.

I love autumn colors and this range is particularly attractive to me.  My winter coat is close to the burgandy color in this, so it ought to go well with it this winter.  And if it doesn’t – too bad because it’s MINE!

Because this colorway gradually shifts from one color to the next in sequence, it was important that I keep track of the order I wound off the bobbins.

I am really looking forward to seeing how the colors shift while I am weaving it.  In some areas the patterns will show up very well and in then it should gradually sift until the pattern shows up in other areas while some all but disappear. 

This illustrates what I mean.  The weft color blends in very well on the right side of the loom, but shows up very well against the warp on the left side.  As I weave, these colors will shift, blend, and pop in different areas.  So far I am enjoying the weaving of this very much, even if it is just on my small 4-harness table-top loom. 

Actually, it is nice to be able to warp a loom and get to weave on it myself for once.  It has been over a year since I have had the chance to do this – since last year’s Weaver’s Swap fabric.  I’m a little rusty and since I have lots of weaving planned for this winter, this little scarf project is just what I need to get my weaving chops back in gear.

Other than getting this project started this morning, I have done little else this weekend.  Well, I am doing laundry, but since that seems to be a never-ending chore, it doesn’t count.  I am ALWAYS doing laundry.

This is my last free weekend until the middle of November, so I am taking full advantage of it.  We rewatched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Friday night, watched Shrek the Third last night and there has been mention of rewatching The Producers tonight.  Ahhh…  This is the life.  Now if I could get someone to mow my yard, cook my supper and finish my laundry for me.

Unfortunately this post is not about cooking food, but cooking people!  Goodness, gracious it’s HOT here in central Indiana.  The heat index is 99 degrees here and the humidity has dropped to 59% (from a high of 93% this morning at 6).  I usually walk each morning from 7 until 7:30 with another lady in my building at work, but not this morning.  There was a heat advisory out this morning and I heeded it.

So, what am I working at the moment?  Yup!  Wool! 

Here is where I am at on the newest pair of socks.  I love this colorway and am going to enjoy them this winter.

And here is the warp for a scarf I am getting ready to weave.  This yarn is Kauni and Susan, my LYS owner, picked it up while on a trip to Denmark.  Each ball is marked with a code for the color, but the balls don’t look alike because each is started at a different part of the color sequence.  While the yarn I am using as the warp started at a lovely copper color, the weft yarn starts at the oak-brown color, then goes through the color sequence from there.  This ought to be a very pretty and interesting scarf when I am done. 

And I have some lovely copper beads that I intend to use on the fringe to dress it up a bit.  If luck is on my side, I hope to get it woven off in the next week, then I’ll do the fringe, wet finish it, then steam press it with my press.  I think it will be perfect for the autumn, and I wear these colors quite a bit.

I’m hoping that working with these items for the cooler weather will either cool me off by thinking of crisp, cool autumn mornings, or will give ol’ Ma Nature a hint to give us a bit of a break.

Remember my mentioning last night about the 15 bags of fleeces that Sandy and I bought?  Well, today it really hit home that I have to wash these fleeces before I can dye and card them into light, fluffy and colorful batts.

So I worked it out on a blank calendar and figured out that most weekends I can wash two fleeces (one per day) using my tried and true method of the two 2.5 bushel tubs, two round laundry baskets, Orvus paste and lots of hot, hot water.  Then Roxie said she washes hers in her top-loading washer and it struck me that I can wash TWO fleeces a day – one in the tubs and one soaking and spinning in the washing machine.  How cool is that?

Also, I saw on someone else’s blog these wonderful items:

I showed them to Sandy and we immediately found them on sale for half price with free shipping and ordered three of them (two for me to dry fleeces on and one for her to dry her clothes on).   I would bet someone one of these fleeces that no one at Hamilton Beach considered using these to dry wet sheep fleeces.

So, that means I can wash FOUR fleeces in a two-day-at-home weekend.  And since I have at least 40 of them to wash (not counting the 7 I already had), this is a good thing.

Scott’s comment?  “We will be the envy of all those people who like the smell of wet wool.” 

Gosh, I love my husband!!!

