Fall

To fall from height. The etiology of the word "fall" as it pertains to Autumn is pretty much lost. Suffice to say it is a North American term that has fallen out of favor in the UK where it likely started to appear in prose and print. In any event, fall here at elevation is much different from fall down in the valley. Deciduous trees are few and far between. At 4500 feet conifers rule. But that doesn't mean we don't get a falling of stuff. Winds blow pine needles down, old bird nests and pine cone scales, which are actually seeds. The forest floor is covered with them this time of year.



 This seems to be a banner year for the scales.



 Some years the cones themselves drop heavily. Might be the difference between a wet year and a dry year and also the species. Not every pine produces pines cones every year. Some are on an 18 month +- cycle. You can read more about them here on Wiki!



The horses and goats are starting to puff up with winter coats, the horses especially are noticeable because of the body curls that appear.



Dandy is always curlier than Cooper



 but by end of November both horses have heavy coats full of waves and pin curls. Bridles become tight in some areas and girths leave big hair dents! It takes a lot of weather to penetrate down through those curly coats and as long as they stay pretty dry, they stay very warm.

The cats have found all the good sleeping places in the hay stack. On the coldest of nights they will tuck into those narrow spaces and keep out of the wind.



Hay is a great insulator and if you reach your hand into whatever space they were using, it is warm and snug and pretty safe too! Of course they have a bolt hole into the tack room. That's the butt end of Buzz, heading in for his afternoon feed. I keep their food dish and water on a table in there. They get only what they can eat in a sitting and of course, they supplement at will. :)



 A raccoon can squeeze in but not easily (haven't surprised one in over a year in there), bigger predators don't have a chance. I often wonder if Rodger tried to make a run for it. He knew about it and used it on occasion. I think his demise was likely a surprise attack, over in the blink of an eye. At least I hope so. This is the last little tuft of hair left of Rodger, still clinging to its spot by the side of the driveway.



 I plucked it up after this photo and tucked it in with some of Dennett's saved fur.

In the fiber realms inside, snowflakes are forming.





 After taking this picture of the first test place mat, the second one I started in a 6/2 black (instead of 3/2 red and green) for weft, which is turning out much prettier. It also has two rows of snowflakes, one white sparkle and one red sparkle. I think this second piece shall be the runner. I'll play with more place mats for the balance of the warp. Thank you LouAnn for inspiration and encouragement on using the 8/4 rug warp for this weaving project!



I fished out the cottolin for weaving on the Springs warp too and might get a little done on that through the coming days.

A pair of fall pants has been completed.



 These were an interesting woven done in silk and linen I think.



It was difficult fabric to work with, drapey and limp and liked to distort, but the pants feel great on and the weight is lovely for this time of year into winter.

To all the drawing winners, thank you for your patience. Last week ended up being a lot busier than I had anticipated, but all 10 boxes now are packed, labels and postage done and they are ready to be dropped off at the post office. I hope you all enjoy them!

Parting shot: Wanna play? Spike may be going grey but he still thinks he's 3!

Blog Still Spoken Here

Like almost everyone else who has had a blog for a number of years, sometimes life just gets hectic enough that regular postings fall a bit by the wayside. I like to think of them as more spread out!
Anyway, fall is always busy. I can now report a very full hay barn and some very happy horses and goats. I save the worst of the old tired stuff for the last part of summer so when the new fresh hay comes in everyone is appreciative and no one has been in heavy enough work (or any work at all this year), to have suffered from the less nutritious hay.

There is no wood cut yet this year, but that is going to happen soon now that fire season has officially
ended. I heard that there was even a dusting of snow around Crater Lake! We could use more rain though.

There has been a lot of weaving action. The warp came off the Gilmore in a flurry, was washed, serged, hemmed and taken to a guild meeting all in the space of 12 hours last Friday night and Saturday morning. The two towels I took, were deemed decent enough for the silent auction for
FOTAS at the Puss 'n Boots Ball. Not a single picture. I have a couple more towels from that warp awaiting hemming. These are the less than perfects, the ones I played with treadling stuff etc. but I will get a pic. The Gilmore is back in action though, a new warp on, 8/4 carpet warp, set at 12 epi
for holiday place mats and runners.



 I managed to get all the heddles onto shafts 5-8 easily enough,



 but for this 9 treadle tie up for some fancy little snowflakes I didn't have enough arrow pegs to finish it all.



 So until they come, there he will sit.



The gift warp saw a little action and I am thinking about doing a little weaving on the Louet Spring warp. I just need to find the cottolin in the Dad stash. Oh and time, I really need a few more hours in the days, but who doesn't?

In the sewing room, there is a fair amount of things cut and waiting sewing time. I did manage to finish one cute tent top in a great fallish polka dot.



 Oh and some of those dots are cute little sheep.



 Who could resist that? Not me and it is a smooth well woven and full bodied Japanese cotton. I have done this top pattern two ways, all in one piece front and back and also with a center angled panel front and back. I think the additional panel one has better drape and fit and I will do this exaggerated A line top that way hence forth. The brown and cream twill pants underneath are still in process.

Slowly a schedule is carving itself out. My parents are starting to settle in. Mom has a balance and strength class she attends a couple of times a week, a singing group on Saturdays and we go shopping on Wednesday mornings. Dad is busy with stuff too, more than I can keep track of. We go to the Grower's Market together on Thursday mornings. It is nice having them close! Different too.

