To all the fiber friends out there….

Just a small note to let all of you guys out there know that I love and appreciate you.  I stumbled on this whole new world quite by accident one day, and I have never looked back.  Each of you (and ALL of you know who you are) have been kind and wonderful to me in all of your own fabulous and unique ways.   I just wanted all of you to give yourselves a hug and a pat on the back for that.  I have never met such a group of interesting and varied people, but with such kindness in their hearts.You guys are all so great. Just wanted to say Thank You.

Okay, tell me to shut up and stop this mushy shit and do something else!

The Not So Evil Stepmother.

I will admit, being a step-parent is not an easy thing to be. It can be awkward, frustrating, and just plain difficult. For everyone involved.   BUT- there are days when life is a bowl of cherries and it is a piece of cake.  My Fourth of July Holiday may not have been flags and banners, but i feel we captured the spirit of the day by just enjoying each other’s company. Here’s how it went:

Hmmm….the water looks a little cold….

Okay – I’ll try it first…

This isn’t so bad!!

We’re really enjoying it now…..who said it was too cold?

A good day was had by all! Hope your holiday was a happy one!

In which a well meaning compliment goes awry…

Sadly, I have been known to come down with an occasional case of foot-in-mouth disease. I suppose it is because I like to talk so much. I LOVE talking. It can get me into trouble.  Such was the case yesterday. But i guess I feel the need to explain myself.

Spinning started a little late yesterday. The whys and wherefores are insignificant. However, I must say that we were excited to get started. We walked in the door and were greeted by some brand-spankin’ new artwork on the walls. Cool! I like that. I love anything different and original, and even tho’ I am still getting to know the Grass Cup environment, I expected it to be by an artist who was local, or someone who was known to the Cafe’s proprietor. That stuff is what draws me to places. Who wants to go anywhere that has churned-out, mass produced crap on the walls? (although i have to admit, i am VERY fond of my Steinlen prints in my living room)

So - as a lover of art, a former art student, and an ex-lighting designer myself (basically a a three-dimensional, however unorthodox type of ART) I was really excited to know that the artist was on the premises, and it was her BIRTHDAY. How cool. I admit, I didn’t look particularly closely, food and spinning being the top two things in my mind at the moment, I said the first things that popped into my head. These were:  1. That painting reminds me of Jackson Pollack.  2. The artist herself may not like that idea, but i’ll say it anyways.After all, it’s STILL a compliment isn’t it? This is freaking Jackson Pollack we’re talking about here!  Apparently, that was a bad idea.

The reply i got was less than enthusiastic. “Have you ever seen Jackson Pollack? They don’t look anything like Jackson Pollack.” And. That. Was. It. Okay…. Maybe I’m taking it a little too personally. She probably didn’t mean anything by it. However, I felt like an idiot. I KNOW they don’t LOOK like Jackson Pollack. They reminded me of his work.  Most of the paintings DIDN”T look anything like Jackson Pollack’s work. After all, not many people want to roll around in paint, and they don’t consider dribbles and splashes art. But - two of her paintings DID remind me of him, and it was to those I was referring. They were large abstract-ish, textural pieces. They’re really cool, i liked them a lot. Still do.  I can visualize one piece in particular, large, dark, “swirly”, you can see the shapes of people, their faces, but they’re almost indistinct. But the memory of embarrassment lingers longer.

I still feel what i said is a compliment. Jackson Pollack isn’t a nobody. I understand all art is original, however, If someone told me my spinning technique or yarn reminded (or looked like)them of Abby Franquemont’s work, do you think i would care? (okay, maybe she is too recent of an analogy) She’s freaking awesome! Jackson Pollack was an innovator, a leader, someone who lives on, he’s in the history books, they teach about him! Speaking of, I don’t know ANYONE who has Jackson Pollack prints on THEIR walls. He is too original and cool to be mass produced. You can’t say that for many artists. (even though all their stuff is gorgeous)(and tomorrow someone will email me and tell me that they found a JP print online for $12.99) THAT is sort of the meaning I had in mind when I felt I was giving out a compliment as well.

So, I apologize for having stuck a fork in the birthday girl, so to speak, but I was only trying to tell her that I happened to like her work. I don’t actually get to tell artists that, so if I have the chance, I’ll say so. Most of the ones I’ve heard of are dead, and i’ll never get to tell them. Jackson Pollack is one of those, along with a few others. Be glad you can hear a FUBARed comment now, instead of later!

