Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

Kelly and Marsha love fiber arts and want to inspire you! Marsha is an accomplished knitter and new spinner. Kelly is a spinner who knits and weaves. Fiber is one of the many shared interests after over 30 years of friendship. The show is about our adventures in knitting, spinning, dyeing and other fiber arts.

Ep 173: Spirit Yarn Start-A-Palooza! 11/15/2021

Ep 173: Spirit Yarn Start-A-Palooza! A spirit yarn start-a-palooza is underway! The stresses of life call for self-care and for the Two Ewes that means starting new projects. or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . Still need to knit a swatch with #10 needles and then determine my next steps. I’m headed to the beach on November 15th for a week and I may bring this. by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Nothing to report here. Still waiting for Brian to measure his teapot so I know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. by Stephen West. I am getting close to the end. Started ball #9, and last, of the main color gradient and knitting with contrasting color #8 of 15. I’m making the contrasting color repeats shorter so I can be sure to use all 15 colors. using in the colorway, Meadow Stripes. Working on these when I have a few minutes. The navy I plan to use for heels and toes is fingering. Cast on hat by Abbyeknits using in the colorway Cousteau. Hat has a fun zig zag effect. (Ravelry link) I’m thinking of making these crocheted mitts as part of our Crochet Along. Kelly’s Projects I have a start-a-palooza! I bought the pattern for the Pebblebrook by Wish Upon a Hook (Ravelry link). I’ll be using it with my Knit Picks Brava worsted leftovers to make at least one multicolor hat, and if it’s fun I can make many more. I have the equivalent of about 5 skeins leftover from the blanket. I started the by Tanja Steinbach. (Ravelry Link). I’m using NoCKRs spirit yarn. Wollmeise twin 80/20 in two different brown variegated colors. I started a pair of socks in Bob Ross Happy Little Mistakes yarn from in Aberdeen. This is the yarn Marsha bought for me while we were in Seabrook. I started and finished weaving (Ravelry link) I used a twill pattern--nothing fancy--and was able to thread and weave in just a little more than one weekend. I finished two more (Ravelry link). I have one or two more I can make with the yarn. It was also NoCKRs spirit yarn. Super Yarn Mart! German Town. Speaking of Super Yarn Mart!, I couldn’t figure out the exact vintage of the German Town yarn. But I found an from 2013 and reminiscing about the good old days of Super Yarn Mart! "Super Yarn Mart was the ONLY place where we could find a variety of yarn to buy. Oh sure, you could find a few skeins at Woolworth's, Sears, Fedco and even the May Company, but Super Yarn Mart was the best. They even imported yarn from Europe! There were locations all over the Southland. The aisles were wide, the stores were huge. There were samples of afghans, sweaters, baby clothes hanging from the rafters. They gave you these patterns for free. Everything was pink. All of the ladies that worked there were old, wore lots of lipstick, drank coffee all day and smoked in the store. Ahh, yes...those were the days of acrylic heaven." (Ravelry link) by Christina Korber-Reith is at the stage where I have to make sure that the sleeves are the correct length before the ribbing. I think one sleeve is not the same length as the other--due to my counting issues possibly!). Once I’ve sorted out the length equality, I’ll be ready to put on the ribbing and the knitting will be finished. Crochet Crochet Along Dates November 1 through Jan 10. There is a crochet bundle in the Ravelry group. Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/21156686

Ep 172: Where Have We Been? 10/31/2021

Ep 172: Where Have We Been? We have a Crochet-A-Long starting and project updates and we reconnect after a hectic month. or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . I have made the tiniest bit of movement. JoAnn (momdiggity) came to my house to offer help with my colorwork. She was a tremendous help and it was lovely to finally meet her. My plan is to knit a swatch with #10 needles and then determine my next steps. by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Nothing to report here. Still waiting for Brian to measure his teapot so I know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. by Stephen West. I am obsessed with this project! Knitting with main color #7 of a total of nine and started repeating the contrasting colors. I’m knitting #2 of the second set of contrasting colors. Cast on a pair of basic socks using in the colorway Meadow Stripes. Kelly’s Projects Faye’s Flower Blanket, made with the pattern by Jane Crowfoot is done and delivered. Another finished project, already mailed and no pictures! and . Used Invictus Yarns Captain Superwash in the Driftaway color. From the Heavyweight yarn club, September. After I finished those I used acrylic scraps from the blanket to make a slightly larger striped hat and a pumpkin hat. by Christina Korber-Reith. The yarn is handspun and overdyed. It’s a 3-ply made from CVM fleece from deep stash (2005 ish). Crochet Crochet Along Dates November 1 through Jan 10. The new Crochet Magazine, , has launched! We’re having a Crochet-A-Long to celebrate Alyson Chu’s great adventure! (Alyson of ). If you need Crochet Along ideas: . Crocheted with thread on 0.4 or 0.5 mm hook! . It’s a coffin shaped piece of crocheted lace with a skeleton inside. Ana Wanamaker has some interesting Victorian creepy doilies. If you like Blue Willow or Calamity Ware, check out the . Marsha should make it to hang on Mark’s wall of Blue Willow. by Wish Upon a Hook has an interesting stitch pattern and would look good with multiple colors. I wear my a lot! . An Aran weight big chunky fringed shawl in Tunisian crochet. Check out all her patterns! Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20999612

Ep 171: Garter Squish Obsession 10/05/2021

Ep 171: Garter Squish Obsession Moorit, a new crochet magazine and the Garter Squish obsession are the topics this week. Plus, the Two Ewes are back at their respective homes and we talk about how it is going now that we are back to our “real lives”. or or We still have a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off. Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . No movement on this project. by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Bought shorter straight needles because mine were too long and kept hitting the arms of my chair. Bought needles at located in the Greenwood neighborhood that sells used crafting materials. I need to borrow Brian’s teapot to know when to start decreasing for the top of the tea cozy. by Stephen West. Lots to report here! I am knitting with the third of nine balls of the background gradient and the seventh contrasting color. This blanket is so addictive! I needed to dye about 600 more yards of yarn of the contrasting color so bought 3 skeins of Cascade 220. I dyed them yesterday afternoon and I think the colors are gorgeous. Kelly’s Projects by Christina Korber-Reith. I’m making progress on the second sleeve. Faye’s Flower Blanket, made with the pattern by Jane Crowfoot is almost done. I have an October 6 deadline for the birthday girl! I have triangles to crochet onto the edges and then the border. New Crochet Magazine has launched! Crochet along to celebrate Alyson’s great adventure! (Alyson of ) Winter Weave Along Starts October 15 and goes through the end of March. are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their . /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20708252

Ep 170: Live and Unedited at the Beach! 09/19/2021

Ep 170: Live and Unedited at the Beach! Summer Spin-In winners announced! The Two Ewes are together for two weeks so this is a quick, unedited episode to announce the winners and give a brief update on our Washington adventures. or or We drew prizes for the Summer Spin-In. Also, the 3Green Sisters giveaway thread is still going! If you didn’t win yet, go try that thread! You can also shop with a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off. Marsha’s Projects Marsha bought a fountain Pen: we found the at the UW bookstore. We also found and we try to pronounce. Finished the socks that I had been working on for awhile. Used Garnstudio Drops Fabel. (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . Kelly and I had a long discussion about the sweater while poor Mark had to wear it and listen to us try and figure out what I need to do. Still knitting on the tea cozy pattern, by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Garter Squish Blanket by Stephen West. Wanted to use “spirit yarn” to make a blanket for my brother that he had seen at Close Knit in Portland called . Turns out we remembered the blanket very differently and he was correct. So, that will be another blanket project. Decided to go ahead and dye the yarn for my second Garter Squish. Kelly helped by dye all the yarn. The main color is a gradient of a terra cotta. The contrasting yarns we dyed with short color repeats and long color repeats. While Kelly was in meetings I drove into Aberdeen, Washington and visited owned by Megan Blackburn and Chelsea Barr who dye all the yarn. Megan used to own Little Fish Stitches. I made a pair of sock and the Walk Along tee with her yarm. Bought a skein of sock weight yarn for Kelly from the “Bob Ross: Happy Little Mistakes” bin. Their shop is a little hard to find on the second floor of a business office but do persevere or check out their . Also visited in Hoquiam, Washington. A nice craft store also a bit hard to find but worth the effort. Kelly’s Projects by Christina Korber-Reith. I am using a terra cotta yarn that is a dark red overdyed over the light brown color of the CVM yarn. Working on the first sleeve but I’m almost done. Spinning wheel came with me on the trip and I’ve gotten a little spinning done on my Oxford singles. I think they will become a two ply. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! This is going on until the end of September. are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their . /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20527328

Ep 169: Adding Pens to Our Venn Diagram 09/05/2021

Ep 169: Adding Pens to Our Venn Diagram Wow! The San Francisco International Pen Show! After hearing about all the beautiful pens Kelly saw, we may all want to start collecting a few ourselves. We also learn that pens join knitting, dogs, chickens, and teaching on our Venn Diagram. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Three Green Sisters prizes: Grand prize is an 18 by 18 pillow using fabric designed by Cheri Magnusson. A fabric designer who is the shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine. In addition to the pillow, they are generously providing their Patty style bag as a prize. One will be used for the Summer Spin-In and one will be drawn from a thread we’ll post in the Ravelry group. They are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their . SF International Pen Show Kelly saw lots of great pens and stationery supplies. Bailey got to attend , too. Some favorite vendors were , and . Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . I finished the colorwork yoke and the neckband and washed and blocked the sweater before finishing the bottom and sleeve ribbing. My brother tried on the sweater and we confirmed it was too small. I need to frog it and start over. I’m waiting for Kelly to get here to help me unravel it over a glass of wine. I finished the picot bind off of my by Jane Hunter. I still need to wash and block it. I cast on the tea cozy pattern, by Amelia Carlsen. I am using Cascade 220 Heather in Red Wine Heather (9489) and green Irelande (2429). Finished my Summer Spin In spinning project. Want to make a sweater for Ben and I am considering these patterns: The Blue Mouse Caitlen Shepherd Frank Jernigan Kelly’s Projects by Christina Korber-Reith. I am using a terra cotta yarn that is a dark red overdyed over the light brown color of the CVM yarn. Working on the first sleeve but I’m almost done. More dishcloths--I’m now using two shades of variegated green from the cotton that we dyed back in 2015 (I think) Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Patterns people have requested (Ravelry links) by Steven West Summer Spin In - Ending September 6th! Get your projects posted this weekend. We’ll draw prizes in the next episode. Prizes from Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hi, Marsha. How are you? Unknown Speaker 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 Good, me too! School has started. Yay! Marsha 0:54 Yay! It's your favorite time of the year. Kelly 0:55 It is it really is. And actually, it's been a lot of fun. The last couple of days I've gotten to meet-- I had, I had some activities that I didn't do in previous semesters. And so I've gotten a chance to meet students online. A little bit, a little bit better than what I've done in previous semester. So yeah, I'm learning. I'm getting better. It's getting to be a little more interesting and fun. And all that training pays off. Marsha 1:25 Yeah. Really. Kelly 1:25 Yeah, really? Ask me again, though in November. Marsha 1:33 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 1:35 But right now, day three, right. This is Wednesday? Yeah, no, this is Thursday, day, four of the semester, it's going great. Marsha 1:46 It's going so great you don't even know what day of the week. Kelly 1:47 I know, really, this is a good sign. I feel like I'm attached to the hip with my computer between doing all the school stuff. You know, I mean, I don't have zoom class meetings, but jumping on zoom to help students with questions, emailing back and forth to students, putting up assignments to students, grading assignments to students--with-- you know--of students. Checking in to make sure they've done all the things that they needed to do. It has data analytics, so I can see what pages they've been looking at. And, you know, figure out what I need to do like, oh, they're missing this. Students don't seem to be looking at this page. They're missing this information, I need to make sure I put out a notice, you know, all this stuff on my computer. And then when I'm done for the night, well, and then then the morning before I start, you know, I'm looking at the news on the computer, I'm looking at Ravelry on the computer, and then when I done at night, I take the computer to bed and I watch TV, watch Netflix Like this computer is like attached to my-- practically attached to my body. Hmm, I'm going to really be in need of a digital detox at some point. Marsha 3:00 Well. Yeah, maybe someday. Maybe. Kelly 3:05 Yeah, I don't know. It's funny, because I don't, I don't really, I don't really mind. You know, most of the stuff on the computer is, is it's enjoyable, you know, looking at Ravelry and talking to students and all that, watching Netflix or Amazon Prime. You know, it's it's not terrible. It's just-- It's so funny. This one device is doing everything for me Marsha 3:31 That's a lot of time. That's a lot of time looking at that blue screen or whatever it is. Kelly 3:35 Yeah, yeah. That's true. Marsha 3:39 Well, what have you been up to? Kelly 3:41 Since we last talked? Well, I went to the San Francisco International Pen Show! Yay! Marsha 3:50 I saw your pictures. It looks very cool. Kelly 3:53 Who knew? First of all, that there even was such a thing, although I should know that. You know, if there's a yarn conference, of course, there should be a pen conference. I mean, every hobby's got to have their you know, their their get togethers. I saw on Instagram, the like mascot for the pen show was a white German Shepherd. And so on their Instagram feed they were posting pictures, you know, Odin says wear a mask and have you gotten your you know, do you know what pens you're going to be looking at? A picture of the dog with the pen in his paws and, you know, all these different pictures with pens. And then I saw there was a hashtag dogs of the San Francisco pen show. And then somebody said something about, oh, and then one of the posts was, is your pooch coming or something like that? And I thought, Wait a minute, what? Wait, what? Because we were trying to figure out what to do with the dogs, you know, they don't really have a lot of experience being home alone. And that's a you know, that's a distance away for for us so it's going to be all day. And the two together is a lot for Aunt Betty to, to have to deal with. So we were trying to manage what we're going to do and we had thought we would bring them both in the truck, but then it was going to be like almost 90 degrees. And there was covered parking but Robert's truck is tall and so there's always a worry what if it doesn't fit in the covered parking? The old truck didn't fit in covered parking. This one the shell is a little bit lower. He didn't get the, the taller shell. So anyway, there was all this like angst about what we're going to do. And and I had, you know, thought, Oh, I need to call the hotel and get information about their parking structure. Anyway, when I saw that, it's like, oh, she can come to the pen show. So Bailey came to the pen show. It was so fun. Marsha 5:48 Did she by a-- Did she buy a pen? Kelly 5:50 No, I didn't let her have any money. But she was really good. And there were other dogs there. We didn't get to see the white German Shepherd. I guess they were busy running the show. And not you know, didn't have the dog. But But yeah, he was there at the party-- the after party that evening. But we had already gone by then. So Marsha 6:17 The pen show has an after party? Kelly 6:18 Yeah. It's called a pen show after dark. It looks like a lot of fun. Marsha 6:27 It's so clever. Kelly 6:28 Yeah. Yeah. Kind of like, you know, kind of like the lobby at stitches. Marsha 6:33 Mm hmm. Kelly 6:34 So after, you know, after hours, so yeah. I also found out that there's an intersection. Quite the intersection between pen lovers, and knitters. Okay, so I wanted to give a few shout outs to some people that I talked to at the pen show. One of them, her name is Rena. I don't remember her last name. But her Ravelry name is sewwhatsports and sew is an s-e-w. And she actually was telling me that she had written an article for ply magazine. And I don't have this issue, but it's in the electric issue. I was gonna try to get it because I'd love to see her article. It's in the electric issue of ply magazine, which I think was in May or April. And she wrote an article about being a nomad spinner. So she's sold everything and she's just living on the road. And one of the things that she that she's doing as she lives on the road is these pen shows. She was at a booth for a guy, a shop called Toys in the Attic. And so yeah, I bought a pen case from them. Little travel case that fits in the pocket of my briefcase, and she showed me all about it, how it's--you could step on it and it won't crush and and so it won't, you know, my pens won't get smashed in my briefcase, and has a magnet clip that is super strong so that it won't pop open. And but anyway, her article was about how she spins on the road with an electric spinner. Marsha 8:20 Mm hmm. Kelly 8:21 So that was really cool. So shout out to Rena, Ravelry name is sewwhatsports. And then I was at the Peyton Street Pens booth. And Peyton Street Pens is the one that's local to me. It's an online shop, but they are in Santa Cruz. All the pens I've bought, have been from there. Marsha 8:43 Except, except the one from college, right? Kelly 8:47 Yes, the one the one that I bought in college I bought, I did not clearly did not buy from them. But then that inspired me to get-- make a small collection of Sheaffer Targas from that same era, which I bought from them. And then I got the older Sheaffers for Christmas and my birthday. And those were also from them. So anyway, I wanted to meet Teri and introduce myself and say hello and have her put a face to an order blank, you know. Marsha 9:20 yeah. Kelly 9:21 So I went over there to talk with her and helping in her shop is a woman named Elizabeth. And she's like, did you knit your sweater? So I think this actually is what what created my knowledge about this intersection because I wore the Edie my Edie Tee that's that variegated yarn, the turquoise variegated. And so she said, Did you knit your sweater? And I said yes. And then I said, Are you a knitter and she said, Oh yeah. And so she goes to her bag and she pulls out her shawl and, and she was making a beautiful or she had in her in her bag it was finished. It was what she was wearing. She had in her bag, a beautiful, multicolor shawl. So that was really fun to get to meet somebody who--and she's on Ravelry. But I don't, I didn't get her Ravelry name. And then there was another booth where I actually bought a little leather cover for a field notes-- for my field notes notebooks. Marsha 10:26 Yeah, Kelly 10:26 It's what they call a traveler's style notebook where it's a cover with elastics and then you just, you just insert almost as many of these little Field Notes notebooks as you want inside by using these elastics to attach them. So I bought the cover from them and it's Curnow Bookbinding. Marsha 10:49 Okay, Kelly 10:49 And the woman there was also a knitter and I did not get her name, unfortunately. But yeah, she she, she told me her Ravelry name, and I didn't write it down. So I don't remember. But But yeah, that was really fun to meet her too. And I was able to buy the little, the little book and they have-- Curnow bookbinding it's C U R N O W. They have an Etsy shop. And they sell the cutest notebook thing. I didn't buy one at this shop, but I think I might have to at some point go on their Etsy shop. But they take old books. And then they use the covers of the old books. Marsha 11:34 Mm hmm. Kelly 11:35 And they put hand sewn notebooks inside. Okay, so they had Hardy Boys and some other titles that I didn't recognize. But I was just thinking I should go back and look at their site because what a fun gift for someone. You know, if you know that they really loved a certain book when they were young. Like let's say they love Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys and you go on Marsha 12:01 Yeah, Kelly 12:01 and see, you know, that notebook So, so I thought that was very clever. And then they also had wooden notebook covers that were like laser engraved. And there's one with a really cool octopus. Oh, I almost I almost bought the octopus one. And then there was also a woman who made felt art notebook covers and had bowls for your paint brushes. Marsha 12:34 Okay, Kelly 12:34 And and she was like, No, they're not knitting bowls. They're not yarn bowls. Like okay, she knows about yarn bowls? Kelly 12:43 Yeah, really? Kelly 12:44 I guess if you if you craft with felts maybe you do know about yarn bowls. So but they have little lips on them. So you could put your, you know, your watercolor brush on Marsha 12:56 Okay, Kelly 12:56 the bowl edge. So yeah, it's very cool. I so I bought the cover to the note-- the notebook cover. I bought a pen, a really darling little, small, like four-- under four and a half inches. A little orange and black, a 1920s or 1930s pen that fits into my little notebook. So that's really cool. Yeah, I had a great time. It was a lot of fun. I didn't spend all my money. Marsha 13:30 Oh, good. Kelly 13:31 Yeah. Well, Marsha 13:31 I guess that's good. Is that good? Kelly? Kelly 13:33 Yeah, it was fine. I wasn't sure you know, what I was going to see or what I was going to want. And there was there was a lot of interesting stuff there. But a lot of the things I don't feel like I know enough. Marsha 13:46 Mm hmm. Kelly 13:47 You know, so it was mostly, it was more of a learning, was more of a learning experience to go. And yeah, there are a couple things I wanted. I wanted the case, the pen case that I could put in my briefcase to protect my pens. Marsha 14:01 Mm hmm. Kelly 14:02 If I ever get back on campus, if I ever go anywhere. And then I wanted the cover to the field notes notebooks. So, huh. So yeah, but lots of intersection between knitting and this whole pen, pen and stationery world. Marsha 14:23 I remember having this whole discussion about the intersection of knitting and chickens. Kelly 14:27 Yes. Now we can add knitting and pens, knitting and pens, knitting and chickens. knitting and dogs. Marsha 14:34 Yeah, Kelly 14:35 There are a lot of intersections. Yeah. knitting and teachers, pens and teachers. Anyway, yeah, we could go, we could go on. Marsha 14:46 The list goes on. Yeah, Kelly 14:47 yeah. You know, all the cool. All the cool people do all the cool crafts, right. Marsha 14:54 Yeah, that's true. So yeah, well, that sounds like it was really fun and I think you sent me some pictures. Yeah. And the pens, some of the pens are just beautiful. Kelly 15:05 Oh my gosh, yeah, just Yeah, really, really, really beautiful. And some are really, really, really expensive. Yeah. You know, there's a pen price for everyone. That was another thing that was pretty cool to see, you know, really wide variety. Marsha 15:23 Well, and I was gonna say, you know, if you had those really expensive pens, you probably wouldn't want to take it out of your house and bring it to class because it'd be easy to lose something like that, you know. Which it's nice now that you have the case too, because you it's that'll be harder to lose, than a pen, you know, Kelly 15:39 yeah right. And then the case, I've been using the case. I have a bag that I pack in the morning when I go out to the trailer just because it's easier to carry all my stuff. And so I've been using the case in there. And it's really nice, because it just fits exactly in the pocket of my felted bag. And then the flap. The flap closes, because it's magnetic, it closes over the edge of the pocket. So it's really easy to just flip that flap up and grab the pen out and then close it back up. It's not like I have to take something out, take the pen out of that. I could just reach in like, it's become like a... it's not permanent, but it's almost like a permanent pocket. Or, well, yeah, a permanent hard sided pocket in my, in my bag. And that was kind of what I wanted was something that I could just put into my bag. It'll stay in my bag, and then I could just flip up the top and get the pen out. Marsha 16:36 Yeah. Kelly 16:38 So yeah, it was nice. I also saw Marianne, our friend Marianne. Kelly 16:42 Oh, yeah, Kelly 16:43 Arunningstitcher or Mariknitstoo on Ravelry. I think is her her Ravelry name there anyway. Yeah, so that was fun. She was-- she said she was gonna come for the end of the pen show. So we stood around and talked, probably a good 30 to 40 minutes. So I hope she had enough time to do damage after we got done talking. So we were headed out and she was headed to take a loop around and see what she could find So, huh. So yeah, I was really fun to see someone in person. Marsha 17:20 Yeah. Yeah, cuz it's been years. Well, year and a half when we're getting up on it. Kelly 17:28 Yeah, I mean, I haven't.. The last time I saw her it was in February of 2020. At tSitches. Yeah. So it would...that was really fun. To have a chance to meet somebody in person. It was, it was just a fun, fun day all around. Marsha 17:47 Yeah. Good. Yeah. Well, um, yeah. So it's very cool. Next year, maybe I'll come down for it. I'm not, maybe I need, maybe I need to get into these pens. I'm not into the pens. Maybe Maybe there's, maybe I shouldn't be into these pens. I don't know. Kelly 18:01 Oh, it's pretty fun. Yeah, pretty fun. Well, and I've got, okay, we won't to talk a whole lot about this. But I've now got a little system with my notebooks, to help me remember what I have to do for my classes and stuff. And that's been kind of fun to to...You know, we've talked about our lists. And I still have the steno pad that I use to keep lists. But now with that little small notebook cover, I have a couple of notebooks in there and one's for each class. And so I just take and jot little things or have like, I need to make a list of students that I need to contact, you know, like, I can actually write their names down on it. It's all in the computer. But sometimes you just need to write it down, have a list, and then go back to your email and create the email, you know. So I'm using it for all that kind of stuff, just like little scratch notes that I have for my class. So it's kind of fun to have a new little notebook system that I'm developing here. Marsha 19:00 Yeah, yeah. Oh, very cool. Yeah. And what else? Kelly 19:05 Well, I have some knitting. Okay. Marsha 19:07 You want to talk to me-- talk projects, then? Kelly 19:10 Yeah, I do have some knitting. I'm working right now on my sweater. And I'm almost finished with the first sleeve. I have probably 18 to 20 more rows of the cabling, and then the ribbing at the bottom. Marsha 19:30 Wow, good progress. Kelly 19:32 Yeah, it's it's going. It seems like it's going slowly. But that's just because I haven't had a chance to pick it up recently. Or the other thing is, when I've had the chance to pick it up. I've... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20373071

