Felt Like Knitting

Rising Fawn Fiber Studio

The other day I mentioned that we stopped by a place called Rising Fawn Fiber Studio.  (The owner, Brenda McKaig, said that she is working on changing her website.  It appears to be up, but not quite functional yet.)  It was a really cute place, but unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the house or the sheep. 

From the street, the first thing you see of Rising Fawn Fiber Studio is the pasture.  When we drove by the first day, the sheep were in the pasture.  On the day we stopped in, I didn't see them.  But, I sure heard them when we got close to the house!  They were by the fence and were talking to us.  Brenda said they think they should have feed from anybody that comes up the sidewalk.  Between the house and the pasture is a picket fence with a picnic table on the other side.  It looked like an inviting place to watch the sheep, but I was on a mission for yarn.

The sidewalk is flanked by hostas and other plants and leads to a cute little house with a nice front porch.  As I walked into the front room, I thought "This is my kind of yarn store!"  The room was filled with yarn, but not so much that it was hard to see everything.  It wasn't too big, it wasn't too small, it was just right.  :)  There were several kinds of wool and cotton from which to choose plus there was a nice variety of Rising Fawn Fiber yarns from which to choose. 

And there wasn't just yarn.  Brenda had a nice selection of books, wool wash, needles, decorative sheep, needle felting kits, various weaving looms - the list goes on.  Seriously, there was something for almost every fiber enthusiast. 

The second room contained a weaving loom, spinning wheel, and the computer/cash register.  (Bring cash or your checkbook because credit cards aren't accepted.)  I also noticed a basket of clearance yarn, but my wallet was already in serious trouble, so I didn't give in and look.

                         

I bought the Lamb's Pride for a felted bag.  And I bought the cute little needle felting kit because I've really been wanting to try that.  I'm also going to try the wool wash because it was much cheaper than Eucalan.  My favorite part of all is the yarn spun and dyed by Brenda.  It's called Fawn Silks and has 10% silk/20% mohair/70% wool.  I love it!  (The colors aren't accurate in the first picture and they are too dark in the second.)  I love the subtle way the blue changes and how it is flecked with bits of green.  It reminds me of ocean water.  I'm knitting it into the Spiral Rib Bag from One Skein.  I'm really enjoying this project!

Hours are by appointment and Brenda offers classes, Summer Spin-in Saturdays (6/9, 7/14, 8/25), and Stay N Stitch Tuesdays (6/12, 6/26, 7/17, 7/31).  And there will be a Shearing Day Fest in November.

I suppose this might seem like an advertisement, but I just really enjoyed my visit to this studio.  One hour wasn't enough and I hope to go back again.  But, if I don't make it, Brenda does ship yarn!  :)

7 (or 8) random facts

While I was off battling scorpions, Once Upon a Time... and Yarn~Knit~Read~Lit tagged me for the 7 (or 8) random facts meme.  Memes can be fun, so here we go...

1)  I've been mauled by a cougar.  (Actually I can only say this if I use the third part of the definition, which is "to handle roughly.")  About 20+ years ago, we were visiting friends that had a cougar named Thor.  I don't know whether Thor liked or disliked me, but he wanted to get a closer look.  Before I knew it, his front paws were on my shoulders, his back paws were around my waist and his open mouth was over my face.  It all happened so quickly that I never even had a chance to be scared.  There were only a few scratches on my face and I was just left with a good story to tell.

2)  My feet grew half a shoe size when I was pregnant with my daughter and they never went back down.  I now wear size 9.5 shoes.  Fortunately, a lot of people must have larger feet these days because size 9.5 shoes aren't as hard to find as they used to be.

3)  I'm not fond of breakfast food.  I prefer eating leftovers for breakfast.  Chinese food and pizza are both good choices, but almost any leftover will do.

4)  I play the guitar.  (If you've been reading my blog for a while, you already know this.)  Usually I play my electric guitar in our church's band, but I love playing my acoustic, too.  My musical "career" started with playing the violin in 4th - 9th grades.

5)  I have a small teapot collection of teapots made in England (and one from the US).  I also have a small thimble collection, and a small stamp collection from my youth.  Unfortunately, I also have a rather large junk collection.  :)

6)  I love Jane Austen books and movies.  When I watch A&E's Pride and Prejudice, I have to watch it in one sitting.  That reminds me, I also have a small collection of antique Jane Austen books that I bought when I was in England.

