Freshisle Fibers

Curling Rings Socks

A pair of socks just for me.  99.9% of the things I knit are for other people.  These are mine.  Mine, mine, mine.  And I am thrilled with the results.

These will be my new socks for curling this coming winter.  They are cozy and warm, fit perfectly, and match my curling attire.  Maybe I should start looking for a summer bonspiel???

The pattern came first, then some swatching, the winding and measuring of the yarn into exact lengths, the dyeing of the yarn, and finally the knitting.  A slow process, especially at the busy end of the school year.

The pattern is available in the shop and there are a few more skeins of the same yarn.  More skeins will be dyed over the summer and some with other colours as well.

We held a giant yard sale at the school this morning.  The result of cleaning out some rooms and storage areas in the school.  There was a great turnout and we made lots of money to buy newer school items.  Now my real holiday can begin.  Yipppppeeeee!!

Happy Canada Day

Most nights we watch The National, our CBC news broadcast.  Last night they featured six stories called Making Canada Proud.  It was wonderful. Very inspiring, very Canadian, and it certainly gave us a feeling of Canadian pride.  Excellent.

Canada Day falling in the middle of the week feels a little strange.  It's usually part of a long weekend.  There are the usual small town activities today with fireworks this evening.  Hopefully the rain will hold off.

The summer dyeing fest has begun.  Today's plans include Canadian coreopsis on Canadian yarn,  Canadian seeds on Canadian watermelon yarn, winding Canadian yarn, and getting ready for a Canadian shop update - probably Friday.

 

I changed my mind part way through the dyeing a few weeks ago.  The Lily of the Valley dye bath received a tin mordant and I achieved a lovely, soft yellow.  I reserved some of the rhubarb leaves bath for later use and then added some ground cochineal to the rest of it.  That resulted in a wonderful greyish purple with some mottled pink.  Such fun.

Happy Canada Day!

The Last of the Warblers

I promise.  The last of the warblers.

I've spotted one on the nearby pine trees learning how to control his wings.  It's hilarious to watch him fly a little, stumble, catch a branch, and then try again.  Very sweet.

Two are out of the nest and hopping around on the honeysuckle bush.  The parents return to feed them now and then and they also return to the nest for a little rest every once in a while.  I haven't seen the fourth.

This video was taken this morning and I imagine this will be the last time I'm able to catch them on film.  I suspect by tomorrow they will be off and lost in the pine trees, too.  I'll miss them!

I also uploaded two more videos on YouTube of previous days antics as well.

Day 7

Day 8

I'm not quite officially on holidays until Monday's professional activity day is done, but I'm starting to come down and starting to catch my breath.  Rest is a good thing.

Pooper Scoopers

The yellow warbler obsession continues.

The fluff is turning to feathers and their beaks are getting darker.  The feeding continues, but the parents are leaving them for longer periods of time.  I'm convinced the nest is too small and keep holding my breath thinking one of them is going to fall out or get pushed out.  There are four.  We're sure this time!!

The parents' main concern is still feeding but there is also a great deal of time spent keeping the nest clean and tidy.  Waste removal!!

Two more school days.  One professional activity day.  Getting closer to freedom!

More Yellow Warblers

I know this is not a birding blog, but I'm just a wee tiny bit obsessed with birds right now.

I can't count. 

There are four at least. Maybe five?

And growing so fast.  I'm sure they almost double in size from the time I leave for school until the time I'm home again.

Baby Warblers

There are three!!!

And they are always hungry!!!

I'm fascinated and am not getting anything else done!!!

Wildlife Report

There are now two very tiny baby warblers in the nest.

Mother/father feeding them.  They take turns and there has been a lot of coming and going over the last two days for these are hungry little babies!

 

I need a better camera.  A better zoom.  A sharper focus.  Those tiny yellowy, orangey things spotted in the nest are the babies with their mouths open ready for more delicious little insects.  Yummy.

 

I'm also trying to be careful to not disturb them too much by getting too close.

And, of course, the deer and their new fawns are out and about sampling the newly planted flowers.

 

FIVE school days left, ONE professional activity day.  Soon.  Summer holidays.  Soon. 

A Pause

I'm telling myself that the frenzied pace of the last two weeks is about to slow down a notch.  Denial is a wonderful thing.  Some things are off the list only to be replaced by an entirely new batch.  But the count is better.  10 school days left, 1 professional activity day.

The end of the flower planting happened this weekend and in the process, some dye plants were harvested.  I couldn't resist.  This means I have to make time to do the actual dyeing!

On the left, rhubarb leaves.  The rhubarb leaves contain tanin so no mordant is needed.  They'll give a lovely dark green.  I'll also save some of the dye bath to add to others this summer so it will be the mordant for things like Queen Anne's Lace or Goldenrod dyeing.

On the right, Lily of the Valley leaves.  They will yield the most wonderful lime green with alum mordant.  I've only dyed a precious few skeins and some fleece for spinning with Lily of the Valley in the past and loved the colour every time.  I'm hoping these will give me that same wonderful shade of green.

I've been carefully avoiding any flower gardening near one corner of our house.  We have a honeysuckle shrub there and a Yellow Warbler has made a nest.  The best part is that it's right outside one of our living room windows and we can look down almost right into the nest from inside the house!  It's been just over a week since we spotted the nest and she's been sitting all week.  Hopefully we'll be able to see the babies, too!

Happy, Happy June

The countdown to the end of school can officially begin on the first of June.  There are 20 school days left (19 as of this exact moment!!), and 1 professional activity day.  Almost there.

The blog will be quieter as my life for the next few weeks is about to be consumed with report cards, field days, class trips, graduations, retirements, and a thousand little tasks that come at the end of the school year.  Knitting and dyeing are definitely put on the back burner for a bit.

 

I also been trying to get flowers planted.  It seems like we've had nothing but rain and cold for days and days.  There was a brief respite yesterday and the Shadow puppy needed a walk.  So did I!  This is the east entrance to Gore Bay.  Doesn't that lake look chilly?

 

The sun didn't last long and then it was back to work at school stuff.  Almost there. 

Man Socks

Another pair of socks are completed and off the needles.  I loved knitting these.  Usually I'm tired of the pattern and/or the yarn by the time I get to the heel.  Not on these.  Even though they are huge man-size socks, I could have kept going.

The pattern is Escher Socks by Lorna Miser from the book, Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn.  It was an easy pattern to follow and mine were knit with 60 stitches on 2.75 mm needles.  I did add a k2, p2 ribbed cuff before I started the pattern.

The yarn is Cat's Pajamas from Lucy Neatby and is 80% wool, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon.  I loved the yarn and the finished socks are very squishy soft.  Perfect for my dad's feet!

It might not be the best yarn to show off the pattern, but it was lovely to knit.  I was also a little worried about the yardage when I started.  The yarn band says 100 grams/328 yds.  I thought that the socks might have to be a little short or I would have to add another yarn for the cuff because I tend to think that 400 yards is necessary.  Amazingly enough there was lots of yarn for the entire project.

We still have cool weather and today we had rain.  I'm slowly trying to plant some flowers but the weather isn't cooperating very well.  I'm guessing we will still have at least one more frost, so I'm telling myself that the weather slowing me down is a good thing!