SNOW!!!

It's Snowing!!!

I know, some of you are probably sick of snow because you have been pounded with it for a while, but here in Arkansas, we are having the first snow of the year. The weather guys have been saying for two days that it will be just a dusting, and most of the bad stuff will miss us,. But experience has taught that when that is the forecast for just a little snow, get ready. God has a sense of humor (look at the platypus!) and, I believe, likes to demonstrate that He is still in control of His earth! I love snow, it makes everything look so clean and new!

Speaking of new, here is my new spinning wheel:

It is a Spinolution Mach 1 that has been upgraded to match the next newer model. Stan and I saw these wheels this summer at Fiber Christmas in Kellyville, and the lady twisted my arm and made me sit in front of one and take it for a "spin". Boy, was it a Cadillac! My sweet hubby apparently watched my awestruck face and filed that image away in his brain. Just a few days before Christmas, when I should have been knitting away to finish gifts, I happened to see one for sale on Ravelry. I pointed it out to him because I had never seen anyone willing to part with this marvel of a wheel. He insisted that I contact the lady, then wouldn't hear of me not having it! So, two days before Christmas, (when I should have been knitting away to finish gifts, have I already mentioned that?), my best friend, Monica, and I set off to meet Chelle in Joplin and I brought home my new wheel! I was a good girl and finished those knitted gifts (the last at 10:15 Christmas Eve night - whew!) before I played!

Here is what I am working on next:

This is some Blue Faced Leicester fleece from Coffman Spinning C Farm in northern Missouri. This wool is oh, so soft, and, though I debated about combing out those curls, I am so happy with the results. I keep walking by and squishing it and putting it up to my cheek to feel its softness. This will probably be the next thing to go on my wheel. I am imagining a pair of gloves or mittens with a cable running up the back of the hand. The longer I work with fleece, the more I am growing to love natural colors instead of the glowing dyed wool.

A precious sister in Christ, whose blog is Sew Sow in Love, has made a list of projects to complete this year. I am so proud of her! She is a wonderful homeschooling mother of four beautiful children, who has taught me so much by her example. My cherished Bible is a gift from her, and I think of her every single time I open it. Her list is yet another example, and it reminds me of all the projects I have hanging around, waiting to be finished. I hope to complete many of them this year. It took me 17 years of sporatic stitching to complete a cross stitched picture for my grandparents, so I won't make a list and set myself up for failure. I do hope to show things as I finish here on the blog.

As I sit here and type, the kids are outside sledding down the slope in our back yard. How do I know? Because I can hear them crashing into the house to stop. They love this weather as much as I do. The 15 year old daughter even hopes the electricity goes out! They have a blast when that happens. School is iffy for tomorrow, a little snow in Arkansas apparently goes a long way and makes lots of people nervous. Hope everyone stays warm!

~Lori

New Year, New Work Space

I don't know about your house, but in my house, clutter has somehow figured out how to multiply and take over. My sewing/craft room became a prime breeding ground the last few years for the clutter monster. I was ashamed, and every time we had company, I thanked the good Lord that room had doors I could close. It had become so bad that I wound up sewing at the dining room table and all of my spinning and wool equipment was now in the den. Don't believe me? Well, here is proof:


Bad, isn't it? Well, frankly dear Scarlett, I was tired of it and I did give a d**m! So, since it is the new year, and since hubby and his muscles were home, I made plans and tackled it. How long could it take? I put on a pot of beans and ham and started at 9:00 Thursday morning, went to bed exhausted and sore that night, and by noon Friday it was done. First, EVERYTHING got hauled out of the room. Where did all this stuff come from? The room isn't that big, but it had all been crammed in there somewhere. The rest of the house now looked horrible! Boxes and piles everywhere, the kitchen table was covered, and I was filling up trash bags in rapid succession. I knew it was bad when the 10 year old walked through the living room and said "Mom, I sure am glad the house doesn't look like this all the time!" It was almost overwhelming, but thank goodness for a husband that is patient. He stuck right by me and helped all he could. We did some re-arranging, threw a bunch of stuff away, and brought in the big work table from the storage building. Here is the progression:







And here is the final result, I have room to work and a space that I am proud of!




Now, with my neat, accessible work room, maybe I can get more accomplished! It sure was worth it. Maybe I should call it a "studio" instead of a work room!

Christmas break has been very busy. I worked like a crazy woman trying to finish knitted gifts. Stan has built a new shelter for the ram pasture. We also took new pictures of all the sheep in their full wool, and I hope to have them up on the Fiber Herd page attached to this blog up in the top, left corner.

Oh, and I almost forgot, I GOT A NEW SPINNING WHEEL!!! WHEEEEEEE!!!! I will post pictures and talk about how totally awesome and wonderful and amazing, and, and, and,....... well, you get the idea.

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Year's celebration. Make resolutions you can actually keep!

~Lori

December 17, 2010

Well, here I sit, one week before Christmas, and the tree still isn't up. That is why there is no picture - nothing to show. Yeah, I know, I am a terrible mother. In my defense, the tree is in the loft in the storage building, and the only way to get it down is to climb up the extension ladder and hand the cumbersome box down to someone while you teeter out over the edge of death. You ain't gettin' me anywhere higher than the third rung on that ladder, let alone in the loft. I felt really bad tonight when the 10 year old asked, again, when we were going to put the tree up and I snapped at him "If you don't quit pestering me I may just wrap you in a string of lights, stick a star on your forehead, and you can stand in front of the living room window yourself!" Yeah, I know, I am spiraling ever downward on the terrible mother path. For what it is worth, I did apologize.

I hope after the holidays to begin spinning some more yarn. We sold many skeins of our handspun at the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, and a couple of personal friends purchased some treasures for their loved ones this week, so our yarn stock is running low. I am also planning to try my hand at dyeing sock yarn. I have seen some beautiful yarn on Etsy, and my ravenous desire to conquer all things crafts has begun tickling around in my head. I also plan not only to wash and process into roving, but to spin some of our own sheep fleeces this spring.

Since next week will be very busy, I doubt I will have time to post anything new. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and you are with the ones you love. Please remember to pray for our military personnel and their families, many of which are separated by half a world.

Merry Christmas!