7)  I was a vegetarian, but I guess I can't say that anymore.  I started eating fish because there wasn't much to order when I went out to eat.  And lately I've started eating chicken strips again.  (I wasn't feeling great and thought I might need more meat protein.)  I still can't stomach the idea of eating a steak or a hamburger.  For me to be able to eat something, it can't look too much like meat.  :)  I still really prefer to not eat meat.  (I learned the other day that if you order a meatless taco at Taco Bell, they serve it to you with beans.  Why did I not ever think to check on that?!  I could have been eating bean tacos for years.  Yum!)

8)  When I was little, I decided to run away from home.  (I was upset that my brother was allowed to help in the garden while I had to stay inside to watch my youngest brothers.)  So, I packed everything I owned into about 6 paper grocery bags.  I carried bags, two by two, to the front porch.  I would have had to run away three times to make it with all my stuff.

The fine print is below.  I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm behind on my blog reading and don't know who has already been tagged.  But it's a lot of fun reading about other people, so play along if you haven't already!

Here are the rules:
Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write in their blogs the 7 facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog.

And tomorrow I'll post about the yarn shop I visited.  I still haven't taken photos of the yarn!

One with nature...until the scorpions show up

My family and I got away earlier this week for a few days to Cloudland Canyon State Park in northwest Georgia.  It was a truly beautiful place, but it was also a scary place.  There was nothing but little pieces of wooden fence to hold us back from the edge of a very deep canyon.  (I think I come by this fear naturally.  One of my memories of visiting Niagara Falls is of my mom telling us to "Get away from the edge!"  I remember thinking that there was this metal fence to keep us from falling in.  Now the tables are turned and I can picture all kinds of things going wrong!)

              

These pictures don't really convey the splendor of this part of God's creation.  We did some hiking and went down into the canyon to see the two waterfalls.  The hike included 600 stair steps, which were fine on the way down.  While going back up, my legs felt like jelly!

Yesterday we visited Chickamauga Battlefield, a site from the Civil War.  It reminded me of Vicksburg (which I visited when I was young) because of the driving tour of the battlefield and the monuments.  Seeing these battlefields fills me with reverence for the people involved and sadness for the lives that were lost.  We still have brave men and women defending our country today and I am grateful for them and the sacrifices they and their families make.

This morning, we had a little visitor.  I turned on the bathroom light and noticed this uninvited guest.  He didn't move for more than 45 minutes and seemed dead.  Nope.  Later he decided to stretch his legs.  Thanks to S, he's safely outside, alive to frighten another camper.  (I'm just glad I didn't get closer to get the picture!)

One of my favorite parts of the trip was a visit to a fiber studio that is located near the park:  Rising Fawn Farm.  (Unfortunately, the website isn't set up yet.)  Tomorrow, I'll write about it and show pictures of my purchases.  It was a great place!

I think I can, I think I can

                              

Remember The Little Engine That Could?  This engine is faced with a tough task and keeps telling himself that he can do it.  I feel the same way about socks.  Even though I've tried and frogged many times, I know I can do this. 

But the road has been fraught with hurdles.  Most of these have been with getting the socks to go over my daughter's heel or to fit on my calf.  (E requested a pair of socks, which is what started me on this adventure.  Then I thought I should knit a pair for myself first, to work out the quirks.  I think I've started and stopped at least two pairs for each of us.)  Plus, I just wasn't enjoying the knitting when I picked up my socks.

I've discovered a problem - I was using the wrong needles.  The two circular method is great, but there aren't wooden circular needles small enough for sock knitting.  The Addi Turbos are terrific needles, but I'm just not a metal needle kind of person, I guess.  I poked holes in my fingers whenever I use them for a while!  So, I bought a set of Brittany birch dpns (size 0) and tried those.  This is so much better for me than using the metal needles!

Why did I get size 0 needles?  First, that's all the store had in stock.  Second, I must be a loose knitter because I always have to go down at least one needle size for patterns.  So I figured that size 0 would work when the yarn label called for size 1 needles.  (I'm planning on buying 1s, 2s, and maybe 3s.)

