Oregon Flock & Fiber Fest!

This past weekend was my debut, along with Sarah of Maisy Day Handspun,at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR.

Yes indeed, for the past month, I've been working like crazy to get ready to sell my wares at this great festival. And now that it's over, it's safe to say that we were quite successful for first-timers! We had a blast, made lots of contact with great people - both shoppers and other vendors alike, and sold a whole buncha stuff!

Here are some pictures of our booth while we were setting up. Unfortunately, I forgot to take more pictures the next day, when things were in full-swing!
This table has a basket of Maisy Day hand-dyed sock yarn, a selection of my hand-dyed fibers, and my needle cases.
And this table (as yet uncovered in this photo) has more of my hand-dyed fibers, my hand-spun yarn, and a basket of my sachets. Oh, and those are my hand-dyed sock yarns up on top.


The third table featured Sarah's hand-dyed fibers and handspun yarns, along with another basket of my sachets.


Here is a closer view of some of my hand-dyed superwash and regular merino.


These are my hand-sewn needle cases.
And these are 2 of the 3 tote bags I brought along. Although they garnered much attention, none sold. Alas!

We also featured a variety of Maisy Day handturned tools (nostepinnes and drop spindles). Those were a big draw, as they are lovely, and impossible not to touch!

We had such a great time. This was my first time selling my handmade goods, and it was incredibly rewarding to see that people were interested. I am definitely planning to go back next year!

If you are interested in my handmade goods and couldn't make it to Canby, I am happy to announce that my Etsy shop is now in business. Please check it out at FreshYarns.etsy.com. It will be updated with more goods very soon!

Girly

I'm feeling very pearls-and-Chanel today. Perhaps it is the new eyeliner I bought yesterday... so dramatic and swoopy on my eyes. Perhaps it is standing on the precipice of adulthood (on the eve of my 29th birthday - I'm a bit late in coming). Whatever it is, I'm feeling terribly girly, in that Audrey Hepburn, classic, sexy, demure way.

Too bad my jeans and flip-flops betray me.

Done

Writing a dissertation does not make for a very bloggable life. Hence, my recent silence.

However, I am now here to shout from the rooftops: I'M DONE!!

Yep, I defended last Thursday (8/10) and turned the thing in yesterday (8/15). I have a little signed receipt that says I'm all done! It was fairly anticlimactic. The defense went exceedingly well. My committee was great, and I feel like I performed pretty well. I was close to done with my revisions then, so I polished the manuscript up over the weekend, did a final check Monday, and trundled it over to the grad school Tuesday. That was it.

There were no choirs of angels, the clouds didn't part... I was just suddenly done being a graduate student. After 7 years. The nicest thing, I think, is the feeling of relief and amazement that floods me when I stop and realize that I'm done. I did it. I successfully earned my Ph.D. Sure, that was the whole goal, and I said I'd do it. But now that it's done... whew! I can hardly believe I did it.

And now, onto life as a grown-up. I'll be teaching the same class I've been teaching for the past year again this fall. But I get all of September off. Despite the lack of paycheck coming my way, I'm very excited for a whole month off! I am planning a grand month of cooking dinners, exercising, and being as crafty as I can possibly be.

Woot! I love being DONE!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today marks 8 years of marriage for H and I. It's been a very good 8 years, with each one better than the last. I owe H so much, but most of all, I thank him for the happiness that he brings me day in and day out. I could go on and on and get sloppy, but I'll just say that we make a very good team.

Today also kicks off August. I took a very deep breath yesterday, as I don't anticipate breathing until mid-October now. In the space of one month we will celebrate our anniversary, turn 30 (H, not me!), defend our Ph.D. (me, not H!), turn 29 (me again!), go to San Francisco, and play host to my father. September promises to be about half as busy, which is still busier than most months. My head is spinning just thinking of it all.

Work on the dissertation has progressed (devolved?) to the point where I can no longer make sense of certain sections of it. I've read it so. many. times. I think it's going well, although the anxiety dreams have been coming full force. Last night I showed up for my defense and realized I had to take a written test that I wasn't prepared for. Awesome! I can only imagine that the dreams will get worse as I start to freak out in waking life as well. Wait, did I say "start to"? Yeah, that's begun as well. There are moments where I feel calm and ready, and then there are the moments when I remember that defending one's dissertation does not guarantee passing. I'm close, but with no promises.