Ep 168: Gamp Weaving and Spinning Weasels...We Learn Some New Words 08/27/2021

Ep 168: Gamp Weaving and Spinning Weasels...We Learn Some New Words The Summer Spin ends in less than a month so we discuss knitting with handspun. Plus, we have great prizes for the Spin In provided by the Three Green Sisters and we have our Patreon Pattern Giveaway. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Three Green Sisters prizes: Grand prize is an 18 by 18 pillow using fabric designed by Cheri Magnusson. They are very interested in supporting this new fabric designer who is the shepherd of an Icelandic flock in Maine. In addition to the pillow, they are generously providing their Patty style bag as a prize. One will be used for the Summer Spin-In and one will be drawn from a thread we’ll post in the Ravelry group. They are offering Fiber Adventurers a coupon code EWES2 for 15% off until the end of the year. They also make custom loom totes, spinning wheel carriers and spindle and heddle bags, along with one of a kind styles. Take a look at what Suzanne and other 3 Green Sisters are offering in their . We talk about Cheri Magnuson who has created fabric that will be in one of the prizes. She is a shepherd who had become a fabric designer. Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . I finished the colorwork yoke and the neckband and washed and blocked the sweater before finishing the bottom and sleeve ribbing. Now I’m worried it is too small. I need to get my brother over as soon as possible to try on the sweater so I know what my next step will be. I discussed a technique for knitting with three colors in one row that my friend told me about. Unfortunately, I cannot find a YouTube video demonstration but I will describe it. You knit the row with the dominant color and one background color, slipping the stitches that are the second background color. When you finish the row, you knit the row again but this time you knit the second background color stitches you slipped, and slip all the dominant color and first background colors. Hope that makes sense. I also picked up a skein winder or spinning weasel from our listener Nanci (Nan4Nan). It was lovely to meet Nanci and so generous of her to pass along the skein winder. It does not have a brand name on it so if listeners know, please pass on that information. I’ve been watching YouTube videos to learn how to use it. Kelly’s Projects I have been knitting dishcloths at night and weaving during the day. I had a previously wound warp for the Huck Color and Weave project from the Jane Stafford guild. I decided to put it on the loom. Huck is a weave structure with floats. You can have horizontal floats along with plain weave on the front, you can have vertical floats along with the plain weave, or you can have both vertical and horizontal floats that make a kind of lace. Color and weave refers to alternating colors in both the warp and the weft. Depending on the sequence of light and dark threads (LDLD… or LDDL-LDDL… or DLDDL-DLDDL…) the colors will interact with each other to form interesting patterns. A gamp is a sampler that allows you to systematically pair every weft choice with every warp choice. It was my first time warping back to front on the floor loom. I used the instructions from season one of the guild. It was easy to wind on by myself! Robert doesn’t really enjoy helping me wind on. Once it was on the loom I got obsessed and wove it off in about 4 days. I did 4 different gamps and then I just played. The gamps became napkins (they were a good size for that) and the rest of the sampling became dishtowels. The fabric really changes when it is washed and curved sections become visible. I’m not ready to do another one of these lace projects, but I got inspired to put a stash busting baby blanket on the loom. Spinning Topic--Handspun sweaters Kelly: Laceweight camel and silk featherweight sweater, Funky grandpa sweater, Orcas Run sweater, Dark and Stormy, Dark Green Forest sweater. Four are natural colored (one of them with overdyed stripes). The current one is overdyed. The yarns are: Two ply--one ply camel and one ply silk for a laceweight yarn. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Featherweight sweater. Medium fine wool (breed unknown) (Charlotte) two ply fingering weight. Spun first, then decided what to do with it. Funky Grandpa sweater. CVM bulky two ply--spun on purpose for the sweater. Orcas Run sweater Targhee lamb three ply (worsted to aran)--spun for a sweater, chose sweater based on gauge. Dark and Stormy sweater. CVM three ply in a sport weight--started spinning first, then decided to make a sweater and selected based on gauge. Dark Green Forest Sweater. Also used Charlotte carded with a little bit of brightly dyed silk noil to make a vest for Robert. Yarn is a heavy, dense 2-ply that is probably aran weight or larger (early spinning). The vest is quite large (gauge swatch? no!) and you can see stripes of the various natural colors of Charlotte in it from uneven carding. Marsha: I have made two sweaters with my handspun. Both were combo spin methods. by Heidi Kirrmeier. For this sweater I dyed the roving in really bright colors. by Heidi Kirrmeier. All the roving I bought at shows and did not dye any. Lots of fiber types...wools, silk, alpaca. Really fun to spin all the different fibers, With both sweaters I did not alternate skeins on the body, but I did alternate for the sleeves. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Less than a month to go! Prizes from Full Transcript of show: Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I thought we would be ready to go early. And then I got going doing the dishes and looked at the clock and went oh my gosh. It's time to record. Marsha 0:57 I know. Well a little late start for me too. I was a little late today. So but here I am I have a cup of coffee. Kelly 1:03 All right. Marsha 1:04 I have to just before we get into-- well, we always have our first you know 20 minutes of non fiber related conversation. Here's my non fiber related conversation. I had some friends over last night for dinner. And one of the women that came does not like dogs. And she especially does not like poodles. Kelly 1:26 Like actively doesn't like dogs? Not just isn't a dog person? Marsha 1:30 She's not a dog person. And she's she's afraid of them. And kind of leery of them, I think not flat out afraid. But she just doesn't like them and would prefer not to be around them. And she especially does not like poodles. And she especially doesn't like black poodles. What do I have? Kelly 1:46 Yes. Okay. Marsha 1:47 And the. And the reason she doesn't and I can understand this, the reason why she doesn't like them is that she some family member has poodles and they jump on her. So I understand that. And so I know this about her and so whenever... So anyway, I won't make this a long story. So when they arrived, I had Enzo on leash, even though he doesn't jump on people. He does want to go over and say hi. And some people don't like that. And so, and that's fair. So I just, when they came to the door, I had him on his leash, and kept him on a short leash. And then we went out in the backyard to sit and have a drink and, and then I said-- Well, I left them out there. There's some other people there too. But I I said I had to go in because the timer went off and the food was ready. I had to go get it out and put it on the table. And I said, you guys just sit there. I'll just do this on my own. That's fine. And I told Enzo, he's down on the patio and I'm up on the deck and I use the hand signal down and stay. And they gasp because he does it and I'm like I'm 15 feet away. And and I go in the house and I get the casserole out and I toss the salad, I slice the bread and I open the wine and come back out and he's still sitting there. 15 minutes later. Kelly 2:07 What a good boy. Yes. Marsha 2:14 What a good boy. And that's why we train our dogs, right? Like, I Kelly 2:58 yeah, so they can live with us. Marsha 3:08 Yeah. And then they can be around people who are not comfortable around dogs too. You know, that's, I said to you that as why I wanted all the training that I was going to do with Enzo. The whole purpose is I wanted him to be a good representative of, you know, a good ambassador for dogs and his breed. Because it does seem like with poodles that some people really like poodles, and some people don't like poodles, they've had bad experiences with them. I don't know why. I mean, I don't you know, he's, I think he's fine. But it's all about training. Really, you know, it's just, it's not the dog. It's the dog owner. But anyway, they were very impressed. I was even I was impressed. I know, I wasn't saying I was, I kind of figured Kelly 4:00 You were proud of him. Marsha 4:02 I was proud of him. Yeah, I wasn't surprised. I was proud of him. And he and and they were like kind of surprised, too, you know, and so I yeah, so anyway, Training pays off. Yeah. Kelly 4:14 Yeah, it does. My niece has a new rescue Pitbull. And she's been working really hard with her. And she, you know, like any dog that you don't have from puppy hood. And some that you do have from puppyhood? Marsha 4:28 Yeah, really! Kelly 4:29 You know, she has some things that she needs to-- some challenges that she needs to work on. And, and so she's been, you know, texting me and stuff and, and she texted me the other day about a good event. You know, how something that worked kind of like what you were talking about, not not anything as big. Because she's still you know, in the baby step stage. I think she's had her two and a half or three months about the same amount of time we've had Beary, a little less. But she texted me to say, Oh, this worked and it was so great and it's so nice to have a dog that does things that fit into my life. And, you know, so anyway, I thought that was really cool to hear. It's nice when they are able to, they're able to be a part of your life because they know how to act. Marsha 5:14 Yeah. And the thing is, like I mean, I knew he would stay there. So I wasn't-- that wasn't what I was concerned about. But I, I, I don't normally have to do that, like on a Saturday when, you know, my brother comes over and Kim and Gary and they usually because they they're used to dogs, they're used to Enzo. They're not afraid of him or, and I can't say she's afraid of him, that's too strong. She just doesn't want to be around dogs. She just doesn't like him. And so when you have somebody like that you want-- you're extra careful about how your dog behaves. Kelly 5:48 Right. Marsha 5:48 So that's why I was I normally on a Saturday night I don't have to make him on a down stay right when I go in the house because I just go in the house because there's other people you know, watching him and usually he just goes and lays down anyway on his own. But no, I was I was really proud of him, his behavior. And then when we came in the house and had dinner, you know, he just went lay down in the entrance hall and like and how can you not like a dog that's just a flat dog? Kelly 6:16 Right. Marsha 6:17 looking beautiful. Or just spread eagle on the in the middle of the living room floor, you know, ignoring you. So a good a good ambassador. Kelly 6:27 Yeah. Marsha 6:27 So should we talk projects or? Kelly 6:32 Yeah, let's go ahead. Actually, before we talk projects, let's talk a little bit about the prizes. Marsha 6:37 Oh, yeah. Kelly 6:37 For the spin-in. So we have been talking about them, just sort of generally. But I want to talk a little bit more specifically about the three green sisters prizes that they've offered us very generously. So there's a grand prize that is an 18 by 18 inch pillow. And it's made from fabric that's designed by a woman named Cheri Magnussen, and she's a shepherd of Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. And she was an engineer and she's retired and has been, you know, living her dream, she says of, of being a shepherd with these Icelandic sheep. So I'll read a little bit from her bio in a minute, but. So three green sisters has met her and is interested in supporting her work that she's now doing. Because she's had to stop. She's had to stop, you know, stop doing doing the shepherding work. She has a few older sheep that she's keeping, but but she's not able to keep breeding sheep and working with sheep. So anyway, so let me tell you a little bit about Cheri Magnussen, again Coldstream Icelandic sheep in Maine. Her farm she says Kelly 7:55 "My farm has been a journey filled with unspeakable joy and grief so raw, I felt as if my heart was being torn apart. The year my first lambs were born, my son took his own life. I'm still grieving within. There are still times when sorrow washes over me like the waves of a cold dark winter sea. As I awaited this year's lambs, my heart was full of expectation. Joy filled my heart as the lambs grew within my ewes ever expanding bellies. Now lambs are playing and bouncing about and hope has welled up in me again, and life has promised." Kelly 8:25 So she started her journey with sheep with that combination of, of sadness and hope. And now, she's actually been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and so she's had to stop working the sheep but she's begun doing fabric design and she says, "My fabric design began just a few months ago, I watched a design show where people made their own fabric. It's like a light turned on in me, I can do that! I see designs in everything, the woodland streams, flowers, skies and of course, my sheep. So using the forest, a mossy log, some gnarly roots wrapped around rocks that I can work with, and I have some of the proceeds that I received from my designs are donated to suicide prevention and shelters, both human and animal." Kelly 9:11 So she's now doing this fabric design. And the three green sisters have met her and are are using some of her fabrics for their bags. And then they also have this pillow that they've offered with the with the sheep fabric. So that's one of the prizes. And let me just tell you, I put a link to Spoonflower in the show notes Marsha, and I... In particular, the Coldstream Icelandic shop, but what a rabbit hole! Oh my gosh. I had heard about Spoonflower before, but Marsha 9:51 as you're talking, I'm looking at it. So this is dangerous. Okay. Kelly 9:55 Yeah, we'll have to have a conversation about Spoonflower when we're done with this. So Getting back to our prizes. So we have the pillow. And then addition, in addition to the pillow, three green sisters are also generously providing their Patty style bag as prize. And we're going to have one of them for the summer spin in. And then one of them, I thought it would be nice for the people who are not participating in the summer spin to also have an opportunity to go check out their Etsy shop and have a possibility of winning. So I'll put a thread up in the Ravelry group where I'll have you go and look at her shop and answer some question, some prompt. So I'll put a thread there that I will have just a regular giveaway thread. And then we'll have one of these bags as a prize for the summer spin-in. And then in addition to that, they're also offering us a coupon code for 15% off and this goes all the way to the end of the year. The coupon code is EWES2 and it's all caps. That's the coupon code. And so you can use that for 15% off and they have free shipping in the US on most items. They also make loom totes and spinning wheel carriers. I know you talked about the bag you bought Marsha, I think maybe you you accidentally bought a spinning wheel carrier! It's so large. [laughing] Marsha 11:18 I think I did [laughing] Kelly 11:19 yeah. And then they also have spindle bags and bags for your heddles. Those of you who have rigid heddle looms. And so they have lots of variety on there. Three green sisters Etsy shop. So coupon code, EWES2 for 15% off in that shop. So thank you to the three green sisters for supporting our spin in again this summer. We only have a-- we have less than a month to go. Marsha 11:53 I know! Well, I have to talk about that. Kelly 11:55 The summer has gone by so fast. Marsha 11:58 I know. Where I am in the process. But anyway, we'll talk about that when we get to projects. Yeah. Kelly 12:04 By the way, have you ever seen Spoonflower before? Marsha 12:08 No, I have not. And I'm, as I say I'm looking at it now. And it's Kelly 12:13 so you can design a fabric and then once you design-- the premise of it, you can design a fabric and then once you design the fabric, you can also make it available for other people to purchase. But you can find fabric with anything on it. Honest to God, anything. Marsha 12:32 So I can find something with poodles. Kelly 12:34 Oh, it's quite I'm sure you could find a million things with poodles. So this morning I put in-- I was trying to find her shop, just without going to look up the link. And so I just put in Icelandic for example. And there's fabric with four breeds of Icelandic dogs on it. Like that's, that's very niche. Marsha 12:55 Yeah, Kelly 12:56 There's millions of fabrics with puffins. There's fabrics with the the country of Iceland. There's... What are they called? runes, the the characters you know, that like letters? Marsha 13:12 Oh. Right! Kelly 13:12 I think they're called--are they called runes? I don't know that sounds right, Marsha 13:17 yeah. Kelly 13:18 Anyway, they're, they're the language characters like the alphabet. They have, I mean, put in something and you can find-- I'm pretty sure you can find a fabric that has something to do with that thing. You know, my my most recent obsession of fountain pens and ink, I'm sure you could find fabrics with that. Just anything you're interested in. Somebody has a fabric, and if you can't find it, you could design your own! Marsha 13:46 Design my own. So I'm looking at-- Oh, and here's-- Okay, we are getting off topic now and are down a rabbit hole! But I just put in poodle. The style that that Cheri is using is, it's like that mirrored image kind of thing. So it looks like you know, when you look through like a kaleidoscope? Kelly 14:11 Yes, Marsha 14:11 that's kind of what it looks like? And she-- some of her fabric, she has sheep in there. And then you can sort of make them out and so but just now I was looking at poodles. And there is a poodle. Like that thing where you're looking through the kaleidoscope so you see the poodle upside down and backwards. So there's all kinds of poodle fabric, so yeah, yeah. Anyway, very, very fun. Kelly 14:38 It makes me want to sew something. Marsha 14:41 Yeah. Oh my god. So cute. Yeah. Oh, here's one with the black poodle. And lattes, a black poodle and lattes. Kelly 14:49 There you go. Marsha Marsha 14:51 What's the connection there. Kelly 14:56 That would make a cute knitting bag. You could sew yourself a knitting bag with poodles. Marsha 15:00 Yes. Here's a very stylized one. Oh, interesting. Kelly 15:07 Okay, so this is enough. This is an audio podcast. We can't be showing you pictures of all these different fabrics. But...But take a look. If you have not ever gone down... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20223005

Ep 167: Dominant and Submissive Colors in Stranded Knitting 08/08/2021

Ep 167: Dominant and Submissive Colors in Stranded Knitting In stranded knitting what is the opposite of the dominant color? Is it the submissive color? There are lessons we've apparently not learned about alternating skeins and we have a Patreon patron giveaway! Thank you to all our patrons! You can join them in supporting us at Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . I have attached the sleeves to the body and have knit about five rows of the colorwork. The Jared Flood video on stranded knitting was great and the tutorial on trapping the floats holding yarn in the right hand was very good except it did not show how to capture the floats with continental stitch. Knitting Help had a very good short video . Kelly’s Projects cardigan (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the pattern at her website, . The yarn is an overdyed handspun CVM in a 3-ply (fingering to sport weight). I have completed the body and one pocket lining. This is the only knitting or spinning that I’ve done. All my creative energy has been going to class materials for my two different online classes for fall. Classes start on August 30. Patreon Pattern Giveaway! Thank you patrons! We appreciate your generous support! Patrons get a pattern of their choice up to $8.00. Contact Kelly with your pattern selection! Email or message 1hundredprojects on Ravelry or Instagram. Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th About a month to go! We have prizes generously donated by . They make beautiful bags for your knitting, looms, spinning wheels or travel. They also have now have table linens. Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Hey, Marsha. How are you doing? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:46 Good. Do you have wine tonight? Marsha 0:49 No, I don't. Kelly 0:50 It's not morning. So we could be drinking wine! Marsha 0:53 No, it's uh, it's now let's see what time is. It's almost it's a little past five 5:30. Yeah. On Thursday. Yeah. And full disclosure. I already had a beer. Kelly 1:03 Okay. Well, I... that's why I don't have... I guess we're in the same boat because that's why I don't have a glass of wine. Because Robert and I went out to Monterey. And we took the dogs and we walked on the rec trail. And this is the first time I've been out on the rec trail. I'm pretty sure it's the first time I've been out there since since March of 2020. Marsha 1:28 Mm hmm. Kelly 1:29 So it was really nice as a beautiful day. We got to see-- we got to watch... There were two women there with SPCA shirts on. And they had these boxes that were like the pet store boxes like you know, you bring home an animal in with holes in the sides. Marsha 1:46 All right, yeah. Kelly 1:47 And so I saw that and then I saw their shirts and I thought, Oh, I bet they're releasing, releasing something from the Wildlife Center! On the edge of this little point where they were sitting was a gull, a seagull. And they were watching it and so Robert and I stopped to watch too and pretty soon-- and then the bird is making all kinds of noise and you know... And they're just standing you know, just kind of standing back and watching and and finally it takes off. And the one woman says, "Go, Falcon, go! And never come back!" So we watched, we got to watch a seagull be released for you know, who knows what was the reason that it was in the Wildlife Center. But that was pretty cool. And Beary had a good time. We did probably three miles on the rec trail with him. So he's he's doing better. Marsha 2:39 That's good. Kelly 2:40 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he's gotten Marsha 2:42 and what's he like on those three miles? Is he huffin' and puffin'? Or is he doing pretty good? Kelly 2:47 He, by the end, he was kind of slow. And we... It was one of those kind of walks where, you know, we weren't just powering through it. We we stopped let him sniff and stopped to look at the scenery, you know. It's that kind of walk. So slower than Bailey would like to go. She's itching to just, you know, I mean, she likes to stop and sniff too, but she's itching to just take a walk where we just move, you know. Actually, I think she would probably like it if I ran. I don't know that that's gonna happen. But I think she would like that. So they had a good time. We had a good time. And then, but the reason I'm not having wine is not because I saw a bird on the rec trail, but because after that, this was our little date day, it was Robert's day off. We went to lunch and wine tasting at Taste of Monterey. We had our subscription to pick up for the month of August. And so Robert made reservations. And it was the first time I've been inside, like inside eating. Marsha 3:51 Oh, yeah? Kelly 3:52 Since, you know, since March. They had probably... it's a pretty good sized space. And they had I would say probably six tables, five tables, maybe was the most they had while we were there. And they had these big fans going and and we were all sitting you know, spaced apart. And you know, of course wearing masks when you arrive but you can't eat or drink wine with a mask. But they don't do wine tasting like where you stand at the bar and do the wine tasting where they pour you the, you know, the six little pours. They're doing flights. So we got our free flights. And oh my gosh! Marsha 4:41 Well, Kelly, I saw your Instagram posts today. And I know there was a lot of wine but there was no food. Did you have lunch? Kelly 4:49 We did! Yes. We started with wine first we had, well, we both had clam chowder, and then they have a like a flat... They have a lot of different food but we got this flatbread pizza. Then we each had a bowl of clam chowder. So, but yeah, I've had my wine for the day because we had the flight. And then one of the ones from the flight, I decided that I wanted a glass of it, but, but it was pretty, pretty generous flight! Kelly 5:03 I sometimes find that the wine tasting is a lot of wine. Yeah, it can add up to several classes. Kelly 5:21 Yeah, no, these were, I think... because they don't have a lot of customers. You know, it's all very restricted. We had to have reservations. And I think it was supposed to be three, two ounce pours, but I think these were more than that. Because they looked like they... they looked like very generous, very generous pours. So, but very good. I had white wine Robert had red. And it was a fun day. We, you know, I haven't done anything like that in a really long time. Well, like everyone else, you know? Marsha 5:53 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 5:54 So. Marsha 5:55 So are they...? Sounds like they're pretty...they're still sort of strict about masks. And Marsha 6:01 oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Marsha 6:03 Because it's interesting here in Seattle, they're still well, it's like, it's hard to know, people are out walking around without masks on. Kelly 6:11 Yeah, outside was mixed. Yeah. And I don't wear a mask outside unless... There was a couple of places on the trail where it got crowded... that, you know, I put my mask on. Just because there were so many people. Marsha 6:25 It's interesting, where you go in stores, like, I went, Oh, the hardware store everybody's masked up, the grocery store everybody's masked up. I went down...this was a couple weeks ago, I went down to pick up some Thai food, they are a masked up at the Thai place. But right next door, there's a bottle shop and I bought like a four pack a beer. Nobody in there had a mask on. So I don't know. Now that's several weeks ago, and now the Delta variant is now I guess, sort of taking off. Kelly 6:59 Yeah. Marsha 6:59 So maybe people are getting more cautious. I wear a mask. And I'm also trying to wear a mask, too, around... I'm not around a lot of children. But the the little girl across the alley from me comes over a lot. And you know, she's seven, I think right? And she can't get vaccinated. And I hear different stories that even if you're vaccinated, you can carry it. And then I've also heard you can't carry it. So I don't know. I thought it's better just to mask up when Frances comes over. Kelly 7:28 Well, if you're vaccinated, it's rare. It's rare, but you can actually contract it. Marsha 7:33 Right. Kelly 7:34 And if you do contract it, it's not generally as bad. The people who are ending up in the hospital, most of them are, are people who have not been vaccinated. But yeah, while you had it, if you had a breakthrough case, while you had it, you would be infectious. Marsha 7:50 It's not a hardship to wear a mask around Frances. So... Kelly 7:53 Right, right, Marsha 7:54 or out in public at all. So I'm still masking up in store. Kelly 7:57 Yes, me too. But well, I don't go to the store very often. But yeah, I have I have been been doing that. So. But it was nice to get out. Marsha and I were talking about this before the episode started. And she said to me, Kelly, have you been off the property since last March? Marsha 8:13 It sounds like maybe you have not been off? Kelly 8:17 Your answer to that is pretty much no. Where did I go? Oh, I know. I went to meet some work friends. We went to... we got together and we worked on some stuff to get ready for classes. And I mean, we're talking about, you know, Watsonville. So it was not that far away. Maybe 25 miles, maybe 35 miles. I was like, Oh my god, I don't think I've been in the car and gone this far in over a year! I mean, my longest car trip has been like to go pick up groceries or you go to the grocery store, which I don't do very often. That's, you know, during the worst of it, we had it delivered and then and then... or Robert would go get groceries. And then once everybody was vaccinated, Aunt Betty went back to doing some of the grocery shopping and Robert was doing the other grocery shopping so you know, I'm lucky to not have to do that. It's not my favorite task anyway. But honestly, that's the furthest I've gone! Marsha 9:20 You have staff. [laughing] You have staff to take care of you. [laughing] Kelly 9:26 Yes. And so and, and you know, there'll be days where I think oh, I'm going to go I'll go out to Monterey and walk on the rec trail. But you know, like Robert takes the car. The truck is almost always now parked in the backyard. It's a little bit of a... it's not like Oh, just run outside and jump in the car. Right? And then if I'm gonna take two dogs, I can't walk that far yet. So am I going to take one? What am I going to do? Am I going to take Bailey because she can go far? She could do a you know, a normal rec trail walk without stopping at every bush and, you know, lots of breaks. And then I If I leave Bailey home, or I mean, leave Beary home? What am I gonna do with him is Aunt Betty gonna be home? Can she watch him? Or she you know, does she have other things to do? So anyway, it's just my-- you know, it is just become, it's just become so easy to stay at home. So it was...I have to say it was really nice to blow the dust off. Get out and, and actually smell the ocean. Yeah, so that was really, really nice! Marsha 10:28 And dust off your restaurant manners. Kelly 10:31 Exactly. Marsha 10:32 Did you know how to behave? At the restaurant? Kelly 10:34 I did! Actually, yes, yes, I did! Marsha 10:38 I read in the New York Times that a lot of people don't want to go back to waiting tables because people are being so rude. You know, they they're out of practice going to a restaurant I guess. So well, I'll tell you why I had a beer already. I'm making an effort to get out of a certain room that's under my house. The name can't be mentioned. So I went for a hike today. I don't remember if I talked about this or not. But I went to visit. Kelly 11:07 You did, yes. Marsha 11:08 Ben up in Index. Yes, I did. That's what part of the discussion... Anyway, there was a woman who was on that hike with with me. And so I gave her my name and email address and she contacted me. And so we got together today. And we did a hike and a friend, another friend of hers. And so when I got home, I gave the dog a bath. Because he's very dusty. I took a bath. And then I poured myself a beer and I laid on the bed and knitted for a while until it was time to record. So that's why I had a beer so early. But anyway, it was a nice hike. And I'm just gonna say it was... People who live here in the northwest will know what I'm talking about. People who don't live in the northwest will be kind of amused by the name of where I went. Um, so the the hike was to Fragrant Lake. I don't know why it's called Fragrant Lake. It didn't smell bad. It didn't smell good. It just was a lake. But anyway, it's um, near Larrabee State Park, which is on-- this is the part that people are gonna laugh--Chuckanut drive. And so, Kelly, full disclosure, before we recorded we were looking at, I think when we first started when we first called you said what are you doing? I said, I'm trying to figure out why is it called Chuckanut. So and we figure it out. It's a ... it's a native name. Kelly 12:33 Yeah, and Wikipedia says that it's Chuckanut well there's mountain a mountain range and, and Chuckanut is a word for a long beach far from a narrow entrance. Okay, so just south of Bellingham is what it says. Yeah, Marsha 12:55 so it basically connects. It's about about 21 miles long. Oh, Kelly, we can walk it! Kelly 13:02 The trail? Oh, fun. Yeah. Marsha 13:04 21 miles, that's our number. Anyway, the it runs from about Burlington...No it's further north than Burlington up to Bellingham. Kelly 13:15 okay, Marsha 13:15 And it runs along the water so it reminds me very much of.. kind of Big Sur a lane in each direction, you know. Steep wall to one side and steep drop off to the other side down to the water and more trees than Big Sur but it's just as dramatic as that. Really pretty. So anyway, we went on that hike today so Kelly 13:36 but not 21 miles? Marsha 13:38 No, we didn't do 21 miles it's four or something. Kelly 13:41 Yeah, nice. Marsha 13:43 But I have been I have been out and about and I don't know if you saw my Instagram post, but the the in-laws or yeah, the... so well I should say actually, technically my former brother-in-law and sister-in-law and nephew, but they came to visit. And I have to say we had a great time. It was just a fun visit. And we did all kinds of things. But one of the things we did is I, as I talked about in the last episode, Ben is just obsessed with Index, Washington because that's the big-- where all the walls are for climbing. And that's where I had gone two weeks ago for the hike. Well, they were having on Saturday, July 31, they were having a kind of an art festival with music and and all different kinds of crafts for sale and he really wanted us to go up there for it. Okay, whatever. So we went. It was really fun, really good music. They had a brought in a... like a trailer with a woodfired pizza oven on it, you know, so you can get pizza there. And Kelly 13:43 Nice! Marsha 13:48 But so that was really fun. So we walked around, did that and then and then they were really wanting to do a hike. So Paul--no Ben said, Yeah, there's a couple of different hikes but the one I would recommend is one called Lake Serene. Now I know I have listeners that live here in the Pacific Northwest who are hikers, and they'll go, yes, Lake Serene. Ben said, "I don't know," he said. And I said, "How long is it?" He said, "So like maybe like six miles round trip. And you know, the elevation gain," he said, "I think it's less than 2000." Wrong! It's eight miles! I think... now I don't remember if it's 2400 or 2600 feet of elevation gain, they actually... Someone's done a great job on the trail where they've... so it's pretty easy going at the beginning kind of wide. And not a lot of rocks or roots, you know, on the trail. But the further you go, it becomes actually like stairs. Someone's done, built the trail, they've actually taken the rocks and put them in place where they actually form steps that you have to climb up. And then at certain points, they've actually brought up big like four by eight beams and made stairs. Kelly 16:00 Okay, Marsha 16:00 Yeah, it's, it was hard. It was really hard. And we started way too late, because Ben and I got to index about 10 o'clock in the morning. But the... my brother in law and sister in law and the nephew and Paul, they arrived, they got there about 12:15 even though we all left at the same time. They stopped and had breakfast and they did all this stuff along the way. So they were really late. They got there at 12:15. Looked at the Art Festival, then they decided they want lunch. So we get to the trail at 2:50. Which is way too late to be starting. And Kelly 16:33 oh yeah. Marsha 16:34 But I didn't know it was eight miles. Kelly 16:36 Oh my gosh. Marsha 16:37 Anyway, so we start out, it takes us about two hours to get to the top. I arrived at the top at five I think and we hung out there till six. And then we started the the trip back down. And we got back to the trailhead, probably around eight o'clock or 8:30, something like that. Then we had to go from the trail head back into Index. And the thing is, Index is such a small town. There's no restaurants there. And the pizza truck was gone. So we decided we have to find food. Because now it's like we've been out. And now we're you know, we get back in. I mean, now it's like the minutes are just ticking away. Kelly 17:13 Yeah. Marsha 17:14 And it's now like 9:30. And and so I think the only thing we can do is just start heading down the road, down Highway 2 back towards Seattle. And to see what we come up with. Well, everything's closed, right. So the nearest town we can find anything is the city of Monroe, which is... they have fast food and everything. Well, like, and but the thing is, if you're that starving, I don't think you could be that picky. But like nobody can eat McDonald's. Nobody can eat Taco Time. So we end up at this pizza place. But the pizza place is now...it's 10 o'clock and they start, they stop indoor dining at 10. So everybody walks away and I said but the door the door said they're open till 11. Well, they're open for takeout or delivery till 11. I said, let's just order the pizza and we'll just go sit in the car, because now it's Kelly 18:00 The voice of reason, Marsha! Marsha 18:03 I know! So it's now you know, it's like 10, 10:15, 10:30 we finally get this pizza. And my sister in law said to me, Well, are we going to go find a picnic table? Where are we going to eat this? I said, you're eating in the car. We're not finding a picnic table. We're not driving around in that hour of the night looking for a picnic table. And her son, my nephew said, we've got all those chairs in the back of the car that Paul had brought for us to listen to music. I said pull those chairs out. So we pull the chairs out and set them up in the parking lot of the pizza place. And we sit there till about 11:30 at night in a row in the strip mall parking lot eating pizza and salad and having root beer and anyways. I don't know, do you know how... do you ever have that experience where something should be awful, really the idea of being-you're so hungry and you're tired and you know you're super sweaty but now you're just really cold because you're wet and it's cold.... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/20067491