So, I am still well meaning and all, its great stuff, hopefully no one is pissed off at me for writing this.  I don’t bear a grudge, I just wanted to be understood. Sometimes you have to look for the deeper meaning in a person’s statements, just like in a work of art.

Sable Aftermath

Even tho’ I happen to love to talk, for the most part (well maybe i’ll talk a little….) I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…. We had a new place and some new people, so we really cut loose tonite and it was fun.

This is Angie…our lovely host, she lets us into her place to have our knit and spin nights…She’s  a great singer too. She probably thinks I’m crazy.

The Cult of Lendrum???

Our resident Celebrities: Coby, the Wonderful Fiber Lady, and Lisa, our Resident Knitwear Designer, respectively.  (lisa is spinning some of Coby’s roving, isn’t that neat?)

Sandy is Very Sad that Linda’s yarn balls are always bigger than hers….(refer to previous Sable post)

Karen is in Knitting heaven (goodness i forgot to ask what she was knitting!)

Okay, i’m just running out of smart-assed comments today…

Kat will hate me for this, as she just got out of work, but i like to see people enjoying the fiber goodness…

Okay guys, that’s it for now! Ta!

A Farm Visit

So, my Sunday plans were wrecked by a friend’s family reunion. I couldn’t go to the Summer Solstice celebration with the girls at the Spinning Loft because I had to work. What’s a handspinner to do with the rest of her Saturday? A visit to a sheep farm! In reality, i have been wanting to do this forever. So this was a good opportunity to take advantage of it. I have been talking to those folks for a while (it turns out they know my family already, which was a strange coincidence)(that was reassuring though, i wasn’t walking into a bunch of fake psycho sheep farmers or something)

Funnily enough, I had such a nice time looking at the sheep(the kids were training the lambs for sheep shows)(that was new to me) I forgot to take pictures of everything. I did get some snapshots tho’. But not as many as I would have liked. By the way, where did i go? Windswept Farm. (isn’t that a picturesque name?) It is south of Holland, so not a far trip by any means. I have driven farther to eat dinner and come home the next day.  This is a gorgeous place you guys, with beautiful sheep and beautiful fleece and beautiful everything. Everyone is so nice as well. They are one big crafty nice family. I felt almost like i was intruding, but everyone was so welcoming, i settled right in. New people always make me nervous, but after i had been there a while, i settled right in. And they would probably hurt me (not really, but i bet they’d notice) if i forgot to mention that they specialize in Shetland Sheep.

So here is what i did manage to get:

This was Heather, she’s a vet (yay!)(cool person!) and very nice. She and the kids were training the sheep. Honestly I’m not sure how she has time to do it all:

I picked this picture because she was smiling so much, and because she looked into my camera, and she certainly knew where this was going to end up! HI!

Next, is Mike. He does the marketing and selling for the farm. I think he is the general all around handyman and farmer dude for the place too. (they have a John Deere in their garage my dad would kill for) He is the guy that built the fleece room that Lisa is totally in love with. He also has this woodshop that would make my husband drool all over. He would think he had died and gone to heaven.

Next, are the two girls, Samantha and Alex (my neices names too!)  I think Sam is older and Alex is younger, but i could be wrong. These kids are cool though. Photography and needle felting. Awesome. When i was their age all i did was read books and walk around with a pair of headphones strapped to my head.

The only kid I did miss was Joseph. But, even though he is all cool with sheep and stuff, given his age, (only a year older than my stepson) I think he is more comfortable with the camera out of his face. I might get him next time though, Watch Out!

Ok. An added bonus: I got to take home some wool. Not just any wool, Raw Wool. Cool. I helped go through some skirtings and sorted out the usable pieces of what they call britch. It is not as soft and fuzzy as the rest of the sheep so it is usually removed from the fleece. (to be more specific though it is literally sheep butt-hair or fur or wool or whatever) However it is usable (though more dirty and coarse) and i am totally geeked to have it. Better to practice with than screwing up a really nice fleece if you don’t know what you are doing.  Although, i must say, i was so fascinated with the raw wool that i don’t really know how much help I was. It was something i have never had my hands in before and therefore, is fascinating. Here’s what i got:

IS THAT COOL OR WHAT?  So today i set to work “scouring” the wool. This involves (especially with pooey dirty britch) several soakings in hot water and soap. After (and this is making a long story short here) that is finished i spun it out in the washer and set it out to dry. I fervently prayed that I did not mange to felt this stuff.