9 days to go... we'll see what happens.

Awesome Saturday

What a fantastic day!

I turned in a draft of my dissertation on Wednesday - what a relief! I have plenty of work yet to do on it, but took today for myself and H. It was perfect in every way.

We went to a favorite fish 'n chips stand for lunch, and also stopped by Ms. Laura Bee's store while in the neighborhood. It was my first time visiting her shop... I am now in soooo much trouble! Her website totally does not do justice to the plethora of goodies all in one place. If you are in the Seattle area, go see her! Get yourself something cute and support a local artist!

We then headed over the lake and through the hills to visit some good friends who we hadn't seen in FOR. EVER. R & M, and their kidlets O & M, are wicked rad. It was awesome to see them, and hopefully it won't be so damn long next time. They have 3 CUTE alpacas, who were recently shorn, and I am now the owner of about 40lbs of fresh alpaca fiber. Dude! I have to find someone to prep it for me... and then I will be in alpaca spinning heaven! I totally have to teach R to spin too - this is a ridiculous wealth of fiber and she just handed it over to me!

On the way home we passed a little cherry stand and stopped to buy about 8 lbs of cherries for $8. Crazy! Apparently it was "get fantastic stuff for nothing or next to nothing" day. Woot!

TA DA!

Never underestimate the power of having a dissertation to write as a motivating factor to finish anything and everything else that might need doing!

As you can see, I finally finished the tank. I'm very happy with it. Here's the front:

And here's the back:My tattoo looks blurry there - it's just the picture. I had to do a two-mirror/camera acrobatic act to take the picture... so, you know.

Anyway, my two small issues are that the back V isn't quite as low as I'd meant for it to be, and that I forgot to bind off with bigger needles, so the bottom is a bit snug. Hopefully it will give a bit with wearing. I'm forgiving myself those two details, as this was the first thing I designed for myself.

I've been meaning to post a bit about writing my dissertation, but a) I've been too busy doing it, and b) that's just boring. I'll try to spare you as much as possible. In exchange, you can know that that's what I'm up to when I'm not posting here.

I'm here... really!

Just a brief update, since it appears that someone does actually read this, and wonders about my presence on the earth when I vanish for a bit. I recieved an email from an old high school chum who asked about my tank progress. It seems that Mr.F gets bored enough to follow these things from time to time.

So, for SF, and anyone else checking in... I'm here. And the tank is still on the needles. It was done at one point, but trying it on lead to ripping out the straps to make them longer, and ripping out the bottom hem to make that A LOT longer. So I'm still poking along on it. (The whole project lost it's velocity when I didn't have it done by Solstice.)

Speaking of Solstice - it was fantastic! Sarah came up to join us in the festivities, and we had a fabulous time. Someday I'll get around to posting pictures, but if you're wanting to see them NOW, click on the Sarah link and look at hers.

OK, so where the hell have I been? Right here, typing away. It seems that a completed draft of my dissertation is due to my committee on July 12. Yikes! Yes, I've been working on it for a looooong time now... but I've been poking along. Now I am in the fast lane, trying to speed along. (It feels like I may be driving a 4-cylinder up the fast lane in the Alps, but I'm definitely leaning on the gas pedal, and not coasting anymore.) So, I'm a bit out of touch these days. But the good news is: I really can see the light. I have a list of deadlines, and I will meet them, by god! And then? Then I will be done, my friends.

And when that happens, you are all invited for drinks!

Tank progress

If the micrometers of work I'm accomplishing on a daily basis constitute prgress, I'm making it. Goodness, this is getting boring. If anyone ever reads this, I'm sure they have fallen into a boredom-induced coma. But I shall persevere, just as I shall finish this tank. See, the back is openning up nicely. That's something.



Unfortunately, I keep finding little mistakes. These things happen, right? Ugh - they drive me crazy. Nothing major, like dropped stitches (which I would definitely fix) - just little visual oopses. They displease me, but I'm ignoring them in the interest of time and sanity.

Tanking along...

Here's the latest:


As you can see, I've begun the back split. It's going well, except that either side of the V is in a completely different stitch. I simply could not replicate the lovely slip-stitch pattern from the knit side over on the purled side. Oh well. I am satisfied for now that the stitches on either side are consistent. I'd muck around with it some more if I wasn't in such a hurry. But alas, I am rushed, so this will suffice.