Ep 166: Shut Up About the Basement 07/26/2021

Ep 166: Shut Up About the Basement Heritage sheep breeds, ink as the new souvenir sock skein, and Marsha's realization that she needs to get out of her basement are all on the agenda this week. Plus, a reminder that we have just over a month left of our Summer Spin In. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects Spinning the brown and green merino. (Ravelry link) by Jared Flood using . The pattern is also available . I have completed the body to the armholes and almost completed the first sleeve. I’ve washed and blocked it to see how it looks and to be able to measure the body. Kelly’s Projects I’m continuing the Oxford spinning. I am still keeping my options open for a 3-ply where I’m more careful about the twist. I’d like the yarn to be more loosely plied than my 3-ply sample. I have almost three full bobbins of singles and plenty of fiber left. I carded about 400 grams. Here is the . Information about Oxford fleece: Livestock Conservancy status is “watch.” Fewer than 2,500 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population less than 10,000.“ originated as the result of crossing and . imported into America in 1846. one of the largest breeds of sheep and is only surpassed in body weight by the Lincoln. Not only does it lack uniformity in body type and size, but there is also considerable lack of uniformity in color markings and in the weight and quality of the fleece The new breed that we know as Oxford today is a bit smaller, only 200-250 pounds, a result of that push in the 1930s for a more compact animal followed by the resurgence of the older type. staple length, generally around 1-2”. remains rare in the United States, having been supplanted by the Suffolk. This situation is difficult to explain, as research has shown time and again that the Oxford excels as the sire of market lambs and the breed’s overall profitability may be second to none. I’ve made good progress on the cardigan (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the pattern at her website, . I’m using handspun 3-ply (fingering to sport weight) from a CVM (Romeldale) fleece that I overdyed. I’ve gotten down to the pockets. The sweater has a ribbed front band and honeycomb cable down the sleeve and on the pockets. It has saddle shoulder construction and a square “sailor” collar that also has ribbing. Information about CVM sheep: status is “threatened” with fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the United States and an estimated global population of less than 5,000. American fine wool breed, and the California Variegated Mutant, or CVM, is its multi-colored derivative. Romney-Rambouillet crosses were bred for several years and became known as Romeldales. colored lambs appeared in the Romeldale breed. Glen Eidman became interested in these sheep and linebred them for several generations Sheep breed resources: , . Other Discussion Marsha talks about mistakenly donating some of her favorite children’s books by Bill Peet. , Great documentary on Netflix by the actress Geena Davis about equality in the media. Here is a link to the YouTube trailer of . . Held about 35 miles south of SF in Redwood City, Kelly and Robert will be there Saturday, August 28. Summer Spin In - Ends September 6th Just over a month to go! Prizes from Full Show Transcript Kelly 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at to use fiber adventures.com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:46 I'm doing well. Kelly 0:47 Good. I want to ask you a question. Okay, so Marsha, what knitwear Are you wearing today? Marsha 0:55 Not a stitch? Kelly 0:57 Not a stitch of knitwear. Kelly 0:58 No. Kelly 0:59 Well, now, that actually makes sense. Because what season are we in here in the Northern Hemisphere? Marsha 1:07 High summer? Kelly 1:08 Yes. Marsha 1:10 And... but not where you are I take it, based on this question. Kelly 1:13 And I'm not complaining. I'm just providing you information.But I am currently wearing ...although probably some of it will come off. Marsha 1:23 Wait a minute, let me get a pen. I have to write this down. Kelly 1:25 So I'm currently wearing from head to toe... I'm currently wearing my Rikke hat. I'm wearing the Habitat sweater that I crocheted. And I'm wearing handknit socks. Marsha 1:40 Kelly Kelly, you need to book a flight ASAP to Seattle. Kelly 1:43 I heard that, that there's, you know, all this heat going on all around the country. And I feel bad for everyone who is you know, going through all the heat and the fires and, and, and then there's, you know, flooding. I hope that all of our listeners in Germany are okay, so I don't want to complain about my lot in life. But let me just provide you with some information. Anybody who's suffering from heat should come to Monterey County, because in the last month... I looked up the history in the last month, we've had two days above 70 degrees. Marsha 2:22 Oh, my goodness. Kelly 2:23 And guess how high we got in those two days above 70 degrees? Marsha 2:25 71? Kelly 2:29 Yes. And 72. Oh, my God, it was a heatwave. Yes. So yeah, we do have some higher temperatures coming. Next week, we get one... But by the time it gets here, the the prediction of these high temperatures almost always goes down by about four degrees, four or five degrees. So we have 80 predicted for Tuesday of next week. So we'll see if that happens. You'll have to check back. Good thing I have knitwear that's all I have to say. Marsha 3:06 It was interesting thinking about these changes in the weather because it's happening around the world and and some terrible, terrible things are happening. But that heatwave we had here in Seattle, where it was you know, 110? There's been many effects of it. I mean, people died. That's terrible. But I was listening to our local NPR station. And they were saying that over 50 people have become ill by eating shellfish. Because it got so hot. There's a bacteria that forms in shellfish in hot weather. People have been getting sick because the temperature is so high. They also lost a lot of oysters and other shellfish because they literally cooked in their shells because it was so hot. Kelly 3:59 Oh my gosh. Marsha 4:01 So it's really... There... that heat way we had is going to have a real impact on food production here in the Pacific Northwest, just those few days now. Kelly 4:12 Yeah, Marsha 4:14 It's really interesting the impact that Kelly 4:16 well, not just the shellfish. I know when we have had high temperatures here, they typically will come in, like in September, sometimes even as late as October. But when we get those high temperatures in September, we've had apples on the trees, and they're like applesauce. I mean, if you don't have the apples off the tree by that time, then after those couple days of you know, high 90s or mid 90s. Those apples are terrible. So I can imagine the impact that has had. Marsha 4:53 Well I wonder if this cool weather you're having is going to have an impact impact on production because you live in an agricultural country community, right. And they're kind of cool weather crops. Kelly 5:03 Yeah. Marsha 5:04 But this is awfully cool for them. Kelly 5:07 So we grow a lot of strawberries here. Lettuce is not having any problem. There are... there are more and more berry fields-- regular berries. And I don't know, I don't know if the lack of heat has has affected them at all. We have an apricot tree and a plum tree and the apricot are just now starting to get ripe, which I think is really late for apricots. I don't know because this tree hasn't produced very well in the past. So I don't know what its typical timing is like, but I seem to remember apricots being a more early summer fruit when I was a kid. We had an apricot tree when I was growing up. It's probably not super abnormal, honestly, for us to have this kind of weather here in Salinas. I mean, it's not-- I don't think it's normal, normal, but I don't think it's super abnormal. If I went back and looked at the history, I mean. I remember when I first moved here, I didn't take off a sweatshirt all summer long. It was-- I was freezing to death all the time. And that's kind of how I feel this year. And maybe I just like to complain! Well, and the house would be warmer if I closed the windows, but I have to have open windows in the summer. [laughing] And that's dumb because it's not warm outside. But that's just the way it is in summer you open the windows and sleep with the windows open. So anyway, yeah. Marsha 6:42 Okay, this leads me to something Kelly. Because we are...are we complaining? Kelly 6:49 No, Marsha 6:50 a little? Kelly 6:50 I'm not gonna... we're not... Marsha 6:54 just a tad. Anyway. So I I have something just I have something to say. So the last episode, I was walking Enzo and listening to the episode. And about halfway through the beginning before we got to any fiber stuff. I texted you. And my text was, Oh my gosh! Shut up about your basement! Marsha 7:24 And I was... I don't remember know what your response was. But anyway, I went back and it was like 10 minutes, Kelly, that I talked about my basement. As I was walking along my thought was first like, Oh my goodness, shut up about that basement! Nobody cares. And my second thought was, You need to get out of that basement. Kelly 7:44 Marsha, get a life! [laughing] Marsha 7:47 And so I'm here to announce. This is the last time I'm going to talk about my basement. It's not healthy. And I got out of my basement and I went last Tuesday or this... Tuesday of this week. This is Friday that we're recording this. Tuesday, I went up to Index, Washington and for people who are out of state, that's a small former mining town up on highway two. It's near-- on the way to Stevens Pass, which is you know, big mountain pass Kelly 8:17 And north on you right? Marsha 8:18 North of me. Yeah. And the reason I went up there is Ben, my son is working up there on and off during the summer. He met up... Well, I should back up and to say Index was originally a mining town. That's how it started. But now it's become a huge destination for climbers. And apparently it's world renowned, this area, for climbing. They have great rock. Like I don't know what I'm talking about. I'm just quoting Ben, because I'm not a climber. Kelly 8:49 Yeah, like what makes a great rock as opposed to just a rock? Marsha 8:55 So anyway, he goes up there and climbs. And there's a guy who lives here in Seattle who goes up there all the time and climbs. A guy named Richard. Apparently he bought a house up there, a small cabin. And so Ben has been going up and helping him fix it up, make it sort of... It's it's kind of rough. And so he's been helping him and so he goes up there for about five days at a time and then comes back. So I thought a nice outing would be to go see Ben in Index and do a hike. So I went up on Tuesday, I finally found Ben. That was kind of, well, I will, well... Do you want to hear the story about how I found Ben? Because he said to me, Index is really small. I have no idea what the population is. A tiny, tiny town and there's like two streets when you come into town. You can go left or you can go right and so he says, when you come into town you go left and you just go down to the--you know, keep going down the road and you'll see the house. I go into town. I go left. I can't find the house. I'm driving all the way almost to the end of the road, I'm now getting into Forest Service land. I'm going-- I go back. That can't be right, I go check again. So I go up and down this road about three times trying to find him and I finally gave up and thought, I'm just going to go walk the dog around the town and check it out. And then I'm going to go do my hike. And I was just getting ready to leave when I get a text from him because there's very poor, so there's no real cell service there. It's very hit or miss, I get a text like, I'm glad you're coming. You'll see the house. It has a whole bunch of free stuff out on the road. So I'm like, Okay, well, I'll go down this highway, you'll go left down this highway, which I did. And I finally see some free stuff by the side of the road. But it looks like it's been there for a long time, because there's like weeds kind of growing through it. And I don't see his car at that house. But I see there's like a driveway and kind of a long like alley kind of thing. And so I decided to go down that maybe the house is down that road. And I go down this little driveway and I see a guy working on a house or a garage or something and I just get out and I said, Are you Richard? And he said No, I'm not. And I said, Oh, I said. Well, do you have a minute to hear my story? And he's kind. He said, Yeah, I have a minute to hear your story. And so I said, Well, my son is up here working for a guy named Richard from Seattle who bought a house and I give a little story because there's a little story about how he got the house and who used to live in the house and how they got that person out of the house. And he says, Oh, I know that house. Because it's a tiny town anyway. You're probably ahead of me in the story. It's that when you come into town you turn right. Not Left. [laughing] Kelly 11:51 Right. Oh my god. Marsha 11:53 The details, right? Kelly 11:54 Yes. Marsha 11:55 So I go. Oh, I know. Yeah. So anyway, I and I, because I said to him, Well, it's a small enough town. I figured somebody would know the story. And he said yeah, I know the story. That was really funny. Anyway, I went back the correct direction, found Ben, immediately saw the house. We chatted for a little bit and then I went on my hike. So I did do a hike. So that was really nice to see. So this is the point of my story it's-- what's the phrase? Oh, the devils in the details? Kelly 12:27 Yes. Marsha 12:27 That's the phrase? Yeah, yeah. Kelly 12:30 Yeah. Well, I'm glad you got out of the basement, Marsha. Yeah. So it sounds like you had a nice a nice little outing. Marsha 12:37 Yeah, it was really nice. And it's beautiful up there. Really, really beautiful. And, yeah, so that's the last time that wore is going to cross my lips in this podcast Kelly 12:49 Ok, right! Good to know. Marsha 12:54 Let's see if I can do it now. Kelly 12:57 Oh, funny. Anyway, all right. Well, okay, since you aren't going to talk about the thing that will not be named. What about your projects? Marsha 13:09 Well, I...not a lot, well, not a huge amount to report. I've been spinning. So I have ... I'm almost done with a second bobbin of the brown for that brown and green that I'm making. Okay, and so I have one more bobbin that I need to spin and then I can ply that together. So I work on that in the afternoons. You know, sit out on my deck, and spin for a little bit. And so I'm making progress on it, but it's not, I'm not working on it exclusively. And then I do have progress to report though, on the Atlas pullover that I'm making for my brother and I have knit the body. Keep in mind though, I have not done the ribbing yet, because I did a provisional cast on. But I've knit up to the armholes and then set that aside. I did wash it though, and block it. Because as you know what we talked about the last episode, it looked like a holiday wreath, a big sausage tube kind of. So I did wash and block it and I can... now it's laying flat, so it'll be much easier to measure. And then I did a provisional cast on for the first sleeve. And I'm almost done with the first sleeve I have about 10... Let me look at my pattern. I have about six more rows. And then I will set the sleeve aside and start the second sleeve. So it's going pretty quickly. I think because it's on size seven needles. I find it's not really...maybe it's because I am normally working on three to five somewhere around... or socks or on ones. Yeah, I find it's a little more challenging to knit with. It's like, I've heard this before. Sometimes with larger needles and thicker yarn, like this is a worsted weight. You're a little harder on my hands and there's something about this yarn too. It's a little hard to knit with in the sense that it doesn't really slide along the needles very well. And it's interesting. Kelly 15:29 You have you have metal needles? Marsha 15:32 Yeah, right. Kelly 15:33 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Marsha 15:35 And it's much better. I'm doing okay, Kelly, I'm drawing a complete blank. What's the technique called where you have the long circular needle? Magic loop! Oh, my God. Okay, now I remember that. Magic loop. [laughing] I'm doing that and that's pretty easy. The body was I was kind of struggling with it. I finally put it on long a longer cable and it seemed easier, you know, having a longer cable for some reason. They seem like they slide it slid better along the needles. I don't know why that would be. Kelly 16:06 Well, maybe because they're just not so tight. I don't know. Marsha 16:09 Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It was interesting, too. This is, I don't think I mentioned this in the other episodes that the, I've mentioned, the name of the yarn is this Navia or Neyvia? tradition. But it's from the Faroe Islands. Oh, and I, which I had forgotten. And when I looked at the label, later on, I realized that and when I washed it, it kind of bloomed. It's still a woolly wool. You know, you definitely would want to wear this over like a flannel shirt or something. But it's, it feels a little softer having been washed. A lot of dye came out of this yarn, too. This is a bright green and a lot the water it just--the water was almost the color of the yarn. It really lost a lot of dye Kelly 16:58 Did it fade? Marsha 17:02 It didn't fade. It had excess dye. Which might affect the feel of the yarn.It had excess dye in there. So it feels it feels different. It's it's never gonna, I mean it's softer. It's never gonna be a soft yarn at all. Kelly 17:20 right Marsha 17:20 I mean, you're always gonna have to wear a shirt, you know, under this, but, and it kind of bloomed. It's very hairy, kind of. It's really it's really nice yarn. And I think it's gonna be super durable, too. Kelly 17:34 You'll have to put a picture in your project page, as I'm looking at your project page right now and you just have the wreath. I guess you'll need to take some more pictures now that it's been blocked and flattened. So you can actually see it's a sweater. Marsha 17:49 Yeah, I'll do that. And I'll put the sleeve in there too. I did think I was talking to Mark and we were talking about the sweater and I said this sweater is going to be the kind of sweater that you wear to the beach. You wear it when you work in the garden. I mean this is gonna be a working sweater. Just like, remember the sweater that you made for gardening at 90? Kelly 18:09 Yeah, Marsha 18:11 Yes. And I said to him, You cannot-- you not cannot save this sweater for something nice. Not, you know, I don't just mean to abuse it because you never abuse anything but it's not going to be a fine sweater that you save. You go out and you chop wood in this sweater. Actually it would be too hot chopping wood. You go sit outside Kelly 18:34 during Snowmageddon in this sweater. [laughing] Marsha 18:36 Yep. Anyway, no this--it's like it's a working sweater is what it is. Kelly 18:45 Yeah, nice. That'll be really... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/19928000

