Finish--itis

Finish-itis, (Please excuse the hypen. It looks better this way)

I haven’t blogged in awhile. I just haven’t had much time to collect my thoughts. Stress has overwhelmed me the last two months. The job: breaking in and adjusting to a new boss, trying to meet the demands of starting school, preparing for a pandemic and disaster planning, training new office staff has been stressful. All this in addition to trying to cope with W. not responding to his latest treatment, unable to function more than moving from the recliner where he sleeps all day to the bed, where he sleeps more, having to do all the housework, his and mine is exhausting. The only thing that keeps me sane is my knitting.

I have finished a saddle sweater for my 22 yr old son, a knit skirt for me and miscellaneous items. The knitting is complete. It just the finishing….the weaving of seams, the blocking, etc. that needs to be done.

I don’t know why this is so difficult for me….to finish or not to finish. That is the question! This seems like such a easy task but I struggle to get motivated to do it!

I am on a sweater knitting jag right now. Having finished the Elizabeth Zimmerman Yoke sweater and the Elizabeth Zimmerman Saddle sweater, I am now making a Elizabeth Zimmerman Cardigan in the round with steeks. I plan to steek the opening and knit a border when I am done. This is slow-going but the color (red) keeps me knitting on. I love red. I’m tired of knitting with drab greys. I need some color in my dreary life.

Life has been a little lonely lately. W. has not felt good enough with his lymphoma to do much, other than an occasional outing to dinner or fast food. I am feeling the struggle of deciding to either find a part-time job that is less demanding or quit or retire, so I can take care of my husband and manage all the paperwork associated with his cancer treatment.

I’m not sure we can afford my loss of income just yet. Slowly but surely, we are reducing our debts and I will feel better about a change when that happens. It is very hard to think about changing a job I’ve been at for 20 years, two blocks from my home. However, I am feeling that he needs me more at home and my desire for my job is waning. I have been told I am good at what I do, but my focus is just too distracted by his needs. Rather than be a nurse for the 250 children in my care, I will be a nurse for one. It’s not really changing jobs. It’s only relocating. I am only one year away from early retirement but I got a late start of saving for retirement, so the income won’t be much. Yet, I have never been a high maintenance woman. We just need enough to live a modest life and take care of the bills.

So why am I afraid of finishitis? What is it that keeps me hanging on?

Zimmerman Yoke Sweater

My Elizabeth Zimmerman Yoke Sweater is done! The Fair Isle Pattern came out great! After completing both the big and small patterns after doing the 2nd decrease, I tried it on. The 2nd small motif made it too long in the neck. I decided to rip it back and just do a three row motif before the final decrease. All I have to do is the neck short rows and ribbing and sew up the armholes. It is so satisfying to finish a sweater.

The next sweater I do for myself will be one in dk or sport yarn. This sweater fits great but it will be too warm to wear in California, except on the coldest days, which do not have a very long season.

I’ve been thinking of the next sweater I want to do. I haven’t done a saddle sweater yet. I’ve been looking over Elizabeth Zimmerman’s way and Barbara Walker’s way of doing the Saddle Sweater. Elizabeth in from bottom up and Barbara’s from top down. Both seem a little complicated. I wish there were more pictures describing the process.

Skills and Steadiness

As I sit here at midnight, pondering the end of what little of summer vacation I had, I think about how life has been the last eight months for me . I seem to confront life experiences with calm, quiet expectations and try to see the big picture around me. God never promised us a life of luxury. For many, the years living in prosperity, with throw away income, life has become quite a shocking change to their lifestyle. For others, who have lived modestly, it is a time to recover their resourcefulness and prioritize what is important.

Having parents who grew up in poverty in the Depression years, has given me a sense of being able to live without many things. It has also given me an appreciation of getting the most out of things and not wasting anything. I truly appreciate how hard my parents worked to save for the future. Their lessons come in very handy now as the economy seems to be heading in the same direction of Depression the 1930’s community experienced.

I think about how my grandmothers taught me a basic skill of crocheting that lead to learning how to knit, spin, sew and do other needlecrafts. I know they used this skill to make garments for their children, as they had no extra income to buy clothes in the Depression. As sharecroppers, they frequently owed money to their landowners and through their resourceful skills of crocheting and sewing could sell or repair garments for others for a few cents to feed their children. My, how different life is now!. Yet, I wonder if we will be in the same situation and have to do the same.

