A little rusty.

 The little dog in the video is Estelle. She is a 7ish year old chihuahua mix. She has been with me since she was six months old. We did go through some obedience courses but I think it's obvious we are rusty. However, we ran through those exercises without practice so I am happy she remembered as much as she did. We never made it into the ring because Estelle has issues. This is the first time I have seen us work on video and it is a real eye opener.
 Progress on the blog has been slow but now that we are past the issue of the video loading properly I think we are ready to get going in earnest.

Grrr.

Having trouble with the video running properly. Be back soon.

Begin at the beginning.

This isn't coming together as quickly as I thought it would. You have to ask yourself a lot of questions and do a fair amount of decision making to put together a solid training plan. I have been putting notes to paper and will try to use this space to get them organized. The video camera is charging too.

Starting over

Dusting off the old blog to focus on some dog training. Quite excited really. Joined Susan Garrett's Puppy Peaks class online.

January 1, 2011

I started to write a big philosophical post about goals, and blah, blah, blah. Forget that crap. I have been all work and worry for far too long. This year I will learn to smile again.

A better way to work from home?

Looking for wool in all the wrong places.

 I had a very busy spring and summer this year, so I missed all the wool festivals I had planned to attend. I have a pretty good stash so I thought it was probably for the best. But then I learned that Falmouth, Ky. has one in Oct. I was told it wasn't much. But as it turned out I was going to be making a trip into Kentucky that same weekend. It was meant to be. And The Gardener, being something of an enabler, didn't mind making the small detour. So off we went.
 Things looked promising as we came into town. There was a shuttle. Shuttles imply crowds. We aren't the shuttle kind, so we drove ourselves. Things got a little congested as we neared the entrance. Cars were backed up in both directions, there was a policeman controlling traffic at the entrance, we could see lots of tents from the road, and the parking lot looked pretty crowded. All good signs, I was sure.




I think there were three flaggers for every car.


Just inside the gate were craft booths. And plenty of 'em. We saw John Deere gear, aprons, yard art and signs, holiday decorations, and food items; honey, sorghum, and stone ground corn.



Birdhouses



Bears



John Deere stuff



 I was a bit puzzled that there weren't any wool vendors, in any shape or form. But, when we came to the petting zoo I took heart. At least these animals weren't stuffed. There were a couple of bunnies, some goats and alpacas, but no sheep.



Would like to be petted, please.

 

Then on to more craft booths.



Musical Instrument Lamps





You can make windchimes out of anything.



We saw some things that would certainly qualify as art too.



Pottery





Sculpture



By this time we had nearly forgotten why we came. And we were hungry. We had trouble deciding between the rocky mountain oysters and the kettle corn. Well, not really. :)  But I regret that decision a little. Maybe next year.
 We found more interesting things after our snack. Lika a woman making chicken and dumplings in cast iron pot over a campfire, wooden rocking horses, jewelry, hand carved flutes, animal pelts, and more ornaments.



A jackalope with an eyepatch.



Just as we rounded the last corner before the exit. We saw it. The wool tent.



One tent.

I have to say, I was disappointed. The vendor areas inside were small, making it difficult to get more than a person or two in at a time. There were a lot of people in there too. One booth I did get into had some very smelly handspun that felt nice, but the woman in the booth wasn't the owner and didn't know anything about the fiber. I found some reasonably priced hand dyed sock yarns in some nice colors but it looked and felt a little coarse to me. There was an icelandic sheep breeder selling pottery, not icelandic fiber goods.
 My take from the Falmouth Woolfest consisted of a bottle of sorghum syrup, windmills and flutes for the kids at Christmas, and a mug with a sheep joke for my mother.
 Would I go back? Probably. But not for the wool.

Mighty oaks...

 ... from little acorns grow. Just look at these little guys. :)

                 
The Gardener says that oak trees don't produce acorns until they are about 50 years old. These may be the first from the tree in the back yard. They are the first we have ever noticed. I was very excited to find them. A fraction of the size of the ones on the tree out front.
Edited 11-5-10. We did a little research and learned it's really 25-30 years. Still a long time to reach childbeaing age.