Ep 165: Fiber Prep for Spinning and Some Rants 07/12/2021

Ep 165: Fiber Prep for Spinning and Some Rants Wool fiber carding and preparation is our topic in this episode as our Summer Spin In continues. Current spinning and knitting projects along with a couple of rants are also on the program! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects I frogged the foot of my Drops Fabel sock, turned the heel and I am knitting the gusset. Picked up a long dormant shawl called by Jane Hunter that I started in March 2018. Using Michael CWD in the colorway San Francisco Fog. Cast on the pullover by Jared Flood for my brother. The yarn I’m using is . My gauge is 20st/4” instead of 24st/4” so I am making the smallest size. I have knit about 7” of the body, excluding the ribbing. Because I cast on with a provisional cast on and the body is all stockinette it is very curly. It looks like a holiday wreath! In the last episode, I mentioned that the color work chart distinguishes “dominant” color and I was guessing what this meant. Thank goodness for YouTube and Jared Flood who has a great explaining why we want to pick a dominant color and the technique for doing this. I’m still spinning on my green/brown merino. : This is the link to the website. Then search for the episode, “Why We Hold Onto Things” from May 31, 2021. I was unable to put a direct link to the episode. Kelly’s Projects I finished carding about 400 grams of Oxford batts and sampled them. Yes, actually sampled! I made two small skeins of about 20 g each. One is 2 ply and the other is 3-ply. Since the fleece was slightly sticky I used boiled water to put in the wash bowl and they both washed up nicely. I like the 2 ply best. It is softer and fluffier. I now have a full bobbin of singles all spun up. Here is the . I started a handspun sweater! I am using a new pattern called (Ravelry link) by Christina Körber-Reith. She also has the patterns at her website, . Her website also has both measuring/fitting and bust dart tutorials. Summer Spin In Topics Don’t forget your tetanus shot! From Nathalie (SuperKip) Two additions that might be helpful: Don’t prep fleece when you’re pregnant (toxoplasmosis is a danger) For ‘rescue’-fleeces, a flick-carder is also very helpful, this also gets rid of many waste types of yarn. Carding Fiber preparation tools: Hand cards, flick carder, mini combs, combs, drum carder, blending board Skirting by the Spinning Loft by Rayne Fiber Arts Mill processing Full Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at toTwo Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:35 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Well, how are you today? Kelly 0:47 I'm doing fine. I'm out in the trailer. I've been complaining about how cold it is here. It's in the 60s again, again every day. Well, not right now it's less than that here now. But I'm wearing an undershirt, a long sleeve shirt, a flannel shirt. And on top of the flannel shirt I have a shirt jacket that will probably come off as we go. But it's cold here. Marsha 1:19 Well, it's cool today. I don't know what the temperature is. But it's it's overcast. And the wind is blowing. It's very cool. And I but I have to say I'm not complaining. It feels very nice. After that hot hot weather we had Kelly 1:29 Yeah. Marsha 1:30 It was like 110. Like, I still, even now two weeks later, people are still like how'd you do with that heat, right. But everybody's asking, but so it's nice. And it's overcast and breezy and cool. But that's how it was yesterday morning. And then it turned out to be a beautiful day it was actually quite warm. So yeah, sort of typical for us is cool, and overcast and sort of misty in the morning. And then Kelly 1:55 Yeah, it's been wet almost every morning here for the last week. So it's been cold in the house. And of course I'm not going to-- I am not running the heater in July. That's ridiculous. Marsha 2:10 I don't know if they have this in other parts of the country. But there's a group in in Seattle, all the neighborhoods have a group in this way. It's called Buy Nothing. And it's basically where you can't sell anything. You just post everything out for free. So I've been posting up things like yesterday, well, the one that I thought was so interesting is--I think I got it as a Christmas gift years ago.It's a, it's for grilling, it's a fork, but also has a thermometer in it. Like 10 people wanted it. So I just had to pick somebody. And then other stuff nobody wants, you know, but it's kind of fun. I mean, you know, Kelly, remember you were talking about in front of your house, because you do live on a high traffic street. You just were putting stuff out in front and then and then it was fun to see how fast it went. And then you started going around looking for things to give away. It's kind of like, it's like now I'm very motivated. And I'll tell you why I'm motivated in a second. But anyway, someone's coming today to pick up--I have an old ice cream maker, you know that we had probably in the 60s, right? That we used to make ice cream. It's the hand crank kind that you put ice in and the rock salt and stuff. And so and she's all-- this woman is super excited about it, because she's gonna use it for their Campfire or Girl Scout troop to make ice cream, which is really fun that's going to get used, right? Kelly 3:33 Yeah. Marsha 3:33 it's it's kind of fun. It's a little addictive. And you know how I am. For years, I've had such a hard time getting rid of stuff. But people are so excited about it. You know, and this other woman, you know, she's excited because I just posted up-- I have a, you know, a large, really large stainless steel mixing bowl. And I posted that up and she's like, Oh, I'm a baker. And I said I'm a baker too, you know. So I thought maybe I'll meet my neighbors this way. Because it's just, you have to be in a certain block radius. So, um, so probably I think it's, I think it's nationwide. Kelly 4:11 I don't know. Marsha 4:13 So I will... let me just say why I'm doing this as is. You know I've...as you know, the listeners now I have my house that I've had in Ballard for many years. I'm getting that ready to rent. I moved into the house I was growing up in. I've had to combine two households. And I've done really well getting rid of stuff. But there was that last stuff that you know, that you hang on to. You think maybe I'll use it, right? Maybe I will make ice cream in the hand crank ice cream maker. And I've been thinking that for how many years? My mother had it in her basement and I thought it's never going to happen. So and if I do get a wild hair that I am, I will go buy one again but I'm probably never going to miss that thing. So I'm...and I had a...Yeah, there's all kinds of things I'm getting rid of and little things but they'll just make space and so I'm now motivated. In the basement because... and Kelly you know this and people if you're following my Instagram feed, you probably know what I'm doing. But I took everything in the basement.. The basement is divided into half. One half is...there's a rec room with a fireplace and a bedroom. And the other half we always called it the dirty part of the basement. But that's where the washer and dryer is and the workbench and stuff, the furnace, hot water heater. So I took everything out of that dirty part of the basement and put it into the rec room. Then I had the wiring redone the plumbing redone for a new hot water heater, new washer dryer, new sink. And then we painted the walls because it was just bare concrete walls. Well actually, they've been painted with calcimite which is like, almost like a chalk like substance, and it doesn't... you can't paint over it. The paint just peels off, so I had to wash down all the walls. Scrub the floor, degrease the floor. So I painted the walls, the trim on the windows, I painted the floor... two coats of concrete paint on the floors. So now I... last night I started moving things back. But Kelly, did you look at my Instagram post this morning? Kelly 6:20 No. Marsha 6:21 I think I posted it last night of the shelving unit, Ben shaking it. He said they're not safe. So I ordered last night, I just saw that you can go and order and pay for stuff at Home Depot and just go pick it up. So I ordered it and I get a text in about 15 minutes that it's ready. So Ben went over and picked up the shelving units and we built three shelving units. So today after we finish recording, I'm going to now start putting things that I'm keeping back on the shelf. And my plan is, if it doesn't fit on those three shelving units I'm not keeping it. Kelly 6:55 Oh, that's a good idea. it will keep you honest Marsha 6:57 And my other plan . Yes, and this is my other rule. Nothing sits on the floor. If it sits on it, I can't keep it if it sits on the floor. It has to go up on a shelf. Is that a good plan? Kelly 7:11 Yeah. Marsha 7:12 Do you think it's attainable? Kelly 7:14 I don't know. We'll see. How many people want your free stuff? Marsha 7:22 Yeah. Kelly 7:26 Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Marsha 7:28 So anyway, and I will put a... Well I think I got kind of motivated too because pulling everything out... when I saw all of the stuff in the rec room my thought was, I'm one item away from being a hoarder. One more item and it might be at the tipping point. And then as Ben said to me, you know, a lot of stuff is not my stuff. A lot of it is stuff that is other people's stuff that I inherited. So like, I've talked about this before, but you know, 10 sets of dishes that were all inherited from various relatives that I didn't buy, I don't want them, but I now have them. And I don't know what to do with them. And so and then along those lines, having that conversation with Ben sort of motivated me. It did, it sort of did motivate me and then also, he recommended the podcast Hidden Brain. I think the show airs on NPR, but it also is in the form of a podcast and he had an episode and I will try and find a link to it. I forgotten the name of it. But it's something basically about why we keep things and a lot of times it has no monetary value but it has sentimental value. And how do you and how... Which is true. Like I have these...I talk about all these dishes I have. That old treadle sewing machine... things I don't necessarily want. But the people who gave them to me really wanted me to have them. My aunt really wanted me to have that treadle sewing machine but I don't use it. So it's silly to keep it but I feel sort of duty bound to keep it, you know, and all the family history and photographs. I don't want them. And so I've decided I'm going to contact other members of the family and see if they want them. So they can store them and not me. Kelly 9:18 You should just do like my aunt's have done and... Marsha 9:24 just put it on their porch... Kelly 9:27 Grab a batch of pictures, stick them in a bag and just either put them in the mail and send them or, well, like my my aunt will send something home with Aunt Betty or my mom drops something off when she comes here. It's like you start divesting yourself by giving the stuff to to other people. So yeah, like zucchini. You can just drop it on their porch. [laughing] Marsha 9:54 And you speed away. [laughing] Maybe I should put my family photos on Buy Nothing. if you want instant family. Kelly 10:02 Funny! Marsha 10:02 No, I just think... and like the other thing too is I have been saddled with things. I adored my aunt. I loved her, my dad's sister, but she did all the family history. And I have three banker boxes full of all of her research, two trunks full of photographs. And I don't know how many plastic bins full of photographs. And I got, well, chosen or saddled with the family history stuff. And I, the truth is, I don't really care that much. And I know that's terrible to say, because everybody's doing all this family research, but somebody else in the family who is more motivated and cares more than I care should probably do it because I... My aunt, I think thought I cared a lot more than I really cared about all the family history. So anyway, way too much information about what's going on here. But I'm in purge mode. Kelly 11:05 All right. Marsha 11:07 So, Kelly, yes. Should we talk about, like, fibery things now? Kelly 11:11 I think so. Marsha 11:12 Okay. Kelly 11:13 You're not purging any of that. Right? Marsha 11:19 Well, I know I'm not yet right. Not now. But I do need to figure out a different way of storing. Kelly 11:23 Well, that's a perpetual question. What do you do? Yeah. How do you store those? Yeah, yeah. Marsha 11:28 So let's get to projects. Do you want to go first? Kelly 11:31 Sure. I'll go first, because mine is short. Oh, first of all, Marsha 11:35 is that good? Kelly 11:36 I don't know. Well, it's fine. It's, it's kind of normal. It's kind of the way it's been recently. But I finished carding about well... I'm gonna say finished because the Oxford fleece was in two bags. And I finished one bag of the Oxford a fleece and it's about it's about 400 grams. And so then I sampled. So I, I made a two ply, about 20 gram skein, I think, of two ply and a small skein also of three ply to see which I liked better. And I was, I was thinking I was gonna like the three ply better, but I liked... I actually liked the two ply better. It's fluffier, part of it might just be the amount of twist that I put in the three ply. Even though I like a nice round three ply. This particular yarn that I made, it feels sort of buttoned up. It's kind of like, you know, it's round. And, and, and, you know, bouncy, like a three ply is, but it feels kind of just too much twist. There's just too much, too much twist in it. And it just really wants to be a little looser. At least that's what I'm thinking. If I had done the three ply, with less twist. I mean, normally, you put a little more in, because you're going to be untwisting a little bit more when you ply the three ply. And so I think that might be what happened. I wasn't intentionally doing that, but maybe that's what happened. Anyway, it just feels a little too tight. And the other one feels nice and fluffy and loose. And so think I'm gonna do a two ply. And so I started a bobbin. Last-- yesterday, and I managed to spin an entire bobbin, most of a bobbin, of this Oxford fleece. So I'm still keeping my options open that I may opt to do a three ply. You know, I'm not gonna ply it right away. Think about it, and I'll do a second bobbin first before I decide, but I'm pretty sure I want to do a two ply with this. So it's nice, it's it's springy. It's softer than I expected it to be based on when I was carding it. Marsha 14:06 Mm hmm. Kelly 14:08 But it's like a medium You know, kind of a medium workhorse kind of fleece but softer than the Perendale. That Perendale that I talked about a couple of episodes ago, that blue and green one. Blue, green and yellow from the prepared fiber that I bought from Sheep Spot. The Oxford is a little softer than that. Actually is quite a bit-- it feels quite a bit softer than that now that I'm spinning it. Now I think I mentioned that I didn't do the best washing job when I first washed it, so it's a little sticky. So I just when I washed it, I just used boiling water in the bowl, along with some soap and washed the skeins and they came out really nice. So I wasn't too worried about it. I had done that before. So I wasn't too worried about the, the fact that it was a little sticky spinning. And it's perfect for spinning now. Because even though you know, even though the weather is cool here, you know, it has been in the high 60s. So if I sit in a little sunny spot and spin, it slips really nicely. You know, it's more lanoliny than sticky once it gets a little warmed up. So I mean, I'm not, this is not spinning in the grease by any means. It's... Marsha 15:32 Right. Kelly 15:33 It's, it's clean, but it's still got more lanolin in it then I really liked to have. So that's one thing that I'm working on. My spinning project. But I also started another project for our spin-in which is, you know, making something out of your handspun. So I started a handspun sweater. Marsha 15:59 Oh, Kelly 16:00 So I spun the yarn years ago, well, over several years. Maybe people who've been listening for a while might remember. It's the CVM fleece and I had it processed at Yolo fiber mill which is now Valley Oak Wool Mill, a different owner. But it's up in Woodland, California. And I had it when we first moved here to this house, so that would have been '05. I'd had the fleece for at least at least a year, maybe came from the fair in 2004. Sat around here for a while before I sent it away to be processed. And then once it came back, I started spinning it and I used that same fleece for the... There was like six pounds of it. And I used that same fleece that sort of taupey beige fleece for the Orca sweater, the Orcas Run sweater, my big, bulky sweater. But this is a fingering weight, three ply, and then I dyed it red over the kind of beige color. So that made it kind of a terracotta, rust, I don't know what you would call it exactly. But it's real pretty. The dye color was called dark red. And I found a pattern. So, again, I had talked many times about what pattern I was going to use, right? I had a couple of choices in my queue that I was pretty sure I was going to use one of them. And then finally I just decided you know what I'm going to go looking again. And so I found a pattern called Dark Green Forest. And it's by Christina Korber-Reith. Korber-Reith is her last name, k o, r, b e r, dash r, e, i, t, h, she's German. And I actually looked up how you how you pronounce it. Marsha 18:17 Mm hmm. Kelly 18:17 In German. And...but I can't say it that way. I did the best I could. But she has, she has some really interesting patterns. Nice, kind of the long sweaters that I like, cozy and casual. The one I'm using has a cable like a honeycomb cable down the sleeve. It's got a saddle shoulder, which... I don't know if I've ever done an actual saddle shoulder before. But I think this is a saddle shoulder because the cable comes down from the collar and then goes down, down the top of the shoulder and then down the arm. The collar is a square collar. I don't know that it would be called a shawl collar. But it's nice. It's...you start at the... you start at the collarr and go down and it's it's one of those collars that folds over and is just square. You know, it's just Marsha 19:22 like a sailor's collar. Is that what they call it? Kelly 19:24 Yes. Yeah, I think that is what you would call it. That is what it's like, exactly like that. And it has ribbing on it. So I've gotten... I've gotten down... I'm in the the arm hole increases. Marsha 19:43 Mm hmm. Kelly 19:45 But I got messed up somehow. And I need to... I'm trying to decide whether I want to go forward and see if I'm in the right place for the cable. You know that cable crossing, or do I want to rip it back again, because I already ripped it back once to to get back to where I thought I knew where I was. And now it's not looking right. So. So I have to decide what I want to do. Do I want to forge ahead? Assuming that I'm right?Or, or did I somehow make a mistake again, not paying attention and get an extra, you know, an extra row in there. So. So anyway, that's... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/19783550

Ep 164: Pooling on the Left Breast 2.0 06/28/2021

Ep 164: Pooling on the Left Breast 2.0 How to select a wool fleece and where to purchase a wool fleece are today's topics. This might cause money to fly out of your wallet so beware! Also, some interesting pooling shows up in an FO. Show notes with photos and links, as well as a full transcript can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects I have a finished project! I finished my by Ankestrick. I love it and it fits so well. I highly recommend this pattern. I had knitted halfway down the foot of my second Drops Fabel socks when I realized I had not turned the heel. So now I need to frog to the heel flap. Not happy with myself. Picked up a long dormant shawl called by Jane Hunter that I started in March 2018. Using Michael CWD in the colorway San Francisco Fog. Started swatching for the pullover by Jared Flood for my brother. The yarn I’m using is . It is a very wooly wool. Mark likes his sweaters to be slim fitting but I think this sweater should have some ease. Also, I’m not great at colorwork so this sweater is going to be a challenge. I’m still spinning on my green/brown merino. Kelly’s Projects I finished a Perendale braid from Sheep Spot. I spun 3-ply and used a fractal technique. I split the fiber into 3 pieces lengthwise. Spun the first one, split the second one into two and split the third one into three. Found two more bobbins with Santa Cruz Island singles. I have some carded fiber left so I guess I should spin the rest of it onto a third bobbin and ply it off. No knitting or crochet this week, but lots of dog training! Beary is doing great, his thyroid is stable and he’s lost twenty pounds in the 8 weeks that we’ve had him. Summer Spin In Topics Don’t forget your tetanus shot! Selecting a fleece what to look for , Beth Smith , Emonieiesha Hopkins, SpinOff Magazine A great article on how a fleece that is not a coated, prize-winning, spinner’s fleece can still be a good experience and make good yarn. Where to buy a raw fleece Wool/Sheep Festivals: : Show cancelled for 2021 but there is a list of producers selling their fleeces. : Festival also cancelled this year and there is also a list of vendors selling raw fleeces 2021 in Albany, Oregon, October 23-24 2021, October 2-3 , July 9-11, Lebanon, Tennessee Check out your county fair website directory Direct from farms: I did a quick internet search and found these : Still have 2021 fleeces available. Informative website. Located in the Finger Lakes region of western New York state. : Located in Wisconsin. Their fleeces are from rescued sheep. Also, for California For example, , Peggy Agnew emailed her for information about purchasing. On Etsy: Lots for sale by the pound or the entire fleece Check out your local spinning guild! Sources for braids and roving--including my most recent purchases: has dyed fiber braids using less common sheep breeds. is locally sourced (California) has roving. Show Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly 0:22 and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:42 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:43 Good morning, Marsha. Marsha 0:45 Well, how are you today? Kelly 0:46 I'm doing fine. As we were talking about earlier before we started the podcast. I thought I'd have a nice quiet morning to record and apparently the city has to come inspect our roof work that we had several weeks ago now, maybe months ago. Anyway, so there may be someone on the roof outside my window looking in as we're recording. Marsha 1:10 Okay. Kelly 1:11 If I suddenly scream in surprise, that's what happened. Marsha 1:17 Well, I have lots going on too. We were a little late recording because I was on the phone with the plumbers. I'm having the plumbing redone in the basement. Well not completely redone but I had a leaky waste pipe. So I have that replaced and I'm having a new washer dryer delivered in July. And so they had to redo the plumbing for that. I'm relocating them and that's been quite an endeavor. But the big waste pipe was leaking. So I was all excited to go down there the first they came. They were here two days. And the next morning I go down there look at the floor to see, Oh, it's gonna be all nice and dry and everything. I won't have to have my five gallon bucket there anymore. And there's a cascade of water down the Kelly 2:03 No! Marsha 2:04 So I called. I thought well maybe just one of their seals didn't seal or something. Come to find out that it's actually the the four inch waste pipe that goes up. The vertical one that goes up between the two bathrooms. So I now have a hole in the wall in the main floor bathroom, and I cannot use the second floor bathroom. Which is the one I use. So they're coming Friday. This is what? Wednesday? They're coming Friday to fix the pipe in... the big four inch pipe in the bathroom wall on the main floor. Kelly 2:42 That's not too long. Marsha 2:44 No it's not too long but it is a challenge living with it. I didn't realize... okay this is gonna... This is gonna make me sound very elitist when I say this and very privileged what I'm going to say. I haven't lived in a house with one bathroom and multiple people for a long time. And so you know I I'm living with Ben. He's living with me right now. And so I have to run down in the morning. You know, I have to run down to the bathroom, but he's in there. And so what do you do? Well, Kelly 3:17 coffee can in the basement! Marsha 3:20 Worse than that! Kelly 3:22 Backyard! Marsha 3:23 Backyard! I went out in the bushes in the backyard and tried to find a place where the neighbors wouldn't see me but I thought afterwards maybe I should not have worn my bright red bathrobe! Kelly 3:35 Right exactly. Like when we used to go to hunt tests. I learned when we used to go to hunt tests that that was when I did not wear my white underwear. That's when you have your darker colored underwear so that you're not flashing white in the bushes! [laughing] Marsha 3:51 Do you remember your Civil War socks for Robert? Kelly 3:54 Yes. Marsha 3:55 Wasn't that part of the things-- they had to be a dark Kelly 3:57 yes Marsha 3:57 you didn't want to take your boots off and then be seen and shot... so anyway... Kelly 4:03 You need a camo bathrobe. [laughing] Marsha 4:05 That's probably way too much information. But anyway, I was delayed because I my point of bringing all this up as I was delayed this morning because I was on the phone with the plumber. So yeah. Anyway, Kelly 4:15 well, yes. This is the old house version of the Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Marsha 4:21 Yes, I know. Anyway... Well, that probably was probably the whole world did not need to know that but desperate times call for desperate measures. [laughing] Kelly 4:36 Exactly. Marsha 4:37 Well, after all of that, let's get to the projects, shall we? Kelly 4:42 Yes. And you have some big news, huh? Marsha 4:45 Yes, I have big news. I finally finished the Walk Along tee! Kelly 4:48 Yay. Marsha 4:50 Yay, very excited. It fits great. And I really recommend the pattern. Now. It's true. I didn't do it exactly. Actually, I really didn't modify it that much. I just really what I did is I made the sleeves a little bit longer, not the, because the pattern is either like cap sleeves or full length sleeves. I just made the sleeves a little bit longer, but not full length. And then I just didn't add the sort of the look of having the sweater under a sweater. Marsha 5:19 Oh, yeah, Marsha 5:19 I didn't do that. But it's very nice. And I I really like it. Marsha 5:24 All right, I saw the pictures. It looks really nice, I think. Yeah, I love the color. You have to wear it. You have to now wear it to Seabrook. Marsha 5:34 Yes, I will. I'll wear it Kelly 5:35 Down to Mocrocs. Is that the the name of the town or the beach? Marsha 5:41 Well, the official town, I think Seabrook is actually in Pacific Beach is the name of the town, but the actual beach that I believe Native American name is Mocrocs. Kelly 5:53 Okay. And that's the name. I mean colorway. Yeah, that's to let everyone know why I suddenly made this divergence. Marsha 6:02 So Kelly, I just wanted to.... are you on Ravelry? Can you see my... Marsha 6:07 Oh, no, I am not. But I can get there soon. Keep talking. Marsha 6:11 Well just... I want you to take a look at my picture. And I look at it and I really love the T shirt. But it does.... We've talked about this before. I believe I have a little pooling on the left breast on this one. [laughing] Remember, I was talking about that in something else? Kelly 6:11 Yes. Marsha 6:11 So just take a look at this. Let me... nobody's commented, but I look at it. Now when I wear it, I will not see it because I will be wearing it. But when I look at the photograph,[laughing] Kelly 6:44 oh, yes, you do. [laughing] Kelly 6:54 Okay, so pooling on the left breast and peeing garden. In the same episode. [laughing] Marsha 7:01 Oh my gosh, [laughing] Kelly 7:03 we might have to have a an explicit rating. [laughing] Marsha 7:11 But wasn't there something I've ... Kelly 7:14 You have a little matching pooling going on the right hand side, too. [laughing] Marsha 7:22 I started laughing because I thought, do you remember the endless discussion about how I was blending the yarn? Kelly 7:30 All the yarn management! Marsha 7:35 So much yarn management. And I have Kelly 7:38 but it's really pretty. And I don't t hink it's a big deal. I mean, when you look at the picture of it hanging kind of flat on the on the dress form, it's different than when you actually are in it. Marsha 7:50 Yes. And I think I'll have to actually try it on and post another picture because that mannequin is not my dimensions necessarily. Oh, well, that's life. Kelly 8:05 It just goes, it just goes to show you that that sometimes all that yarn management turns out to be no different than if you had just worked from one skein? I mean, who knows? It might not be but Marsha 8:21 yeah, cuz it's, you know, it's hand dyed. Kelly 8:23 Mmm hmmm. Marsha 8:24 And you can actually, if you look at it sort of below the pooling, there's a little sort of diagonal striping going. Do you see that? Kelly 8:32 Yeah. Marsha 8:32 It's just so again, it doesn't really bother me. I just think it's... I find it kind of amusing. And I, I really don't understand how it happened because I was so careful. And I had labeled everything. And that part where it happened is I'm not doing any shaping. at that point, right, I'm just going around. And I also use that great technique that helical knitting where you... Now the helical knitting, I will say, You're... the point where you change yarns keeps moving around the sweater. So because you're in that point where you change. Yeah, Kelly 9:14 So that makes it a little different than if you had always changed in the same spot. Marsha 9:19 Yeah, and I don't know if that has something to it. Kelly 9:21 Yeah, I don't know. The people who do planned pooling might be able to tell you more about that. But I've never done it. Marsha 9:27 Planned pooling? Kelly 9:27 Yeah, there's I mean, there's patterns for that where you... remember we saw at Stitches Marsha 9:31 Your, your sock? Well, yes. And then your socks. You did the Kelly 9:35 Oh, right. For Dennis, the Bengal socks? Marsha 9:39 Yeah. Kelly 9:40 Yes. Now those were a little different because it was planned pooling but then you also did short rows to turn around and go back the other way to make this to make the point at the end of the stripe, like so where the where you you know, because the tiger stripes have don't go all the way around the tiger. You know what I mean? So anyway, yeah, very interesting. And I think your sweater, your your tee, looks really nice. Your sweater turned out really good. All laughing aside. Marsha 10:15 Oh gosh. Okay, and then um, so I'm still spinning on the green and brown Merino. I've just been working on the brown. Then what else? Oh, I started knitting Well, I've been continuing to knit on the...my Drops Fabel socks. But the other night I finished the Tee shirt and so I thought Okay, I'll go pick up my socks and start knitting on them. I thought... I went to measure them against the... I'm halfway down the foot of the second sock. And I went to measure it against the first sock to see how much further I had to go. And I thought that's weird. Like the heel looks different. And then I realized I didn't I did not turn the heel. Kelly 10:57 Oh, no! I've done that before. Marsha 11:02 And it's like, What is wrong with me? Like I like how did I not do that? I that's so weird. And I what's also really weird about it is I remember my when I did the gusset. My numbers were way off. Anyway, I should have known. So now I have to rip back. Kelly 11:21 Oh, well. Marsha 11:22 Yeah, that's something to keep me busy. You know, start again. It'll keep me off the streets, you know, out of bars. And then I... Oh, I forgot to put this in the show notes, Kelly. But what I'm knitting on right now is... I had to look it up. I cast this on probably two years ago. It's a shawl. It's just called Simple Shawl. Oh, yeah. It's from hedgerow yarns. This was yarn that I bought down in San Francisco. Kelly 11:50 And I'm looking at it right now. That's pretty Marsha 11:52 Yeah, it's a... Kelly 11:53 Kind of denim looking. Marsha 11:55 Yeah. And it's... I bought this at Atelier Yarns in San Francisco. Actually, I bought it in 2017. And I think that was the time when I met you for Stitches West. And then I went into San Francisco, right. And just went to some of the yarn shops and I think that's when I bought that. Anyway, the colorway is called San Francisco Fog. That's why I love the colorway. And it was hand dyed. And it just says on the label Michael's CWD so I don't know anything about them. He's not you know, in that there's really no information about that company but anyway, it's very nice. It's kind of like denim, it has... okay, it reminds me of dirty jeans. You know, muddy jeans because it has that denim blue, but it also has some brown. Yeah, kind of a cocoa brown in there. Like you have mud on your jeans. Kelly 12:49 Yeah. And it's pretty I like it. It's a pretty color. Marsha 12:52 it's really nice. And it's kind of... what I think is kind of nice about it is it's it's quite a kind of a neutral yarn, where a lot of the shawls I make have lots of color in them. Yeah, this one's kind of neutral, which I think will be a nice. Kelly 13:07 Yes. Marsha 13:08 Let's see, when did I cast this on? Oh, I cast on in 2018. Kelly 13:14 Yeah, well, it'll be nice. Your your point about it being a neutral is, is a good one because I have a shawl that I made... Oh, man, way back when I started-- first started to spin. And I didn't even really know how to make a shawl. I mean, I didn't have a pattern. I started at the bottom and then I just made increases on the sides. Like I was doing... I had a dish cloth pattern that did that. And I thought oh, I could do this for a shawl. So I did. So it's with my handspun but it's like three different colors of blue. That kind of blue gray, Blue, a blue gray, and then a more tealy kind of a blue. Anyway, it turned out really good. And I use that all the time. That shawl. I mean it just it's just a good color with almost anything I'm wearing. I can grab it. Yeah, I think you'll be really happy with it once it's done. Marsha 14:04 Yeah. Yeah. Kelly 14:06 It's probably happy to be out of the knitting bag! Marsha 14:09 I know. Well, it's been... you know, it's funny, because it's been to Scotland. And it's been... I took it to Iceland. Kelly 14:15 Oh, it's kind of like the Pismo Beach socks. Yes, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to bring it with you now everywhere you go. Marsha 14:22 Yeah. And then I started swatching for another project. And it's the Atlas pullover by Jared flood. And this is for my brother. Do you remember when you were up here? I think for the dye workshop that we did. And we went over with our friend Janis over to Tolt and Mark was our driver. And he bought this yarn for me to make a sweater. And so it's Navia Traditions. Kelly 14:51 Yeah, that's gonna be a really pretty sweater. Color work yoke. Marsha 14:55 Yes. And so he he likes color. So I think a lot of people would have reversed these colors, but he's using a really bright kind of grass Kelly green for the body. And then the color work there's the color work is in that grass green. And then two other colors. In his case he picked navy and a kind of a bright blue light, like robin's egg blue. And so I did the swatch I not really proficient color work. So I'm going to need a little help on this. I think I'll be asking questions probably. You are great though. Because I called you other night when I was doing the swatch because they said obviously you want to do the swatch in the stockinette, which is the main body of the sweater. And then it's a color work yoke. And then you want to do a swatch in the color work, which I did. But I was swatching, you know, color work knit side and then purling back color work. And I said... my comment to you was isn't my my gauge going to be off? Because the whole... when I do the sweater, the color work is all done in the round. In stockinette. So all on the knit side. And so you said what a lot of people do is you knit on the right side, then slide your swatch to the other side and leave a huge long loop in the back and pick up the yarn and knit again. Yeah, so that's what I did. And it worked out a lot better. I do think-- I think doing color work in a swatch is going to be very different than doing the actual sweater. It was very slippery. Because I you know, it's I mean, I made a pretty sizable swatch, but it's still not like having all of that weight of the sweater and all those stitches, you know, to get any kind of rhythm. Yeah, so but it looks pretty good. And I think this is a very well written pattern. And I-- and also when you get to the part where you're doing the color work, it tells you of the three colors that you're using, which one is supposed to be the dominant color. I'm assuming, and listeners can give me some feedback, that I'm assuming that the dominant color is the one that you're going if you are throwing the dominant colors in your right hand. I'm assuming Kelly 17:21 Yeah, I don't know. Marsha 17:23 I have to read up on that. Or as I say if anybody wants to weigh in on it. The other thing about this sweater, too, is Kelly you and I talked about this. That Mark likes his sweaters to be very slim fitting. He's slim and he likes slim fitting sweaters. I think because this wool is it's worsted weight and it's it's a very woolly wool. The kind I think you probably want to wear over a flannel shirt. Yeah, I think he's gonna want more ease in it then he thinks he wants because it does... what does say the pattern say? Three to five inches of positive ease and I think he's gonna want that. So we're having some...we're in discussion right now. Marsha 18:09 And then and I'll talk more about this too when I start doing it but I think Jared Flood is also the designer of the other sweater that I made for Mark which I am now drawing a blank on it. What was that that blue one I made for him? Oh, here it is Cobblestone. The sweater is designed that you you you do a tubular cast on at the bottom of the sweater, do the ribbing and knit up to the armholes. Put the body aside, do the same thing... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/19631804