Sandy and I went on a little road trip today.  We drove 2 and a half hours each direction to look at fleeces.  These fleeces were Corriedale, Cormo, a few North Country (all white) and Border Leicester (black).  There were 15 large garbage bags of fleeces, most with more than one fleece inside.   And this was after she had discarded the worst parts of them.

We dove our hands deep into the middle of each bag, looking at the crimp, cleanliness (monkey-grooming fleeces is not a favorite pastime with us), testing for fiber strength, feeling the touchability of each and discussing each with the owner of the sheep whose 2010 fleeces were in these bags.  This person, Denise Rackley of Clearfield Stockdogs raises champion Border Collies and uses the said sheep to train them with.  She doesn’t spin or anything (although she said she used to crochet), and, while she is interested in learning both spinning and weaving, she currently has no use for the fleeces from her sheep.

Well, Sandy and I do, and these turned out to be really nice fleeces.  So we loaded the bags up (did I mention there were 15 large trash bags of fleeces) into the back of Bettie and brought them home.  We rebagged them (double) and put them into quarantine for the time being until this fall when we will begin taking them out, one by one, and washing them.  A few we will send off for processing, a few might get commercially spun into yarn, but most of them will be dyed by us and prepared for spinners by us for the fiber show season next year.  Yes, we have a LOT of work ahead of us, but we couldn’t turn them down at the price offered to us for all of them.

Now my car smells like sheep.  Oh well.  It’s a small price to pay to play with wool and make something pretty for spinners to make something else pretty out of.  And you know, I like the smell of sheep.  I like the smell of horses more, but sheep have a nice, lanoline odor that is pleasant.  Of course 15 large trash bags of them shoved into a car on an 85 degree day did make it a bit overwhelming on the way home.

And did I mention there are 15 large garbage bags of fleeces?  Denise mentioned that she has 40 ewes.  That should make 40 fleeces, right?  What are Sandy and I getting outselves into?

Finally!  I have finished the Sleepy Hollow socks by Ocean Wind Knits.  The first sock took me 4 months to knit and the second one I was able to speed along and get them done in half the time of the first.  Still, it took 2 months.  This is not the pattern’s fault, but my doing.  I am not a lace knitter by any stretch of the imagination, but this was such a pretty pattern that I went out on a limb and decided I was willing to grit my teeth long enough to knit these socks with a lace pattern.

They aren’t perfect, but more than wearable, so after having finished the last kitchner stitches yesterday at lunch, I am wearing them today to work.

Needless to say, my current sock project is a simple ribbing pattern that I can take anywhere and not have to “hush” people as I knit so I don’t lose my place.  Once I get further along on them (say past the heel), I’ll show them to you, but they are just an inch or so longer than the last time you saw them.

Have a great day!!!

Sometimes left-overs are great!  When I finished plying the green and navy together for Blackwatch, I had some of the navy singles left over.  When I finished plying Blerry Slushie, I had some of the red singles left over.  Well, not one to let anything go to waste, I decided to ply the remaining navy and red together and see what I would get.

And this is what I got!  4.7 ounces of 50% merino and 50% fine wool in a sock weight yarn.  I named it Brambleberry because it looks like the fruit, both partially ripe and fully ripe, on my wild bramble bushes. 

But I am sorry, this is not for sale.  I’ve been wanting to knit some fingerless mitts for Scott to keep his hands warm in the winter, but also keep his fingers free for drawing, inking and using the computer.  I think this ought to do the trick nicely!

It has cooled off here for a brief time with the highs in the lower 80’s but the hummidity has abated a bit. Yesterday was actually rather nice, if still a little too warm for my tastes, outside.  My morning walking partner loves summer and the hot temperatures, but even she admitted that she is ready for autumn.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, even though I am working on the taxes, I am also spinning.  Last night, I finished plying, soaking and hanging some yarn that I really enjoyed spinning.  This is such a nice, soft wool yarn!

So, this morning after it was all dry, I weighed it.  8.1 ounces of fingering weight goodness here!  I’ll get it measureed this weekend to see how many yards it is, but I thought you’d enjoy seeing it before it goes into the store.

