Knitwith Homespun

I got one!  Can’t believe it!  That is all.

I feel so funny.  I have to say, I should have seen this coming.  My handspuns are starting to feel like my children.  It feels very personal to have completed this yarn.  I can’t imagine doing anything but knitting with  it and keeping the end result.  I am writing this because I had originally thought that perhaps I could sell some of my handspun yarn, or even knit something with it and then sell that resulting garment.  I can’t do it.  I have finished a scarf with some handspun and I can’t give it away or let it go anywhere. I was thinking I could use some handspun for the pay-it-forward item, but I can’t can’t can’t.  Won’t it be great of me to actually do that (but not with this one)?  It would make me strong and a good person.  There was a small amount of time over the weekend, when we were camping in the cold, that I thought we had lost the scarf and I just wanted to cry.  I just don’t know how you all do it.  Perhaps in time, I will learn to let go of my handspun and give it away as gifts or something like that, but at this point, it ain’t happenin.

On to the next reason for the post.  I had talked about needing practice with my plying in the other post and I wanted to show what I was talking about.  Here, in the center of the shot to the left, you can see a section where the single is a bit underspun and then plied.  It looks a bit fuzzy.  That’s the section I am talking about.  Also, farther over on the left, you can see a completely overspun section of the ply.  it’s starting to look like a coil in that area and it’s very small, but it’s there.  It will certainly add character to my knitted item when it is done.

The next photo I am posting is to show the balance of this skein.  It was this way when I wound it off the bobbin and I am so so so pleased with it.  In this other photo, you can see the coily overspun section as well. You might be able to see it better if you click and go to flickr.  I don’t want to bore you with two big pictures of this handspun (even though I could look at it all night long).

So you can all relax now too.  There shouldn’t be any more motorcycle posts for at least a month!  Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Round 1 of the Super TT series for 2008 was January 26 and 27th in Apple Valley, CA. David, my loving husband, pre-registered for two races; Vet 40+ and Novice. Doing the math last night, we figure it has been about 6 years since he has been on a race track. He did very well and I took (approximately) 825 pictures on my camera of the practice and the race itself. My nephew, Steven, showed up with a Nikon D40 and took several hundred shots as well. Lucky for you all, I don’t have those shots yet. The results are in and he got third and second respectively in his races.Super TT is a combination of road racing and motocross. This suits our hero very well as his background is in dirt bike riding with his family and camping growing up. Road racing is a way for him to ride in a safer manner than riding on freeways and side streets. It is safer to ride on a racetrack where everyone is trained and experienced (somewhat) than to ride to work every day on a motorcycle. Cars don’t tend to look for motorcycle riders and more often than not, the accident is caused because the car driver doesn’t see the motorcyclist (excepting the inexperienced hot rodding motorcycle rider). Our hero gets his jollies on the Supermoto track comprised of half asphalt and half dirt with jumps and whoop-de-dos.

His last trip to the track was back when Bella was 2 so it has been a long time. He was a bit nervous to get out there. Supermoto has increased in popularity since the last time he rode competitively and he was a bit worried the competition would be a bit rougher than before. There were a couple of professional retired road racers and riders with much more recent racing experience in attendance. In our favor this weekend was the weather. There was a huge storm forecast for this weekend that was all over the news and we were hoping a lot of people wouldn’t show for the race due to this fact. However, the mountains tend to hold the weather back from the high desert location of the track.

Practice went well for our hero and all looked rosy. He didn’t fall and the competition wasn’t nasty. Usually, the vet class is over 30 but this vet class is over 40 so his competition is more his age than might typically be. He practiced all day Saturday and ate well Saturday night. Homemade drunken spaghetti and meatballs with whole wheat pasta, salad, and garlic bread was the menu. I love having a trailer! Camping is free at the race track. We took my nephew with us and he and Isabella and I decided to take a little walk after dinner to see if it was raining yet. While we were out there, we ran into another racer and his two teeny boys. They were both under 3 I think. They had flashlights and as it turns out, they were snipe hunting! We joined them but didn’t find any. The rain didn’t come until we were in bed (early) and was done by morning.