I feel so fortunate and blessed to have some skills. I bless my grandmothers’ for sharing their skills with me. My needlecraft skills and skills in homemaking have given me much pleasure and reassurance that I do not have to be helpless. It has given me an appreciation of the natural beauty this world contains and a satisfaction that I can create some beauty from the raw materials and animals of our God-created world. It makes me happy and gives me joy. I imagine God smiling on his daughter with pride thinking how much he likes watching me create beautiful things from what he created.

Like a loving Father, he oversees his children. Like a faithful child, I have learned to trust and obey Him. He always provides what I need. He keeps me from being overwhelmed beyond what I can handle. I am feeling this now with my husband’s cancer. I’m sure the road will have its ups and downs but I can count of God to be there, carrying me in His arms when I am unable to handle anymore. Many have said how much they admire my calm steadiness as I go through this situation. I don’t think I would be of any usefulness if I panicked. I just give it in God’s hands. He carries it for me.
God is Good.

Spinning Hope & Coming Home

My husband is coming home today from Hospitalization #5 this year. He started a new treatment called photopheresis, which I can only described as a sort of dialysis with UV light. It is aimed to kill the cancer cells in the blood and return it back to his body. He is feeling better in general but he is looking forward to coming home. A week and a half in the hospital is a little too much.

With much time on my hands watching him recuperate, I have been able to work on my Elizabeth Zimmerman Yoke sweater. I am now putting together the sleeves and body and working toward the yoke where I will be doing a Fair Isle pattern close to the neck. I am planning to use some of my Handspun yarn for the color. I really need to find ways to use this yarn, as it seems to be accumulating quite fast.

When I tire and get bored with the sweater, I have been making some toe up socks with a rainbow colored Trekking XX sock yarn. I am using a pattern in the new August issue of Cast On, a Knitting Magazine. This issue is amazing, with lots of instruction and wonderful patterns. I was so impressed by this issue, I drafted a comment for the editor…..

Dear Editor of Cast On,

I don’t often send comments about knitting magazines, as many only seem to be fashion shows of designs made for the fashion model types.. However, your new August-October issue of Cast-On is something to behold from cover to cover.

I love everything about this issue. The sock lessons and designs, and the variety of techniques described in easy to understand detail, are so great. I want to knit all of the sock patterns listed. I’m usually not a sock knitter, but this issue has definitely motivated me to pick up the Size 2’s again and find a beautiful yarn to create the wonderful sock patterns in Cast-On. I love how you included additional patterns to extend the learning techniques of the socks. I absolutely love the Christmas stocking and the left-over mitten patterns, reminding us it is never too early to get a head start on Christmas knitting.

I like very much the focus on “instruction” in this issue. After all, TKGA, is an organization that promotes the education of knitting. I think you have hit a winning strategy in this issue, with something to teach everyone. It is likely to become a favorite knitting resource, one that knitters come back to time again.. Congratulations on a well designed issue. Keep them coming.

Happy Knitting!

Diana Hilton
Duarte, CA

In spinning I have been working on the Corriedale fleece I purchased at Black Sheep Gathering in July. The fleece is beautifully clean and fluffy. I has a little lanolin ( a greasy feel) to it, so I washed it with one soak with Dawn dishwashing liquid and rinsed it once. I pulled off locks and lined them up side by side in laudry bags. I also tried to use tulle netting closed with safety pin and this worked well too. Normally, I have to soak it 2-3 times to get all the dirt out. However, with so little dirt, once was enough. I soaked the locks and used a ShamWOW or towel to absorb the water, and laid them out to air dry.

When dried, they looked like this……

Once spun into a single ply yarn it looked this on the bobbin. See how white and clean it looked.