The Tank Rolls On

I'm making progress... almost done with the waist decreases. Once the decreases are done, I'll start the divide on the back. Last night I managed to knit in not one, but two bars. I'm on a mission, a mission to knit.



While knitting in bar #1 (a wonderful local joint specializing in potpies - YUM!), a friend and I were discussing our crafty endeavors. She said that she tried her hand at sewing, figuring she should be able to do something "domestic". That got me to thinking... isn't being "domestic" about running a household efficiently? If that's domesticity, by definition, I have to think that crafting is no longer a domestic activity. Spending $75 and 3 weeks to make a sweater that you could buy at Target for $15? Not efficient. No, I do believe that being crafty may now be considered a luxury, in more ways that one. What would our foremothers think?!

Today I met with a glorious, unbelievable windfall. Unfortunately, it was the direct result of the company my sister works for going under. She's in merchandising for a chichi company that makes party dresses for little girls. Apparently the soccer moms aren't doing their capitalistic duty, as the company ceased to be financially viable and was dissolved. The upshot of this is that the now-former employees were given permission to help themselves to the leftovers. So today my sis pulled up with a trunk full of huge bolts of silks, satins, and all manner of fancy fabrics. For me! She's doesn't sew, so in exchange for a promise of a skirt or two... the fabric is all mine! Oh my. I am now swimming in miles of luxury fabric... I just can't believe it!

Tank mission: day 2

I have this sense that by doing a daily update, I'll get more done and finish this project quickly. Bear with me!

I have finished the pattern rows at the bottom of the tank and started on the decrease rows. You can see the pattern in this picture:

I'm designing as I go, and trying not to be scared. Why must I be so obstinate about using patterns?

Tank challenge!

A little background... every year, there is a huge festival to celebrate summer solstice here in Seattle. It is kicked off with a big crazy parade, featuring all manner of talent and insanity, followed by 2 days of street fair extravaganza. In a city full of summer street fairs, this one is the pinnacle. I love the solstice fair. It's a big, fun deal, and I look forward to it yearly.

Also yearly, I have some sort of pre-solstice freakout about something that I absolutely must make. 2 years ago, I NEEDED the perfect bag to carry (I finished it the midnight before the fair). Last year, I think it was a skirt. I know it needed to go with the tiara I would be wearing. This year, I have determined that it is imperative that my tattoo be visible for the fair. Now, when getting my tattoo, a part of location selection was that it NOT be visible most of the time. So it is in the very center of my back, and never visible. This is the challenge. Not finding any commercial tops that are low-cut enough in the back, I've undertaken making myself one. Not only am I trying to whip up something wearable in two weeks (and I am a notoriously slow knitter)... I'm also designing it myself, more or less as I go. So, we shall see. I will post pictures as I go, but right now it's just 5 rows on the needles. I'm knitting it in Brown Sheep cotton fleece, in a color called "Nymph" - seems a fitting color to showcase my knitting pixie. Here's a swatch:

I really hope this works! Stay tuned...

2-ply Sunshine

Remember this?
It's now this:
At some point in the *hopefully* near future, it will be a pair of socks for a friend of mine. For now, it's a big squishy skein of delight.

In other spinning, I finished up the remaining fiber from my first attempt at dyeing. I am so enamoured of this yarn! Perhaps everyone feels that way about their "firstborn" fiber.

I finally got a bunch of sachets whipped up this weekend. Some will go to a friend, as promised a month ago, and some will be saved for a project Sarah and I are working on. Shhhhh, we'll talk about that later.
Don't even ask about knitting... I'm just as behind on that as I am on my dissertation. Perhaps someday I'll figure out how to wedge 18 more hours into a day... then I'll be just about set!

Much school, little crafty

I've been remiss about taking pictures of my latest work, which should be remedied this weekend. Of course, I also haven't had much time to get much craftiness done lately. This weekend needs to see some sewing happen. I've got curtains to hem, and satchets to whip up. (C.K. - I haven't forgotten!) Hopefully a bit of spinning will transpire as well.

Today is the last day of classes, which means I've been up to my eyeballs in grading and student emails. But, things are winding down, and now I'm getting a bit weepy over saying goodbye to this quarter's crop. (Well, maybe not weepy.) It's been a good quarter, and this group of students has been fantastic. I couldn't have asked for a more supportive bunch to have during a quarter that saw me disappearing not once, but twice, for funerals in NY. They've been great!

