Bicycling Parrot

I bought a really cute yard decoration during a trip to Ocean City, Maryland. It is so me with a parrot, with a straw hat, riding a bicycle. Just great. The wheels move in the wind.

My backyard has been taken over by squirrels and chipmunks. Here is a picture of one of the chipmunks taking advantage of the birdfood that has dropped out of the feeder. Look at those cheeks.

I dyed up another batch of madder red to knit up some more Liberty or Death caps.

And Gwen got a new stainless steel cage.

While moving the stuff from one cage to the other, I noticed what she has done with "Fred" her snuggle buddy. First the eyes were removed. And now, one foot is missing and not much is left of Fred's face.

And probably the biggest accomplishment, is that the car now fits in the garage.

Recent Acquisitions

I had a good weekend. Well, at least a good Sunday. I was sick all week from Wednesday to Saturday and Sunday was the first day I felt up to doing anything.

I did have to go out of the house on Saturday to go pick up my two pieces of art that I had hanging in the Alexandria City Hall since April for an event named "Art in City Hall". I hung them on my wall. When I need them again, I will have to take them down. Usable art on the wall - always nice.



I attended the Mount Vernon Craft Fair, always a great event, and made some wonderful purchases.


A beautiful basket that is really two baskets in one. The outside is in natural reed with a great marbled reed piece around the top. The inside is then another basket that is done in blue and prple rreds. Very nice. The artist is Kitty Frick of Rainbow's End from Charlotte Hall, Maryland. Kitty's email address is rainbowsendcrafts@hotmail.com.


And another new pot.

I was also able to start an indigo dye bath and a 5-liter crock of pickles (with carrots, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflowers).

Indigo wrapped up to hold in the heat from the heating pads.

Mmmm.

I bought this 5-liter crock in Germany in 1994.

Oh, and I knit up a Liberty and Death Cap but I haven't sewn it up yet. It will then have to be felted.

Busy Weekend

I set a goal for myself this weekend to clean the garage. I picked a really bad weekend to do this project because it was 91 degrees out by 10 am. But, I am a stubborn one and once I have my mind set on something, it takes a lot to get me to do something different, even if what I am doing doesn't make any sense.

This is what the garage looked like before I started on Saturday morning.



And, I can proudly say that by 3 pm on Sunday, after two trips to the storage place and two trips to Lowe's, the final product looks like this:




Now the car may even fit in the garage.

I also installed an electronic thermostat and moved a TV into the bedroom armoire. The TV thing took some work as the cable connection wasn't complete and the armoire wasn't made to be an entertainment center and I had to drill a large hole in the back to allow the cable and electronic card to go through the back.



It has been a very productive weekend. Now I need to go get groceries.

Work comes first!

Work has really taken me away from my other interests this past month. But, I have to admit that I know where my paycheck is coming from right now, and since the majority is not coming from my knitting and dyeing, I have to concentrate on work.

I have been traveling a lot and have been able to get some knitting done on my baby alpaca cable sock. So at least there has been one benefit to my busy schedule. And I am racking up many frequent flyer miles as well. Someday I will use them for a great trip.

Gwen has been a real handful lately. I am not sure exactly why. This is her showing off on her new cage. She looks scary but she is a real softy.

Multiple Caps

I have finished knitting and felting three Liberty or Death caps. All of them have been sold.


I have decided that the price is now $45 for these hand-dyed beauties. What I am trying to do now is to find a revolutionary war relic of what a cap such as this would have actually looked like. I have found a couple text references to knitted Liberty or Death caps but none of these texts held any actual details. Are there any examples of these caps still left?


All of these are being delivered at Mt. Vernon during the 4th of July activities of the 1st Virginia Regiment. I know their new owners will be happy with them even though they will not be able to wear them until the weather cools down.



They look great all lined up together like this.

$35 Wool Madder Red Liberty or Death Cap?

On Sunday, I just finished knitting the second version of my Liberty or Death Cap. I love it. The lettering is much bigger and it didn't felt it too much. I knitted one on Saturday but I mistakenly felted it too much and it wouldn't even fit on my head, let alone try to stretch it to fit on a man's head.

I dyed the madder red wool yarn while we were at Bordentown 9-10 June 2007. The color is beautiful and the natural wool used on the lettering contrasts well.


I designed this hat to sell. With my labor and supplies, the cost would be $35. Would people be willing to pay $35 for a hand-dyed homemade Wool Madder Red Liberty or Death Cap?


I am weary about trying to sell the first on eBay as I never seem to get the money I want. I can't run a business without getting the cost of my labor and supplies. No matter how much I enjoy doing it.

Seven State Travel

My husband and I just returned from a whirlwind travel to see my husband's Mom in New York.

We started our trip with a 100-mile charity bike ride in Maryland. I took advantage of the trip to New York to travel a little out of our way to visit my girl friend in Cleveland, OH, and also to visit my sister in New York. We visited Saratoga Battlefield (really nice place and well groomed) and got to see the Benedict Arnold Monument (in which has only his boot and never lists his name - that will show him for being such a traitor). We finished it with a 18th century reenactment event at Bordentown, New Jersey.

