Hay Fever

Finally, after 3 breakdowns in the past week, our hay fields went from this:

To this:

and now this.

And no rain. The Hub was beginning to think we would need to take an emergency trip over 50 miles to an epuipment place, but he managed to cobble the haybine along and now...its all over but the hauling.

Sleeves

Yup, the Hot Rod Cardigan finally has sleeves.

I just got them joined Tuesday. I am amazed how fast this is going, even with lace weight and size 4 needles. I guess only concentrating on one project at a time has its benefits.

Of course this does not mean that I will be a monogamous knitter, but I will try to whittle down some of my UFOs (unfinished objects) that I have on hand before starting a new one.

I probably should try more knitting from the stash as well.

Road Trip to Stonehedge Fiber Mill

Monday my spinning guild traveled to East Jordan in Michigan--"the tip of the mitt" to Stonehedge Fiber Mill. You can see Rachel's blog for more pics and better details. What a fun time. With a van and trunk full of fiber we made our way there. We dropped off our fiber for processing and then was given a great tour.

Those white and black bags contain the wool from the car trunk. The fleeces from the van where piled up elsewhere.

We were shown the entire process. There are some of the fleeces drying after being washed.

And what trip to anything fibery would be complete without a trip to the mills shop? It was not air conditioned, so here we are outside after shopping. I think that helped keep us from buying too much. Plus we didn't want to sweat all over the wool.

After finishing up there, we headed off to the Grayling area. Another farm that wanted to buy some of Sheila's alpaca fleece. And they opened their trailer with their blended wool/alpaca/mohair luciousness. We had to buy. Here is a sample.

At least the trunk wasn't quite so full on the way home!

That Didn't Do Much Good

Ok, so I went to town. The temp service employment agencys that I planned to go to are no longer in town. Even though they have their name listed on the sign outside where they USED to be, they aren't there.
So I went into the MichiganWorks office. Updated my resume and when I asked a few questions to the gal at the desk, she remembered me from when I was in a year ago. (How pathetic is that?) I think it was the bachelors degree along with 3 jobs that moved out of state. That of course doesn't hold a candle to 3 lost jobs in 12 months, but its right up there.
Anyway she did give me a list of places to check for jobs. I will NOT share them here as I don't need anymore competition.
But that said, I have to start trying some of those tips tonight. And anyone with a possible job opening please feel free to contact me.

Heat Wave

Was it just last week that Hubby was turning on the furnace?
Yowsa but its hot! We have been over 90 degrees since Sunday. Gilbert the Wonder Dog agrees---Too Darned Hot! (Hmmmm, I think there's a song in there somewhere.)
On my spinning guild’s trip Monday to East Jordan and other points in the north we basically melted. But more on that later.
I have to go job hunt.
I will be doing some more multiple postings later today

Friday Recap

I know I am late with this. Even though I am not working, I just cannot get psyched up to go online and post.

But that said, Hubby and I had a fun day on Friday. Although I kept thinking it was Saturday.

We went the the Muskegon Fairgrounds for the Antique Tractor and Engine Show. We saw Sandy and her dogs. And lots of tractors. Can you tell the featured tractor were Farmmall/International Harvestors? That was the only brand allowed on my grandma & uncle's farm.


Big ones, little ones, and even the tractor pulling.

And truck pulling. Hubby even found one tractor like his dad used to have.
A great time.

The Cardigan Continues

Well, if I can't work, at least I can knit.
I have 7 inches done on the Hot Rod Heather Cardigan, even afer having turned hem last week.

I am quite pleased with how fast it is going. I just finished ball 3 and 4 (out of a total needed of 11). I figure that these will take me almost to the underarm and joining of the sleeves.



I think this picture shows the colors better than some of the others I have posted. The lines below the purple markers are where I will be stitching the reinforcement before I cut down the middle for the steek. I have 7 1/2 inches on the body so far. Its going quite quickly.