Ep 163: Washing a Fleece and Drafting Techniques 06/13/2021

Ep 163: Washing a Fleece and Drafting Techniques Our Summer Spin In is underway and in this episode we answer listener questions on washing a fleece and drafting techniques. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) It has been slow going but the sleeves are done and I’ve started the bottom ribbing! Halfway on the foot on the second sock of a for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. My Barber Pole spinning project has hit a road bump. All the green and brown has been plied into a three-ply. I decided to spin a bobbin of just dark brown in Navajo (or chain) ply. This was not successful because I’m an uneven spinner and this technique emphasizes the variation. Back to the drawing board. Kelly’s Projects , a crochet project, is mostly sewn together. The triangles and corners need to be put on. I am using single crochet to attach them all. The pattern is (Ravelry link) by Jane Crowfoot. I am using Knit Picks Brava worsted. Finished one charity hat. It’s a beanie style with a small 1” ribbing and the rest is just stockinette with two fingering yarns held together. Dishcloths! I’ve made about 7 dishcloths out of some cotton spirit yarn that Marsha and I dyed about 4 years ago and never did anything with. Spinning Questions We Answered: Drafting Techniques: What are the different drafting techniques and what are some tips? How are you drafting? What hand is where? Short, medium, long… Forward, backward… Drafting techniques: what have you used and what is your favourite? What is the preparation? Commercial preparation: top vs roving vs sliver vs batts How to get started with long draw? Here is a good article: How do you wash a fleece? Here is a good article: and for further information you can listen to our episode on washing a fleece and read the show notes for lots of links! . Resources: Judith MacKenzie McCuin. 2009. Alden Amos. 2001. More cool info! A . This month’s breeds (June 2021) are Finn and Teeswater. The spinning challenge for the month is “Spinning and Plying the Other Way.” From SalPal, Sarah: The Three Waters Farm Ravelry group maintains a bundle and thread of patterns that are good for handspun. Momdiggity--Jo Ann suggests that any pattern calling for Spin Cycle yarn would be a good pattern for handspun. Spring Summer 2021 Knitty-Spin column by Jilian Moreno: , Craftsy class be Jacey Boggs Faulkner. Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 31st - September 6th Transcript of Show Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventure dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. Kelly 0:31 We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Hi, Marsha. People will notice that we are not together. We're coming at you from separate microphones in separate states. Marsha 0:58 And yes, I think we have thought it would happen. But well, we should explain why we thought it was going to happen. Maybe people don't know that we were together over the Memorial Day weekend. That you and Robert drove up from California Kelly 1:12 It was a very exciting trip, for lots of reasons. Marsha 1:17 And well, so we should say that you brought the two dogs. You brought Bailey, who travels pretty well. She's gone camping with you hasn't she? Kelly 1:26 she's gone... Well, not too much because of the pandemic. Marsha 1:32 Okay, Kelly 1:32 So she's gone on two camping trips. The first one was right before the pandemic started. And she was... she was just learning. You know, we had not had her all that long. And so she got a lot of walks. And she was-- we were really worried about, you know, leaving her in the crate when we had to leave the trailer and stuff like that, because she went crazy and broke crate doors and stuff. And then the last time we went camping was in November of 2020. So she's only been twice but she's pretty good. Yeah. I mean, at least she's, she's more experienced at living with us. Yeah. then then then Beary. Kelly 1:40 And then I'm sure this is Beary's first camping trip. Kelly 2:23 I would guess, yeah. Marsha 2:25 And he did great. They will both dogs did great Kelly 2:29 Well Beary came to us not even really knowing how to get into the car, and not liking getting into the car and he has a ramp that we use to get him in. And at the SPCA they were really, you know, really careful to tell us you, you can't push him up the ramp, and you have to lure him with food and toys and you know, get that cheese in the can and you can spray it on the ramp, get him up there. And anyway, we didn't do that. But we did use a lot of liver and we taught him to get up into the truck, which is much higher than a regular car, with the ramp. So we were practicing. We were practicing on the ramp for a couple of weeks before we left. Marsha 3:14 It's steep! That ramp is pretty steep The truck is really tall and the ramp is not that long, either. It's what, six feet maybe Kelly 3:23 Maybe Yeah, Marsha 3:24 unfolded. So it ends up being kind of a steep ramp. And I was watching and he does sort of have to get a running start. Kelly 3:31 Yes. {laughing] Marsha 3:32 And then don't stop. You don't want him to stop on that ramp. Kelly 3:36 He'll just start sliding back down. But, and when we're first practicing, he would get tired. Like he would go up it a couple times. You know, I could only do it, I can only practice with him a few times because maybe like by the fourth time it was too much work. Now he's in much better shape now. Marsha 3:56 Well, so we have to talk a little bit about well, there's so many things. I know that, but you guys, you basically arrived on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, which I don't know what the date is that like the 29th I think or something like that. Kelly 4:10 Something like that. Marsha 4:10 I don't remember, anyway. And you left Tuesday morning. So Memorial Day was Monday and you left Tuesday morning. And while you were here I think Saturday we just sat on the deck the whole day, didn't we? Kelly 4:25 Yeah. Marsha 4:26 And we took the... we took our dogs for walks through the neighborhood and then just sat on the deck and everything. And then both Sunday and Monday we took them to the dog park at Magnuson Park which is on... people who are not in Seattle that's on Lake Washington. It's a former, I believe, Navy base that's been converted to quite a nice park with all sorts of different activities there. Anyway, one part of it is a dog park where you can take your dogs off leash and you were, I think, a little worried about Beary at first, but you let him off and he did fine. Kelly 5:05 Yeah, I wasn't sure. You know, we only had him a month. He doesn't really have much in the way of training. And you know, he recognizes his name, I think. And then he doesn't have a reliable, you know, come when called. But it was such a long walk from the parking lot to the dog park that he wasn't he wasn't fast enough to get away from me. If he wasn't coming. If he wasn't coming, I could have run over and gotten him and brought him back to where he needed to be so that... Marsha 5:43 Well, yeah, because I be parked at the southern end which then you have a long walk to the dog par. There's a parking lot that you just walk a few feet to the dog park but of course, I made them go on the long one, but it was better. It was funny though watching him because, and we've talked about this Kelly... I should also say too, that the three dogs Bailey and Beary and Enzo all got along pretty well. They--when you guys first arrived, we just took them for a walk. And Enzo was. really curious as to what who these dogs were and what was going on, but we didn't have any problems at all with them Marsha 6:19 No, they were fine. A little grumbling and raised lip Marsha 6:22 yeah, Kelly 6:23 And hey, this is my space. But it wasn't bad. It was it was relatively easy. Also just so everyone knows, they were also very highly managed. Marsha 6:35 Yes, Yes, they were. Well, they were. Kelly 6:39 It felt easy, because we were doing a lot of work to make it that way. Marsha 6:42 Yes. Well, they were on leash a lot all three dogs were on leash. And I think Enza was on a leash the night you arrived. Yeah, Friday night and then a good part of Saturday. Yeah. And then I finally let him off leash it because he was pretty good. I mean, he was pretty good about leaving them alone once they all kind of lost interest in each other. Kelly 6:48 Yeah, Marsha 7:04 But your your dogs were on a leash a lot and then oh, at dinnertime you would put them, you know, put them in the truck. So...Yes, there was a lot of managing going on. Kelly 7:15 Yes, in their giant four wheel drive silver crate. [laughing] Marsha 7:20 Yeah. Just a side note about that truck. I've never seen such a big truck! I mean that it's...I hope Robert doesn't listen to this. Kelly 7:32 It's Ridiculous! Marsha 7:33 I'm sure it's lovely. But it's it's so big. And the... And I know Kelly, you're, you're shorter than I am. Right. And I'm not a giant but I'm also not really short either. I'm just average height. But I swear the hood of the truck is over my head or level with my head it'ss so tall. Kelly 7:35 That's ridiculous. And the key fob weighs about 17 pounds. Marsha 8:05 Because if you drive a big truck, you have to have a key fob with some heft to it. Kelly 8:10 Yeah, it's a it's a manly truck in the most ridiculous way. But I have to say it. It got us up there and got us back. Marsha 8:23 And filled with furniture Kelly 8:25 filled with furniture, filled with dogs. Yeah, it's gonna pull a bigger trailer because that's another part of the reason we went up there was to take a look at a trailer that we bought that we're having worked on. That will replace the little trailer. It'll be a little bit bigger. And so this truck will pull that bigger trailer. So you know, I can't laugh about it too much. But Marsha 8:49 yes, stop your complaining! It's funny, because I did think that your old truck was big. It seems small compared to this one. Kelly 9:01 Yeah, yeah. If they were sitting next to each other, it would look puny. Mm hmm. Yeah. Marsha 9:08 Anyway, but uh, yeah. So that so part of the trip was to go look at the trailer, which is in Bend Oregon, right. So you looked at that, and then you came up. And then the other part of the trip, besides seeing me and Ben and my brother in the dog thing was to pick up furniture. Kelly 9:28 That you and Mark had been very graciously storing for us throughout the pandemic. Yeah. Marsha 9:37 And I think the mirror was actually Kelly 9:39 a year before the pandemic. Marsha 9:42 I think it's more than that. Kelly 9:42 No, I mean, it was a year before the pandemic started. Marsha 9:45 Oh, yeah, I think we've had it two plus years. Yeah. Kelly 9:48 Cuz we were supposed to come pick it up. We were planning to come pick it up last year, but the pandemic happened so it had already been in your house, a year when we were, when the pandemic. At least a year when the pandemic started. So yeah, Marsha 10:04 you posted on Instagram about getting... like... something like getting your crap out of our house. And I didn't say this, but what I wanted to say is it didn't really make a dent. [laughing] Anyway, but it's very nice you have the mirror and then a secretary that my brother had found and Robert's using that, and he's very excited about it. He's been posting pictures of it on Instagram Kelly 10:33 Yeah, he's very excited. So yeah, he likes it. Marsha 10:38 And it's old. Kelly 10:39 And it's fancy, because Robert is fancy. [laughing] Marsha 10:44 So my brother says it's from 1790 to 1810. Something around that. Kelly 10:49 Kind of cool. I wish it could talk. Marsha 10:51 I know. But you know what I was thinking. It's a perfect place for you to write with your fountain pens. You need to use your antique fountain pens. Kelly 10:59 Oh, yeah. Well, I don't know that he's gonna let me near it. [laughing] Marsha 11:08 Well, it's very nice. Anyway, but the so the dogs were great. I was laughing though. When we were walking through the dog park, that Enzo and Bailey, were darting all around sniffing and you know how they run ahead and then they run behind you and they run ahead. And Beary reminds me of a container ship, you know that it takes three miles to stop. He doesn't... he just walks in a line. He doesn't veer off to the right or left like he, if he sniffs anything, he sniffs it because he is crossed his path, or his path has crossed it. Not that he's... you know, where the other dogs, ooh they smell something and they start off in another direction? He doesn't do that. Kelly 11:50 He conserves his energy. Marsha 11:52 He conserves his energy. And didn't we notice we think that he... we were laughing we thought he had a little bit of a waist. Yes. Kelly 12:05 Because I can almost feel a rib. Marsha 12:12 He is a very sweet dog. Kelly 12:14 He's very good. Yeah, I was very, very pleased with how well he did and when we... we camped in a tent. And it turned out to be a six person tent, which was perfect because there's me and there's Robert and there's Bailey and then there's Bearry who's like three people, so we fit perfectly. But when we blew up the air mattress inside of the tent and, you know, made the bed and he comes in and he immediately lays down on the air mattress like "Well, good god. Finally you got me the right size of dog pillow." He was just so funny. He cracks me up. He's a very, very goofy dog. And he just, he's a lot of fun. So he had a great time. Bailey worries a lot. But I think she had a good time too. And I had a great time. And we didn't have time to record. Marsha 13:14 We didn't have time to record. We didn't even really knit very much. Kelly 13:18 Not very. You were able to do some on your on your sweater. But yeah, I did a couple dishcloths. Marsha 13:23 A little bit and we were mostly just managing dogs, getting furniture, you know, walking dogs. Cooking, talking. Whatever. And the weather was gorgeous. Kelly 13:41 I was surprised for that time of year. I was kind of surprised. And I felt really lucky that the weather was so good. Marsha 13:47 So we spent pretty much three full days on the deck. Kelly 13:49 Yeah, it was nice. It's very nice. Well, let's talk about what you were working on on the deck. Marsha? Marsha 13:56 Oh, yes. What was I working on? Oh, my projects. Oh, so my... Well, my sweater. And we had a some conversations about my sweater too. So the Walk Along tee by Anka Stricke. I have to tell you where I am now. I think actually, I can't remember, Kelly. I was working on the sleeves when you were here, wasn't I? Yes, it was my second sleeve. Anyway, I finished both sleeves. Kelly 14:21 Yeah. Marsha 14:22 And I was listening to our last episode. And I was talking about making them not three quarter length, but just to hit just above the elbow. We had that whole conversation about what's the right length. Anyway, and I ended up making them so they hit sort of, you know, halfway between the arm pit and the elbow. So they're not...they're not capped, So they're not capped sleeves, but they're not...They're definitely not three quarter and they're definitely not down to the elbow. Kelly 14:53 Yeah, they're like a regular sleeve, I think they're like a regular short sleeve. Yeah, that's like a regular --like a women's t shirt short sleeve? Marsha 15:02 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And, and I'm gonna have plenty of yarn. I was worried about yarn. And we've had a lot of conversations about that. I'm fine. And I... Kelly 15:12 The dreaded yarn chicken is not on the table! Marsha 15:13 Yeah, yes. And I did. So the last episode, I think I was talking about how I had put the body on waste yarn and was gonna do the sleeves, and then go back to the body. So now I have gone back to the body. And when you were here, we I tried it on. You said I should make it an inch longer before I start the ribbing, which I've done. And now I've done... I've done two rows of the ribbing, and I have to do a total of five. And then I'll bind off. Now what I had talked about doing is putting... On the sleeves, you do the five rows of ribbing, and then you do reverse stockinette to make sort of this in the contrast in color. And we had a conversation about that we decided that it's probably best not to do that. So I'm not going to put that contrasting border on I'm just going to do the ribbing and bind off and call it good. So I'm getting close to being done. Kelly 16:09 Yay. Marsha 16:10 Finally, yeah. Kelly 16:13 I need to weave in the ends on that tee that I made. Because I think there is some time I could actually still wear it with the weather we've been having. I could actually. I don't have anywhere to wear it to but but I probably could with the weather I probably could still wear it. And same with you. Right? When you finish it. You'll still you'll still have plenty of weather you could still wear a wool tea. Yeah. Marsha 16:41 On Instagram, Kelly, I posted a picture of you sitting on the deck and you have your bare feet but you have a flannel on. Somebody, I remember somebody made a comment about your bare feet and the flannel. And it's like, yes, it's Seattle, you wear flannel in the summer. Maybe you don't have it on all day. But you probably have it on in the morning. And in the evening. Yeah. So I can wear too. I can definitely wear this, I can wear this during part of the summer, because it is not exactly hot here all the time. So anyway, but yeah. And then I'm still, you know, endlessly working on the pair of socks that I've been working on for months and months. There's really nothing to report. I'm still on the foot. I do, you know, three or four rows every so often when I pick it up. Yeah. And then I would continue to work on my spinning project. But I think, Kelly, why don't you talk about your projects, and then we'll talk about my spinning because we're gonna talk a little bit about spinning. Kelly 17:41 Okay, yeah. Marsha 17:43 Does that make sense? Kelly 17:44 That does make sense. So I have some exciting news and then some really boring. Okay. So the most exciting thing is that since the last episode, I've actually put together the entire... all of the octagons and squares of the blanket that I'm making for my grandniece. I'm calling it Faye's flower blanket. It's a crochet project. I've been talking about it for a while. It's made of Knitpicks Brava sport. No, Knitpicks Brava worsted weight, is the yarn. So it's the Persian Tile Blanket by Jane Crowfoot. And I really love it, it looks great. It's all put together with you know, single crochet, I didn't sew it together, I single crocheted it together. And I was able to with the yarn, because you know, I talked about how much yarn was leftover. I was able with the yarn I had leftover to always be crocheting it together with a color that was on the edge of either the octagon or the square that I was putting together so that that was nice. I didn't have to... I didn't end up having to mix colors at all with the with yarn that I was, you know, that I was putting it together with and I just now have the triangles that go on the sides. It's the triangles have to go on it and then four corners. And then I'll be done. Marsha 19:23 All right!. Kelly 19:24 Yeah, but I think she's gonna really like it. Because it's so colorful and it's... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/19457717