(2007 Asthma Bike Century, Salisbury, Maryland) (Mike's Mom and Gwen)

(My sister, two of her boys, and my husband) (Gwen driving truck)
(Gwen at Saratoga)
(Gwen and I making lei's to give to everyone)

(Benedict Arnold Monument)

(Saratoga Battlefield)

(Bordentown, New Jersey)
(Dye Demonstration)
(Cochineal wool dyeing at Bordentown, NJ)
(Laundress demonstration at Bordentown, NJ)

Happy Birthday

Actually Happy Birthday to myself. Another year older. Oh well. I did take the day off of work which gave me a four-day weekend and allowed me to get a lot of stuff done.


First, I started and finished a basket made from Tibet recycled silk and wool yarn I purchased at the Golden Knitting Gallery while I was in Naples, Florida last Thanksgiving. I had designed this basket and cut all the yarn about two months ago and just haven't gotten around to starting it. I made it in the same way that a pine needle basket is made using groups of short lengths of yarn instead of pine needles. It's definitely different from what I usually make. Gwen seems totally bored by it and is instead picking her toenails.

We also got Gwen her new cage last week. It has been in the kitchen near her old cage. At first she treated the new stainless steel cage from the Bird Toy Outlet as though it was an alien space ship that had landed while she was away. But over the weekend, as we started moving her toys and perches over to it, she started to climb on it. I guess she figured it wasn't so bad. We really bribed her into the cage for the first time by giving her a rubber sandal to chew on which she couldn't resist. We then closed the cage door and left the house and went to Lowe's. We have completed moving everything over today so tonight will be her first night in the new cage. I know this time it will go better than last time we got her a new cage. Last time we instantly put up her new cage and that night forced her into it, covered her up and left the room. For the next 20 minutes all she did was scream. We knew though that if we went and got her out, she would think that all she had to do was scream and we would come running. So we let her scream. It was painful to hear her be in such agony and I felt so bad. This time I just know it is going to go better. We have left the house three times today and all three times she was in the new cage as though she has lived in it forever. I just know that tonight will go great.

I have also done some Logwood dying. The wool yarn and linen are still in the dye pots but the color is definitely a purple. I used an alum mordant on the wool and a tannic acid on the linen. I dumped the logwood right into the alum mordant then added the wool yarn. However, after soaking the linen, I dumped the tannic acid and rinsed the linen before adding it to the dye bath. The white linen was turned yellow by the tannic acid but it looks like it is going to be a nice red-purple.

Both materials are now in separate dye baths each containing 1/2 oz of logwood extract that I purchased from Claude Moore Colonial Farm during one of their Market Fairs. They charge only $7.00 an ounce for the extract. I will post pictures of the completed material when I get them out of the dye bath tomorrow or later this week. I am in no rush to get them out. I am hoping that one of those stupid squirrels in my back yard decide try to get a drink from the vats, falls in, and ends up taking a purple bath - that will show them. I will also know which of them did it - he will be purple - lol. Just kidding of course. Damn squirrels.

I just planted three tomato plants this weekend. Last year the squirrels ate every one of my tomatoes before I even had a chance to pick them. This year I think I am going to put a fence around them. I doubt that will work either but I am going to try. I tried the pepper spray on the tomatoes but that only slowed them downed - it didn't stop them from eating.

I am also working on Over-the-Knee Socks, a pattern from Handknit Holidays, Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice by Melanie Falick. I am finding the pattern for the cable really difficult to follow and I know that I am not doing them perfect. The burgundy baby alpaca yarn I am using is one that a friend gave me many years ago (7 or more years) either for Christmas or for a birthday from Aurora Yarns. It is so soft and fine. It is almost a cashmere.

My husband and I are doing a 100 mile bicycle ride next weekend (2 June 2007) for charity - the American Lung Association of Maryland. Neither of us have reached our goals so I guess we will have to start asking all of our friends and co-workers for money. I am close with only about $150 more to go to reach my $600 goal. My husband has about $400 to go.

Knitting is Art

Wow. My knitting has now been declared art by the City of Alexandria. I went to the artist reception tonight and got to take pictures of my knits hanging on the walls of City Hall. It was a very nice feeling to see my stuff right next to paintings, professional photography, and some other really great pieces. I can say though that artists are a strange bunch. I guess now that includes me. Oh no.

Below are pictures of my two pieces. The first is 18th Century-style knitting using hand dyed wool yarn. There's the Thomas Paine Mittens ("These are the times that try men's souls") made with Onion and Walnut, "Liberty or Death" cap using Madder Root, and my "No Search" stockings made with Indigo.

The second piece is my doll dress in 18th Century-style clothing. I made her to use as a demonstration model to show what small clothes (underclothes) and other clothing that they wore in the 18th Century. She is dressed from head to foot with knitted wool stockings, petticoat, apron, and even a set of linen pockets.

I also want to show my giant fern that I had brought back from Hawaii the last time. It is doing quite well and has another frond just coming up.

I also want to say that Gwen is now on You Tube. You can see her video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kOfqALCfNY. No, I don't let her eat that whole pile.

Finished Stocking Order

I have finally finished the stocking order from two weeks ago. Although I had problems with the indigo dye, the yarn knitted up beautifully.



Also, for the last week I have been busy making up two pieces to hang for a jurored exhibition: "Art in the City". Any art selected will hang in the Alexandria Virginia City Hall for the next six months.

I had to drop my two pieces off Saturday and then wait until Sunday at noon to find out if any of the two were selected. If they hadn't been selected, I would have had to go back and pick them up.

I called at 1230 and found out that they accepted both my pieces. They are having an artist open house on the 23rd. I will take pictures of the two of them and where they are being displayed. I am so excited.