Want to see some hot,soapy,dirty,wet wool? I bet you do.

Okay so its more like hot, soapy dirty water. And this was after the second washing. (i am so going to appreciate the first big nice fuzzy fleece i buy from them)

The recommended soap I used. This stuff smells great. I am seriously considering using this for my laundry soap too.

I used a 5 gallon bucket for this, but next time i think i am going to bust out the washtubs i have i my shed. They might work better. Hey! They could work for dyeing too! Cool!

This is what I ended up with:

All clean! I got a dog comb, and while a little matted or tangled ( i blame myself) they comb up nicely. This will be oh so fun to spin.

They were nice enough to let me take home a sample of already processed roving, which spun up (VERY easily i might add, really really) into this:

So all in all, what could have been a really boring weekend was really fun! My hands are drier than desert, but i am so happy. I only wish my Mr. Fixit could have been with me. Maybe next time. He would have had so much fun! I’m sure right now he is thinking Yeah, Sure. But really, He could totally dig it. I know I did.

Thanks so much you guys! Hope to see you at spinning tomorrow!

 

Does any of this HAVE a point?

Yes. I’m asking, what do YOU think? Quite honestly if you don’t think so, I don’t care. The point of this blog and any other post is exactly stated AND inferred.  It’s up at the top…yep, take a look, up there….Hmmm….what’s at the top of the page? Oh yeah, Gibbs knits and spins. Wow. Earth shattering. I just realized….i write about my knitting, or my spinning, or WHATEVER ELSE I DARN WELL PLEASE! That’s the point of MY blog. How about yours? Personally, its here for the enjoyment of me and my friends and anyone else who reads it, and if you don’t like it,that’s too bad. With friends and acquaintances spread all over the state, country or possibly world (i can’t keep up 24/7/365, someone may have left the country, i don’t know) i just keep this here so everyone can take a look, find out what’s going on, and maybe relax while ther’re reading this. I find blogs i like and that are interesting, I bookmark them and come back day after day. Some make me laugh, i learn stuff from others and i find out what my friends are doing sometimes.  That’s what i DO to enjoy myself for maybe 15 minutes of every day. That’s my point. What’s yours?

Okay, okay, so before you ask who’s wearing the crabby pants today, i’ll stop.  Yeah, kind of grumpy. Had a bad week. Been real busy. Shouldn’t be doing this, should be doing something useful like, cleaning or something, but the house’ll still be a mess when i get up from the keyboard.  Hopefully, after getting up at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow and saturday, i’ll have some fun.  I DO get to play with fiber this weekend, so that’ll be fun. I may see a friend i haven’t seen in a LONG time on Sunday. We’ll see how it goes.

Hopefully, the knitting fairies will help me out, because i have NOT been able to knit anything at all in the past month (or so) I feel useless. I am frogging the second Field of FLowers sock that i am knitting for mom because somewhere before i knitted the heel flap i screwed up hopelessly and can’t figure it out and i do NOT feel like “reverse knitting” for umpteen rows, it will just be faster and much more pleasant to RIP IT OUT and start over.  I started another sock in the meantime only to frog THAT, because somewhere in there (and it is a SIMPLE pattern too)i goofed only like 10 rows into the pattern. We’re not even going to mention the lace ribbon scarf…..(oops i guess i did)

Spinning is okay. I just want to MAKE something other than yarn right now, i want to USE my yarn. bleh. Did finish some pretty stuff on Monday night. Have to set the twist yet. Mom liked it (she is my biggest fan when it comes to my knitting and spinning, she doesn’t do it, but likes the fringe benefits of having a crafty daughter) so maybe will have to find a use for it.

The cat is mad at me.  After having squeezed her bladder umpteen amount of times(trying to see if it was full to get a cystocentesis), shoved lactated ringers solution under her skin to make her pee (i brought in a urine sample that was too old to be accurate too), i FINALLY got a urine sample (and i was SURE she was FINE) she has calcium oxalate crystals and rods and cocci in her urine. Damn. So this means ANOTHER special food when one kitty already has HER special food. My cats are my kids, but jeez, i have run the gamut on cat illnesses, really.  CRF, hyperthyroidism, lame cats, brain tumors(this is only speculation, she had seizures a lot before she died) and now pee problems. Poor kitties. Somehow i feel like it is my fault, but at least i feel better knowing that i am helping them. Well they give us a lot and usually ask for nothing (well except food) but love in return. Anyhoo, i probably have NOT been that entertaining, but i got all of it off my chest.  If you want something funny, pick one of the blogs to your right, they can do that better than me today.

