Daisies

Daisies

Saturday, October 27, 2012

SAFF Day 2

We had an awesome day immersed in fiber today. Ashleigh got to try spinning for the first time and did very very well. The teacher said she is a natural. Afterwards she looked at every wheel on sale to see if there was a possibility for us to get one...they are expensive. I will be diligently searching for a used one or a layaway program. Rian also joined us to check out all of the animals. Such funny animals. I can't wait till we have some of our own.  SAFF gets better every year and I anticipate going again next year and most likely taking some more classes.





Ashleigh spinning up a storm and then pulling her yarn off of the bobbin. Getting it wound around her hands. That was one of her teachers, Nancy Weaver Hoffman. She lives near Boone on a farm. She and her family are shepherds. Her 16 year old son that has been spinning since he was 8 was also one of the teachers, as well as one of her daughters. They were very nice people and even invited us up to the farm to spin sometime. I may just take her up on the offer.













 
Pictures 1-3 are of alpacas. Pictures 4 & 5 are Finn Sheep. Pictures 6 & 7 are llamas. Picture 8 is of sheep waiting to be viewed in the arena. The rest of the pictures are of different types of goats; angora, mohair, etc. I really love how you can only see the mouth of some of those sweet goats. They were also really friendly towards us. The last picture is of the kids petting baby goats.
 




 

 
The first picture is of Ashleigh trying out rug hooking. The teacher said she is a natural at that as well. I think I have a future crafter on my hands. The second picture is of the biggest wheel I have ever seen, it is called the big wheel. The two pictures are of SAFF and all of its booths. The last picture is of all sorts of roving...it was like a candy store at this booth. Two days filled with beautiful colors and beautiful fibers, what more can a girl ask for. Oh they are calling for a chance of snow next week. I am ready for some knitting in front of the fireplace, yes!
 
Have a lovely night,
 
Yasmin
 
 
 
 
 
 

Friday, October 26, 2012

SAFF Day 1

Hello friends, it has been another two weeks since my last post. I think I left off by telling you all that I had a meeting with the head of HR. That meeting went very well and I ended up receiving a nice severance package through this whole ordeal. I also have started a new job. I took a full week off before I really started aggressively looking for work and very soon after I was offered a job in a restaurant. I am back in a kitchen, a very fast paced kitchen, but I am enjoying the line cook camaraderie and leaving work without having to worry about it when I get home. Also this job is willing to work with my school schedule, so I think I may have found the perfect setup for me. Everything happens for a reason.
So, I have a new hobby and of course it involves fiber. SAFF stands for Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair and it is being held this weekend about 15 minutes from where I live. I have gone for the past two years and this year I decided to try my hand at some classes. I feel like this has been a long time coming and it will be helpful in the long run when we do own sheep, or alpacas, or llamas, or rabbits, or goats, etc. OK you are probably wondering what it could be...no I did not take a shearing class, although I may at some point in the future. I took two spinning classes today. Beginners spinning on a wheel and Beginners spinning on a drop spindle. I thoroughly enjoyed both classes. I will say though that spinning on a wheel is a whole lot harder than it looks. There is a lot of coordination involved and a lot of things can go haywire with a wheel. I thought the spindle class was much more doable and actually got a mini skein out of it. I definitely need to practice a whole lot, but for right now the very tight twisting is fine by me. The thought of turning fiber into yarn is just incredible and in the long run, if I am able to spin my own yarn, it will be so much more economically viable. Speaking of being financially smart, if anyone knows of a wheel someone is trying to sell, please let me know. Wheels can be quite expensive and I really really want one to practice with. I also think spinning on a wheel will be much faster than spinning using a spindle.




1. The wheel I was spinning on, I think it is an Ashford Elizabeth...isn't it beautiful.
2. The yarn I spun on the spool.
3. The spindle spinning class..I was gifted that heavy, good for beginners, spindle.
4. The skein off of the spindle...this is prewashing and setting the curl.
I had so much fun today and can't wait for tomorrow when I get to watch my daughter spin for the first time and I get to look at all of the fiber for sale. Lots more pictures to come after that.
Have a great night,
Yasmin

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Knit-Along

Hello everyone, oh a whole lot has happened in the two weeks since my last post. Life has taken an unexpected turn...not necessarily for the bad though. For the past year I have being going back and forth with liking my job and really really not liking it. I have been feeling like a prisoner to this job, because of the not so great job market and the financial stability it was providing. The biggest thing is though that I have had an incredible amount of stress from this position. So much so, that in the past year I had an ovarian cyst that ruptured, Shingles, and just lots of sickness and pain. The ovarian cyst and Shingles were a first for me...stress really is a killer. A little over a year ago, I had also decided to go back to school and pursue a degree geared towards the medical field. I am looking for a job/career that will give me the freedom to enjoy the piece of land we hope to have one day, financial stability, and a much improved work life balance for my family and my sake. So truth be told, I had in my mind been resolved to leave this job for quite some time. I just had not planned for my exit from this job to work out the way it did. There was a lot of bending the rules and not playing it by the book for the way it went down. If you know me, you would know that I am a very honest (sometimes too bluntly so) and I like to do everything by the book when it comes to work. I think that is the only way that you can truly treat everyone fairly and equally. So, three days later I am still a bit astonished at what happened and don't worry, I have a meeting with the head of HR tomorrow, so that this never happens to anyone else again. I am excited about the future possibilities and grateful for the push that I needed. I am especially grateful for not feeling like a prisoner anymore and for the great relief of stress that I feel. Even my knitting ladies commented on how I looked so much less stressful yesterday. I know life is not going to be easy and there is the scary notion that I do need to find a job and oh of course the health insurance thing, but there is something magical about working a job that you don't have to stress or think about when you are completed with your shift. I try not to concentrate on the negative and I look forward to the positive. Speaking of positive, I have had time to cook and bake, read, and finish knitting projects. Life is good.



So I needed someone to model this hat (beanie) that I finished this morning, but everyone is at school or at work, so here it is on me. This is a present for someone, I hope he likes it. He has been asking for a hat for a while and he actually picked this one out of a book, I am just not sure if he is going to like it in this color. I like it quite a bit though...maybe I need to get some oatmeal colored yarn to make another one for him. Yes, yes I may do that. I am reading Gypsy Boy at the moment, it is a very blunt account of Mikey Walsh's life growing up in the Secret World of the Romany Gypsies. I like it so far. And here is what I am cooking right now.




 
Banana Walnut Bran Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Cake, Rice Noodle Soup with lots of veggies, Apple pie & Apple Crumble, and for dinner last night...Vegetarian Meatball and Pasta Soup. It's all about soup these days with the cold weather we have been having. So what are you all cooking, crafting, or reading?
Peace, Yasmin