a little bit of this, a lttle bit of that.

the finishing goddesses are hanging around my house these days-yes, it's true-drum roll please!!!! throw in a few fireworks too!

because i "little miss startius of all times" has finished yet another UFO. my kick ass hand dyed, hand spun socks. BFL BABY!!! as seen in my previous post.

being a knitter-i have tons of stuff that needs hand washing. i loath hand-washing my stuff. it seems so time consuming. even with the fancy no rinse wool washes out there-i still loath and i like to complain about it. today i was inspired -a vision brought forth to me-by the old winemakers of italy. if i fill my bathtub with warm water and add my special "no rinse" wool wash-i can clean a bunch of stuff at once.

note my feet(remember the old winemakers of italy) i just walked all over my knits. i did not stomp as i didn't want to felt them. i let them soak awhile and walked some more. when i was done i just put them in the washing machine and did a spin cycle to spin out the extra water. and wah-la! they were done. lay flat to dry. this method is NOT meant for delicate knits!!! this is for your hearty rugged knits. farm knits(thanks ann!) cleans your feet nicely as well:) look at the dirt at the bottom of the tub- yuck! you shoulda seen the water. a tad embarrassing i might add. guess i need to wash them more often. i did get 5 sweaters, 2 vests and a man cowl washed in one swoop!

i recently went to chico for an appointment and as any addicted fiber artist will confess- i HAD to visit the local yarn shop. heartstrings was the name and savings was the game! when my friend and i walked in we were greeted with smiles and i quote "everything in the shop is on sale-everything!" had i died and gone to heaven? i had to pinch myself. i was NOT dreaming. then a horrible thought came to mind-you aren't closing the store are you? i asked. nope-it was their annual sale-to clear space for the new fall yarns. well glory be!!!!

i was rather restrained if you ask me. i got some wool wash-yeah! a skein of misty alpaca-baby me boo.(top skein) in a delicious iced raspberry melody. i have wanted this yarn for a cowl for fricken ever! right below that is a gorgeous skein of tree frog pediboo. ultra soft merino /bamboo blend. it's the most gorgeous silvery charcoal metal color! i started(shhhh) the tidepool cowl for Liam's ES at our homeschool charter. we have had Gale as our educational specialist since Liam was in kindergarten. i wanted to make her something special. bottom left is a skein of noro kuryeon sock yarn- for half price!!! how can you resist that????? bottom right is another noro yarn- "ayatori" 60 % wool 40% silk. in soft subtle muted colors. can you say snugly cowl??
as you can see- i was very good-i coulda gone gonzo ape shit. sale goes till june 9th ya'll, do i smell a Fiber trash girl road trip???? we found an awesome restaurant too!

on the homestead side of things we had a surprise on mother's day-

not 4 baby chicks but 8! our rooster-"gimpy" can barey get around but he's able to get himself in and out of the hen house and get to the food and water-and he obviously can still get the job done as we thought the eggs were blanks. mae bell and june- both sat on the eggs and both mothered the chicks together-too cute. we did end up giving mae bell and the babies to someone as we do NOT need more chickens!!! speaking of chickens. our girls have been laying great!!!!! beautiful eggs.

we had the best lettuce crop we have ever had this spring. we just finished up the last head. how nice not to have to buy lettuce. can't wait to plant more this fall. look at the size of the head.

till next time..........