When we got up in the morning, the ground was wet and the sun was out. It’s this kind of morning that reminds me why we live in Southern California. The mountains look so close on a clear day. So the heat race went well and I will skip those photos for you and go straight to the race photos. One of the reasons I took so many pictures was because I rented a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. It was completely worth it and I had a great time with it! So let’s get on with the race photos:

For those that aren’t aware, you can click on any photo and be taken to Flickr where you can view these images larger or order posters for your room.
Here is a shot of the starting line. David had to participate in a heat race to determine his grid position for this race. There were supposed to be 9 guys in this race but only 7 started. He is number 30 and third from the left.
On the second turn, the front line of starters was coming around fast. Here they are leaned over so far that the rest of us would think they were gonna fall! I still think they are looking at this shot now.
Then comes the crash! Here is it and the guy next to us in the pits is right there in the thick of it. He is number 54. This guy works at the Honda dealer across the street from David and has been talking smack since he found out David was racing with him. He said the reason he didn’t do well was because he got caught in the crash fall-out. We thought it was an excuse but here’s the proof!
Throughout the race, the first four in the front were 47, 65, 148, and 30. The rest of the pack weren’t in any of my shots after the crash.
One of my favorite shots of the day was this one in the last turn of the track. This shot was during practice since the ones during the race were covered in clouds. The sun was shining but the clouds made it over the mountains and were heading our way very quickly. In some of the shots on this turn during the race, you couldn’t even tell the mountains were there.
The front pack stayed constant throughout most of the race. During the last lap, however, our hero made his move.
I was screaming and I can imagine he must have heard me. He was so close to this guy during the whole race and looked like he would pass him a few times.
But then it happened and it was over. The pass was complete and our Hero took third place in the pack. He worked for it. He earned it. He took it.
So now, with the work done, he needs to maintain the lead he earned from #148. He does this through the next couple of turns and during the final straight, he hits the gas. #148 doesn’t really have a chance to get him back. Our hero takes third place and a medal!
So the nervousness was all for naught. He raced well and his form was very nice. Not to mention how hot and sexy he looks in his helmet.
Now if you find this series fascinating, please stop by my photostream on flickr. I have a set over there called Motorcycles and there are plenty of intermediate shots of this race there.

I plied my singles and it is now clear that I need practice plying. It was a lot of fun and I think you can tell from the first couple of shots that the twist is not yet set. I am completely happy with it and very excited to do something with it. I just don’t know what. I have to go away for the weekend and take some pictures of my husband doing his thang so I am making this quick. Here is the sequence and I will post more about it Monday. Thanks for paying attention and YAY! The bottom pictures are more accurate for the color of this yarn. The top ones are different because it was dark and night when I took them.

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Stay tuned for the resulting photos. I am going to ply today and post everything together. I am stuck on the rainbow socks and I am waiting for the yarn for my summer camp scarf. Are you glad you stopped by for this little teeny update?

We are camping AGAIN this weekend cause David is racing at Grange Racetrack in the rain. As a wife, I am not all that excited to see him going down a rainy wet racetrack. However, he is very level headed and experienced so he is smart like that. I should trust his ability to not get killed, right? He is racing SuperTT which is not fast fast like road racing. Camping at the racetrack is free! Bright side…..

Ok so it was a whole week ago.  Hence the name; Whole Foods!  Ha!  Anyway, I went to the Whole Foods knit night and it was a blast.  I met a bunch of new people and really had a good time.  Somewhere between 25 and 40 people showed up.  This first picture is of Twisted Knitster, Jerry.  I have corresponded with him quite a bit by e-mail and on Ravelry but I have never met him.  He lives in my neighborhood and everything, but we already knew that before we met.  He and his wife Debbie are a lot of fun and were very nice.  Also, in this picture, you can kinda tell something interesting we noticed whilst we were there:  The table behind Jerry was all green and Jerry’s table was all purple, knitwise. We were all amused by this tidbit of information.

I also finished my scarf while I was there.  I am very excited to have finished it and even got to wear it, however, I was kinda sad that it’s done.  This is my first completed project from my best handspun yarn.  I finished an object in the summer with my first handspun but somehow this yarn was more personal or I might have spun it a little bit better.  I was a little more attached to this yarn I think.  I felt like I had lost something when I was finished knitting with it.  It was done, bound off, and in my hands and I felt dejected and sad.  Anyone else ever feel this way?

The green table had a couple of other knitters that I was chatting quite a bit with.  Neesespieces and Knitterotica as well as BeeSting all from Ravelry.  If you don’t have a Ravely account, the links won’t work properly.  Neesespieces is the redhead with the beautiful green wrap.  I was loving this wrap, btw.  I am afraid and kinda ashamed to say I didn’t really talk much with all the other people that we there.  I really stayed with the green and purple tables.  I promise  that the next night I attend, I will mingle a little better.

This next picture is of Bree, Beesting on Ravelry.  She is knitting up a headband to wear in Chicago when she goes there for a visit.  I took the picture because the band matched her hair so perfectly, I just wanted to show her how great it looked!  Don’t you agree? That was some of her early handspun yarn as well.  It’s beautiful, don’t you think?