In small but mildly exciting news, I'm narrowing down a date for my dissertation defense! Should be the 2nd week in August... though picking one actual day is going to be tough. 5 committee members, 5 different schedules... this could get sticky. But, it'll happen, and I should (*hope*pray*) be a doctor by my 29th birthday.

Little bit of crafty

It's been a slow few weeks. There was lots of catching up to do at work after the get-together with the girls, including a big talk last Thursday. It went well. Or as well as a talk about salt appetite to a room full of kind but bored people can go. For the first time in 7 years, I didn't get nervous and choked up, so that was something.

Around the ranch, I've been busy grading papers, but managed to find a few minutes to make myself some new necklaces.
I've been wanting a garnet necklace for a long time, and finally found some garnet chips that I liked. (Not being dyed purple was my main criteria.)
And I had been wanting to do something with this blue pendant that I got at Parts & Labour in Austin. I love the pendant, but hated it on a plain chain. So now it's on three strands of tiny blue goldstone. It's an improvement.
I think there will be more necklaces to come, when I find a bit more time.


Look at my new toy! This beautiful nostepinde came from Sarah, at Maisy Day Yarn. Actually, her dad made it. If you'd like one, you can put your hot little hands on one over at Hello Yarn. It is beautiful - made of oak and purpleheart. So smooth and shiny... I love playing with it!


Last weekend I dyed some roving, which I haven't had time to spin up yet. The yellow and blue rovings are superwash merino, and the red/purple one is regular merino. I'm dying to spin the superwash... it's sooo soft and silky.

Fun Fun Fun!

Whew - it's been a week of recovery after last weekend. A week ago today, several friends descended upon us here in Seattle for a fantastic weekend of shopping, knitting, eating, and general merry-making.

We started with dinner at Bamboo Garden,a yumtastic Buddist-style veg Chinese restaurant, then moved onto some pool at a nearby bar. We later made it to "my" bar, but not until after a mile-long walk that nearly got me lynched!
Saturday found us knitting, knitting, knitting -
first at a picnic in the park (freezing!) then at Zoka, a local coffee shop. After a strenuous day of knitting, we fancied up, and headed down to the Pink Door, for an evening of excellent food, drink, company, and naughtybadfun.

(Ok, the busboy didn't REALLY get deflowered...)

The night wound up with more excellent drink & company (followed by girly slumber-party style chatting with my inestimably fabulous guest Sarah until the wee hours!).

On Sunday, we headed to the Market for a bit of shopping before most of the girls headed down to Sarah's homestead for a real slumber party. So much fun - but I had to miss out, due to work on Monday.
Everyone but Sarah returned on Monday evening, and Tuesday we rounded out the get-together with dinner at Cutter's, a seafood place near the market, followed by "Fame!" starring our own dear Rebecca.
What fun!

Aside from the flurry of activity, it was just really fantastic to see all of the girls. To see Jen and Carolyn again (they were both at Kansas), Ali, who I haven't seen in 2 years, seeing Sarah is always fun, and getting together with my neighbors here in Seattle that I NEVER get to see - Danica, Rebecca and Jenn... It was just a great weekend.

Time for some good news

Back from NY and posting from my brand new laptop! My shiny new toy comes coutesy of my research grant, which exprired in March. Apparently I had a bunch of money that needed to be spent... they didn't need to tell me twice!

I came home on Wednesday to find, nestled in the midst of an inbox full of student questions and pleas for attention, an email asking me to teach a course here at UW next year! So far, it's only one course (Physiological psychology), next Winter. That means I need to find something else to teach in the fall, then hopefully spring, but it's a start! A job offer I hadn't even applied for! I am so thrilled about this!

I haven't talked to my advisor about this, but apparently she recommended me for it. Knowing that makes it easier to think about the discussion I need to have with her, about my future plans.

