Meanderings - Kate Robertson
Tuesday, 25 October 2005
Back from the Vet
Great News from the vet. Moonbeam has red swolen gums and he is now on antibiotics and hopefully that will take care of it. No wonder he was going crazy at times as it hurt to eat. I am so relieved.
Posted by katespins
at 12:01 PM MDT
|
Post Comment |
Permalink
Updated: Thursday, 27 October 2005 7:23 AM MDT
Silk part 2
I dyed the 2 tussah silk bricks that I had and they came out this electric green. Too brassy for me so I redyed it. throwing blue in the mix and here is what we have.
I am taking Moonbeam to the vet, he has gotten so skinny...and strange too. I am afraid he is dieing and he has been the best cat ever.
Found out that my dad is getting ready to pass too so it looks like I will be heading home to Michigan soon. Such fun trips they are. Maybe I can work in a trip to a yarn shop while I am there.
Posted by katespins
at 8:34 AM MDT
|
Post Comment |
Permalink
Updated: Tuesday, 25 October 2005 12:04 PM MDT
Saturday, 22 October 2005
Its Silk Time
Well I bought that new roaster to dye silk so here are the results from experiment # 1. I had a pound of silk hankies that I won at a retreat and decided it was time to dye them. I wanted lots of jewel colors which are my favorites. I found that the roaster cooks hot and the water started to boil slightly. I tried turning down to 200 degrees but it eventually coiled there too so I shut it off. I am using
Sara Lamb's way to dye silk and since she is using a roaster from the 50's I am thinking that I need to revamp her recipe. She has it soaking for 3 hours and then dyeing for 3 hours. I run into boiling problems so I think I will try cutting down the time on the next experiment.
My colors are not that turquoise though. There are dark teals there and dark purple too! This camera is starting to annoy me with its color inconsistencies. Oh well anyways the colors came out nice. I have 2 4 oz bricks of tussah silk to dye next. I am not sure if I will dye solids or not. I haven't dyed a solid color in ages maybe its time to do so again. I am thinking maybe some greens.
Thursday, 20 October 2005
A Day Off
Hey I got the day off since they are doing Inventory at the store today. What a treat, its too bad I have 10,000 things planned for those 8 hours.
Last night I succumbed to all those blog references to
Rogue and the
Silk Corset and bought the patterns for those projects. Who knows when I will get to them. I was sorta shocked at the 19 page pattern for Rogue, geez it doesn't look that complicated for that much paper, but maybe it is. I could be in over my head. The corset was so gorgeous on
Claudia's blog that I could not resist any longer. Another project that I may be not skilled enough for but then I always like to push those limits.
I am headed over to school to talk to one of the guidance counselors. The lines are too long to talk to them before and after school that Sarah can't seem to connect. So with a day off I said I would do it. I need to go get some Flour to bake roll today too. A few friends get together and cook for the mens shelter once a month and I said I would make rolls so now I need to do that today too. Also planned lunch out with Ginger so its a busy day.
Weaving was my agenda and I hope I get to it before the end of the day. I hate how things fill up your day.
Here is the daughter with her new haircut and Moonbeam
Oh here is a pic of my new toy.
Its a roaster that I can use to dye silk in. I can't wait to try it out per Sara Lamb's technique. Thanks Judy for telling me Shopko had them on sale. I wish I had time to dye today.
Posted by katespins
at 8:54 AM MDT
|
Post Comment |
Permalink
Updated: Thursday, 20 October 2005 9:14 AM MDT
Monday, 17 October 2005
Back in the Saddle Again
Well I don't even have the energy to talk about the awful sickness I had last week. Lets move on to other things.
On Saturday I took my fibers down to Three Wishes Fiber Arts in West Jordan Utah. I forgot my camera. SO I have no pictures of this very nice little store.
I came home with this though
.
I wanted some Colinette Yarns and really had a hard time choosing. I am not sure what I will do with it.
I loved this from Manos de Uruguay. The color is really rusts and blues. I got 2 skeins of that and will probably make a scarf or something.
I am still tired out from being sick. So there is not much acitvity here. I need some time to just knit. I tried while I was ill but I kept ripping things out. What a disaster. I took knitting to work today but forgot the pattern so I could not do any of it, that was annoying. I need a simple project to take. Time to start those opal socks for the trillionth time. I don't know why I am having such a problem with them.
Monday, 10 October 2005
New week
Well its a new week and hopefully I will be better adjusted to this working thing. I am a little more comfortable driving again. It seems I am stuck in rush hour going to work coming home and at lunch time. With just a few modifications I can lessen that fact. taking different roads and all that, it seems to help.
WeavingMy friend Amy came over last night to show me her latest blanket before she mails it out. It had dark greens and browns primarily and really looked nice. Really made me want to finish my blanket that has been on my loom forever. Now for the time.....
KnittingI have been knitting the green vest and its at a point where I need to sit down with it and figure where I go next. So it is not a traveling project anymore. So I am now taking the Norwegian's sleeves as a travel project. I have one cuff's ribbing done and have started on the color work. I may also want to start that Opal sock for the 3rd time. the first time it was too wimpy the second I downsized needles but did not add extra stitches so it was too small. Oh to begin again.