So I have a ton of other stuff to blog about but I am super busy and today I have a giant headache!  I am about 75% or more done with my summer camp scarf but I had to order some more yarn.  I am sure the dye lots are going to be messed up but I don’t think I want to shortchange this scarf.  I like how it’s turning out and I want to wear it seeing as how it’s purple and green (my favorite colors).

I also started a pair of Rainbow Socks in my Noro sock yarn (green and purple).  I am trying desparately to finish my summer camp scarf before I concentrate on the socks.   It looks like that can’t happen though since I am out of yarn on that one.  I have ordered another ball and will finish it up when it arrives.  I just hope the dye lots are close enough.

More about my trip to Calico Ghost Town in the next post. .

Today it was 80 degrees in Southern California.  We had this date already planned to take some pictures at the park. Ok so there is a lot of photos posted here. I am sorry for all of you who are bored by this kinda thing but we had such a good time today. Well you all know Bella or have seen pictures of her before. Right? The other people you might not recognize are the family of my BFF from 9th grade, Courtney and her husband, Jason. They have two boys, Griffin and Malcolm.  Jason got a Canon 40D for Christmas this year because he already outgrew the Rebel XT he got last year! The idea was to take a bunch of pictures. I haven’t given the reasons on the photos, but I picked each of these photos below because I liked them for one thing or another. Sometimes, Bella’s eyes looked really blue, or her expression was fantastic, or she looked particularly happy. The boys were just boys and I love them so much so I posted some of these because they are just too adorable. Courtney says she doesn’t take good pictures so I took some just to prove her wrong. We will definitely do this again because we all had so much fun.

But that’s typical of my posts. Several stories to tell with this picture. I have new plates, I am on a new eating plan that I won’t call a diet, and I am almost out of my peppered Himalayan salt.

First, let’s look at my old plates. It’s hard to see from this picture, but these are very large plates and bowls. They are heavy and I love how they look. The problem David had with them is that they don’t fit in the microwave. The dinner plate just doesn’t fit. He couldn’t take it because he gets home from work at 7 or 7:30 every night. Bella and I eat at about 6:30 because she goes to bed at 8. He has to reheat his dinner almost every night so this is something he was dealing with very regularly. I really loved those plates because the food always looked so pretty on them and there were black plate and white plates. The tea cups were black on the outside and white inside or the white ones were white outside and black inside. They are awesome and we will now use them only on special occasions. Last week, before Bella went back to school, we went to the outlet stores in Lake Elsinore at visited the Corelle outlet. I was ORDERED to go and get at least service for 8 but preferably service for 12 of Corelle and make sure they are ROUND. I toyed with the idea of getting one square plate to be funny but I didn’t. The pattern I chose is very light and fresh. I didn’t buy them in the sets because I don’t like the silly shallow bowl that comes with them. Plus I don’t need tea or coffee cups by any stretch of the imagination. So I bought them all open stock, plate by plate and bowl by bowl. It ended up being cheaper than I thought so I got 12 dinner plates and 12 lunch plates. It was so cheap I bought 4 more dinner and lunch plates. When I got home, I realized why it was so cheap. The lady only charged me for 1 lunch plate instead of 12. I called her back and paid for the others. Anyway, here is the pretty plate with my breakfast on it.

Next, my new eating plan. This revolves around a program from Calorie King that I love. I have been using it for just a week and it is really helping me. I have learned that my calories need to be denser. By that, I mean more nutritional value to the things I eat. To that end, my breakfast was a poached egg, that I forgot how much I loved. I put a little Himalayan pepper salt on it (and I’m running out). I loves me my bagels and they are completely nutrition less. So, I bought some whole grain whole wheat ones. I was surprised at how good they taste. Now the tea isn’t caffeine free so I am probably in trouble there but it’s not a Diet Coke. Is it a bigger problem that there are two teabags?

with my brain!  I have two sisters-in-law that are working their butts off with a group called Rough-fit.  They are crazy and have lost a ton of weight doing it.  I have been hiking and walking and doing what I can to stay in shape.  I walk and hike and stuff and my activity is linked at the bottom of the left sidebar here with mileage and stuff for all to see.  I tell them I don’t need someone else to motivate me (as they try to get me to join their group).  I truly don’t because when I am in my fitness zone, I get plenty of exercise.  I love to hike a lot and I keep moving.  I don’t do as much weight training since I quit the gym and walk or hike several miles a week but I feel good and it works for me.

