W.I.P. Wednesday – July 30

So last week I set a goal of finishing the Jaywalkers.  I didn’t even come close.  So not close, that I think I added a half inch to the second one.  Oops.  I think I like those vague weekly goals better.

I also didn’t do any dyeing as planned.  By Monday, one of my aches from Saturday’s adventure had turned into an extremely sore pulled muscle (I must have done something else to it).  I was forced to park it after work.  Tuesday, we attended a vigil at our Unitarian Universalist congregation for the victims of the shooting at the UU church in Knoxville, TN.  Life simply pulled me in other directions.  The dyeing will happen after work tomorrow and over the weekend.

I did do little bits of knitting, primarily sampling my new yarns, Shimmer and Zen.  I knitted a sample swatch of Shimmer during SnB tonight.  Here’s a shot of the unblocked swatch: (better quality picture coming soon – promise!)  I still have a bit of work to do with this sample – going up a needle size and knitting an actual project with it.  I did more with Zen, doing this swatch: I do love this yarn!  I haven’t worked much with bamboo blends – I’m delighted with this one.  I also knit up a quick Calorimetry in the mini-skein of Zen in Dublin Lake.  Again, I love how it came out:  I altered the pattern a bit, making it smaller.  Details are on the Rav project page.

I did knit somethings, just not the Jaywalkers.  So in the spirit of setting vague goals, by next week I hope to add a bit to the Jaywalkers.  I know I can meet that one.

One of the coolest things I’ve ever done!

Have I mentioned how I love my job? A couple of times, I know I really love my job. Yesterday, I went to a training all afternoon. What training is worth giving up a Saturday for? One spent on this: That is the Tallship Unicorn. Two fellow directors and I spent the afternoon aboard it taking part in Sisters Under Sail, a leadership training program for women. Not only was it by far the best training I’ve ever been to, it was seriously one of the coolest things I’ve ever done!!! It was an amazing experience. The ship has an all female crew (the only tall ship in the world with an all female crew) and is a training site for leadership and development programs for girls and women. The program we took part in was small – only 7 participants from CT and NY. After taking an inventory that looked at our learning styles and some discussion, we took part in 3 activities to work on communication, teamwork and leadership skills, all while sailing around New London’s harbor area. First, we set the sails. It was incredibly demanding work. Communication and teamwork were key. Seeing the results of our work was amazing: I’ve never been on a tall ship – it was beautiful to see all the sails set.

The next activity (after lunch no less) was the biggest challenge of the day – climbing the rigging. Eeek! I have a funny thing about heights. I’m OK about things that I no control over but feel confined by – roller coasters, ski lifts, that sort of thing are no problem for me. I freak out about things in which I’m not confined but do have control – like ladders, walking the on the edge of a drop off, even working on the stairs last weekend was tough for me. Put me at the top of a step ladder and I’m shaky; I don’t climb further than the second step on a ladder. And yet yesterday, I found myself putting on a harness and preparing to climb the rigging on a tall ship. Shit! Let’s just note too that the harness was not for the climbing part – you could only clip onto the rigging when you stopped and wanted to relax, look around you or regroup. Technically, climbing was optional. I couldn’t allow myself to even consider not doing it – I knew I had to challenge myself. Part of me wanted to make it all the way up too – but I also knew that physically and mentally, it was unlikely. I did take the crew’s suggestion to heart – get as far up as you can, then push yourself to go one step further. That’s exactly what I did. It was freakin’ scary! Once I actually climbed onto the edge of the ship and saw the water below me, the nerves really hit. I shook the whole time. I did it though! I got up several steps – probably 12 feet up. I clipped on, looked around – that was cool!!! Talk about a once in a lifetime view! Once I relaxed a teensy bit, I made myself go up one more step. That was a cool moment – not only knowing that I did it but how supported I was by the crew and fellow participants below me. One of the crew members sat at the top of the rigging and got this shot of me on the way up: Seriously, I climbed the rigging on a tall ship!!!

It really did get even better. Right after we climbed, we each took the helm of the ship. It was a really great exercise – you went from being totally in control and responsible for only yourself and your own safety, then responsible for an entire 150 foot tall ship and its passengers (while a fellow participant climbed the rigging) with boats all around you and many elements out of your control.  I really had to make a shift in how I was thinking and working.  This was the really cool thing – the captain had me turn the ship around.  She guided me through it and again, I learned about taking direction, communicating and working together.   And I did a u-turn in a tall ship in the middle of the Thames River! Yes, she who can’t park the minivan can turn a huge ship around!!!  How cool is that?

We ended our activities by bringing the sails down again. At the end of the afternoon, we spent time talking about our experiences and what we learned. I got so much out of it – like learning to communicate more simply and check understanding, how to work effectively in a team that I don’t know and the value of supporting one another. I challenged myself physically and mentally.   It was an incredible confidence builder.  And I got to spent time with some incredible women. What an amazing day – an experience I will not forget!

On a side note, its quite possible that every muscle in my body hurts today! I have actual rope burn on my hands (something I haven’t had since I was a kid and played on our rope swing). Dyeing simply did not happen today (though some swatching did – Zen is very easy on the hands!)  – I’ll play catch up on Monday or Tuesday evening. The aches, and sacrificing a dye day, were well worth it! Have I mentioned that I love my job?