World Wide Knit in Public Day

I almost missed it. It was yesterday, and I did have a place to take my knitting, even though I didn't get any pictures.
It was kind of a weird occasion.
We got an invitation for my stepdaughters oldest son's graduation party.
What is weird about that? We haven't seen him since he was about 6 months old, when she lost custody. We didn't even know she was in contact with him. Hubby looked at the picture and read the invite and didn't even know who he was.
So, since I was going to a graduation party where I didn't even know if I would know anyone there, I took my knitting.
That gave me an excuse not to eat. When the step daughter married Billy's dad, I overheard talk that some of the chicken they were ready to cook was green. After that, I didn't think I wanted to try anything here. Having busy hands keep me from eating and also gave me something to do. It looked good, all Mexican food, but I just couldn't bring myself to eat.
We didn't know anyone but Hubby's daughter and family and Billy's dad. I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I thought I would, but once I had a funky stitch and needed a crotchet hook, I put my knitting away (The Hot Rod Cardigan). Once I had nothing to do with my hands, I was ready to go home.
But I didn't get lots of work done while it lasted.

Weekend Blahs

I think this out of work thing is getting to me.
I had started trying to keep getting up at the same time, so I wouldn't get out of the habit of listening to my alarm.
But....I missed church today. I turned off my alarms when they went off, including the several snoozes. Forgot I really did need to get up today.
I need to find another job it looks like.

But on the NASCAR front, both good and bad news. Johnny Benson, my favorite local driver, after losing his truck ride despite being the reining champion, was in a bad accident at a local track yesterday. He is in fair condition now, and improving somewhat.
Today's Sprint race was in Michigan. And, thanks to a bit better mileage, he won again. So at least there was a bright spot in all this.

Hot Rod Cardigan and Other Knitting

Since I was not able to go up north to the fiber mill Monday, I spent some time knitting. I got the body of the cardi knit and the hem folded and fused.

And after these pictures I have gotten a couple of the stripe rows completed as well. They are a good way to measure progress, every 6 rows is a stripe.

As a chance to get a quick to finish project, I also started a market bag, out of Sugar 'n' Cream.

It is really open, but it sure is a quick knit.

No Road Trip Today

Well.
That was a disappointment.
My spinning friends and and I had planned on a road trip to East Jordan today. To visit the fiber mill, get a tour and maybe buy a little yarn or roving.
But since the main purpose was for some of the spinners to deliver some of their fleeces to the mill, and since my shearing buddy Nick couldn't shear Sheila & Pat's alpacas, the trip was cancelled.
So we had spinning instead. Fun time, but I was still bummed. My luck, I'll be back to work next time the trip is scheduled.

Stealth Project Revealed

I didn't need "found knitting time" to be able to complete my latest project. I had purchased the yarn the day I returned Sadie and picked up my Frankie bunnie. It was, as I have shown a beautiful pink yarn, in a soft kettle-dyed colorway.

I started it as a welcome back to work gift for my supervisor who had injured her ankle and was off work for 2 months. I finished casting off the other day and yesterday steamed and blocked out the points. And I think it is lovely if I do say so myself.

And my (former and hopefully soon to be) supervisor seemed to like it as well.

Family Time--Part 2

What a delightful evening yesterday.

After spinning guild (and I am so glad to be able to bring my wheel together with my friends and spin once more on Mondays), I dashed home to grab my salad to head off with Hubby and his brother Carl and wife Lottie to attend a family reunion.

We had gotten a phone call from his last remaining aunt--a regular pistol of a little old lady who doesn't know the meaning of rest.

Now mind you, she had been in the hospital off and on with surgery, heart problems etc all this past winter. But she got it in her head to plan a Walsworth cousins reunion. So the rest of us had no choice but to gather. And gather we did. There were only 3 missing, and those were all out of town.

You must realize that for years she and her husband organized and ran bus tours across the country. I truly regret that I never got to go one one. And apparently when she had family dinners she also organized the entertainemt. After we ate our abundant meal, which was held at her church, someone asked where was the music. So she trotted over to her son. The retired school principal and superintendent meekly did as she requested and with his sister played a few rousing hymns on the organ.

What fun. We then posed for pictures.

I even got one with her and her 3 flowergirls.