I named it Berry Slushie because it is miserably hot here and this looks like those wonderful concoctions made of ice and syrup.  Just seeing this cools me off.

Isn’t it pretty?

Tomorrow I am beginning another weaving class.  This one is different though.  Since only one student signed up, I am driving to her house and teaching her how to weave on my new little loom (more about this tomorrow), then we will warp up and she will weave her main project on her very own loom!  I don’t know who is more excited about this, me or her.

And since she can continue weaving after the class is over, we decided to warp the loom up for dishtowels rather than a scarf.  I’m thinking about having her put on enough warp for 4-5 dishtowels so she can weave each one differently, but still use a straight 1-2-3-4 threading. 

So, I guess, rahter than this being a workshop, it’s more like an intensive private lesson weekend.  Don’t worry.  I’ll get lots of pictures for you to see.

As you know by now, Sandy and I have delved into te realm of dyeing our own T-shirts for sale.  Since we have started this, we have had many, many orders both far and near.  Below are two pictures of happy customers and you can see Roxie here, gladly modeling the shirt we made for her.

Mary could hardly wait to get her shirt and showed up before I could get its picture taken for my archives.  It is because of her that I thought you might want to see pictures of some of the shirts we have sold.

Colette loved her shirt so well, that she ordered ones just like it for her mother, daughters and granddaughter and they are getting a 4 generation portrait taken in their matching shirts.

So, if you have a family gathering, company picnic, Little League or soccer team and need matching shirts, please email me and ask.  This is something we are more than happy to do for you.

This shirt is for a young lady who saw the Pinwheel Fireworks that Sandy made a few weeks ago and wanted one similar to it.

I wish I had thought to take pictures of some of the others, but I will from now on. 

We also dyed several extra shirts to put in the store for you to purchase.  Check out the following!

X-Ray Dyed T-shirt
This shirt is a men's size small and is a Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight T-shirt, making it a heavier weight shirt that will last for many years. I call it "X-Ray" because of its bright pattern with black "ribs" and a red "heart".
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

Caribbean Beach
This is a men's size large shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight making it a a nice shirt that will last for many years. It's bright yellow under bright turquoise and green coloring reminds me of sunny skies and a beach.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

Sailor's Delight
This is a men's size small shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. I took the name from the old saying "Red sky at night, Sailor's delight" because it reminds me of the sun setting on a lovely day with the promise of the same tomorrow.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

Sprucey Girl - SOLD
This is a men's size medium shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. The spruce and hot pink colors together look awesome.
Price: $17.00

Day's End Medium
This is a men's size medium shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. This is called Day's End because it was dyed using the remaining dyes available at the end of a very long day of Dyeing. It has a mate in size large if you need matching shirts with another person.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

Day's End Large
This is a men's size large shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. This is called Day's End because it was dyed using the remaining dyes available at the end of a very long day of Dyeing. It has a mate in size medium if you need matching shirts with another person.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

Pink Zebra
This is a men's size XX-Large in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. My first impression when I pulled this from the dryer is that it looked like it had Zebra stripes - in hot pink.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $19.00

Caribbean Waves
This is a men's size extra-large shirt in Fruit of the Loom 6.1 ounce weight. I don't know why, but whenever I see this bright blue and yellow together, I immediately think of the Caribbean - all sunshine and blue skies mirroring the beaches and water below.
Available Qty: 1
Price: $17.00

And, beginning today through the end of July, we are offering free shipping on all orders over $100, so take advantage of this offer while the getting is good!

If you are looking for a custom-made shirt in your choice of colors and design, please email me.  We will even email you a proof photo of the shirt before shipping it to you to make sure it meets your expectations.  Just remember, we might not be able to match some of the designs exactly, but we will do our best to come as close as we can.  Also, if you want either Woman of Peace, Man of Peace or the Latin I Spin, I Weave, I Dye (in solid colors) on your shirt, just let me know by email when you place your order and I will add this to your shirt for free.

Now, to show you a couple of other designs we did over the weekend.

Thanks for letting me brag and jabber on about these.  Now go and buy a few!