Mad cats….some spinning too…

Greetings everyone! Coming at you from the bliss of having a day off in the middle of the week.  I don’t really like working on Saturdays, but it comes with an added bonus of taking my Tuesday off. So I plan to just chill out with my coffee and then get some stuff done today. On the list:laundry.Bleh.  I will probably take myself to the gym at some point for some torture and beyond that –who knows?

So I came here to the computer to blog and had to promptly remove the cat from my chair….Apparently it was warmer than her window seat and she wanted it. I stuck her in HER spot and this was the look i got…

This is an, “Excuse me, but what the HELL do you think you’re doing?” Oh well. She’ll forget as soon as i put the food bowl out.  Speaking of angry cats, i got a shot of a real happy one (not) at work. My co-worker had brought her cute calico in and if looks could kill, we’d all be fried….

That cat hates me.

On to spinning. Once again, i busted the camera out, people groaned and there was a rush of hurried primping. Ladies ran their fingers through their hair, covered up cleavage, checked their teeth, etc. I gave the camera to Kat and this is what she got:(this was a really hilarious time this week, i tell you, these women get DIRTY)

Who has the biggest balls?  Linda does!  BTW, no one falls for it when you stuff your bra, really…

Here’s Kat, i have been trying to get a good picture of her FOREVER, but its only a profile,

And i let someone get ME with the camera for a change. I am sort of hiding, but I do have my favorite baseball cap of all time on (GO TIGERS!)…

That’s my Alice in the picture with me. I love my wheel. She is an Ashford Traveller DT. Here’s what i have been spinning with her lately…Sorry shots are crappy, it was kind of dark.

This is actually Jenna’s batt from my last post. Yay! its so pretty!

What was on my wheel that night……

Coiled yarn and some spindle stuff.  Ending this for now, just to get it published. It has been drafted for almost a week!

Want AD - ;-)

WANTED: One hot bod for me to wear - must be sexy, blonde, lean and tan, with killer arms and butt. Optional accessories: I want the stamina of a person half my age, with the positive outlook and neverending optimism to go with it.  Willing to pay.

yeah, and people in hell want ice water too…..

It’s June Already! and other ramblings…..

Greetings Folks! Yay! Its JUNE! Hopefully that means its going to get WARM………..SOMEDAY!  Its kind of crappy and gloomy and damp and chilly right now, but the weatherman is predicting rain, but with highs in the 80’s. Lets hope so.  I always liked winter as a kid, and fall is still my favorite season, but I sure want the weather to get nice….er.

Anyhow, even though the weather hasn’t been everything I have wanted, I have managed to get out and enjoy it. For instance, i have taken my lovely wheel out back and spun in the sun on the deck, and while I babysat one weekend, it was so nice, the kids wanted to play outside. While the munchkins were running around, I got to sit on the grass and watch, and so managed to spin some on my spindle (which caught their attention and fascinated them to no end) and spun an eeny hank of yarn. It looks like this. After i spun the singles, i Andean plied….

  Nice and colorful. Not sure what I’m going to do with it, but i will go in the stash “destined for a bigger project, just don’t know which” for now.

As usual have been attending my SABLE group with regularity. I have gone back to kickboxing 1 night a week, but have forgone the first night of the week so i can get my fiber friends fix.  I find myself looking forward to talking with them all (be it online or otherwise) and Monday nights more and more often. They are the people who share my obsession and understand it, so who can blame me for ditching another 45 minutes of torture a week to pursue the really fun stuff? Don’t get me wrong, I want to be more fit but HEY! — this is FIBER ARTS BABY! YEAH!  So i will just drag myself to the gym to run like a hamster on an elliptical machine. (I did 3.5 miles yesterday, unbelievable)

Speaking of my fiber friends here is a shameless plug for my friends store Uniquely Yours! Creative style and Design on Etsy… she makes some great stuff, I recently bought one of her batts and it is COOL! I have spun it already and it is hanging in the shower to dry. (it is too damp outside, otherwise it would be on the clothesline - i set the twist on some yarn the other day and put it in the sun– it was dry before NOON)

Here she is with my precious darling batt, beautiful (I WANT ANOTHER ONE ALREADY!)