It was so easy to spin.
It made a lovely two-ply yarn…
I still haven’t dyed my newly spun Corriedale. I keep thinking I should accumulate enough yarn for a sweater, but I’m not sure I have enough. A four-ounce bobbin only gets me about 70-80 yard skeins per bobbin. One adult sweater takes from 1000 to 1500 yds. I have perhaps enough for a child’s sweater, but I fear making a wool sweater and giving it to someone who will not take the time to wash it properly, will resulting in a felted shrunken mess when naively washing in warm water with agitation. The thought is just horrifying to the long hard work I will put in it. It is better to make it for someone who know how to care for wool.

Spinning for Comfort

July 26, 2006

I was hoping to include a picture with this but days are passing by and this entry is getting old so I am just going to post it without.....

It has been very interesting listening to podcasts talking about the Tour de Fleece projects. Tour de Fleece is a July campaign where spinners challenge themselves in spinning something, just as the “Tour de France” bikers challenge themselves in a grueling bike ride. Although I have not officially joined, I have been attempting to finish spinning the White alpaca fleece I bought 1 ½ years ago. It about time I do something with it, although I have yet to decide what. It has been lovely spinning this very soft beautiful fiber into singles. I know it will have to be transformed into something next to skin so that the wearer can feel the soft warmness of the garment. I would like to dye it as well to set off its loveliness in a beautiful color, perhaps a pink or light blue or lavender.

Spinning is such a comfort to me. I haven’t had much time to myself lately as I am working when I can, and taking care of my husband, who has cancer. He has his good days and bad days. Two courses of chemotherapy have just held the disease at bay but have not relieved the annoying symptoms. We will be exploring the possibility of a Bone Marrow Transplant at the City of Hope. It has been an intellectual, emotional, and physical challenge trying to maintain a household by myself and navigate through the health care system, communicating with multiple specialists, lab tests, and exams. It can be very exhausting. Having to experience it first hand has enlightened me to the fact that Healthcare System is definitely in need of an overhaul. Thank you President Obama, for trying. A decade or two ago, it was never so complicated. One doctor would help you navigate through the system. This is no longer the case. A person is on their own to figure it out: the insurance, the rules, the rising co-pays, the communication between doctors and specialists,…..the patient. I cannot imagine how the regular lay person can do it without educating themselves. I feel blessed that my nursing background has given me an edge in figuring all this out. I can easily see how someone would get so overwhelmed and give up. At the end of the day, spinning helps me sort out my thoughts and gives me a sense of accomplishment that I made something out of practically nothing.

The alpaca fleece is so fine (thin), I have flick carded it before spinning. This is such a great technique where you use a dog flicker to comb a washed lock of fleece. I always put a paper towel on my lap when I do this to catch the remaining dirt and debris. This fluffs the lock beautifully so that it spins easily and smoothly with the minimum of lumps. I flick a plastic box full of fiber ready to spin and this helps to break up the monotony of spinning.

Eugene Saturday Market Fair Drummers

Saturday Market Fair Drummers
Originally uploaded by DianaH1

These are just some of the performers that entertained us while at the Eugene Market Fair.

For more info about Eugene and The Black Sheep Gathering, See below.

Black Sheep Gathering 2009

My husband and I took our first trip to Eugene, Oregon, to attend the Black Sheep Gathering. W. has been working hard toward getting strong enough go the trip. He has needed a trip to lift his spirits from dealing with his Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma. The 15-hour drive from So. California was a long one but a beautiful one. The scenery was wonderful, especially as we hit Mt. Shasta in all its glory. The greenery didn’t stop as we headed to Eugene.

We stayed in the Broadway Inn, which was located blocks away from Downtown, the University of Oregon, and a short 5-minute drive to the Fairgrounds where Black Sheep Gathering, the Yearly Wool/Sheep Festival was held.

Eugene: Since this was our first time in Oregon, we studied the unique blend of people and atmosphere. We found this city very similar to Santa Barbara in California. It seemed like an informal College town made up of artisans and Hippies strolling about enjoying life as it comes to them. This is a bicycle town and the city has accommodated bicyclists with special lanes for them. Everyone seems to wear sandals, even in the cool weather, which I understand is the fashion trend in Eugene. Streets are narrow in places, lined with trees, which gives it a New England feel. One needs to take care driving in downtown as many are one-way streets and getting around can be confusing. We were glad to have a street map to guide us.