If I had a blog.....

I would hold it, and pet it, and feed it, and walk it, and play with it......whats that? I do have a blog!?

 While dutifully working on the second sock of  The Pair of Socks That Will Not Be Finished I noticed the first sock making it's way out of the bag. After a speedy rescue I said, "Corb, I thought you was my dawg!?"

To which he replied, " That's what dawgs do, they chew up you shit." He cracks himself up sometimes.

Thinking about socks.

 

I have knit many pairs of socks over the years. Some for myself and some for family and friends. Lacy socks from patterns and plain socks from a basic formula. Every pair has required multiple fittings to get the sizing right. So I have decided to develop a basic pattern, for myself and immediate family, that includes row counts. Fortunately, the guys all wear the same size. 

I know what your thinking. There are books out there that do that work for you. Well, knowing myself, if I follow someone elses pattern I will always be checking it. But if I create my own it will always be in my head where I need it. And let's face it, socks look more complicated than they are.

Some of my favorite sock elements are the hemmed edge and the tapered toe. The blue sock has a hemmed edge with picots made by alternating  k2tog with yarn overs on the row that creates the edge.  

Something I usually avoid is the short row heel. I think it looks more organic than the turned heel though, so I am going to learn to do it. I always thought the heel stitch was a better bet, especially for the guys, but as it turns out they always get holes on the bottom of the foot.

And I need to locate the ideal "guy" sock yarn. I think it would have to be a sport weight, (they all wear a size 13), super wash with nylon, in manly colors, that doesn't get too fuzzy after washing. Is that too much to ask?

Photographic Evidence.

Here is proof that I at least think about the blog from time to time. I have been thinking about a post on socks. And playing with the camera.

I didn't remember hiring a model for this shoot but, since he showed up, I tried to use him.

Well... he seemed to think it was all about him.

And he wasn't very focused.

 

I had to let him go. A post on socks is forthcoming. Really.

Cannibalism.

Intermission...

We Have A Beautiful Mother

                                                              We have a beautiful
                                                              Mother
                                                              Her hills
                                                              Are buffaloes'
                                                              Her buffaloes
                                                              Hills.

                                                             We have a beautiful
                                                             Mother
                                                             Her oceans
                                                             Are wombs
                                                             Her wombs
                                                             Oceans.

                                                             We have a beautiful
                                                             Mother
                                                             Her teeth
                                                             The white stones
                                                             At the edge
                                                             Of the water
                                                             The summer
                                                             Grasses
                                                             Her plentiful
                                                             Hair.

                                                             We have a beautiful
                                                             Mother
                                                             Her green
                                                             Lap immense
                                                             Her brown embrace
                                                             Eternal
                                                             Her blue body
                                                             Everything
                                                             We know.

                                                                Alice Walker

Getting caught up

The last month or so has just been a whirlwind around here. I really have to pull myself down from the clouds and get back to business. Monkey business would be good, I think.

 I finished the socks... well over a week ago, and just a wee bit past the first day of spring. They please me. And yes, my legs really are that white. The color of the socks is accurate too. Have a new, simple pair started.  Need to get something bigger on the needles too. But what? Hmm.

Everybody's doing it!

 When I learned how easy it is to make butter, I had to try. I've made it three times now. Successfully. I have also wanted to learn to make some simple cheeses. I have a few recipes, and one is made with the "butter milk" that is a by product of butter making. In the past I have used this milk in pancakes and biscuits. Now I want to make cheese.

 The instructions are pretty simple. Heat the milk to 160-180 degrees and strain. The milk should separate into curds and whey when heated. Simple... again! I don't get curds and whey. After long minutes and increasing the temperature...I get milk stuck in the bottom of my pot. I find myself wondering if this cheese is Scottish in origin?

A good time was had by all.

There was much exploring .....

..... and running .....

..... and digging ....

..... and a little romance.

Re charging

A little knitting therapy

It feels good to have a little time for knitting again. Finished the first sock and started the second. They knit up quickly and I expect to have a pair of nice warm fair isle socks by the first day of spring. I love irony.