I recently decided that I should drop a crap of a lot of weight.  I downloaded a thingy called Calorie King and I love it to death.  It really helps me figure out what my problems are and to adjust my diet to be efficient nutritionally.  I lost 4 pounds last week and I posted a little thingy in the right sidebar with my progress.  It is this decision that motivated my next decision.

I signed up for a 10k RACE!  Dumbass!  What’s the matter with me?  I ask you!  Not just a race though, the World Famous
Camp Pendleton Mud Run. A grueling race from the looks of it.  I am not a stranger to running though so I have that on my side.  I have six months-ish to train and that’s a very good thing.  So I’ll keep you all posted and we will see if I am still breathing on June 9th.  So my motivation is now in high gear and I better get busy and moving faster.  Any advice (other than withdrawing my registration! 
by Paco Lyptic

This yarn is based on Flaming June. I was hesitant to join this sock yarn club but I am sooooo happy I did. I am now completely motivated to finish my most pressing projects so I can start some new socks. The yarn is merino/bamboo/nylon. It’s super shiny and I’m very very excited. I think these will be mine. Here is a close up of the yarn itself in more detail. Now let’s talk about one of my scarves I am working on. My ribbed scarf with my handspun lemon-lime merino. I am loving this scarf and it’s taking me way too long to finish it. I am squeezing it in at the doctor, in line while picking up Bella at school and it’s still not done. The light on the kitchen counter was so nice so I took this pictures today.. I had been meaning to take some for a while now. Yes, I totally frogged the lace shawl with my handspun. I couldn’t hang! It wasn’t good for a first lace project and my handspun surely wasn’t the right choice. At this point, the scarf is about 3.5 feet long and should be done today or tomorrow. I have to get to my socks! This yarn is soooooooooo pretty!

Well I shot a bunch of stuff of Bella yesterday. It was fun but I had to bribe her. I bribed her with a kiss but it was a laugh riot! We had a great time and she was very laughy and that’s why I wanted to shoot the pictures. So, here’s what I came up with:

Those are the ones I like. Now I will explain what happened and why they don’t TOTALLY rock as they should have. So, the process was she was finishing her homework and I was sending her in so she could play or watch TV or whatever she wanted. She was giving me a hug and a kiss and she was being very goofy. So I told her that I would give her a kiss if she would let me take a few pictures. She couldn’t stop laughing! So, she agreed and she gave me a big hug and kiss and we started taking some pictures. That’s what this next shot is.

Her laughing her head off cause she wouldn’t stay still! I would focus and in about the time it took to do that, she would move and I would lose the shot. Then finally, the problem was that she would stay still, but the light was kinda gone and the girl would talk out of the side of her mouth! Yes, that’s right folks. Here’s that one!

This is the hat all felted up for Victoria. Of course, it doesn’t fit her but it fits me As usual, I will be knitting her another one. She loves the style and wants it exactly the same. As this will be my third hat, I have nailed down the sizing and we should be able to put this Christmas gift finally to rest. I will be keeping this one and I will be giving the green one below to Bella cause she wants it and it fits her.

Now, let’s get to my Christmas gift from David. My Wheel. My beautiful beautiful and functional and lovely evenly spinning even when I don’t Majacraft Rose. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. Can I say anything else nice about this wheel? It’s so pretty! Ok, that’s enough. These are the singles I am spinning. This is my first big project with this wheel and it’s taking me a long time. The holidays have really thrown a big wrench in my spinning time. Stupid family obligations! Just kidding family I really love how these singles look. I have weighed my fiber by grams and I have divided the fiber into three sections of 94 grams each. This is the first batch and it’s done. I have two more batches and I can’t wait to get them done. I will then be plying them together (big surprise). I have never done a true three ply before and I am really looking forward to it. I plan on buying or making a diz of some kind to keep the singles in order for plying. I will keep you all posted.

Now for the other project I am mostly working on: I am knitting a scarf (yes I frogged the shawl) with my lemon-lime handspun yarn. I am really liking how it’s coming out and enjoying the crap out of it! Yeah! The idea was it would match the above green hat and I could wear them together. A: The greens don’t match or coordinate. B: The hat isn’t mine anymore. There you are. Any questions? I’ll post pictures tomorrow or the next day.