A year ago, I was in what I would best describe as a state of grief. I was looking at a fairly miserable run in grad school - having produced, at best mediocre, but in reality pretty weak research. The thought of a career TRYING to continue in this vein was utterly depressing. It was what I had planned to do all along, but I was beginning to come to terms with the fact that I am not great at research, and thus not happy doing it. Who is really happy doing anything they're not good at?? Anyway... things seem pretty bleak when you're faced with the fact that your plans are just not going to pan out. So, in an effort to find something I could at least do to make some money, I took a class on teaching. Not how to teach, but the ins and outs of teaching at the college level. A lot of it was focused on why people might choose to teach (rather than the typical being forced to teach in order to climb the academic ladder). The class was great, and opened my eyes to a lot of the things I value about academics. That lead to me requesting a teaching assistantship in the fall, when I was lucky enough to be assigned to TA for a fabulous teacher who really fostered my interest and teaching skills. That, in turn, lead to me requesting another TAship, which resulted in instructing a lab on my own, which I've done for two quarters now, and will do again over the summer. It's so fantastic... I just love teaching. I get so much out of it, and truly love pouring myself into it. I love my students - every quarter I develop such a deep affection for each one of them. It's strange - I have the usual mix of over-achievers, slackers and average students, but I've been able to get to know all of them, and find something great about each one. That sounds so sappy and disingenuous, I know. But it's really true. I have found what I really want to do.

Ideally, I'll wind up with a full time job at a small liberal arts college. That would be awesome. But for now, I've gotten myself a lectureship, and it's somewhere to start. In the midst of this totally crappy month, where I've just been too tired to contemplate my next move, this happy development has sprouted.

I feel like I'm being given my start on a future that I'm really looking forward to.

Goodbye Aunt Eleanor

Some people have $700 a week habits. Shopping compulsions, fine dining, blow...

Me, I fly to upstate New York every week to attend funerals.

Aunt Eleanor passed away yesterday. I thought I wasn't ready for it. I didn't want her to go. She wanted to live to see 100, and she was so close. I wanted to see her reach 100. But now that she's passed, it's a relief. It's good to know that she's no longer in pain.

I hate to think of the suffering she endured. Instead, I'll focus on the happier times. Here she is last summer, enjoying some cake.



She was the dearest lady, and I will miss her. Be at peace Aunt Eleanor.

A post from the calm

Death has crept into my dreams this week. The normally sweet respite of sleep has turned on me, and my dreams are filled with sadness and suffering. It's been an emotional week, to say the least.

A week ago right now, we were on a flight to NY for H's grandpa's funeral. Lyle passed away last Wednesday, after a long collection of illnesses.

We returned Sunday night and awoke Monday to the news that my mom's kindergarten classroom had been destroyed in an arson fire overnight. -Story and pictures here.- (Coincedentally, this occurred on the 10 year anniversary of my grandma's passing.) As of now, my mom is doing much better, though she was in quite a state of shock and grief earlier in the week. The woman is amazingly resilient... by Tuesday she was back at school, sorting through the few remaining papers, and preparing for the return of students next Monday, following spring break. She's even finding blessings in this... the records that she dearly loved but didn't know what to do with when she retires in June all melted - problem solved. She was hoping for a color printer for her class, and now she can get one. No one was hurt. Many silver linings. I'm just glad she's doing ok.

Next in the inbox on Monday was news that my dear aunt Eleanor is suffering greatly with intractable jaw cancer. As she is 94, there is not much that the doctors can do for her, and she is in awful pain. Her condition is bringing so much sadness to the family - a family who is unaccustomed to expressing sadness. It's a difficult time, and hard to know what to hope for.

All of this has made me restless this week, and it's been hard to concentrate on much. I've been able to sit and spin for a while to calm my nerves and zone out.
Here are some recent results:
This is 2-ply yarn, made from the merino top I dyed a few weeks ago.

Happiness is yarn

Here is some of the roving that I dyed on Saturday.
And here it is on the bobbin. I'm so happy with it - the fiber is spinning up nicely, and the colors are coming out great. I can't believe I'm actually happy with my first attempt at dyeing my own yarn. It really is awesome!

The problem with this, however, is that I'm constantly thinking about colorways that I want to dye, and yarn I want to spin and projects I'd like to make. I'm not thinking about the dissertation I should be working on, or the resumes I should be sending out. I just want to make yarn! Is this the beginning of something great, or the first moments of my descent into madness?

P.S. I forgot to say... After washing out the second batch of dyed fiber the other day, I tried the Twisted Sisters tip about drying the wool in the washer on the spin cycle (with the water shut off). It works fabulously! The wool was almost entirely dry after a spin in the machine. Woot!