New Yarns!

Introducing Shimmer

and Zen They are The Painted Sheep’s new additions to our yarn offerings.  Shimmer is a sport weight 50/50 superwash merino/tencel blend.  It has 400 yards per skein and will retail for $22.  I love the way it takes color – the tencel gives it that amazing sheen.  It is machine washable, making it great for socks, baby items, etc.  It will drape beautifully, so it would be perfect for lace projects too.  I have in mind a certain Knitspot scarf for a sample!  Zen is a 60/40 blend of merino and bamboo.  Its DK weight, 300 yards per skein and will retail for $19.  The bamboo in Zen makes for a heathered effect from the dye – check out this mini skein in Dublin Lake

I’ll be sampling both yarns this weekend – I’ll update with more details and pictures then.  Look for the first skeins of Shimmer and Zen to be listed in my Etsy shop in early to mid August.

The rest of my dyeing from Wednesday yielded mixed results.  Superwash roving can be quite finicky, taking dye just where you pour it.  Several of my rovings ended up with white spots and need touching up.  The rest (7 of them) are now in the Etsy shop.

There is more dyeing planned for tomorrow morning – along with the touch ups, I’ll be dyeing some BFL rovings.  I should have another Etsy update mid week.

In the meantime, I have to go to a training for work this afternoon.  I know, its a Saturday, but let me tell you, this is training promises to be amazing – well worth giving up a Saturday!  I’ll tell you all about it, including pictures, later this weekend.

Enjoy your day!

W.I.P. Wednesday – July 23

Can you believe its Wednesday again?  And nearing the end of July already?  Where’d that go?

I accomplished quite a bit this week, though most not related to my goals for last week, which were to do a couple of repeats on the Pavé sock, an inch or two on Ev’s sweater and some dyeing.  The Pavé sock is done, as you know.  I didn’t do anything on Ev’s sweater and no dyeing – though there will be some soon!  Once I finished the Pavé sock, I pulled out the stalled in mid-foot Jaywalkers.  Look how much I did this week: I finished the first one and got halfway down the cuff on the 2nd one.  I’m motivated to finish them.  I realized that where in the middle of the Summer of Socks – and I haven’t cast on a single pair yet.  Anything on the needles before the start of summer doesn’t count – including these and the Pave socks.  So, I need to finish these and get another pair going, if I have any hopes of having a pair count for the fun that is SoS.  Besides, I have pretty new skein of STR just begging to be cast on.  So the goal for the week is simple: finish the Jaywalkers.

There will be dyeing, today in fact.  Between last night and this morning, I made up 14 dye colors, replenishing all of my solutions and got the studio set up.  All that stands between me and playtime is work.  Fingers crossed, the day goes as planned and I can leave a few minutes early to come home and dye.

I’ll update later on tonight’s dye session!  Enjoy your day!

Where there is wool…

There is one very happy dyer!

Its been a painfully long time since I’ve played in the dye studio – Memorial Day weekend was the last time.  I ache to play with colors and fibers again.  Good thing too – the stock in my Etsy shop is extremely low.  As you can see, I have plenty of fun stuff to play with now!  I will finally be restocking both of my sock yarns, along with my alpaca blend roving, merino superwash roving (that’s the pile of “skeined” stuff in the back right – its all ready to go) and BFL.  The shiny cone of yarn in the right front is one of two new yarns that I’ll be stocking – a sport weight 50/50 superwash merino/tencel that I’m calling Shimmer.  Its lovely yarn – it’ll take color the same way my merino/tencel fiber does, with that amazing sheen.  The other new yarn is a 60/40 blend of merino and bamboo, in a DK weight (yet to be named).  I can’t wait to sample this one – its so soft!  If I can make it work this week, I’m going to have an evening dye session.  All that white wool begs for COLOR!  The Painted Sheep needs to play!!!

The #1 Rule of Home Improvement

No matter what the project, it will take more time and cost more money than you planned.

Bites us in the ass every time.

This weekend’s project – cleaning the basement, painting the stairwell and the stairs and replacing the carpet on the treads – has been no exception.  Yesterday’s quick trip to Home Depot – cost us about twice what we initially planned, thanks to having to replace our shop vac.  Even when we factored that in, it still cost a lot more for paint – it seems to have gone up a lot.   So far today, we’ve cleaned and shop vac’d the whole basement, finished pulling up the remaining staples from the carpet (the carpet itself was pulled up in a fit of frustration a few weeks ago – it was too gross to keep looking at) and primed the whole thing.  It already looks better!  Its just taking a long time.  Tomorrow, we paint.  We’re hoping to get away with one coat on all but the stair treads and risers.  Fingers crossed, I’ll be laying down the new rectangles of carpet (traction thingies?  I have no idea what they’re called – they’re just pieces of thin carpet to cushion and give traction on the stairs) by this time tomorrow.

That said, there’s no time in this little plan for dyeing.  I’m hoping to clean up the dye studio and maybe make dyes in between coats of paint tomorrow.  I have a large order coming on Monday of yarn and fiber.  I’d love to fit some dyeing in one evening this week – we’ll see.  Otherwise, I’ll do a little bit next weekend.

The plan for the rest of tonight does call for knitting – until I crash

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!