I don't fell quite so sore today. Sure the pain is there but it is manageable. I guess finally having a day off helped.
Wednesday, 5 October 2005
THe Morning After
Yesterday - a day I'd like to forget. The truck at work did not get here until 11:00 so it was wait wait wait again. So we ended up working until 530. By the time we left I was really exhausted. MOving books around is hard work. Within 5 minutes I was in a car accident.
17th street busy as can be. The light must have changed while I was looking elsewhere, I plowed into a lady. Racked up major damage on her rear end and minor to the truck. I ended up with a 62.00 fine I need to pay now. I guess I can no longer say that I was never in a "fender bender". I don't want to even drive now. I hate how that happens. I just have to remember that no one was hurt and that its only minor damage, sure our insurance rates will climb but there is nothing I can do about that. I need to put it all behind me but that is hard. Here is hoping today moves smoothly and effortlessly.
I eased my troubles with a hot bath and read the Yarn Harlot she was especially funny ... I really needed that. I spun a little of the red silk which is as pleasing as spinning can get.
Tuesday, 4 October 2005
Back to the Grind
Well I am back to the grind of working. Yesterday was easy since it turned out trucks were not to arrive until Tuesday. So we spent the morning cleaning the place and orientating ourselves to the store. We only worked 1/2 a day.
I went home at noon and thought I would weave but do to a lack of sleep and major stomach issues I went to bed and slept the entire afternoon.
Sunday night I managed to get about 18" of Tartan woven. So it is on the down stretch I am hoping. I hope that I am not too exhausted tonight to work on it.
KnittingI picked up the green vest the other day and have been working on that. I have the back done to the armholes and am just knitting away on that now. I see the end of this pretty soon. I am getting all these project to sorta end status where they are hard to take on the road so my mind says "new Project". Danger....
I did attempt to start Birch and had issues with my cast on being too tight, so I will sit down and begin again. I found I can undo knitting with this yarn but the cast on is impossible. So I will start again sometime soon. I think I will cast on a larger needle and then transfer it. That should help.
I guess I am running out of time...
Monday, 26 September 2005
Wicked Tinkers, Bonny Legs and Yarn
Mood:
chatty
Well we had a Bonny Time at the Treasure Valley Celtic Festival and Highland Games in Boise. We got up at 4 O'Clock am GROAN... We were on the road by 5. We stopped at a Scottish Restaurant in Chubbuck you know the one Mc Donalds. Now that we were fortified we were on our way. Sarah and I slept most of the way since we had our trusty chauffeur Dave to do the driving.
We found the festival just fine. Too bad it was so flipping cold. I had brought a wool sweater and my Clan Robertson scarf that I got in Inverness last summer. I could have used some heavy wool socks and boots. I had tennis shoes on and the field was wet so my feet were cold most of the day.
Not having attended one of these before I didn't quite know what to expect. Men and women in kilts and skirts of various size and type from the tiny kids to the old men. It was great, so many different Tartans represented. They had vendors selling lots of Celtic jewelry, We took Dave around and showed him what we liked. Hopefully some of it shows up in our Christmas stocking.
A few pics for your enjoyment.
A group of Pipers 
The Wicked Tinkers - what a band 
Here is Sarah with the band wearing her "Wallup the Cat" T-shirt
Some of the Men in the bonny knees contest 
here is my favorite... he was such a cutie! He is in the center.
More contestants 
Now see the women judges at work
I met with my Tartan buddy aka Tim Cayler, the man I am weaving the samples for. I met his wife and several other people in the organization. I left my samples with him. They were pleased with the initial offerings so that was nice.
Here I am with Tim and Eileen.
Well no trip to another town should leave out checking out the yarn shops. I knew of 2 in town. We did not have much time to get there before the shop closed. I had 20 minutes to shop. I think I would have come home with more treats but it was hard. Too much to choose from. I will be glad to go back there again. I should of taken pics, the camera was in the car but I did not think about it till too late. oh Well. But I did end up with this gem
Yes I got this to do Birch. It is actually lighter than the picture shows. I hope my skills are up to the task. I thought I might try a swatch in another yarn before I begin just to become with the pattern and all.
We spent the night at the Econo Lodge, Cheap Motel but nice. I found Knitwits the next day. I was glad they were open on Sunday. Once again hard to choose but I found this to make FiberTrends Faina Scarf. It should be lovely. Its an 8 ply wool from Australia and should be lovely with this pattern.
The Faina Scarf
Posted by katespins
at 11:31 AM MDT
|
Post Comment |
Permalink
Updated: Monday, 26 September 2005 12:58 PM MDT
Friday, 23 September 2005
Katrina revisited
My sister Marianne sent these pics of Susan, Katie and Ginger getting their package from me.
Here they are when the package arrived.
Susan in her new shawl, I think it looks great on her.
Here are Ginger and Katie showing the dishtowels I sent.
Susan reading the letter I sent. This family could use a lot of assistance so please help if you can. The Address to send things in below in the Katrina post.
Well I am determined to weave today so this has to be short. I am off to Boise this weekend to go to a Scottish festival. It should be great Men in Kilts... what more can you ask for.
Newer | Latest | Older