This is the second of the Christmasy posts. We went camping (obviously) over New Years and came home on New Years Eve. These are the people and family members we went with. First, this is Sandi. She is one of my many sister-in-laws. David has three brothers and Sandi is married to the oldest, Chris. David is the youngest. Sandi and David are the ones that did all the research and chose the trailer we purchased together. I am an impulse buyer. I don’t think, I decide, and buy. David takes years to make a purchase, as does Sandi. The story of the weekend we bought our trailers is very funny. One Sunday, months and months into the two of them looking at floor plans and sizes of trailers, David asked me, “Hey do you wanna go to the RV show?” I said sure and he called Sandi. The point of the trip is to check out their favorite floor plan in an 18 foot trailer. We find it as soon as we arrive. We chat up the sales guy and we love the floorplan. It’s spacious, sleeps 7, and has a separate shower from the toilet. Nice! The day we were there was the last day of the show. The sales guys were pushy, to say the least. Sandi says, “we are going to put down a refundable deposit and look at other dealers and floorplans.” Ok, sounds great, we will too. They do it and leave and we still look around. I told David after they left what they did with the deposit. They put down $200 and it was refundable and we should do the same thing. This saves the price (very low) and we can look around and not feel pressured to hurry back or anything. He agrees and we look for the salesman to get the paperwork going. Once we sit down, the guy tells us that Sandi and Chris didn’t just put down a deposit, they bought it. What!? Seriously? Can you say sucker? I can now. So we figure we better do it too. We do…..then we find Chris and Sandi, and they tell us, nope, they didn’t. But now that we did, they better! But, what they did was find another trailer, same manufacterer, but different graphics and a window in the front. So, both families now have 18 foot trailers that sleep 7. Chris and Sandi have 3 kids, two boys, 24 and 22, and a girl, 13. Most of the time, they camp with just Christine and we camp with Bella so it works out well.

Edit: Since we hang out so much she learned how to knit and she is wearing her very first handknit scarf that she made all by herself! Wooohooo!

Next, this is Tommy. Tommy is one of the nicest guys on the face of the earth. Never hurts a fly. Super sweet and kinda quiet. He stayed with David and Bella and me for a couple of years with his daughter, Vianna, when they hit some hard times. They were super easy. It was like not even having roomates. No-see-um Tommy, I used to call him. Never left a mess. Never left a plate. Never made any noise. Never had friends over. It was quiet and nice. I highly recommend Tommy as a friend! David has known him for years and years and years. He works at the shop where David is the General Manager.

Next, is a picture of Christine and Bella. The hill behind them is extremely tall and steep. All the men and boys in the area try to climb this hill and it’s always a challenge. David made it up this trip first try and he was very happy about it. Personally, I would be terrified and once up, I would need to be airlifted out cause I couldn’t look down the hill! Anyway, Christine and Bella were posing and wanted to look bigger than the “Wall”. I had to lay on the ground to get this shot. I’m a nice aunt/mom! That’s all for now.

So we will start with the Christmas present for Bella from Santa. A 2007 Honda CRF50. This is a wonderful bike for her. She said she didn’t even ask Santa for it but he brought it anyway. She was very excited, as you can see. The first thing she said when she saw the bike and got on was that she could ride it out at Jawbone Canyon.

Jawbone Canyon is the spot we go when we go camping just to go riding. There are many campsites and a lot of really nice trails to ride on. This next picture is of Daddy and Isabella learning the basics of the motorcycle. If any of you are like my mother, you will say, “She’s too young for that! It’s too dangerous! What are you crazy?” Let’s take it from the beginning, shall we? My husband has been riding motorcycles since he was very young. He believes, and I agree, that if she learns properly from an early age, like he did, she will be a safer rider. So, the rules are: No riding without a helmet, EVER; no riding without proper gear, EVER; no STARTING the bike without full proper gear, EVER. These are simple rules to follow. Here Daddy is telling her how the throttle works, where the brakes are, and how the whole thing works. She paid very close attention and was ready when she wanted to ride.

The next important note about this bike and this riding girl is this: the throttle is tightened down to about 25%. At this point, she is just learning and the throttle can’t be opened except to the pre-determined spot that David decided. This way, she can practice her braking and steering without worrying about her taking off too fast. As you can see, she is completely padded and helmeted. She rode like this for about 4 hours (with a break for lunch). She completely enjoyed it. There was another little boy out there the same age as Bella. His mother and I were due on the same day but I delivered two weeks early and she delivered two weeks late! Anyway, he got the same bike for Christmas. His father didn’t screw down the throttle stop and his bike got away from him early on. It startled him so much he wouldn’t ride the bike now alone. Until, that is, he saw a “girl” riding circles and circles and circles around him! Ha! That’s my girl!

So, perhaps you can help me. Which of these two shots is the best? I can’t decide which to enlarge. I love the mountain on the left side of this one but I like the turn she is making on the other. Any thoughts?

So, we will be posting Majacraft Rose, knitting, spinning, camping, and family posts shortly. I didn’t want to bore you all with a huge post about all of it right now. If you care, the rest is coming……