What... is the average flight speed of an unlaiden swallow?

Oh, wow. I have a lot to catch up on.

Progress on the Swifts has slowed a bit. Sanding takes care and is noisy and messy, thus not suited to doing with the baby around. I currently have more than 70 individual pieces to sand. It's like knitting a ginormous wool baby blanket: one stitch at a time.

Speaking of those, work on the Estonian Lace baby blanket is also slow. This pattern is pretty, but boring, and lacking the enchantment of a more complex project. It should take less than two skeins of the Cascade Ecological. I plan on putting in as many lace repeats as my yardage will allow and finished the first ball today at knitting group. Knowing this would happen, I brought the second skein with me and wound it into a ball at the coffee shop. It was huge.

However, when I went to (russian) join the new yarn, I found my bag curiously absent of darning needles. Or wire, or paperclips, or really any decent substitute. Now, I could have just given my shoulders a shrug and started knitting with the new strand, would it not be for a fierce and substantial loathing of Weaving in Ends. So, instead I enjoyed the rest of my coffee and was social.

I love being social like my cat loves baths. He freaks at the prospect, but has a blast after getting in.

This past weekend, we drove out to the Columbia River Gorge to visit Jess' grandparents. Several other family members came down as well, to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa's birthdays. I remember the drive there like a dream. The day was bright and clear and a willfully determined wind drew back and forth across the highway, tearing the car from side to side. It was a struggle to stay on the road and through our windows we observed the cheery side of nature's fury. To our left, the depths of the Columbia raged, teased by the wind into a constant spray. Intense rainbows of color stood like a halo above the white-capped crests while the slate colored waves churned, reminding of their depth. An old childhood fear of the water swelled within me as it passed.
The stark winter branches of moss-ridden birch lined the right side of our path, breaking loose in large chunks to provide more ammo for the relentless gusts. As our course changed and we headed into the gusts, I felt them move us and imagined that we were flying. The car bounced up and down as the wind blew harder, intent to claim us.
We rounded another curve in the road and suddenly the hillside loomed, sprinkled with trees, crags, and greenery. It was another hour before we arrived to our destination, and we ended up stopping in Hood River to rest and give our little wailer a snack and break from his car seat. Later on our way, I recognized the crisp white head of an eagle perched regally by the side of the road. He seemed to meet my gaze as we drove by, following us with his eyes before breaking contact.

He was a gorgeous big guy (4-5 ft wingspan?), but not nearly as big as the eagles we saw frequently during our sojourn in So. OR. (Say it with me now.. SO-OR... No, I'm just kidding.)

Jesse's uncle who works for Laika was there, and we had a small discussion about the box that Amy Singer received as part of a promotion for Coraline. Unfortunately, he didn't know too much about it, dissuaded as he was by his insider status.
I happened to have had a new haircut the day before, and he mentioned that I was effectively channeling Veronica Lake. I was confused at first, because I thought he meant Ricki Lake. Ouch.

I decided to commemorate the Inauguration by doing a few new things. I made three spindles from two sets of chopsticks, a large stone pendant, a wooden toy wheel, canes of fimo clay, copper wire, and O rings.

After making said spindles, I tried them out by spinning a tiny sample of navy blue Merino top that came with my Rambouillet top. That went fast and I was very pleased with myself, despite being annoyed with the force required to pull apart the Merino fibers.
I found the Rambouillet much easier to draft (can I say that it feels odd to use terms that I have only- up until now- read about?) and it ended up turning out pretty even and thin with... no slubs!
And the peasants rejoice.
Yaaaay.

Well, mostly no slubs.
After I spin a decent amount of yarn, I'm going to experiment dyeing it with Jacquard acid dyes. I cannot wait!! I haven't yet decided when to add the acid (I'm using vinegar for the first go. It's what I have on hand.) I've heard of spritzing it on after painting the dye on the yarn, adding it to the dye before painting, etc. Any suggestions? Detail is appreciated!

Well, I'm not writing a book. Off to bed.

In which the mundane of life intervenes.

Connor is such a cutie and growing so fast. He has such a personality. He waves his index finger as the signal for "no-no". Very cute. One day during Christmas break, he woke up with fluffy hair and I couldn't resist snapping a few photos at breakfast.

So, no knitting today. No woodworking, either. Jess had a late class and by the time he got home, we were into prepping the kids for bed.

I'm planning on doing my woodworking on Monday after Erin gets out of school. There are a lot of pieces to prepare since I'm planning on making three of the beasties.

All last night and today, thoughts of beautiful Swifts have run through my imagination. I have an idea for one in particular that is nearing perfection in my mind. I only hope it comes out so well.

It will have one cup finial for the adjuster piece and one for the top, which creates a pedestal for a wood carved sheep. The center dowel will be stained a light cherry color (so, pink) and so will the crosspieces. The rest of the wood will remain natural colored. All pieces will be sealed with semi-gloss sealer. The screw for adjusting height will be made from a flat watermelon agate bead and filigree bead cap.

I'm thinking something like that will more than recover the cost of supplies for all three swifts. That is my goal, anyway.