And the 0s work fine for me, but there's a problem.  The stitches are so small that you can't see the knitting pattern in the socks.  I'm using the garter rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.  It is a subtle pattern, but I'd like to be able to see it a bit more.  The needle in the second picture is pointing to the place the pattern starts.  Do you think I'll see more of it once I've knitted more on the sock?  And I'm wondering just how long it's going to take me to knit two socks on size 0 needles.

So, here's my final question for all of you wonderful sock knitters out there:  Am I expecting my first pair of socks to be too perfect?  Should I just get the socks done then apply what I learn to my second pair of socks?  Or should I rip them out, buy larger needles, and start over?

Adjusting

Thanks for everyone's supportive comments about my last day.  Monday and Tuesday were standardized testing days for E, and I stayed at school to help with paperwork.  So today felt like my first real day off.  I like the break so far.  :)

Look what Sheepish Annie sent me:  sheep!  Annie is an educator and has helped me with advice many times.  She's always encouraging and I've really appreciated her help.  Annie sent this as an "early retirement" gift.  Isn't that nice?!  The lovely pin and beautiful stitch markers came from Goose Pond and they're so nice.  Thank you so very much, Annie!!!

                                    

And here are the peony pictures I wanted to post.  The scent of the flowers is so nice, especially from the darker blooms.  This is the first year that particular plant has bloomed.  This has been a good year for peonies here!

One last bit of news before I close...I won Rachel's contest!  Her contest was to guess which two objects she had recently finished.  My name was randomly selected from the people with the correct guess.  Check out her lovely finished objects - they're beautiful!  And the prize is some hand spun, hand dyed sock yarn, made by Rachel to the winner's color specifications.  Isn't that a cool, cool prize?  She's a talented lady.

Oops, another bit of info.  Speaking of other talented ladies, Katie recently made some test Patchfolios for Linda at Craft Apple Creations.  I really like this idea and ordered the pattern today.  I can't wait to make my own and maybe some for Christmas presents.  (Oh, that reminds me.  In case anyone is keeping track, I'm changing my sidebar goals to reflect knitting and sewing projects for Christmas.  I have a felted sweater that I'm going to cut and sew into little stocking ornaments.  That's officially not really knitting, so I need to change the goal a tiny bit.)

Okay, I think that's it for now.  Tomorrow's post will include me asking for a little sock knitting advice.  :)

   

Mixed emotions

Well, it's finally here, the day I've been waiting for...my last day of classes is tomorrow.  You know, even though it will be a relief to not have grading, lesson plans, etc., I think I'm going to miss teaching.  I've started thinking about the students and how great they are.  I won't get to see them anymore.  The 10th graders will become 11th graders then 12th graders and I'll miss seeing that happen.  Next fall, my 6th graders will change into grown-up 7th graders and my 7th graders will be 8th graders starting to take high school classes.  And I won't get to talk with the great teachers and administrators unless I pop in for lunch.  But remembering that I've made the right decision for me and my family should help get me through these emotions.

Tonight was my last knitting get together with Restless Knitter.  She'll be on her way to California soon.  I'm sad for me, but happy for her.  RK gave me a beautiful butterfly washcloth that she knitted.  I love it!  Thank you, RK!  I'll miss you!

I hope you all have a terrific weekend!

Knitting a garden

This morning, I took some knitting outside with me while the dog toured the yard.  I happened to notice that my project looked very much like the lamb's ears nearby.  So, I decided to post a garden of knitting...

And every garden needs some bees!  Two of my students gave me this delicious gift:

Tomorrow my first peony bloom should be bursting open.  Tonight it was open enough that I was able to smell its sweet scent.  I hope to have a photo to share of this lovely flower.

What are you knitting that looks at home in your garden?  Show some pictures on your blog so we can all see!

"It's just embarrassing to have a young mom that's a knitter!"

"Only old ladies are supposed to knit...and you're young!"  For some reason, my daughter thinks that only older people knit.  What?!  It's strange that she thinks that since I'm the only person she usually sees knit.  Thank goodness she thinks I'm still young.

We were driving some of her friends home from school today and everyone was discussing new movies.  I (jokingly) said that someone should make a movie about knitting.  E flicked me on the leg, but everyone else laughed.  Then we had a discussion about how only one ticket would be sold and maybe the movie would be better if it was a horror movie with knitting injuries.  I had no clue that she was embarrassed until we dropped her friends off.  She was a bit surprised when I let her know that her math teacher knits, too.