She really isn’t on drugs, I assure you, she is just blown away by the awesomeness of her batt, and it shows.(or she’s having an epiphany…hmmm…) She can be found on Etsy, Uniquely Yours Design. (THANK YOU GOD, I HAVE JUST LEARNED HOW TO DO A HYPERLINK! FINALLY!)

And of course we had our usual fun on Monday — here is Jenna looking absolutely normal…..

She does look extremely happy, with her new LENDRUM wheel, she has only had it for over a week or so. (in the corner you can see Lisa’s Majacraft. (it is such a pretty wheel). And of course, everybody is so happy to see me stalking them with my camera again…

Erica, (you can’t see her Joy - i wish i had one of those too, but i really want one of EVERY wheel). Here is some of her beautiful creativeness…..

You can’t see a lot of detail, but trust me, they’re Beautiful. Can you believe she MAKES these? Holy Crap. I am NOT that talented.

Here Kat will have to visualize a lovely picture of herself….I don’t want to be murdered. It was Not a Good Picture of everyone else. I prefer to be kind and flatter people if i can! 

Can’t wait for next weekend! We are having a group dyeing day of our roving. I have sorted out my goodies ahead of time and i have a pound of merino coming at me too! Yay! Wishing you all fun in life and whatever else you do! Done here for now!

 

Spring is finally here…..I think….

Yeah, maybe spring is here. I know that it has seemed like mother nature is playing with us, but maybe, just maybe this is the real thing. I hope so, cuz if not, my plants are all going to go down the drain. I spent part of my day today planting some lovely stuff in my brand new flower bed. This was fun. I have been wanting to tear up that particular chunk of yard for over a year and my hubby beat me to it. Surprised me one day after work, had it all ready for me, and some plants to boot!

I added to the plant stash (i bought some perennnials as well as the annuals he had me supplied with) so that next year I won’t be face with a big empty garden again.  So this is what i had to start with….

    Well, there are twenty odd tomato plants in there ( i like to can roma tomatoes and make pasta sauce and stuff and yes, i just like to eat canned tomatoes)and some zucchini and cucumbers and a squash or two as well, but this is what i managed to come up with when i was done planting. Keep in mind that this stuff will all grow in and the cement blocks and hoses and such will all be invisible by then. I will also have more rocks and will have mown my lawn by then too!

I did make one boo-boo tho’. I went to Lowe’s to get some fertilizer.  We have some miracle go on hand, but that is not my favorite. I really like this one stuff that comes in a red box made for tomatoes, but i can never seem to find it. But i did find one that seemed passable only to come home and get the tools out of our shed and find this:

Oops. Good thing I saved the receipt……I guess i can go return that and buy the trellis i was drooling over for my morning glories. At least Lowe’s is close enough for me to walk. I’m not wasting any gas, really.

Did some dyeing today too. As I write this, everything is in my bathroom hanging up to dry. So you are not going to see it today! you don’t need to see all that crap in my bathroom!  I may have to invest in some washfast or jacquard acid dyes. i am trying to mix stuff, and trying to embrace the fact that you may not always get what you expect, but i’m kind of tired of the candy bright colors i’m getting. i try to tone them down and i just get color barf. Maybe it just takes practice. anyhow, dyed some knitpicks bare merino sock yarn to make me some yummy socks. i love handmade socks. Here is the one i finished for mom: sorry about the terrible photography…

You can sort of see some of the detailing anyways, And yes, that is a wooden airplane skeleton hanging in the background, you are not seeing things. Dh’s crafty project.

Some pictures from my visit to mom and dad’s:

this is Ranger, the best dog in the whole world. Sorry, i think i got part of my mom’s dr. pepper bottle in the picture.

This is my dad’s wall of fame. For those of you who don’t know, my dad is retired from 34 years in the MSP. These are all awards and certificates he received during his career, and some things he received upon retirement. I helped him hang all this stuff up when i lived at home with mom and dad and it is one of my favorite things about their house.  It is definitely something to be proud of.

This is part of a stained glass lamp that my grandpa (my mom’s dad) was working on and never finished before he died. my mom had it made into a hanging, so she could put it in the window.  Another favorite thing. (i love sentimental stuff like that, its why i have stuff like that at my house too)

Well, this post is long enough, i will let you all know how memorial day turned out. Hope you have a good one and remember why we have it!