I also came across this basket, inadvertently... and decided that I must knit it someday. I would knit a tube in a basketweave stitch pattern using wool, then insert a measured and cut piece of plastic canvas before knitting the opposing sides of the tube ends together, then grafting the two edges. Knit a larger oval piece for the bottom and a smaller piece for the top (also reinforced by canvas), handles in a narrow tube as well. The lining would be muslin and of course, there would be nifty pockets and bands of elastic for holding items to the sides.
Wool would make a nice picnic basket for the insulation, don't you think? I'll have to flesh out the details later this spring. As it is, I have too many projects lined up for Easter.

Well, it is getting late and still much to do. Courtesy of youtube, here is the song I have been singing to Connor for the past few weeks, in addition to our usual choices.

"Swift"-ly progressing...

After picking Erin up from school today, we made a trip to the hardware store. This trip yielded:

One packet of rubber washers for assembling spindles - $1.37
A 1" x 6" x 6' solid oak board, which is enough to make three swifts (not counting the stand or clamp on the bottom) - $17.82
A 3/4" oak dowel 36" long - $3.49
One medium-sized can of water-based sealer - $14.98

I only bought one dowel to begin with, because I may decide later on that I want a thicker or thinner one. I'm thinking this one will be perfect, but I'll only have enough time this weekend to make one swift anyway. I already have the necessary sandpapers for smoothing out all the pieces. Tomorrow, I will go to the skate shop and pick up the ball bearings for the spinning mechanism, get screws and nuts for the cross pieces, and do all the cutting.

I was thinking I might ask Jess to do the cutting, since I have been hurting quite a lot recently and being in the cold garage would make me miserable. If my hands get too cold, they become useless claws. It's like when I first started knitting. My mom taught me how to knit on some old Boye aluminum knitting needles (at least, I think they were Boye?). I was very young, but had already started experiencing problems with my hands. Over the years, I would pick knitting up sporadically, but never really do anything with it. Later on it was just too painful. Then I discovered bamboo needles and for some reason, while using them it didn't hurt my hands to knit! I'm thinking it's because of the flexibility of the bamboo.

Anyway, everything is coming together for the construction of my Swifts. After the pieces are cut, I'm going to take my time sanding, sealing, and then sanding again so that they are nice and smooth. The oak is beautiful and a nice warm color. I love the grain as well. I'm thinking I will also sand some designs into the surface with my dremel, then maybe burn the grooves before sealing.

I had an idea that I would put a stately acorn finial on the top of the swift, and maybe another one on the bottom disc that moves up and down. Kind of like this antique one. Isn't that thing marvelous?? Too bad a lot of the parts are made from whale bone. :(
The key for adjusting height could be very utilitarian (dowel with another dowel stuck through one end to keep it from sliding straight through the different height holes) or a clamp of some sort. Maybe a little finial type knob would be cute. I guess we'll see!

Baby Soup Recipe

Today I will tell you how to make Baby Soup. This recipe has been helping McConnor with his skin troubles.

First, you need a nice-sized pot that will hold a lot of water. They don't make many baby-sized pots that are available in local stores, so I settled for this wonderful thing from IKEA.

Fill the pot with warm water- not scalding! This step is important, because water that is too hot will either 1) burn your baby or 2) dry out his skin. Water that is too cold will contribute to your baby's dislike of bath time. Once they're wary of bath time, life can be difficult. If you're unsure about temperature, dunk your elbow straight in.

Now, sprinkle half a pack of colloidal oatmeal in the bath. Sprinkle slowly, to prevent clumps from accumulating. Stir it around for even distribution.

Add the baby. Don't mind if water spills over the edge. Now grab your bath oil and dump about a teaspoon's worth in your palm. After a quick rub between your hands, spread it first over the areas of he baby above water (shoulders, chest, back, arms), then the areas below water (bum, legs, little feeties).
After the oil application, keep ladling water over your baby's shoulders and keep massaging the oil into the baby's skin. Do this for 10 minutes.

Now, because Connor's skin is in such a delicate condition, I was advised NOT to wash him with soap. Unlike other suggestions from our Pediatrician, I agree with this one. So most of the time, I do not use soap on him. Occasionally, I will shampoo his hair with a pea-sized bit of soap. The only "soap" I EVER use on his body is Weleda Bath Cream. I buy it at New Seasons, and one bottle lasts a long time. Instead of leaving that dry "squeaky-clean" feeling, it leaves a nice "clean-but-not-stripped-of-moisture" feeling.

There's been something I've been thinking about from yesterday. I walked in behind Jess and Erin as we arrived at his friend's house. The friend's name was Eli. Greetings were exchanged and then Eli turned his gaze to me. "Nice to meet you," he said. Then his skinny face transformed into a snicker, "How was your... knitting group?" As the word "knitting" was spoken, he glanced to Jesse, as if looking for justification of the hilarity. I turned my head slightly as my gaze narrowed. He was making fun of me. I took it in stride. Enthusiastically, I said "It was great!" Then went into all the glorious detail. He didn't say anything else to me after that.