Ep 162: Knitting with Handspun 05/16/2021

Ep 162: Knitting with Handspun In this episode we discuss knitting with handspun yarn, including estimating yardage, picking needle size, and selecting potential patterns. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) I’ve put the body on waste yarn to check length. I’ve decided to move on to the sleeve which will stop just above the elbow instead of ¾ length. I started the gusset on the second sock of a for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Still spinning the green and brown three ply. Kelly’s Projects Ripped out the Bear Brand Yarn socks and will be starting them again with no pattern. Faye’s Flower Blanket. All Octagons and squares are done. One more triangle to do. Then 4 corners (small triangles). Topic: Knitting with Handspun Selecting a needle size to swatch Selecting potential patterns “My yarn isn’t good enough” The allure of spinning thin The allure of spinning smooth, worsted style yarns Measuring yardage in a skein Good first projects Good projects for textured yarn More intermediate to advanced considerations Do these yarns/fibers go together? Summer Spin In Memorial Day - Labor Day May 31st - September 6th Transcript Kelly 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, Marsha 0:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 0:35 Enjoy the episode! Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. How are you? Marsha 0:45 I'm doing good. Kelly 0:47 Good. Marsha 0:47 How's the newest member of your family doing? Kelly 0:50 Oh, he's doing great. Beary is fitting in pretty well. He's walking up to about a mile now. He lags toward the end of a mile. But he's been able to go a mile. The first week... So a week ago he was at the vet. And he got his thyroid medication lowered. That's good. So now he's only on a point eight-- I think it's milligrams-- pill once a day instead of twice a day. So that's good. And he lost. He had lost last week he had lost three pounds. Marsha 1:28 All right. So and that's really not with any diet change. That's just the walking right? Kelly 1:32 Yeah. Well, more activity. I was trying to feed him the same amount that he had at the at the SPCA--hat they had told me they were feeding him. I was trying to feed him that same amount. It actually was a little bit less food than normal, because he wasn't really eating. And, you know, my dogs eat! Marsha 1:56 Yes. Kelly 1:57 Even Bailey. You know, she's, well, she had Nash to contend with, she had a lab to contend with. So she knows you put your nose in the bowll, and up until it's gone. And I don't know if she was like that before we got her. But she learned to be like that, at least having Nash around. And he wouldn't, he would eat a little bit. And then he'd walk out a little bit into the yard and then he'd pee. And then he walked back and he ate a little bit more. And then he like, walked over kind of towards Bailey to see if maybe she had something better. And I was like, okay, you're not gonna-- if you're not going to finish this, I'm going to pick it up because it's gonna cause a problem. So he wasn't finishing the whole amount. So then I started feeding him lunch, I thought, you know, I'd feed him lunch to help keep his metabolism high. And so I was doing that. But he wasn't really eating lunch. You know, he wasn't seeming hungry. And so he was getting a little bit less food. But anyway, yeah, he lost three pounds. And I don't know how much he's lost since then. Bu t I do think he's lost a little bit. His feet. [laughing] He looks like he's lost weight in his feet. Marsha 3:12 Oh, really? Kelly 3:13 That seems really strange. But that's the only place I can kind of tell. They look less puffy. Like his feet were really round, not like a shepherd. And the vet said she thinks he's mixed with Tibetan Mastiff. Marsha 3:28 Okay. That's very specific. Kelly 3:31 Yes. But I went and looked at their pictures. And he does kind of, he does kind of look like that. They have a tail that kind of arches over their back. And he doesn't have that. But they have the like, they call them cat feet in the standard. where, you know, their feet are round and tight. And the shepherds feet are more elongated. Marsha 3:56 Yeah, yeah. Kelly 3:57 So anyway. And his feet were like round and tight. And they still are, but they're less round. Like they look less round on top, you know? Marsha 4:07 Well, I mean, maybe he was retaining water or something. his ankles were swelling, you know, like my grandmother, [laughing] and, you know, with all this activity, things were moving, maybe. Kelly 4:17 Yeah, it's hard. It's really hard to tell. And you know, of course we can't weigh him because you can't pick him up and step on the scale with them the way you could with a smaller dog so so he'll have to wait till he goes to the vet again, for us to know for sure. I'm hoping I can get the vet to let us bring him just for our weight check. Because I don't want him to lose weight too fast. And that's part of-- that's part of regulating his thyroid if he is losing weight too fast. That could be an indicator that his thyroid medication is too high. So so I'm hoping the vet will, you know, say we can bring him in like every two weeks or something for just that. for free, just let them take him in and weigh him and bring him back out. Marsha 5:01 Enzo's vet you could just bring your dog in any time because they just have the scale there in the lobby. So you can just go weigh your dog. In fact, that's where I went. Remember that the big giant afghan? Kelly 5:16 Oh right! [laughing] Marsha 5:17 I went and weighed it on that scale.[laughing] Kelly 5:19 Marsha went to the vet to weigh her blanket! Marsha 5:26 Yeah, but now with the pandemic, you can't, I can't go into the lobby, Kelly 5:30 it's a little more of a thing of a production for them to come to them and get in weighed. So. But things are supposed to open here in California on June 15. And I don't know if that means everything. Like from then on. I actually think that the vets are probably secretly glad that no owners are in the office when they do their vet checks. Because dogs are always worse when their owners are around in situations like that. I think, I mean, they're probably-- I wonder if they'll... Well, I don't know what they'll do. But yeah, there's probably been some some added convenience to just picking the dog up in the parking lot and taking it in. Marsha 6:16 Well, and then you don't have all the animals in the lobby, too, because that's another thing, too, is altercations in the lobby. So yeah, well, that's exciting news that he's he's making some progress. Now. The thyroid medication, though, that's not because he's overweight, but he is... he will even if he loses weight, he'll be on thyroid medication. Kelly 6:40 Yeah. A weight gain is probably due to his thyroid issues. Okay. I mean, some of the weight gain might be other reasons. But some of it, I mean, definitely for a dog to be as overweight as he was, there was a thyroid problem there. That's what the vet said anyway. Marsha 7:01 And then, I'm assuming, given what you know about his history, which is very little, I'm assuming that the thyroid medication started after he went to the SPCA. Kelly 7:11 Yeah, they, they noticed that. They, they stitched him up from his wounds. And then they noticed that he wasn't kind of bouncing back. And he was very lethargic. And then, you know, the vet first thought it was just because of the what had happened to him and then being in the shelter. And then she decided, no, it's, he needs to have a blood test. So they did a blood test and his thyroid was was extremely low. So he's progressing nicely. He now lays on a pillow, it takes me about 10 times of putting him back before he is convinced that I mean it and just stays there. Or maybe he's just too exhausted. That's how I feel at the end of it! [laughing] Too exhausted Marsha 8:00 that you need to go lie down. Kelly 8:02 But the other day, I even I even came in and took a nap. And brought them back in with me during the day and you know, closed up the bedroom and, and took a nap for about an hour and a half and he was quiet in the bedroom. So he's got the routine, you know, the the normal routine plus, He knows, in this location, this is what I do. So that's good. In the backyard he's been fence fighting with the neighbor dogs, him and Bailey. So that's not good. But we're working on that. Marsha 8:31 And he and Bailey are doing well together. Kelly 8:33 go Yeah, they're having a great time. You know, they've had a couple of little tips, little fights, but nothing major. He's learning how to get into the truck. And in fact, that's one of the fights they had. He has decided that the truck belongs to him. And if she tried to get too close. If the door opens up on the truck in the backyard and she tries to get too close to it. That that's the two times they've had fights--it has been around the truck. So now I have to really watch when the truck gets opened that, you know, he...that the two of them are not real close to the door. Because he he now thinks that the truck belongs to him and she's not allowed to get near it. He loves his truck, which is good. That's what we wanted, but not quite. Marsha 9:22 He loves it a bit too much. So possessive of it. Okay, well. Sounds like making lots of good progress Kelly 9:26 Yeah, yeah, we have Marsha 9:31 So that proves that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Kelly 9:33 Yeah. Yeah. [laughing] Marsha 9:35 Fitting right in and learning that learning the routine. Hmm. Kelly 9:38 Well, I think the routine is the biggest part of it, you know, just having that. Like, this is what we do every day. And not necessarily always at the same time. But, you know, these are the, these are the things that we do. And then you gradually we've been gradually increasing what those things are. So, luckily the weather's been good and we've been able to use a lot of the outdoor space. School's almost over. Marsha 10:04 Oh, how many days? Kelly 10:06 I mean, well, I'm not... I wasn't counting it in days. But I guess I could now because we're in the middle of the second of the second to the last week. Next week is finals week. I'm so glad. This week though, I'm, packed with student appointments for them to go over things and do review and such.Mostly out of guilt. Because it's the end of the semester, and I haven't been able to do as good a job as I wanted with this online stuff. And so now I'm feeling like, Okay, well, I need to make up for that by by allowing for all this extra makeup work and all that. So yeah, a teacher's life! It's never good enough. Marsha 10:56 I thought of you because the other day this was oh, maybe two weeks ago. Ben had his-- one of his his instructors had office hours. There were three hours long office hours. And Ben was in the office for three hours. Kelly 11:12 Wow. Marsha 11:14 So like, yeah, I guess, all these students were coming in and going, coming in and going out. Kelly 11:19 Right. Marsha 11:19 But I thought of you and it's like, that was a long time to be in a meeting, you know. I thought of you when he was talking about this, Kelly 11:34 I think we all do it. Marsha 11:35 I'd have to go take a nap after that. Kelly 11:36 Yeah, I think we all do it at the end of the semester, you know, we want to give students all the opportunities that we can to get the material and yeah, and I, you know, I had such high hopes at the beginning of this semester that, you know, this time I was going to get the online thing. The second time around doing an online, I was gonna get it right. And of course, it doesn't feel like I got it right at all. But it was better than last time, I'm trying to have a growth mindset. [laughing] It was better than the last semester. So I have one class that's a repeat of the class I had last semester. And that class is better. And then this class, the calculus class I had last spring when we were half face to face and half online. And I have to say that the online portion of it, this spring is better than the online portion that I did last spring. So I have improved, and I have high hopes that it will be even better. In the fall semester where I'm online. I'm teaching both of these classes again. So totally growth mindset. I'm gonna be better. I haven't mastered it yet. But I will! You know, that kind of that kind of thing. But then there's a little bit of aspect of guilt, because you haven't done as good a job as you want to do so. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, that happens to me every semester, whether we're online or not, it's just a little bit exacerbated in the online environment. I always felt like I could have done better. Well, I tell new teachers, teaching is a black hole that you could pour all of your time in and never be good enough. So you can't be a perfectionist and do this job. Or you'll burnout. You know, you have to be--you have to be willing to say, Well, that was good enough. And I'll do better next time. Or I'll try. I might not, but I'm gonna try. So anyway, I'm just glad the semester is almost over. Marsha 13:40 Yes. And you have the whole summer to look forward to. Kelly 13:43 Mm hmm. And our summer spin-in. Marsha 13:48 So summer spinning! Should we get to get to the knitting and the fibery portion, the playing was string portion of the podcast? Kelly 13:57 Yeah. Marsha 13:58 So do you want to talk about your projects or... Kelly 14:00 Sure I am making really good progress. In fact, I'm crocheting on it right now. I'm making really good progress on the Persian tiles blanket. And I'm making it for my grand niece and calling it Faye's flower blanket. I don't have the name in the shownotes of the designer, but it's called Persian tile blanket. If you want to, if anybody wants to go look at it. And then I have it in my projects as Faye's flower blanket and that will be linked to in the show notes. But I've got all of the octagons done--20 of them! Which that was exciting when I got that last one done. In fact I almost made a 21st not remembering that I was--that I had been on 19 and 20 was done and then I reminded myself. So I moved to finishing the squares and all the squares are done. And then what I'm crocheting on right now is the last row of the last triangle. So now all I have to do are the four corners, which are also triangles. But this is lik-- it's called a triangle granny square, or granny triangle or something. So I'm on the last row of the last one of these. All I'll have are the four corners. And then Marsha 15:24 I'm looking at the projects on Ravelry. Then do you have you have to sew them all together? Right? Kelly 15:28 Yeah. And then I'll be all done. I'll be all done except for this big huge project and sewing them all together. [laughing] Marsha 15:35 Sorry to bring that up. But then it looks like it has a border around it to then do. Kelly 15:43 Let me look, I have the pattern right here. You know that I haven't... Marsha 15:46 By the way, Kelly, there's a border. [laughing] Kelly 15:51 [reading pattern] Once these are together you will have uneven blanket edges. To make an even edge you need to work around of stitches. So I do four, five, six rounds of edging! Kelly 16:07 Oh, no wonder I have so much yarn left! [laughing] Marsha 16:10 Yes. Kelly 16:17 I'm thinking, Oh, my God I have so much yarn left over. But it's gonna take a lot of yarn to go all the way around that blanket. I might have to buy more. [laughing] Marsha 16:27 And you made it a little bit bigger, you put some more squares on it. Kelly 16:30 Right. Yeah. Marsha 16:32 Um, also I'm sorry to be... Kelly 16:37 No, this is funny. This is an example of why you should read all the way through your pattern. Marsha 16:44 So but then also, what I was going to say is, I'm looking at the... I don't know if you're on Ravelry. But I'm looking at the other projects. Some of them have just the way you described. It looks like it's a very sort of simple border. But I'm looking at one and it's it looks like KayVicknits. And she has like a, like a lace border around it. I mean, an interesting... Kelly 17:07 Oh, wow. Marsha 17:08 And let's see if she has anything in the notes Kelly 17:10 I don't think I'll be... Marsha 17:12 But yeah, all the way around it. It's got like a triangles all the way around it. It looks like Kelly 17:18 Oh, interesting. Oh, I see. Yeah. So Oh, that is pretty. Yeah. Marsha 17:23 So if you really want to use up your all that yarn, Kelly 17:29 I actually...now that I'm looking at the border, I might have to buy, I might have to buy more yarn. But we'll see. I have an I have an awful lot of it left. I think I will just do the plain border though. On the edge. We'll see. I don't know. Getting it all sewn together is going to take a while. And the version that I'm doing will look more like the Eastern Jewels version. There was a kit, apparently, for this. There was the regular Persian tile blanket where it's all the same. Every octagon is the same. And then there was the eastern jewels version that had all the octagons different it looks like it's all different sizes of flowers. And that's the look I'm going for. And I think I've accomplished that. Marsha 18:22 Okay, Kelly, now go. I'm sorry, go look at the projects. Go look at bytheseashore, her project. And she has a very interesting border on hers. And in the show notes it actually said that she did the zigzag edging from LillaBjorn crochet. Kelly 18:42 Oh, so that is cute. She did.... So there's a little--there's a stitch in the octagon and the triangles, where you make a criss cross of treble crochets Marsha 18:53 Mm hmm. Kelly 18:54 And it looks like that's a criss cross. She's used that criss cross of treble crochets all around the edge. That is nice. Yeah. Huh. Okay, I'm gonna favorite her project. Because people who are listening, if you have not discovered this, if you save a project in your favorites, then on your project page, it will show those favorites in the lower... well for on the computer, it's in the lower right hand corner. So anything that I like the the comments on or that I'm interested in--I favorite that project and then that makes it pop up in my project page. Take a look at it. It's a nice, it's a nice feature because I've been... I've in the past had to kind of like you know, make a list of links of the ones that I wanted. And then I realized, oh, if I just favorite them. They show up at the bottom of my project page and I can get to them easily. So yeah, I'm really happy with it, I think it's turned out really nice. I am not looking forward to sewing it together. But I am looking forward to seeing it kind of come together. I've laid it out on the table. And I really like the way it looks. Yeah, it's really nice. It's like a riot of color. Marsha 20:23 Yeah. Well, it's Kelly 20:24 And I know there are people who say a riot is ugly, no matter what kind of riot it is. Marsha 20:34 Well, I think it's such an interesting project. Because as you say, it is a riot of color. But everyone's done such different things where it's like you're doing it, it's like, well, a riot of color. And then there's other ones that I think are equally beautiful, but they're very different, where they make every square, or whatever the main one is, exactly the same. And those are so it's very geometric. And it's... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/19125719

Ep 161: Welcome Home, Bear! 05/02/2021

Ep 161: Welcome Home, Bear! Kelly shares happy news about adopting Bear, a big, sweet, eight year old shepherd. And Marsha has a surprise finish! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) I finished my (Ravelry link) just in time for the end of our Extremities Knit/Crochet Along. I started the gusset on the second sock of a for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I ordered another 8 oz of the dark brown roving for the green and brown three ply. I plan to spin the brown separately and make a striped sweater. Kelly’s Projects I finished the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford Guild. I'm now ready for May and episode 4. Faye’s Flower Blanket. I now have 16 octagons Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah The KAL ended on April 25, 2021 and the winners are: jacquiemari--Jacqueline. She made legwarmers. Wins the Abington Mitts pattern by Jennifer Lassonde JillMabelina--Jill. She made a pair of Bernie mitts. Wins the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. Summer Spin In May 31st - September 6th Get ready to spin! Our Summer Spin In takes place again from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Transcript Marsha 0:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 0:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 0:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 0:10 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 0:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 0:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects, and I am Betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Marsha 0:36 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 0:43 Good morning, Kelly. Kelly 0:44 Good morning, Marsha. I just had to look to see if it was actually still morning and it is. It's technically, it's technically morning. I am very tired. Marsha 0:58 Well, you have big news. Kelly 0:59 I do. Yeah. Anybody who follows me on Instagram... And if you don't follow me on Instagram, you should! 1hundredprojects, the number one, hundred projects, you will have seen that we have a new addition to the family. And I, you know, I know that raising a baby--that type of new addition to the family is much more difficult than what I'm doing. And I... it's only actually been two days and things are already getting better. But I am totally exhausted. We adopted a new dog. So his name is his name is Bear. I call him Beary. He is,... well... I don't know if I told you Marsha. I'll tell everybody how this actually happened. We were not looking for another dog. I mean, we do... Marsha 1:52 Yes, I actually, I don't and my brother asked me. So why did they do this? Why did why did you this? Kelly 1:57 Yeah. So I mean, we miss Nash, you know, we lost him in the fall. And he was kind of nice to have around. And then Betty liked having a dog when we would go off. To have a dog to stay home with her. But we weren't really looking for another dog at this point. And I actually think a one dog household is too few dogs. But again, we weren't really thinking about another dog at this point. Bailey still young. And I still got a lot of work to do with her. So. But anyway, my friend Paul is interested in getting a dog and he's been talking about it for I don't know, maybe two years. And first he wanted to get a lab and he was asking me about lab breeders that I knew. And then he was thinking maybe he get this breed and maybe that breed. And just for listeners, he's a friend that I've had since I started at Hartnell. And I helped him find his first dog, which was a boxer that I co owned with him and trained and did obedience got her got her CD title. And then he got--I helped him find his last dog, which was a wirehaired pointing griffon. So anyway, now he's looking for another dog. And so and I just you know, I said you know, you're you're working so hard at this trying to find a dog online and feeling concerned. Why don't you look at maybe a rescue? Oh, I don't know, I think I want to raise a puppy. I want to know what it's gonna be like, but you know me, he was kind of not really open to it. But Marsha 3:32 but but he didn't say no. Right? Kelly 3:35 So periodically, over the last couple of months, because every time I talked to him, he's like, I need to get a dog. What do you think about this breed? What do you think about that breed? So I just thought, you know what? I'm going to go on, look at the shelters. So I did and I did this about three months, three or two months ago, I guess. I went to look at the shelters, and there really isn't much. In fact, that's an interesting thing that the shelters all have shortages. But anyway, I saw this German Shepherd male who it was very overweight. And I saw about two months ago and I thought oh, he's the old guy, you know, a senior and I thought well, he'll be, you know, he'll be adopted because everybody's being adopted now. This is how it's working. And then I went back and he was still there. And then the third time I went back, he was still there. I texted Robert and I said what do you think? It'd be like... His situation just reminded me of Nash coming to us later in life after a kind of somewhat unknown background, you know, to just kind of be the lay-around-the-house dog. And so Robert said, Yeah, okay. I think that might be okay. And so I contacted the SPCA. Well, it was so much faster than Bailey! Marsha 4:54 Because Bailey was a really long time. You had to pass a lot of hurdles. Kelly 4:58 Yeah. mmmhmmm. Marsha 5:00 It took a couple months, right? Kelly 5:00 They had to inspect my house and, and she had an injury that had to heal too. So that was part of it. But, you know, I was at... we were out at the boarding facility, I don't know, for 10 days going every day to see her, you know, before she was able to come home. So I contacted them on Saturday. I emailed or filled out the form on Saturday, I got a phone call. I thought I wouldn't hear back until Monday. But I got a phone call on Sunday, saying, Do you want to come meet him? Can you come on Monday? So then Robert's, like, they're just trying to get rid of him? What's wrong with this dog? And I said, well, what's wrong with him is he's you know, low thyroid, and he has a lot of weight to lose. And, you know, he's eight. And they just want to send--he's been there a long time. They just want to get him a home, you know. If we're interested, they're gonna take us up on it, but, but he was really suspicious about how fast it went. And then we went and met him. And they had, you know, they asked us to bring Bailey so Bailey met him too. And, you know, they kind of didn't really interact, they just kind of did their own thing. in the, in the area where, where they meet. We, you know, we walked them together kind of on leash. And then, and then she was-- they were able to both go off leash together, but they pretty much just kind of ignored each other mostly. Sniffed a little bit, but that was it. So then, you know, is like, are you? Well, what do you think? Are you interested? And I said, Yes. And so like, 20 minutes later, we were leaving with a ramp because he didn't like getting into the car. And you can't lift him up because he, he doesn't like being poked or prodded or pushed or lifted, or anything like that. And he turns around and grabs you, not biting you. But he does, like let you know that he doesn't want you doing that, which we're working on. So anyway, we've had him for two days. This is the third, this is the third day. Marsha 7:10 I just, I mean, it's such a shock, because, well, I just think it's amazing that you can just go and get a dog that fast. Kelly 7:18 That's what Robert said. He said, how do they know that we're a good home? Like they talked-- They talked to us for half an hour. You know, we brought Bailey and they saw how Bailey was with him. And then they sent him home with us. Like, how do they know we're gonna be good? Marsha 7:34 You know, it's like when I gave birth to Ben, I couldn't believe the hospital was gonna let me take him home. Don't they know I don't know what I'm doing? I mean, it's kind of amazing that anybody can have a baby and you can just Kelly 7:48 Yeah, yeah. Yeah, Marsha 7:50 But it's the same thing. And I, I've told you this too. About my friend that had moved to Spokane, came to visit Seattle and got a dog and And literally, he just filled out the application paid his fee and left with the dog. And then the poor dog came to my house and met Enzo and we had lunch and then got in the car and drove across the state. Kelly 8:14 Yeah. Marsha 8:16 And it worked out fine. That dog adores Darryl, you know. And Darryl adores the dog. It worked out fine, but it's like, they just let the dogs go with anybody. It's just so... strange. Kelly 8:27 When I volunteered there I never wanted to let any dog go with anybody. Marsha 8:31 Yeah. No owner was good enough. Kelly 8:34 Anyway, but he's, he's great. He, he's hard. It's really hard. I mean, basically, I'm used to having dogs that, you know, they they, they communicate. I know how to communicate with them. You know, we had to work on it with with Bailey. And you forget how much you had to work. I had to kind of remind myself of how hard it was when she first came. Because now she seems so easy. But yeah, like he didn't know how to be in the house. And the first day, it was great because the weather's been really good. So we've just been able to spend all day out in the backyard. And I've gotten, I have to admit, very little work done. But you know, I can set my computer up on the table in the backyard and I can work and I can be in the... I've been able to be in the trailer and talk to him through the window of the trailer. He can come and look in the door of the trailer. But he can't he can't get in because he's too big. He can't lift himself, you know, into the . Marsha 9:35 So I know like Well, let's just let's talk about some of his issues. Kelly 9:40 Okay. Marsha 9:41 You said he has, is it? He has hypo thyroid? Because I don't-- I can't say it.. Kelly 9:46 Yeah, hypothyroid he's low thyroid, and he's on thyroid medication. And he was at the SPCA for three months. He came in with a wound from being attacked by a dog. And he was surrendered. And then they stitched him up that was kind of on his shoulder and they stitched him up. And then they discovered that he had this low thyroid problem. Marsha 10:14 Well, and also doesn't he have...He's had, like you said, a chronic ear infection, which has damaged one of his ears. Didn't you say that, too? Kelly 10:20 Yeah, he had... They didn't realize at first but but after, you know, they fixed him up, and they realize his ear had a problem. So then they had to go in and clean out his ears. And they cleaned them and then they came back, you know, got really bad again, and they so they put him on antibiotics for his ears and ear medication. And...but the one ear bothers him, he shakes his head a lot. Even though it's clean. The vet said it's clean. It's just the ear canal has kind of a lot of scar tissue. And it just... she said it just feels funny. And I Marsha 10:22 Yeah, Kelly 10:51 well, when he got to the... he's he lost 30 pounds. I think she said. Yeah, he lost like 30 pounds. And I think, I mean, he should probably be more like 90 pounds. Unless, unless he's just a bigger dog than I think in terms of his body structure. I'm thinking probably he should be around 90 pounds. So he has another like 40 pounds to lose. Marsha 11:25 So he should be about 90 pounds. He is did you say he's like 137 pounds? Now? Kelly 11:31 He's 133. Yeah, when he came home. Marsha 11:33 133 when it came home? And he'd lost... Kelly 11:38 almost 30 pounds. Yeah. Marsha 11:40 30 pounds. So he would have been like 160 pounds. Kelly 11:44 Yes. Marsha 11:46 And he should be around 90. Kelly 11:48 Yeah, like a large German Shepherd would be... a male German Shepherd would be like around 90. Marsha 11:54 He was like double what he should be. More than double what he should be. Kelly 11:56 Yeah. And you know, I don't know, do ear canals get fat? [laughing] I have no idea. But he's, he's very, he's very. He's very sweet. But he just he does whatever he wants. He's like a 130 pound toddler. And he doesn't really understand the word no. Right? I mean, he's not probably had a lot of interaction. He probably was a backyard dog, you know? And so he doesn't really... Like I'm just so much blah, blah, blah, blah, when I talk, and so he doesn't really understand the word no or anything. Yeah, you know, and he goes where he wants and he weighs a lot more than most dogs. Marsha 12:09 He can just go where he wants, because he is so big. Kelly 12:47 So I'm gonna say something that is probably controversial to a lot of people. But he came to us on a buckle collar. And, like, I can't control him. Right. I'm not that--I mean, I'm not as strong as I used to be when I had the wolf hounds. But also the wolf hounds, they thought I was stronger than them. You know, I mean, I knew them since puppyhood. So Marsha 13:14 but at 137 pounds, 133 pounds. Kelly 13:21 He weighs more than I do. Yeah, Marsha 13:22 He outweighs, you. Kelly 13:23 Yeah. And he's also he's used to doing what he wants, you know. So I couldn't I mean, I could barely walk him. So after one day, we got out the the chain collar that Nash had used and, you know, I wasn't jerking him around or anything, but it just gives me a lot of, a lot better control. And we were able to go for three walks yesterday, three short walks yesterday. And you know, he's not dragging me around now. Literally, he was dragging me through the house to get to toys. The first night it was like, every time he saw one of Bailey's toys, which, you know, we didn't know he was coming, so I had not dog proofed the house. And so he'd see one of her squirrels that she has--the squirrels in a tree--and he'd like take off. I was like flying behind him. Cuz he was on leash. Oh my gosh, it was so hard that first night. Marsha 13:33 Wow. Kelly 14:02 He just, you know, he went where he wanted and, and, and he's surprisingly fast for a big guy. If you if he's got something on his mind that he wants, he's surprisingly fast [laughing] Oh my goodness, but so so that that has made it a little bit easier to to have some control when he has the leash on. But he's still I mean, he still... he wants what he wants when he wants it. And but he's very... Marsha 14:48 Just like a toddler. Kelly 14:49 Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 130 pound toddler. But he learned he does learn how to sleep on the pillow the first day-- the first night. He can't be crated, because we don't have a crate big enough. And I tried the ex-pen, but he just walked pushing the ex-pen. So the ex-pen is just moving around the room as... Like, Okay, this is not gonna work! [laughing] Marsha 15:22 Well, cuz you were saying because he's a backyard dog he's not housebroken either, right. So how is that? So I have a couple questions. That was the other issue he had. There's really no training. Not housebroken. He really is not comfortable in the house. Right? You said he was... He's used to being outside. So he sort of anxious being inside and having to spend the night inside. So what other issues did he have? [laughing] So I guess I'll just ask my question. So he seems to be doing better being inside, right. The first night you said was sort of challenging, but so you picked him up Monday? Kelly 16:01 Yeah. Marsha 16:01 So it's only two nights. Kelly 16:02 Yeah. And since Robert works, swing shift, I was by myself in the evening. During the day, we were out in the yard, and it was fine. You know, he he had, he was able to go around the yard, we took him off the leash. And he was able to go around the yard and, you know, do things and-- but then when it's time to come in and got cold, and I needed to come in for the night, I brought him in, and we we sat up in the spare room. And I put the two dog pillows in there. And Bailey, he and Bailey were both there. And I told Bailey to lay on her pillow. So she did. And then I just sat and crocheted while he paced and paced and whined and whined and paced and whined and paced and whined. Until, luckily, he's so big! Because he can't stand up for that long, right. At a certain point, he had to sit down. And then once he sat down, he can only sit for so long before he has to lay his body on the ground. So, so finally he lay down. But you know, I would try to be as still as I could, so he wouldn't pop up. But you know, it was only going for like 20 minutes at a time. And then he'd be back up pacing and whining. And that was from about dinner, like 6:30 after dinner, until I finally thought you know what, okay, he's getting a little more comfortable in this room, but we have to sleep in the other room. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea. I should have probably started already there. So then I got the bedroom ready and put the pillows down and closed the door. And so then I just let him pace around in the bedroom while I sat in the bed and did more crocheting. And again, same thing, you know, pacing and whining and pacing and whining until he finally laid on the pillow and, and fell asleep. And then Robert got home. I stayed up until Robert got home. And then once Robert got home, Robert took him out one more time. And then we--but we were up a couple of times during the night that first night to take him out and stuff. But last night he slept all the way through the night. I mean, Robert gets home around midnight. Robert took him out then. But he slept the whole rest of the night. So he was tired. We were both tired. Marsha 18:14 Yeah. And and then what about the diet? Are you... how are you going to approach that because he obviously needs to get off additional weight? Kelly 18:23 Yeah. The vet actually said she doesn't think he'll lose any more. I think maybe because of his thyroid issue? I'm not really sure. That surprised me when she said that. But she told me you know how much he was eating. And we're going to keep him at that amount for a while with just the extra activity and see what happens. So and then, and then we'll kind of gauge how he's going. I don't want to give him too little. You know, you don't want him to lose weight too fast. Right, like people so, yeah. So anyway, right now, it's just kind of the same amount, trying to feed him the same amount as what they were giving him but you know, watching... using a lot of that food as treats. You know, to teach him things. Marsha 18:44 So and then the housebreaking do you think? Kelly 18:51 They said he was clean in the kennel. Like he didn't go in his kennel. At the SPCA they would, you know, they take.. they try to take the dogs out and, and let them go to the bathroom outside of their of their pens. And they said, you know, he would hold it so that he could go when they let him out. So that was good. So that, you know, that's good. That makes it a lot easier to housebreak. So just making sure that he goes out often. You know and we've been spending... I mean, it's only been there's only the third day and it's been gorgeous. So we've been able to be outside, which is nice. But when we do go out, you know when he is in the house he's on he's on the leash or inside of a closed room. Marsha 19:56 And then you just have to keep track of a time too like... You know, I got Enzo as a puppy. You know, like, I was like, every 30 minutes or 40 minutes. Yeah, I was taking him and giving him the opportunity. Kelly 20:08 Yeah,yeah. And it doesn't have to be that often... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/18942875