So that about fills in the last week, along with getting some winnings packed up. :)

Parting shot: Goldenstuffed chair.

Pay it Forward Picks!

Well, the hat was pretty full, 16 went in, and 10 came out. I briefly thought how cool it might be to have a Sorting Hat, but figured this would have to do!



Without further babble from the blogger here, the winners are in order of lots.

Lot 1. Laura
Lot 2. Wehof
Lot 3. Sylvia
Lot 4. Cerridwen
Lot 5. Thistle Rose
Lot 6. Sue O
Lot 7. Anna H.
Lot 8. Mrsmole
Lot 9. Sisters
Lot 10. Michelle

Thank you all for your Pay It Forward contributions! I hope you enjoy these wonderful fibers and yarns.

Please send me your snail mail address and put the lot number in your subject line. It just makes it easier for me. Everything will get packed up over this next week and shipped off. My email link is on my profile page. :)

Pay it Forward Yarn & Fiber Giveaway

There is only so much storage space in my world and having my Dad's fiber collection come live with me has prompted a much overdue clean out of knitting and spinning fibers. Those that have followed this blog know there are usually some pretty nice treasure in my giveaways. I ask no money, only that you pay it forward by donating something to a cause near and dear to your heart. Time, money, supplies, adopt a dog, foster a cat, put a Thanksgiving box together for a local family in need, volunteer at a shelter, do a ride for Breast Cancer, it doesn't matter as long as you are giving something in thanks for your blessings.

To get one of those wonderful lots, leave a comment and  PLEASE make sure I have a way to contact you via e-mail for an address. If you have a preferred lot let me know, but every one's name will go into a hat and 10 names (for the 10 lots!), will be picked out from said hat one at a time. If your lot is still available, you'll get it, if not, you'll still get one of the lots. Lower 48 shipping only and closing on this is Friday 10/10/14 regardless if there are newer posts or not.

Lot 1: 11 balls of Berroco Ultra Silk and 1 ball of Filura Di Crosa Malva.

 Lot 2: Mora Swedish wool, lace/cobweb weight. 8 skeins, 3 brown, 3 green and 2 silver grey 1035yds per skein.

Lot 3: 3 balls of Rowan 4 ply cotton, 2 balls of FDC Malva, 2 puddles of Nashua Creative Focus Brushed Alpaca, one skein of Araucana Nature Wool and 1 skein of Seacoast Handpaint Panda.

Lot 4: 1 Skein Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool Quarters, 1 skein Araucana Nature Wool, 1 skein Lana Grossa sock yarn, 1 large skein (1350yds) Great Adirondack Silk Noir, 1 Zauberball, 1 large skein (600yds) Great Adirondack 100% Alpaca.

Lot 5: 6 Skeins of Noro Kochoran.

 Lot 6: 5 Skeins of Peace Fleece.

 Lot 7: Silver Cloud Farm American grown wool. This is a local producer here in Ashland. The wool is Romney I believe and much of her shearing goes to Philosopher's Wool Company. Great stuff, good wool for outerwear sweaters. 1 skein Cascade Lamb's Pride.

 Lot 8: 5 Skeins Jamieson's Shetland Double Knitting wool, 1 braid of Eweniquely Ewe fine wool roving 7.8oz.

Lot 9: 2 and 3/4 Braids of Eweniquely Ewe Blue Faced Leicester roving. +- 20 oz.

 Lot 10: 1 1/2 Braids of Eweniquely Ewe  Blue Faced Leicester and a ball of natural Romney.

And just a note about Cindie's wonderful fibers. I have a lot of her beautiful roving. These are colors I know I won't be using for my limited spinning time.

Successful Colonization

The last couple of weeks have been very busy. The parents and their cats arrived safely on the 18th and settled a bit in an interim cottage until their stuff arrived. Then of course, peace was shattered when the moving truck finally arrived with the furniture and the 400 hundred boxes.  So, we have all been in unpacking mode, getting things in some semblance of order so they can get up and look at their new house without wanting to crawl back under the covers. Those that have made big moves, you know what I'm talking about!

Of course, some of the stuff on the moving truck was for us to either have or store. And that creates the domino effect. For a few days both places probably looked the same, with boxes and such. I needed to get some old stuff out to make room for new old stuff. I have passed by my sewing room and waved a few times, same with the looms, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! The box load is looking pretty puny in both places and today I think I am taking my last load of booty home in the form of a dresser mirror for the newly colonized guest room.

So here is what it looks like now, with the old matching set I remember from my childhood and look, is that a loom and a spinning wheel I spy up there?



 Why it IS! And not a peep from DH either. I suspect he is just happy he doesn't have to move anymore of anything in and out.



 He has forgotten about the mirror no doubt. That needs to be brought up and put on this dresser.



 The loom and wheel like to be in the same spot because that is the chair I like to use for both, so it made sense to move them together and of course, those that extra storage in the dressers is perfect for fibers and such. ;)

So, down in the back room this is what has taken up residence.



Yep, a Louet 12 harness, 14 treadle Spring. This is my Dad's loom and she is a beauty! There is a very long towel warp on her and I'm hoping to do a little weaving on it when the dust settles sometime later in October.

In the meantime, blogging will be sporadic at best. We need to get hay in the barn, some fencing work done, trees felled and made ready for heat this winter and the garden needs to be attended to before the real cold sets in. Fall is always the busiest time of year and this one more so. But oh my the light is so beautiful this time of year......



Parting shot: Don't forget cuddle time!