Finished Squares/Finished Yarn

Two more squares are finished, washed and blocked:

Judy Sumner square with spider and flies:   The little fly at the top left doesn't show up too well...I should have used a contrast color.   I really liked the lace of the web, and I think it would make a great lacy scarf on larger needles.....hmmmmm.

Ann Strong square with pomegranates:

That makes 7 finished squares and I am now working on my 8th, which is Meredith K Morioka on page 8 and 9 of the book.   I am only an inch in now, so I will wait to show you all til later.   Once I finish this square I will be officially 1/3 finished!   Imagine that.   I have grown a lot since the beginning of this project, but especially in my mental ability to rip back to correct an error instead of plowing on and accepting it.   It is making all the difference in the final result.   So my 1/3 finished is not quite.....since I will most likely remake a few of the first squares with obvious mistakes..

Spinning:

Mostly I have been sitting on my hands when JulieSpins has posted updates to her Etsy shop.    But I couldn't resist this one:    Falkland wool in the Color: Magenta Madness and my goal was worsted weight yarn for hat or mitts.

Singles:

Singles with Fiber:

2 Ply, washed, and dried.  The color here is a bit washed out.   The colors above are closer to reality!

OOOOH   PRETTY!!!

Re: the first BEEZY post.   Mom is a little embarrassed that I am posting those, because she dated a lot before she met my Dad.   I assured her that the whole collection is charming and shows her as a young girl full of life.   When you see her gray hair now, it is good to be reminded of the young girl inside her head who still lives.

Beezy

I hope you don't mind if I share this, Mom.

Another item that now lives at my house is an old scrapbook, which Mom stashed with the other scrapbooks and photo albums.    Dad never liked it, for reasons soon to be revealed, but it was always a source of fascination to me as a teen, and to my girls.   It starts in 1947 before she met my father,  when Mom was dating an artist or cartoonist or graphic artist.  I am not quite sure what he called his career in those days, but after googling him, I believe he worked in the in the early days of comic books.  Actually, there is someone working today by the same name, but a female, who works as a letterer of graphic novels and comic books.   Perhaps, a descendant?   Anyway, what I love about the whole scrapbook is that it captures snapshots of my Mom, my grandparents, my aunt, their home and their lives in the late 40's.   A time and a place which is history for me, but comes alive on the pages.

It appears that each time they had a date, a new comic would be presented.  Each is hand drawn, painted and lettered and in many ways, they remind me of Archie and Jughead comics.   Here is the dedication page:

The larger pages I plan to photograph, but the smaller ones (most are 8"X8") I will scan into this blog.  To really see the detail and quality of the artistry, click on each photo to enlarge it.    One posting in my blog each week will be dedicated to sharing these pieces, and my assumptions about them.  I am sure Mom will correct my inaccuracies!

Dating today is not very different today from then...look at the telephone, the moon, the record, the high school banner, the malt.   Only the technology and the flavors and locations have changed.

New Adventures

In December and in January I was consumed with selling some of Mom's things on Craigslist which involved meeting people 4 miles away at the house.and cleaning up afterwards.   NOW, it is ebay craziness.   Last week, 3 out of the first 6 Issues Dad's magazines sold, and off they went by priority mail on Tuesday.    Now, I have bids on 6 out of the 7 issues that are listed.   But.....I have over a hundred issues left which are spread out by year in my guest room.   This is going to be a long process, but without flooding ebay with all of them at once, I plan on parceling them out a little at a time.

While I was up there taking this photo, I took this photo:

Remember the thick lush hibiscus plant that I moved indoors.....Well, my doggie developed a liking for the leaves and nibbled away each time she was left home alone for any length of time.   I guess that is how she pays us back for ignoring her.   Now, it will stay sheltered in the guest bedroom until it can safely be moved outdoors around Mother's day!  This one is the red one and the peach colored one is up about 3 feet in the bay window.

OK, some knitting updates.    I have been working hard on the squares of the Great American Afghan.   I am now on square #7!    Here are some photos, some done, some not.  There is one more finished square which I still need to photograph, and I am actually done with the bottom square, except for the wings of the flies.   Photo to come..   Some people are bothered by the spider and the flies in the web, but I think they are cute....as long as they are made from wool!  

I'm Baaaaack!

As the last post stated, Mom's house is cleaned out, sold, and turned over to the new owners.   I am glad that's over, but half my garage is full of the stuff we didn't throw out, but want to sell later at a garage sale......more work to come.   I have also started my adventures on ebay where I am selling off Dad's collection of Mineralogical Record magazines.   For the record, I am cologal817 on ebay....if you are a rock hound or mineral collector and want to keep it in the blogging family.   The oldest issue we have is from Vol 2 No. 2 from 1971 and is nearly complete to 2007 when Dad passed away.    I am starting out by listing single issues from the oldest first, and then when I get to the 1990's (unless I get tired of the process sooner),  I will sell off 6 issue volumes by year.   If you or anyone you know is interested, you know where to find me!

In mid January, my first shipment of the Naked Fiber Club arrived and here is a photo montage of the prep process so far.  This is what the water looked like after a 24 hour cold soak to get out the water soluble yuck.   My garden will thank me in the spring!

The locks were still intact after one hot water bath and still really tight.

I started out with a dog brush and it was a lot of work since the locks seemed glued together.   I was told on Ravelry to give the fiber one more hot soapy bath followed by several rinses and then a vinegar rinse.

That seemed to soften the fiber and after it was dry, I used my hand carders and it was so much easier.   I guess that even after the cold water soak, two hot washes were necessary to get out all of the lanolin.

I didn't photograph the carded fiber, but here is my first small bobbin of spun singles!

It is a good thing I am only getting 8 oz of raw fiber a month, because there are probably only 2 ounces on the bobbin, and my next shipment is coming next week!   Back to work on the hand carders with the rest of the fiber.

YAY!

Mom's house is sold, the money is in her account, so I will return to regularly scheduled programming next week...Thanks for your patience! Stay tuned..........