Ep 160: Just a Few Ends to Weave 04/18/2021

Ep 160: Just a Few Ends to Weave Lots of ends to weave and finished objects to discuss this week. Plus we announce the winners of our Winter Weave Along. Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) (Ravelry link) Almost done. I started the heel flap on the (Ravelry link) for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Spun three more skeins of merino green and brown three ply. Have a total of five skeins and 716 yards Kelly’s Projects Finished! (Ravelry link) from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. I used . Finished! (Ravelry link) from . Finished! (Ravelry link) Started the Huck weaving sampler from the Jane Stafford Guild Winter Weave Along The Weave Along is over and we drew winners! Listen to see if you won! Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Full Transcript Marsha Hi, this is Marsha Kelly and this is Kelly. Marsha We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha We blog and post show notes at to Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com Kelly and we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hundredprojects Marsha And I am betterinmotion. Kelly We both look forward to meeting you there. Both Enjoy the episode. Marsha Good morning, Kelly. Kelly Good Morning, Marsha. Marsha How are you today? Kelly I'm doing all right. The sun is finally coming out. I would say if you want to travel to my neck of the woods don't come in April. April's not-- I don't think April is that good of a weather month for the Monterey Bay Area. It's cold. It's very coastal feeling this morning that cold ocean breeze and overcast and the sun is now finally coming out. So maybe I'll get my hat and my fleece vest off att some point today. Marsha Well, we are having beautiful weather in Seattle. Kelly That's good. Marsha I haven't checked the temperature but warm, you know, Sunny blue sky. Yeah, no rain in the forecast. I think it's gonna be up to 70 Kelly Oh, nice. Marsha I'm sorry. I don't know what that is in Celsius for those who are on Celsius. Kelly 30? Somebody in the Ravelry group posted and they said they have like milestones, like body temperature is 37. Marsha Okay, Kelly I think they said 30 degrees was like a 70 degree day. Now, I may be totally wrong on that. But but that's-- I'm just doing that from memory and then you know, zero is freezing. And below zero is nobody wants to, nobody wants to feel that! Marsha Anyway, Well, anyway, it's beautiful. So I have Mark came up and helped me move the patio furniture app onto the deck. So we've been sitting in the furniture and we got the umbrellas out yesterday Kelly Wow! Marsha and, we've had so and I'm... you probably saw my Instagram post that I painted the south side of the garage. Well, primer and first coat yesterday. I have to do the second coat today Kelly You and Robert so I just have to ask. Did you vacuum it before you primed it? Marsha Well, Ben power washed it for me. [laughing} Kelly Okay. Because I looked out at one point when Robert was... and he's got the vacuum up on the roof of the garage and a paintbrush, like to brush off cobwebs and stuff like that. Oh my gosh, he is meticulous. Marsha He is meticulous but he's doing it the right way. Kelly Yes, yeah. No, I have no complaints. I just laugh when I see. I mean like, Who in the world looks out the window and sees someone vacuuming the garage wall? [laughing] Marsha Well, I have to say I did not vacuum it but I, as I say Ben went out and power washed the south side. And then what started this whole thing, I probably talked about this but what started the whole thing is he was super excited about power washing and he powerwashed the driveway and I said well why don't you power wash my pots, my the planter pots, which he did. And then on the south side of the driveway where I have the tomatoes, the neighbors have a fence so it creates shade like from the pots down. And so it's super mossy, there was like an inch of moss over there. And he was--can hardly wait to get over there and attack the moss. He powerwashed that whole walkway, power washed the pots. I said Well then, if I'm pulling the pots away... Because they're so heavy, I take all the soil out, which is now piled up in front of the garage so I can't get my car in the garage. If we're going to do all this I should paint the garage because the garage has not been painted in, I don't know, 15 or 20 years? I don't know. A long time. I don't remember when it was painted. Kelly Well that's what led Robert to paint was that the he wanted to get the garage painted before the grape came back. You know, he pruned it. So it was all pruned back and you can actually see the garage wall. And, and he knew you know, within a couple of weeks that was all going to start leafing out again and so he's like Okay, I gotta get this garage wall painted. Yeah. So so good to do it while the pots are out of the way. Marsha Yeah, but then I have a tendency, well I was like, just put the paint on there. It's okay. And it's like no, my father was a painter. And I can't, I can't do that. So I, as I say Ben power washed it, I primed it. I put my first coat on. So and I'm gonna go put the second coat on. So that's the right way to do it. Now, all of this, that was just one side of the garage. I have, you know, it's a rectangle. So I have three more slots. [laughing] Kelly Yeah, that's the west side. So that's one of the sides that gets the most Marsha No, it's actually south side. Kelly Yes. The South Side. Yeah. Marsha But I, you know, my parents built that garage. And my father taught me how to put the shingles on it. So it has cedar shingles from probably 1968. And he showed me how to nail shingles onto the side of the garage. So when I was-- okay, let's see. I was probably 10. And I sided, at the age 10, I sided the south side of the garage. Kelly That's cool. Marsha Yeah. Anyway, and he told me how, like you put a double row at the--the first row at the bottom is a double row, double thickness. And then and how to use the now I don't even know what they're called. Is it a snap line? Chalk line? Kelly Oh, yeah. Marsha You know, to to get a, to, so that they're all even. And so I was out there painting them. I thought I did a pretty good job at the age of 10. Kelly That's nice. Yeah. Marsha Child labor. Kelly Exactly. Exactly. Marsha But I remember as a kid thinking, it was really fun. It was, yeah, it was super fun. So he left, he showed me how to, he showed me how to do it and then he left me on my own out there one day, and I just did the whole thing. But I will say, I'm not 10 anymore. [laughing] And painting, so you know, primer, and then the first coat, my right hand holding the brush. I can't hold-- I in fact, I intentionally did not buy as big a brush as my dad would have used. He had like an eight inch brush, they would use like my hand can't hold that you know. So I have a smaller brush. But by the end of the day, my right hand was really sore and my left elbow. I pinched a nerve or something in their, I--or done something. And I think what it is now with my left hand is or my left elbow is from holding the paint pot. You know, just imagine holding something in your hand. All day, Kelly Right Marsha So it's-- I think it's affected my elbow. Yeah, I'm a wreck. Kelly Well, even with all of that you still are able to knit right? Marsha Yes, I'm working on socks right now as we're recording. So I'm still able to knit. Yeah. Kelly All right. Marsha Anyway, enough home improvement. Should we talk knitting? Kelly Yeah. What are you working on? Marsha Well, I'm working on my socks. Just the you know, vanilla socks. In fact, I don't even have it in the show notes. It's the What yarn is this? It's the Fabel yarn that I remember we bought it down-- I reaching over to my bag to grab a label--when we went to San Luis Obispo years ago for the yarn crawl. Kelly Oh, right. Marsha And this is Drops Fabel Print. I've talked about this before, but not for a while. This is the second sock and I'm just starting the heel flap. It's you know, it's an easy project. Kelly Yeah. Marsha So since I'm talking about these should I just talk about my projects? Kelly Sure! Yeah, that's a good idea. Marsha Because I don't have much to report. Marsha I've been periodically picking up the Walk Along Tee by Ankestrick. And I have-- I really have not progressed much since we last talked. In fact, I have to tell you, I listened to the last two episodes while I was painting the garage. And knowing that we were going to record today, thinking Well, there's not much more to report. I think I've knit four more rows since we last talked. So but as I say, there's been so many projects here. Oh, and I should say too. Not much knitting got done last week because Ben had his wisdom teeth taken out. And so,last Wednesday, a week ago, so there was a lot of up and down the stairs changing ice packs making milkshakes and getting him to take pain meds. He alternated between ibuprofen and Tylenol. So yeah, I have not made a huge amount of progress on that and then the Abington Mitts also haven't... Kelly Oh no! You jinxed them when you said you hope they're not like your skull. [laughing] Marsha They are like my skull but as I said, again as I'm out there listening to the podcast the last episode while I was painting, we reiterated the deadline for the extremities, extremities knit crochet, macrame along. And I need to get going. Kelly Yes. April 25th, right? Marsha Yeah. So I need to get going. So I'm so close. I just have to do the thumb. Kelly Right! So yes, Don't jinx yourself. Marsha Yeah. You know what I also, when I listened back to myself, I always, this is what I always say. "I'm going to do that tonight." [laughing] I'm not saying that. That seems to jinx me too. Kelly Okay. Oh my gosh. Marsha But the one thing I have been working on though, is the spinning. So I plied... have made three more skeins, I plied three skeins of yarn. So I now have a total of five, which is a little over 700 yards. And I think I'm going to get at least two more skeins, and maybe a bit more. But I had the idea that I was going to make a sweater out of this the green and brown three ply. But I'm not going to have enough. So I do think I will have more of the brown left. And even if I don't have enough of it. I can order more. Which I should probably do that sooner than later. So I was thinking well maybe I would just add stripes to the sweater. Kelly Yeah. Marsha To to extend it. So I think that will look okay. If I have like that barber pole yarn mixed with a solid but it's that same, the same color. I think it will be okay. Kelly Yeah, I think that would be really pretty. Marsha We did have a conversation though. Just thinking about spinning. We did have a conversation. I called you. Do you remember I called you last week, I think or this week that? Kelly Oh, right. I want to know how that how that went. Marsha Yeah, well, so I'll tell people what happened. So and this probably happens to a lot of people, is that you're single is-- you're plying and one of your singles will break. And then you can't find the end on the bobbin. And that's what happened. And so I called you and I said because you know, you have been spinning a lot longer than I have, you've probably had this experience too. And you said a couple of things to do. One of them is put the bobbin back on the spinning wheel and spin the opposite direction that you plied it. But, and but loose. I mean, you don't have the yarn coming--well, because you're trying to find the end, right. So you just let it spin on there. And it will sometimes just fly out. Kelly Right Marsha That didn't happen. Kelly I don't have too much luck with that. I haven't had too much luck with that technique either about Marsha that didn't happen. But I think what it did is it must have loosened it some way because I finally took it off. And I just took it out in the sunlight. And I actually found the end Kelly Oh, nice. Oh, that's good. Marsha So because I had done that before I took it outside in the light and I could not find it. So I do think that that spinning, did must have jarred it some way that I could find it. But just the other advice you gave me too. And this is not-- this doesn't help find the end. But just when you're spinning, don't let the singles pile up too high as you're spinning across the bobbin and keep moving at across the hook sooner. Because I sometimes you know, as I'm watching TV, or I'm talking, I lose track of what I'm doing. And sometimes they get a little too high and then they can fall down onto the next row is that the right way, how would you describe it? Marsha Kind of like the next layer the way I would... Marsha Layer, right.So I'm going to keep that in mind for next time. Because that has it's happened to me more than once that Kelly And a lot of people use something called a Woolly Winder. And Robert from the very beginning, when I first got my spinning wheel, he was like this needs to have something where it's you know, laying the laying the thread down or the yarn down, going evenly all the way across and then coming back. Like you know, like a fishing reel. And I said, No, you just move the yarn on the hooks. And then I discovered, you know, this was back in 98. And then I discovered that there was this thing called a Wooly Winder that I think that's what it's called, that does do that it it winds your yarn onto a bobbin more like a fishing reel would do so you're not moving the hooks yourself. Marsha Make sense. Kelly Yeah. I like to move the hooks because it helps me remember not to sit in one position. Not to put my hands in one position. Not to, you know, not do things that could give you a repetitive stress injury, the more adjustments that you make to your body, the better. But a lot of people like to have that and just be able to get into that rhythm. And, and it, you know, people think it helps, and it probably does helps them make a more consistent yarn to, because every time you stop and start again, you have the possibility of your yarn not being, not being consistent. But I'm old school enough to think that that moving the yarn from one hook to another is, is good for you. But I also am guilty as you are forgetting and then, Oh, no! And the finer you spin, the worse it is, the more careful you have to be about that happening. Marsha Yeah, and I also think, too, is if you, if you have the the single on the bobbin. And you just went and decided that you were going to wind it into onto another bobbin or something. Not that you would do that. Like so you're just going to take it from the one bobbin and put it onto another bobbin... Kelly People do that. They put it onto like a storage bobbin. Marsha Right, I think then you might not have as much of a problem. But when you put it on the the lazy Kate, it has to have some tension on it. The bobbins that you're plying off of have to have some tension. Otherwise, if they move too fast, then it all starts twisting back onto itself. Kelly Right, right. Marsha And so I think that tension also then forces the single down into the layers. Kelly Yes. Marsha And I don't know how to get around that other than, as you said, spin... change more frequently. Kelly Yeah. And the other thing that I have done with my lazy Kate, when I wanted to make a super, you know, try to be super consistent in my plying, I was taking a class and I was trying to follow you know, the instructions of the class. And so, on our wheel, the lazy Kate on the little Herbie, is connected to the wheel. And I mostly ply from the Kate on the wheel. But if I have a yarn that I think is going to be really temperamental, what I learned in the class I took a while back, is that if you have the Kate away from you, it gives you the chance, it gives the yarn a chance for the twist to even out in the singles. And so if I have something that I think is not going to behave nicely, I'll take my Kate off. And, you know, put it behind me, like four or five feet. Kind of prop it up behind me four or five feet. And that does, that does help. Because it doesn't get so tight. You know, you know that that that tightness when you're when you're trying to pull it up, up from the bobbin instead of out from the bobbin. Marsha Yes and I--and so we have the same wheel and I find that I tried plying with the lazy Kate attach to the wheel the way it's designed. It was a nightmare, because I, it kept...Yeah, I was not able to do it. So you had shown me that trick. And so now I always like I sit in my chair in the study, you know watching TV,which is probably part of my problem [laughing] with my applying and then I put the lazy Kate behind me and I block it with the table leg to try and hold it up. So, because you want it to stay upright and not have the bobbins hit anything. So that stops them. The other thing is Kelly, you remember when I got the Ashford wheel? Kelly Yeah, Marsha It came with a lazy Kate. Kelly Oh okay. I don't remember that. Marsha And so I tried that too. And it's, it's basically it's like two posts that stick up. Wood posts that stick up and then the bobbins go in there. Ours are put in perpendicular to the ground, right? These bobbins are parallel. But there is nothing to slow them down. So they just--and I tried I thought, well maybe it'll be easier. No. It did not work at all. It's-- I think that's just going to be for storing bobbins because they look pretty. Kelly So my my Wyatt wheel has a Kate like that built into the wheel and it does not have a tension--any tensioner on those bobbins. And so what I've done is I've taken the springs, the springs that do the tensioning for the Herbie and I just put them on there so you might try it. It might not fit the same springs or those springs might not be long enough. It depends on how long the, what are they called, the sticks that go through the bobbin are. But if you can find springs to go on the end of them to provide a little bit of tension. Marsha Yeah, I could just go to the hardware store probably and get something. Kelly That might be a better Kate because you're not pulling up from the bobbin you are actually pulling out from the bobbin. And it's a little bit, it's a little bit easier to keep your attention even in that case. But you have to, you really need to have some tension on the bobbins in the Kate. Marsha Right. I think I'm going to, I'm going to... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/18765263

Ep 159: Spring Break Project Heaven and a Whole Lotta Tree Talk 04/04/2021

Ep 159: Spring Break Project Heaven and a Whole Lotta Tree Talk Tree removal competes with Spring Break weaving and the stuffing of Frog and Toad for the content this week. You never know what you'll hear about on the Two Ewes show! Show notes with full transcript, photos, and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects (Ravelry link) (Ravelry link) Almost done. Just the thumb to finish. In the evenings I've been spinning the green and brown merino. Kelly’s Projects (Ravelry link) from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. I’m using . It is a merino/cashmere/silk yarn in a gray blue purple tonal color. I want to knit more with this yarn base! I started stuffing Frog from (Ravelry link) from . I’m using the crushed walnut and it is staying inside and not coming through the fabric. Frog is currently sitting in a tumbler with a funnel in his head! I realized I should put the needles into the provisional cast on before I start filling them so I will be ready to kitchener the top. I anticipate it will be somewhat messy. (Ravelry link) from JST Online Guild. Throughout spring break I spent time weaving and watching the Canvas Weave videos of Season 5. I used the warp that I wound at Christmas and adapted the sampler threading to fit the number of threads I had. I wove a dresser scarf for the linen cupboard, 5 dishtowels, and a small hand towel. I had Cesar Chavez day off and I got the (Ravelry link) threaded onto the loom and ready to start weaving. This is all using my handspun yarn. With 6 epi compared to 22 epi and a 3 yard warp instead of a 7 yard warp it went really fast! Like the difference between a fingering weight sweater and an Aran weight sweater. News/Other Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Transcript Marsha 00:03 Hi, this is Marsha Kelly 00:04 and this is Kelly. Marsha 00:05 We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by. Kelly 00:09 You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string. Marsha 00:17 We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com. Kelly 00:22 And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hudredprojects Marsha 00:29 and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there. Both 00:35 Enjoy the episode. Marsha 00:43 Hi, Kelly. Kelly 00:44 Hey, Marsha. How's it going? Marsha 00:45 Pretty good. Kelly 00:47 Good. Marsha 00:48 lots going on here. Kelly 00:49 Yeah, nothing noisy, though. We waited till late enough that all the noise is gone. Marsha 00:54 Yes. We were actually.. were scheduled to record yesterday but moved it to today because yesterday, I had the Alaskan yellow cedar Kelly 01:06 bonsai! Marsha 01:07 Yeah, the former so I just the former bonsai. So I think I talked about this. But in case I didn't a really quick story about this is when my parents bought this house in 1962, there was a Japanese garden between the two houses that actually belonged to the neighbors. And in that Japanese garden was a bonsaied Alaskan yellow cedar. That was maybe four feet tall. And years have passed. Kelly 01:38 Yes, I can say because I was born in 1962. So yeah, 59 years have passed Marsha 01:44 yes have passed. Anyway, it was about 40 feet tall, and had grown. There were originally five trunks. And two are removed. I was able to remove two of them a few years ago, because the reason I wanted to get rid of this tree is it had damaged the sewer line. And we had to put in a new sewer line, irrigation line, the new deck, and a new roof. So it does so much damage that it was-- it had to go. And here's the real reason. Last summer sitting on the new deck, I got hit twice by bird poop! Because the crows would hang out in the tree. That's the real reason. [laughing] Kelly 02:28 Well, the palm tree next door, the date palm or? Yeah, I think it was like a date palm next door, was taken down yesterday, also. So we would have had tree work at one of our houses regardless. And Robert saw the owner of the house this morning. And he's like, what happened to the tree? And he said, Oh, it was old it had to go. Which there was nothing wrong with that palm tree. I'm not a particularly big fan of palm trees. But it was it was a nice--I mean, it was a pretty nice specimen. If you like palm trees. In your case, you really actually did have a good reason to get rid of the tree. Not just yeah, Marsha 03:11 It had done so much damage. Yeah. And it is just, I mean, I'll put on it... I have not posted any pictures yet on Instagram. I'll post pictures and when people see... Yeah, you know what it was like, but it was kind of a an emotional day, just because I don't like cutting down trees. I mean, this was a, it was a spectacular tree. It had been beautiful at one time, but it's just so big and in completely the wrong place and cutting off light. So my bedroom is much lighter, the kitchen is much, much lighter. But mostly it was just the damage. And then, you know, Kelly 03:49 Well and the fact that it was right next to the neighbor's garage, and pulling up things that it shouldn't Marsha 03:55 Yeah, it's about a half inch from the neighbor's garage, you know. So anyway, it's been a long process, I won't go into the whole thing. But have you have to get a permit in the city of Seattle to have a tree taken down, especially a tree this size. And it was it was a long, a long journey. But they finally got the permit. And they came yesterday and cut the tree down. I got the estimate and signed the contract in August, last August. And I can-- got the -- I think was on Thursday or Friday of last week. I got the email from the company that was going to cut the tree down that they had received the permit and they had scheduled me gave me the date that the tree was scheduled to come down. I said that's great. And so then I call them on Monday to confirm because it's in the contract and I confirm, I confirm once again that they are bringing protection for my new deck. Because this tree is sandwiched between my deck, it's, it's about four inches from my deck, the base of the tree. And so I had confirmed that they were going to bring protection and put something down on the deck. And they arrived at nine o'clock in the morning with nothing, no plywood to put on the deck. And the guy who was-- I found out later was the manager of the crew was a little snippy with me, a little rude. And I was like... and I kind of have that feeling of like, What do I do? And I decided, you know, WWRD, what would Robert do? And Robert would go out there and tell him to stop until they got the plywood. So I went out there and I told them to stop. And they said, okay, and they stopped for a few minutes. And then I went back in the house, and I saw they were dropping branches again. So I went back out and I said they have to, I said, I told you to stop, you need to stop. I've called the company. And they are sending plywood and you need to-- I'm telling you--you need to wait until the plywood arrives. So they stood there on my deck. And I went and made a cup of coffee and I sat in my breakfast nook, which is right overlooking and I just sat in the window so they could see me and then they just stopped. They dropped--put all their tools down at that point and went and sat in their trucks. Kelly 06:40 Cursing out Old Lady Failor Marsha 06:42 Yes. But I, you know, like in the end, I want to say something sort of sexist. I... it... there's moments like this when I wish I had a man. But you know that because I sometimes feel being female. And now, you know, when...when I was... Well, I think it's always been this way, just being female, that I think that I'm discounted in some way and especially when I was younger. And then when you get older, you're discounted in another way. Right? And I...and it's...and so I just thought, you know, Robert would go out there and tell them no, you're stopping! Because they all said to me, Well, we have insurance to cover any damage to the deck. But my point is, I don't want to have any damage done. I don't want to go down that path of having to deal with it. I don't even want to deal with having a damaged deck. Kelly 07:36 Why? Why would you want.. Yes. Why would you not take precautions rather than just say, Oh, I have insurance in case something happened? Marsha 07:42 Yes! Kelly 07:43 That does not make sense. Marsha 07:45 Yeah. So yeah. So I'm glad I did it. And then I did go out afterwards... So I'm not gonna say the name of the company because they ended up being great. And the we had a rough start. But they once the plywood came, the guys got to work, there was a crew of five. And I was watching them. And it really is remarkable what they were doing because they have to climb up into the tree. And it's 40 feet. They're up there. 40 feet with rope. You've had tree work done. So you know Kelly 08:14 my tree work, yes,endless tree work. Marsha 08:17 And then they, you know, they tie every branch. Before they cut it it's tied onto a rope and then it's lowered down. So there's..it's not like they're just up there dropping wood, you know, they're very careful. And such a tight area that they had to work in with two houses and a garage and the infamous deck. So I went out at the same time they're doing all of this. First Mark and then later on Ben and I were working on the garage roof because we've had to do some patching because it was leaking. And so we were...that's another whole story for another episode of the podcast, but we're up there working on this roof. And I came down at one point. And while I was up there working, I got to thinking, I wonder if there was just like... Oh, I know what it was! It was when the the young woman from the company arrived in the pickup truck with the plywood. She then said to me, okay, now we're grinding out the stump, right? And I said, No, we're not because first of all, it was too expensive. But also, they couldn't.. if now that the deck is built, they can't get the machinery in there. And just to grind out the stump was going to be the same price as removing the tree. And it doesn't matter. It's an area once the my fence is up it's like a no man's land. Nobody goes over there. So I wasn't going to do that. And so then I started thinking about that. I thought, how come she didn't remember that I'm not having the the stump removed? Marsha 09:43 So the young man who was the foreman of this group, this team that removed the tree I said to him, you know, when he had a quiet moment, he was smoking a cigarette, and I said, Hey, can we just talk for a minute? And I could just tell he's like, Oh my god, what's this woman want now? But I went, I said to him, I said, I just want to talk about this morning. And I said, I think we were both a little irritated with one another. And I said, I got to thinking, is it perhaps you were not getting any inf...? Were you given any information about the job before you arrived? And he said, No, I was given your address and told to cut down the Alaskan yellow cedar. He said, I had no idea that there was a deck. I had no idea that it was sandwiched between these two houses. I had no idea that it's like an inch from the the garage and three inches or four inches from your deck. He's had nothing. Yeah. So and he said, I came in you know, it's a dangerous job. And so his adrenaline gets a little up, which I understand after having watched them. Kelly 10:43 and especially if you arrive and find all these obstacles that you have to be worried about. Marsha 10:48 Exactly. And then he said, you know, and he said me, I apologize to you, too. He said, I was kind of rude to you. And he...and he was he was very rude to me! And I said, you know, I accept it. I said, that's fine. I said, I think we were both a little frustrated with one another. And he said, Yeah, yeah, he was not given any information about what his job was going to be. As I say, we figuratively, not literally, kissed and made up. [laughing] Kelly 11:14 There was no kissing. [laughing] Marsha 11:16 Yeah, there was no kissing Kelly 11:17 No actual kissing that occurred! Marsha 11:19 And he was a very... and, he started talking. He's a very interesting man. He's actually a certified arborist. And so we started talking about the other trees in the back garden and things that he said he would like to come back and, you know, work on them, because he said they they need some help, which they do. Yeah, they definitely do. They've, I mean, the whole garden needs some work. So anyway, it turned out fine. Kelly 11:43 Well, and I, I can vouch for having an arborist do the work as opposed to just a tree service with the trees in our yard. But But I have to , you know, you said the tree was in the wrong place. So there was one arborist that we had that-- he's actually too busy now and working mostly on the Monterey Peninsula side of the county--and so we haven't been able to use him, but he was really good. And, and so one day, he was talking and he's like, you know, this... Robert had planted... We have Monterey Cypress, really large ones in the yard. And there were some babies. And so, you know, thinking sentimentally as you do, like, oh, we'd like to grow one of these babies to replace them. Because our cypresses are at the end of their life. And you know, the death of a tree could take 100 years, but they're definitely in the, the death side of their-- not necessarily tree hospice. But you know, they're on the downward slope of life, most. And some of them are gone, and have had to be removed. So anyway, Robert had planted one of these babies, and he's like, you don't want this tree here. You really don't want this tree here! Because by the time it gets to the point where it needs work, I'm going to be too old and you're going to be too old. So I started talking to him about like, well, what tree should we plant? And we have a lot of space. You know, there's quite a bit of space. Like, well, what tree would work?. And he reminded, he reminded me of me in the summer that I volunteered at the SPCA where people would come in to adopt a dog. And I would be like, read their application. Like, in my head. I knew they were going to adopt a dog. But in my head, I was like, No, no, this is not a good enough family. No, this is not good enough! And basically, there was no tree that was right for the space. He cared so much about the trees having the right habitat, that he he practically couldn't tell me a tree that I could plant to replace the cypresses because it would, it would like physically hurt him to be in the wrong place, right? To not have the habitat that it deserved, like the Monterey Cypresses deserve the habitat of highway one, where the wind is pruning them, and they can break all they want and they can have all these broken hangers. And you know, it doesn't matter, but the wind keeps them pruned. Anyway, it's just like, I couldn't get him to tell me like he was so so so... I don't know, just so reluctant to tell me a tree that would be right. I really can vouch for having an arborist. They do a great job making sure that the trees in your yard are not just cut right but that you know information about them. Marsha 14:59 Yeah. So I even gave him cuttings. So he was excited about something that's in the garden. Yeah. So I gave him cuttings. So Kelly 15:12 You know the other thing about about that job that I think about whenever we have...Here again, 15 minutes in, and we're still talking about trees! [laughing] Marsha 15:21 More than that! Kelly 15:24 But when I, when when we have three work done, I'll always think about, you know, like, as a job. Anybody who likes to climb, like Ben likes to climb. I don't know if he would like to climb trees, but you know, people who like climb, who like to work outside who like... I mean, there's there's some science involved to the arborist job. But there's also the working outside and the climbing and it just seems like an interesting... It seems like it would be an interesting career choice that people wouldn't necessarily think of. Marsha 16:00 Well, and there's a there's a real skill set, because you have to know how things are going to fall. Marsha 16:07 Right. Kelly 16:07 How to cut so they grow the right direction. Marsha 16:10 Oh, yeah. Kelly 16:12 What to cut to make the tree not grow in a funky way? Marsha 16:17 I was thinking, Well, I was just thinking, Yes, that's true. Yes, you have to... In fact, Ben has said that he is interested interested in that, too. You know, the, the being an arborist. But just watching these guys with the ropes, you know, going up there that you've got a chainsaw, so you have to be strong. But a lot of it is, is I think, sort of like what Ben, how Ben talks about rock climbing. It's not so much about strength, but it's about skill, you know, using using your body the right way and, and, and using your tools to um... what's the right word... is like leverage. Yeah, that's not the right word. I don't know. But you know, to, like, block and tackle. Kelly 16:59 Right, right. Marsha 16:59 If you just had a rope you couldn't move it, but if you have the block and tackle you can move something. Yeah, I was so thinking that way. Kelly 17:05 It was a real problem solving. Marsha 17:07 But the other thing is funny is like you were talking about, you know, it always hurts you a little bit to take a tree down. Kelly 17:12 Yeah. Yeah, even the palm tree that I didn't like, I was sad to see it go. Marsha 17:16 Yeah, and so it was, it was just, it was a difficult day, in a lot of ways. Because I had to go I had to channel Robert and and... you know. Or, as I say, pull up my big girl panties. And go out there and tell him to stop. It was kind of emotional, too, just because I don't like that--cutting down a tree. And honestly, if this tree had been in a different spot in the garden, it would still be there. Right? It just it was in the wrong spot. And I have another, that deodar cedar out in the front yard, which I will never get rid of. It's beautiful and I've spent a lot of money you know, having work done to it to make it..to keep it. And so it does hurt to get rid of it and so I was kind of emotional and when Ben finally arrived to help me with a roof and I said to him you know I'm just kind of emotional about the tree and I was all... And he says to me, Oh My God, grow a pair! [laughing] Kelly 18:27 Someday he'll be sentimental about something. Marsha 18:29 Yeah, he's not sentimenal now, he's too young. Right now he's too young to be sentimental about anything Kelly 18:35 That's right. Marsha 18:36 Mostly it's just the idea that I don't like cutting down a tree. Well, anyway, Kelly 18:40 Well, you could plant another one. Marsha 18:42 No, I'm not going to plant another one. [laughing] Kelly 18:43 No, I don't mean in that spot. I mean you can plant another tree somewhere. Marsha 18:48 Oh, I can plant another tree. Yes. Well actually what I really like to have is an apple tree Kelly 18:54 so there you go. Marsha 18:56 Okay, so Kelly! Kelly 18:58 Knitting! Marsha 18:58 I'm now looking at this is 20 minutes and 40 seconds of tree talk. So let's get on to... /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/18596393