:)

The plans of... mice?

Okay, I may be in over my head. Nah! Despite teasings, I keep it no secret that someday I'm going to have a big enough yard for a fair sized garden, greenhouse, and a small flock of goats (3 or 4?).

Oh yes, and Chickens. I will have some gorgeous heirloom chickens. They will poop on my garden beds, nourishing the plants, and eat the pesky aphids that live through the Neem application. It will all be perfect. (Oops, was that last bit sarcasm?)

(And yes, I am fully aware of the documentation and requirements for having these animals in city limits, in my specific county)

So, in preparation, I search out and collect information to aid in my endeavor.

I found a great site and blog by Donna Druchunas (why does that name sound familiar?? Maybe one of my Greek relatives...) and her description and advice for growing Japanese Indigo. Obviously, I plan on part of my future garden being used to grow plants with which to dye yarn. Go ahead. Call me crazy. I'm doing it. I have plans.

Knitting and Coffee

Today was knitting group at Insomnia Coffee Co. in Hillsboro. Right now, it is quite the drive for us, but well worth it. The Coffee is delicious and I really like my group. I'd really like to attend the Westside Wednesday group as well, but haven't yet found a way to do it since it runs later in the evening and I'd have kidlets to figure out 'sitting for.

I continued to work on my Estonian Lace baby blanket, and I realize that I'm not sure what I was thinking yesterday when I said I'd finished 7". It must have been late, because I think it was closer to 5". I only worked through six rows during group, as I also held a baby, flipped through a book about spinning (eee!!!), sipped coffee, and chatted it up. The blanket project is pretty well suited for social knitting. Every other row is purling with the exception of four stitches on each edge. The lace pattern inbetween is very easy to memorize and I had my pattern on my knees to glance at in case I lost my place while listening to the conversation.

I was so emotional today... Linda Carter of Abundant Yarn & Dyeworks was mentioned and I actually started tearing up.

After group, I dropped Jess off at his friend's house so they could hash over a programming project. He suggested I leave the kids with him while I checked out Knitting Bee, which surprised me! He took Connor with him while he went to pick Erin up at school, which means I actually got to knit at knitting group. :) Not having at least Connor around is a rare occasion for me and twice in a day is almost unheard of.
When I arrived at the store, they were set to close in 15 minutes. I walked around inspecting everything and petting the yarn. It isn't often that I can go to yarn shops and get that real tactile experience with all the yarns available. I did notice that the sock yarn section was pretty lacking, unlike Twisted, but they do have quite a selection of other yarns packed into the store!! I didn't buy any but wow do I have plans... :)
We drove by the exit for Uwajimaya on our way home, and I couldn't help but think about the Japanese stitch books at the Kinokuniya in there. I flip through it everytime we are there. I love the clever lace stitch patterns and the three dimensional stitches.

Anyway, I'm working on a grilled goat-cheese spinach sandwich (really delicious and even though I can't eat cow dairy, goat is fine!). Now Connor is eyeing my sandwich, so I better set him up in the high chair. :)

Giddy.

Last night, Connor couldn't settle down until 1:45am. He was tossing and turning and flailing his arms, all the while half asleep. The excema on his shoulders looks better, but his sleep is so disturbed. Tonight, I'm going to grease him up a little more and hope that he can sleep a little more peaceful.

The shea butter I got from yarnsandmusings is working really well so far. I think last night was just a fluke, because he had been starting to sleep better.

I feel so bad for him... I know what it's like to have excema this bad and it's not fair that a baby should have to suffer like this. It breaks my heart.

Connor doesn't like it when he's "confined" while he's trying to fall asleep, so I just patted his little bum to help calm him. 

Last night I also came across some basic instructions for making an umbrella swift. I had seen plans for swifts that looked like a little windmill, but when I saw the ones for the umbrella swift I was SO excited! 

I'd also been looking at the swifts in stores and thinking to myself that constructing one would not be hard, but here are some instructions already tried and proven. Ready to go and how perfect is that?? 

As soon as my "allowance" gets in, I'm going to go out and buy supplies. I think I'm going to make three, then sell one for the cost of materials for all three. So there... Giddy!!

As for knitting, I've been working steady and making a fair amount of progress. I just need to keep myself off Ravelry and actually knitting!

Last week, I made a pair of Fetchings and a Calorimetry. They will be late Christmas presents for my sister, Rachel. They worked up real nice and I have a small amount of yarn left over. I think it's enough to make a cozy pair of baby socks. And even though I have had the Estonian Lace baby blanket on my Ravelry projects page for awhile, I only just started it the other day. I'm already about 7" in and it's knitting up beatifully.  have an inkling I might be just a little intolerant of wool, though. I notice that whenever I handle wool, my face gets a little itchy. It's not too bad though, and eventually doesn't bother me after prolonged handling.

Anyway, all this typing is taking time away from my knitting. ;) I have a sleeping baby in my lap, but he's never minded my knitting while holding him, and if this is what it takes for him to sleep in peace, then I don't mind at all.