Today the teachers were treated to a lovely luncheon at school.  Parents brought in all kinds of yummy food.  One of my favorite things was a casserole with stuffing on the bottom, pieces of chicken on the top, and some kind of creamy sauce on top.  Tasty!  I've recently started eating chicken once in a while to make sure I'm getting enough protein.  But, I can only stand to eat it when it's hidden in sauce like this or behind some batter.  Not the healthiest way to eat chicken, I know!

Speaking of school - I only have one more week!  Standardized testing is the week after that, but I didn't sign up to help with it.  My final day will be May 18 when we have our end-of-year ceremony.  I will miss the students and other teachers, but I won't miss grading papers and making lesson plans.

Soon I will have some knitting progress to show on the lace top.  I only have a few more rows to go and the first lace panel will be done.  Since I already have part of the back knit, I think I will join the lace panel to the back to see how it looks.  If I don't like it, I will put the stitches back on the needles and start knitting the rest of the back from there.  This probably doesn't make much sense, but Katie will know what I mean since she's already knit the back for her top.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

My trip to Asia

I mentioned that I'd share my Special Swap package with you.  Michelle took me on a trip to Asia!  Look what she sent!

                                     

There is so much yummy food in this package!  Candy (3 kinds!), lychee juice, tea, a cake, chocolate covered biscuit sticks, and rice.  We've really been enjoying it!  Plus, Michelle gave me some beautiful chopsticks and a holder.  And check out the colorful fish windsock.  It's going to hang out in my garden as artwork.  Do you see the Japanese pot scrubber Michelle made for me?  It's the coolest thing and will definitely come in handy.  It's sitting on top of a very nice note from Michelle and some lovely origami paper that will be fun to use.

The yarn and dishcloth/washcloth pattern are great!  The yarn is so soft and the pattern is easy to memorize - fun!  And speaking of fun, look at the Craft: magazine!  I told Michelle that I've been so tempted by those magazines at the store, but I've never given in and bought one.  There is a knitted kimono (with pattern) inside that is beautiful!

I took close-ups of two things that are very unique and wonderful.  (Click on the photo for a closer look.)

                                       

Isn't this cell phone holder adorable?!  It's large enough that it could also hold some tissues or a lipstick.  I'm tired of carrying my phone around in my pocket, so this will get used right away!  And I love the necklace, too.  Michelle says the symbols mean "good fortune."  I am excited to have a new and interesting necklace to wear!

For me, the best part of swapping is getting to make a new friend.  I've really enjoyed getting to know Michelle through our e-mails and blogs and I'm happy that Lynne paired us up.  Thanks, Michelle, for a wonderful visit to Asia!  And thanks, Lynne, for another exciting swap with a great partner!

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

1.  My swap partner, Michelle, and I opened our Special Swap packages today.  I received the most wonderful package and will blog all about it tomorrow.  If you haven't read Michelle's blog, you should stop in for a bit.  She always has clever ideas there - like her fried egg pin cushion!  (Michelle, thanks so much for the great package!  I really love it!)

2.  I found out this week that my 25th high school reunion is this summer.  I may not get to go, but I'm helping track down addresses.  Just in case I do get to go, I've decided to divest myself of a few pounds.  (I was shocked to learn that it has indeed been 25 years since graduation.  I was appalled to count up the 45 pounds I've gained since then!!!)  The reunion is the kick in the behind that I need to lose weight.

3.  Just to be sure there's a bit of knitting on the blog, here are a couple of charity hats.  The details will be in my photo album when I upload the pictures.  The purple/green multi-colored yarn was originally going to be trim on a green felted bag.  Not sure what I was thinking there.  I even had enough to make a matching scarf.  I'm glad I didn't proceed as planned!  Both hats are extremely soft.

4.  Trek has a goal and she needs our help.  Recently, she dreamed that she had 145 comments on a blog post.  She has decided to try to reach this milestone in "real life" and has created a contest to help.  To participate, go to her blog post and leave a comment with a fun summer activity for her to do with her daughter.  The deadline is June 1 and she'll announce the prizes later.

5.  My Interweave Knits came today.  And Michelle gave me a copy of Craft: magazine.  I'm a happy camper and I plan on getting comfy for some reading.