vicki’s Neighborhood

Now that we are not going to be building a new home anytime soon, the question becomes "Where do you Spin?"

Right now, I have a small set-up in a small bedroom, approximately 100 sq ft, that still has a bed in it.  It's a pain, because I can not have everything set up all at once.  I would like to be able to leave my sewing machine up, all of my wheels set out and ready and also have a space for my circular sock knitting machine and a place to do dyeing. 

Ideally, a studio should have a wet and dry area.  A large work table, plenty of light and storage capacity.  Right now, I have  none of these.  If I want to spin, I must put everything else somewhere else.  If I want to sew, I have to find a table to set the machine on.  Even trying to keep track of all of my fleeces and different yarns is a drag.  I did get info on a knitter's project sheet, but even that seems to much to think about.

So, spinners, where do you spin?  Do you make do, or do you have a space that is dedicated only to spinning?

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

Have you ever been so stressed out that you don't know how stressed out you were  until some of the stress is gone?  That happened to me today.

To say this has been an incredibly tough year is an understatement.

• DH started surgeries in January, was off work from January until May, not back to full duty until August
• Daughter 2 graduating from college
  
• 6 close friends or family members have passed away, this year isn't over yet, plus the loss of our Bud.
• two surgeries for me plus wondering if I had suffered a previous heart attack without knowing it.
• Expensive vacation (that I wouldn't have traded!!!)
• trying to find a house  plan that we could build, and afford, and be comfortable in for our retirement.
• Daughter 1 having her car crashed into (while parked)

Well, most of these things are or were out of my control.  Today, one big thing was lifted from my shoulders and I can't believe what a heavy burden it was. 

I am talking about building a new house.  We have some property not too far from here that is idyllic, bucolic, isolated and beautiful.  We have spent over 5 years in acquiring this property with the idea of  building a retirement home on it.  I have researched and looked at hundreds of floor plans, spent hours doodling my own, and countless hours of driving and looking to find the 'perfect' house.  Today, DH and I went to visit some more.  We found a bargain, a 2600 sq ft manufactured home with high end details for less than $100K.  It was a home that could have suited us.  But. . . .   after lengthy and honest discussion we have realized that building a house on this property may not be the best choice for us.  I, for one, am a person who does not do well being isolated.  I have never lived alone and I'm not sure how I would cope being alone most of the time, with no social contacts close at hand.  The cost of developing the property to make it ready to put a house on is over $20K.  We have some local property that is literally right down the street from where we live now that is larger than where we are at and has all utilities at hand.  So, for now, at least, we are putting any plans of building a new home on hold.  We are just not prepared to go forward with it.  And until today, I just didn't realize how stressed out this has made me.  Now, I can get back to worrying about my upcoming surgery and possible surgery for DH's knee.  Oh, the joys of growing old.

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Have you ever had a premonition? Did you heed it?
Submitted by aynge.

My 'premonition' was in a different form.  One night, years ago, I woke from a deep sleep because it felt like I had taken a hammer blow, or a gun shot to the back of my head.

The next day, the news described a murder of a cab driver not too far away.  A day or so later, while driving, I saw some kids driving a car and thought "How can those kids be driving that car?  It is way too expensive and fast.  Turns out they shot the cabbie and had stolen his car.  Yes, that car.  They were driving it around like a bunch of idiots.  Still gives me chills to think about it.

Knittingboardscarf1

Last night, I knitted a small sample on the 28" Authentic Knitting Board using just 22 pegs (and 22 pegs on the opposite side, too). I used some Berroco merino and followed the beginning of the pattern for the Luxurious Alpaca Scarf. What I learned is that I need to tighten the gauge because the knitting was a little bit too loose and the ribbing, which starts after six rows of stockingette, was not very distinct.

This board can be adjusted. Do you see the bolt on the end? There's another one on the other end, too. You may remove the bolt, take out the spacer in between each side, and then put something smaller in between, such as a washer. I'll have to scrounge around in the toolbox tonight for something appropriate. The closer the two sides of the board, the tighter the gauge. So, if you're working with a chunky or bulky yarn, or if you want a very loose knit, you would actually put more space in between the two sides instead of keeping it snug.

I was brainstorming last night and came up with a way to, possibly, turn this two-sided loom into a round loom by adding my own type of spacer (a piece of wood with two metal pegs). That way, I could knit socks or other small-gauge items in the round. We'll see how it goes.