Ep 158: Tomatoes, Lambs, and Frog and Toad 03/23/2021

Ep 157: It Ends in a Fit of Laughter 03/10/2021

Ep 156: Captions, Clarity, and Needles (not for Knitting!) 02/21/2021

Ep 155: Extremities Knit or Crochet Along 02/14/2021

Ep 155: Extremities Knit or Crochet Along Lots of tangents and a new KAL/CAL inspired by some new patterns for your hands and feet generously donated by the designers as prizes. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects I’m still working on the for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I’m back to working on the by AnkeStrick and I’m using Little Fish Stitches fingering. I was having problems where I was alternating skeins at the beginning of row which was at the back of the sweater. A huge thank you to MyBlueGirl and Sarahjhill for suggesting knitting. This solves the problem of the messy looking change. I started a spinning project with olive green merino roving I bought at the Whidbey Island Weavers meet up in April 2019. Combining it with another merino I ordered from Paradise Fibers in Spokane, Washington in a dark brown called Bitter Chocolate. Making a 3 ply with two green and one brown single. Kelly’s Projects Finished! I hemmed the Christmas Candy dishtowels and put them away! I also finished using the pattern . It still needs ends woven in and blocking. I’m really happy with how it turned out and I’m looking forward to wearing it. The is coming along, but I didn’t work on it as much in the last two weeks. Instead I started a pair of socks for Robert. I’m using leftovers of Leading Men Fiber Arts Show Stopper, Independent Will colorway. I had 90 grams left after using it for argyle socks for my brother-in-law. Not sure I’ll have enough but I’m planning to use toes and heels of a different yarn. Extremities Knit/Crochet Along This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns: , Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio , Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah It starts now (February 2021) and will end on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet). Some examples include socks, leg warmers, mitts, mittens, gloves, and wristlets. There will be a giveaway thread in the Ravelry Group for you to post your FOs. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/17945201

Ep 154: Preventing Pooling Presents Problems 01/25/2021

Ep 153: We're So Predictable 01/11/2021

Ep 153: We're So Predictable The solace of creating order, a nice button band technique, and plans for 2021. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . or or Marsha’s Projects Finished the body and ¾ of the sleeves of cardigan by Hinterm Stein. Bind off is a really nice I-cord bind off. Sleeve width seems okay but need to decrease faster on the way to cuffs. It will be touch and go with yarn amount Working on foot of first for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. Swatched with Little Fish Stitches fingering for a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. Techniques for neat button bands: pick up stitches with #1 needle and then knit with pattern size - Cocoknits Pick up exact number of stitches in body and then decrease to number of stitches called for pattern. Marsha purchased the Yarns kit: Kelly’s Projects I’ve been working a lot on the for my grand niece. I’m following the color choices (sort of) of a project by that I saw while watching FO radar. I’m using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors and making color choices to make all the octagons look like they have different sized flowers in them. . I’m using two patterns: , and . I’ve put on the front hem The weaving is finished on the Ribbon Candy Christmas dishtowels and they have all been washed, but not yet hemmed. I had a rocky start, but was able to correct a warping mistake that made one of my white stripes bigger than the others. I also was inspired by the Jane Stafford Guild videos to go off my pattern and play with some twill treadlings. Plans for 2021 We talked about our 2021 plans and discovered that we are oh, so predictable. You don’t even really have to listen to this episode! We said exactly the same things in in January 2019 and in January 2020. Recommendations Kelly recommends two YouTube knitting shows with John and Scott show with Kevin and Ray. Marsha shares videos (created by the tour company) from last year’s Iceland trip. Ongoing Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting We are giving away two items to one lucky winner! : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It’s not just a calendar! Pack of three in the . To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Enter in the , or you can send a , you can send us an audio file by emailing us [email protected], or send us a dm on Instagram From all the responses we’ll draw a winner on January 20 and you’ll hear the winner during the second January episode. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/17492675

Ep 152: The Port Side of a Tea Pot 12/27/2020

Ep 152: The Port Side of a Tea Pot Holiday fun has exhausted Marsha while Kelly has been busy making a butt-shaped divot on her couch. Plus we have a patron giveaway and a surprise Winter Weave Along prize today! Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Marsha’s Projects I haven’t knit a stitch on the cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. I plan to bring it on a New Year’s trip and make some good progress. But I am the boss of my knitting, so I might choose to work on something else instead! I turned the heel and started the gusset of a for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought at the San Luis Obispo yarn crawl back in 2014. I also finished a holiday tea cosy in red and green using the pattern by Amelia Carlson published by Fiber Trends. I used spirit yarn from Sears! Finally, I’m swatching with Little Fish Stitches fingering for a Tee called Walk Along by AnkeStrick. Kelly’s Projects I’ve been working a lot on the for my grand niece. I’m following the color choices (sort of) of a project by that I saw while watching FO radar. I’m using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors and making color choices to make all the octagons look like they have different sized flowers in them. . I’m using two patterns: , and . I’ve put the hem on waste yarn and picked up for the first sleeve. I’m going to start with the dark green at the top of the sleeve and then move into the stripe colors. I’ll do the sleeves similarly to the Fresh pattern where the sleeves are mostly one color and then there is a little bit of striping. I finished 14 dishcloths in the Triple L Tweed stitch from the . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It’s usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I totally used up four different 108-yard skeins of Ongoing Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting Enter on , through the website , or through email ([email protected]) by Jan 20th. Or email us a voice memo and we’ll play your response on the show! The winner will get: : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It’s not just a calendar! From twosheeps: Working with each dyer, we have obtained a limited supply of each exclusive colorway. The yarn in each month’s photograph is available for purchase on the first day of that month. We are grateful to each dyer for creating, dyeing, twisting, and labeling these amazing skeins and are thrilled to showcase their talent in our company’s first calendar! Pack of three in the . From Field Notes: We’ve limited this 49th Quarterly Edition to 33,333 3-Packs. Each Memo Book cover features a unique snowflake illustration rendered by our friend and co-conspirator, . Each snowflake is different, so every book is different, and so for the first time in a Quarterly Edition – we’ve individually numbered each book. To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Marsha and Kelly will put up a thread in the Ravelry group, or you can send a comment from the website, you can send us an audio file (for example using voice memo phone app and emailing it, send us a dm on Instagram or email us [email protected] We’ll draw a winner on January 20 and you’ll hear about it during the second January episode on about January 25. Patron Appreciation Time! Stuck at home we are reliving memories of travels. For the next few months we will be having a once a month patron giveaways to remind everyone of faraway places. The prize is a hat kit from Marsha’s trip to Iceland. It is from the . The yarn is black with purple contrast color. If you’d like to go back and listen to the Iceland dispatches they are in and . The winner of the Icelandic yarn is Barbara G., a patron since January of 2019. Winter Weave Along We're brightening up the winter by having a giveaway from the Winter Weave Along chat thread. Nan4now is the winner of a cone of Sally Fox cotton. Contact me ASAP as her 2020 stock is dwindling! is the website and she has been documenting her history on her You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. To honor her memory, we are having a Caps for Kids KAL from now until February 15th, to knit or crochet caps in any washable yarn, any pattern, any size, and donate them to a kids charity. Please post a photo of your cap(s) here before donating them. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/17338985

Ep 151: Tea Cosy Crazy 12/16/2020

Ep 151: Tea Cosy Crazy We celebrate the life of a fiber adventurer we've lost, plus we talk paper, planning, and plotting. How do you keep your life in order? Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Memories In Memory of Greenhook (Amy from Salem, OR) From her local Ravelry Group: To honor her memory, we are having a Caps for Kids KAL from now until February 15th, to knit or crochet caps in any washable yarn, any pattern, any size, and donate them to a kids charity. Please post a photo of your cap(s) here before donating them. Marsha’s Projects I haven’t knit a stitch on the cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. Finished using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Started another for myself using Drops Fabel Print that I bought in San Luis Obispo. I have the book, by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the and knitting . Started another tea cosy in red and green using the pattern published by Fiber Trends. Using spirit yarn from Sears! Made the same tea cozy for my friend Gary. Kelly’s Projects I’m making progress on my . I’m using two patterns: , . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see . I’m back on track after ripping out about 10 rows and I have about an inch or so to go on the body. I started the for my grand niece. I’m using Knit Picks Brava Worsted in lots of fun bright colors. I’m continuing to knit dishcloths using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It’s usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I’m using four different 108-yard skeins of and I’ll make as many as I can with this amount of yarn. I have my table loom dressed with one of the Christmas dish towel warps. It is a red, white, and green warp that reminds me of ribbon candy. The pattern I’ll be using is Textured Stripe from the Marguerite Davison Handweaver’s Pattern Book. Recipe I referred to: Giveaway--Paper, Planning, and Plotting : A Celebration of Independent Yarn Dyers. Each month features an exclusive skein from an indie dyer and the link to order the yarn. It’s not just a calendar! From twosheeps: Working with each dyer, we have obtained a limited supply of each exclusive colorway. The yarn in each month’s photograph is available for purchase on the first day of that month. We are grateful to each dyer for creating, dyeing, twisting, and labeling these amazing skeins and are thrilled to showcase their talent in our company’s first calendar! Pack of three in the . From Field Notes: We’ve limited this 49th Quarterly Edition to 33,333 3-Packs. Each Memo Book cover features a unique snowflake illustration rendered by our friend and co-conspirator, . Each snowflake is different, so every book is different, and so for the first time in a Quarterly Edition – we’ve individually numbered each book. To enter, answer this prompt: How do you keep your plots and plans straight? Paper, digital, other? Do you use a calendar? What kind? A notebook? What kind? Do you use a notebook for your projects or just Ravelry? When do you use paper and when do you use digital? Marsha and Kelly will put up a thread in the Ravelry group, or you can send a comment from the website, you can send us an audio file (for example using voice memo phone app and emailing it, send us a dm on Instagram or email us [email protected] From all the responses we’ll draw a winner on January 20 and you’ll hear the winner during the second January episode on about January 25. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/17211860

Ep 150: Recovering from Tiny Thanksgiving 11/29/2020

Ep 150: Recovering from Tiny Thanksgiving We’re recovering from Thanksgiving dinner preparations and cleanup. Even with a small gathering, there was more to do than we thought. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Thank you to p for providing prizes for the Summer Spin In. Use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping until December 31, 2020. Marsha’s Projects I haven’t knit a stitch on the cardigan by Hinterm Stein, but I did wind the fourth skein. I’m about to start the toe of the second using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Perhaps they will be finished during the episode! I talked about possibly returning my spirit yarn to the universe. As I looked at it again I got inspired to make tea cozies. I have the book, by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the and knitting . Kelly’s Projects I finally finished the . The real name of the pattern is Crescendo and I bought it from Amazing Yarns. The yarn I used is called Curly Locks and is a tailspun mohair yarn. I love this jacket as much as the one I tried on at Stitches in 2018. I’m making progress on my . I’m using two patterns: , . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see . I’m back on track after ripping out about 10 rows and I have about an inch or so to go on the body. I’ m continuing to knit dishcloths using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the . I cast on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It’s usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I finished dyeing the CVM 3-ply handspun for another handspun cardigan. I still haven’t selected the pattern but I’ve already made a gauge swatch and I have a few possibilities that I’m pondering. I have a few weaving projects. One is a that we have in the living room. The rug was made by sewing down narrow woven strips of wool weft on thread warp to a carpet backing. Our dog Nash had ripped up several strips in a few places on the rug. After investigating the construction I was able to sew the strips down. In some places it looks good as new, in other places it is just stabilized to prevent further damage. The other weaving projects are just at the wound warp stage. I have two 7 foot warps that I’ve wound for Christmas dish cloths. As inspiration I used two free patterns from . One set of towels is a white warp with a narrow red stripe on either side and reminds me of candy canes. The pattern I’ll be using is . The other set is a red, white, and green warp that reminds me of ribbon candy. The pattern I’ll be using is Textured Stripe from the Marguerite Davison Handweaver’s Pattern Book. Winter Weave Along You can join in with your weaving projects anytime until March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. For Rigid Heddle Looms, check out . She has a blog and free resources. also has lots of online resources for rigid heddle weaving. has pre-wound warps and from there I found the . has some beautifully subtle kits and also has supplies and free patterns. has kits, supplies and the Online guild. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/16991795

Ep 149: New Projects, Plans, and Pens 11/16/2020

Ep 149: New Projects, Plans, and Pens We each have new cast-ons and Marsha has a new appreciation for her spirit yarn. Plus there are new project plans, and even a new nonfiber interest. And what the heck is going on in Marsha’s yard? Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Thank you to p for providing prizes for the Summer Spin In. Use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping until December 31, 2020. Marsha’s Projects cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Haven’t knit a stitch in two weeks. But I’ll get back to it. I just have a little thinking to do about alternating the skeins on the sleeves for the two different dye lots. Finished the first of a pair of using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. Knit about 6” of the second sock. In our last episode I talked about possibly returning my spirit yarn to the universe. As I looked at it again I got inspired to make tea cozies. I have the book, by Sian Brown, Alison Howard and Vanessa Mooncie and have made the and knitting . Kelly’s Projects I’m making progress on my . I’m using two patterns: , . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see . I’ve made a mistake in the dots section so I have to rip out about 10 rows. I finished a solid blue charity hat using Cloudborn worsted and started another using two sock yarns held double. Both yarns are the second ball of Drops Fabel from our very first yarn crawl in San Luis Obispo. They are 50 gram balls and I bought two each for making socks. I made short socks with one and the paving mitts with the one ball of the other. The leftovers were perfect for a marled hat. I completed a dishcloth using my favorite stitch pattern, the Triple L Tweed from the . I make it smaller so it is a dishcloth rather than a towel, but I use the same stitch pattern and casting on a multiple of 3 stitches +1. It’s usually 34 or 37 stitches because I like a compact dishcloth. I cast on at the beginning of the camping trip and bound off on the ride home. I decided to make a crochet blanket for my grand niece and made a yarn purchase. The pattern I’ll be using is . But instead of making every square the same, I’ll be doing something more like . I got a huge box of yarn in a wide variety of colors from Knit Picks. I’ll be using Brava worsted. A New/Old interest: Fountain Pens Kelly has used a fountain pen off and on since college and got a new one for Christmas last year. Meanwhile, a young colleague talked about discovering the fountain pen hobby and that made Kelly start thinking. Could she get her old pen repaired? Yes! Was there a podcast? Yes indeed! There is and . From there she started looking online and found , an online vintage pen store based in Santa Cruz. A vintage pen and some ink were ordered! What a rabbit hole! Winter Weave Along Or Summer Weave Along if you’re in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. It will go through March 31. We will have prizes, including a class generously donated by Erica at . Check out this great website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. For Rigid Heddle Looms, check out . She has a blog and free resources. also has lots of online resources for rigid heddle weaving. has pre-wound warps and from there I found the . has some beautifully subtle kits and also has supplies. has kits, supplies and the Online guild. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/16820924

Ep 148: A Little Therapy on Either End 11/02/2020

Ep 148: A Little Therapy on Either End Two (count them two!) therapy sessions on this episode! Plus we talk design--both architectural and knitting. And wait, there’s more! A live FO and Winter Weave Along talk round out the show topics. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Also, we have a coupon code for . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Offer good until December 31, 2020. Marsha’s Projects I’ve stopped knitting on cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo since I’m running out of yarn. I’ve been perplexed why when the pattern calls for 1500 yards and I have 1600. I think the problem is row guage. I’m getting 37 rows instead of 35 rows per inch. Apparently, that makes a huge impact. I’ve learned my lesson and will check row gauge from now on. I ordered another skein which arrived this week so I can start again on the sweater I finished the socks in Pairfect. I cast on using Tilli Tomas Artisan Sock in Coconut Grove. This is yarn I picked up at the first NoCKRs retreat destash room. This project was finished live on the episode! Kelly’s Projects I finished the I was making with . I started the new pullover and ended up using a combination of these patterns--, . I decided not to use . To view the changes that I made to the striping sequence, see . is a book that we both recommend for information about architectural details. Just like in knitting design, it’s the little details and bits of knowledge that can make a design look just right. The is another one of the tools that relate to both architecture and knitting. I used the numbers from the Fibonacci sequence to make sure that the stripes in the pullover look balanced, even though I had to modify them a bit. It’s Winter Weave Along Time! Or Summer Weave Along if you’re in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. We’ll talk about it more in the kickoff in the next episode! It will go through March 31. Planning a weaving project: How do you know if you have enough yarn? . has additional information, plus some things to think about if you’re planning linens. is a website for weavers with projects, discussion, classes, and lots of resources. The website has a handy that you can use for project planning. Erica, the owner of Weavolution is generously offering one of her classes as a prize for our Winter Weave Along! Stay tuned to hear more about that! Weaving Suppliers and Kits , , including holiday themed items, for table linens and a variety of scarves and cowls. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/16642448

Ep 148: A Little Therapy on Either End 11/02/2020

Ep 147: Can Row Gauge Make That Much Difference? 10/25/2020

Ep 147: Can Row Gauge Make That Much Difference? Moving, organizing, dog training, and surprisingly only one real project each! Nevertheless we persist with the chatting! Row gauge issues might solve the mystery of running out of yarn. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Also, we have a coupon code for . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Good until December 31, 2020. Marsha’s Projects I’ve been busy knitting cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. I’ve reached 21” from the neck and still have to knit another 80 rows plus 19 rows for bottom band. That seemed too long so I stopped knitting and moved onto the first sleeve. I’ve knit about ¾ of the sleeve but not see I’m running out our yarn! Time to start rethinking the project. Still knitting the in Pairfect. Kelly’s Projects I’m working on a charity hat with the puffy rib stitch I liked so much on the socks. I’m using Cloud Born worsted that I got for free at Stitches last year. I failed on my goal to finish the . The sleeve is clipped in place, ready to be sewn in. In my defense, we’ve been having our summer in October season here on the Central Coast. I finished a by Jessie Maed Designs. It was a quick knit and I had a lot of yarn left in the skein. it’s hard to believe it would fit, but it does. Possibly I could get two out of one skein. Still haven’t tested whether it will make me itch or not. I need a cooler day before I wear a wool bralette! I’m planning a new pullover and I’ll be using a combination of these patterns--, , I’m also still fantasy knitting the handspun cardigan out of the CVM that I want to dye. There are now two patterns on my list--, It’s Winter Weave Along Time! Or Summer Weave Along if you’re in the southern hemisphere! Starts November 1. We’ll talk about it more in the kickoff in the next episode! It will go through March 31. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/16539854

Ep 146: Inspiration from the Summer Spin-In 10/05/2020

Ep 145: Extreme Shawl Collars and Daring Knitting Repairs 09/19/2020

Ep 145: Extreme Shawl Collars and Daring Knitting Repairs Kelly dreams of an extreme shawl collar and Marsha takes on a daring knitting repair. Full show notes with photos and links can be found in the podcast section of . Also, we have a coupon code for gorgeous bags from . Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. Marsha’s Projects The is moving along. I visited a blacksmith for information about a gate using salvage iron parts. I’ve been busy knitting cardigan by Hinterm Stein using Elemental Effects Cormo. Knit about 8” of the body. Realized that I had missed a garter stitch rib on the front band, so I did a trick Kelly taught me to fix the mistake. The pattern has increases on the front and back but on different rows. I had to make myself a chart to keep track of the increases. Here is of dropping back to fix a section of knitting. I did not finish the cotton spinning in time for our Summer Spin In. Too much going on here! Kelly’s Projects I’ve finished the knitting for the Targhee Lamb handspun sweater using the . The vintage buttons are perfect and I’ve even worn it, but it still needs to be blocked. I finished the socks from handspun as we are finishing up the Summer Spin-In. I’m using that I got at Stitches this past February. I also cast on a second charity hat. The existing one is purple and pink yarn held doubled that I used for the Raticorn. The new one is turquoise and red handspun along with a ball of turquoise/teal leftovers from stash. I met my pledge and did two rows on the Sonny Bono Jacket. Once I finish this second sleeve and sew it in, then I only have the collar to finish. (Note: after recording I finished both sleeves and they are ready to sew in.) Potential Projects Marsha and I are both interested in the . It’s a crocheted shawl that would be perfect for a combo spin. I first saw it as a picture in an ad while I was reading the newspaper online. I thought it was a commercial product, but thought it would make a great project. I posted it on the Ravelry group. A group member went looking and discovered that it was a hijacked photo from a Ravelry project page! Vote Forward Letters Get out the vote! We are both adopting voters and sending letters encouraging them to vote. If you want to participate, go to and sign up to adopt voters. Summer Spin-In The Summer Spin-In has ended and there were so many participants! Thank you! We’ll announce winners in two weeks. There were 126 entries in the handspun skein thread and 38 entries in the made from handspun thread. This is our best “along” yet! Two adventurers will win bags from . Check out their shop! They make project bags, spinning wheel bags and loom bags. Even if you don’t win a bag as a prize, they are offering a 15% savings for any bag in their shop. Use the coupon code TWOEWES. They also provide free shipping in the US. The bags are made from recycled, upcycled, repurposed, vintage and rescued fabrics. They have many sources to obtain our fabrics including an incredible fabric shop in NYC which lets them "dumpster dive" remnants, generous upholstery and drapery making shops who save their scraps, yard sales, Estate Sales and of course, second hand shops. Each bag is a one of a kind. It is their small way to give back to Mother Nature. Visit their site and use the code TWOEWES to get 15% off and free US shipping. /episode/index/show/twoewesdyeing/id/16075760

Two Ewes Fiber Adventures

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