The Sheep at BSG: I was very impressed with the variety of sheep and goats….Shetlands, Romney, Corredales, Merino, Blue Faced Leicester, Jacob, Wesleydales, Teeswater Romadale, CVM, Baby Dolls, Angora Goats and many more. Did you guess there were so many breeds? I have never seen such an assortment in one place before. There were three barns full of animals. I was disappointed there were no Alpacas this year.

The Trade Show: There were so many vendors. Three barns were not enough and some vendors had a spot outside. It was a joy perusing the delectible yarns, fibers and other wonderful items. The colors were amazing but I refrained from purchasing color because I plan to do some dyeing of my own when I return home. I purchased the following:
-Two 8 oz bundles of Mystery Roving in Natural Shades of Browns & blacks from ---Fantasy Fibers. I could not pass up this bargain at $6 a bundle for 8 oz of roving.
-8 oz of White Merino Roving -A Cotton Spinning Kit with assorted cotton roving/raw fibers to experiment with from Woodland Woolworks. This also came with a Takhli supported spindle.
I really wanted to save my money for a fleece or two at the wool show.
But who can leave the BSG without a souvenir T-shirt. Mine was blue.

Events: Sheep to Shawl: There were four groups. Each group had their choice of the fibers and colors to make a shawl. From the wool fiber they carded, spun yarn and weaved it into a shawl in a few hours. Some groups were friendlier than others. It is unfortunate, they were cornered in an area where people had difficulty going to see them. I guess I am spoiled by the Lambstown Festival’s Sheep to Shawl where the guilds participating are interested in educating people on what they are doing. At Lambstown, people are allowed to ask questions without a barrier between them and the participants. The winning shawl by the Silverado Spinners was very lovely and this experienced group seems to have it most together and focused in their efforts.

The Fiber Arts show: The winning item Best in Show was a beautiful knitted lace shawl, well deserved. There was a felted vest with an underwater scene that was also very interesting.

Workshops: I didn’t attend any workshops but there were a few demonstrations at one end of the Trade show.

The Spinning Circle: On Saturday, many came to knit or spin. It grew in number as the day went on. I would have liked to join but I was afraid I would be late to the Wool fleece sale.

Wool Sale: Although Saturday was the official day of the sale of fleeces that were in competition, there were some very nice fleeces that were for sale and not in competition. I purchased a very nice black Romney/Cormo. A half hour before the Official wool sale on Saturday, they let people in to see the fleeces. There were over 100 fleeces to view. I jotted down a few that I wanted, just in case my first choice was snatched before I got there. They cleared the hall and everyone queued up with a warning of “No fighting, no running” or you will have to go to the end of the line. Actually, it was very civilized, but I wasted no time and headed straight for my first choice, grabbed it and headed for the finish line (the cash register). My prize was a beautifully clean white Corridale fleece with a 5” staple, which is big enough to make about three sweaters worth of yarn.

Food Opportunities: There was only one food vendor on site, which was disappointing but fortunately, we were able to come and go to nearby places. Some of notable mention was The Mission, a Mexican restaurant on Broadway St., and Cornucopia, which was a few blocks from the Fairgrounds. Both had excellent food. There was another place called Dickie Joe’s Diner, on 13th Street. It served Dogs and Burgers and Shakes to die for.

Farmer’s Market: This is a must see in Eugene on Saturday, the Farmer’s Market at 8th and Oak. This is a colorful arts and craft fair at the four corners of the street. There are a variety of musicians playing bluegrass, drumming and meditation music made horns and instruments one would think were homemade.The main theme seemed to be rainbow tie-dyed crafts and hippy style vendors in sandals. I was taken back to the 60s, where flower children roamed the streets, living off their crafts and talents going from place to place wearing backpacks, pushing peace signs in your face.

Husband: I’m glad I had this opportunity to visit Black Sheep Gathering with my husband. For the most part, he did well despite his condition. We consider this time a gift from God and from those who love us, who gifted us generously and prayed for us to enable this trip to happen. We are so humbled and grateful for the painfree moments W. had. Only on the last day of our trip did he feel so uncomfortable, he needed some medication for relief. Although, he seemed to relapse somewhat, it was nice and a blessing to capture an additional memory with him.