Things to do.. Things to do..

Sometimes I long to sit on the sofa and veg with a book.  

Oh.  Wait.  I DO do that.  I just feel really guilty when I do.  Let me rephrase that.

Sometimes I long to sit on the sofa and veg with a book, or watch TV without feeling twinges of guilt that I should be doing something else or at least doing something in addition to watching TV.

There is no chance of getting bored around here.  I am getting a tad overwhelmed by all the things waiting for my attention so the other day I decided to make a list on the white board in SharonTopia thinking it would help me feel in control.

What that meant, of course that the first thing on my to-do list became making an actual list.  I couldn't find a marker so I decided on making my list here.  (Much easier than looking for a marker.. not.)

1.  Kitchen Floor.  I started it over a year a go and it is now my top priority.  I've been working hard on it in the last two weeks or so and I'm over 1/2 way done.  I have promised myself that I will clear at least 1 square foot of floor each day.  At that pace, I should be done in a month.

2.  Hawaiian shirt quilt.  This has been on my to-do list for 2 years - although I just started it a few months ago.  It is second on my priority list because it's currently cluttering up my dining room.  In order to make it available to be worked on, the table and chairs and all other dining room "stuff" is shoved into a corner. Not conducive to romantic candle lit dinners for two at the table or enjoying the dining room in any way.

3.  Ear Brassiere.  A small project.  But I started it as a Christmas Present for a co-worker.  It's March now.  Sigh...  I had it almost finished two nights ago when I discovered a huge error early in the project.  I had to rip it all out and start over.  Now I'm more than 1/2 way done.  If I hadn't made that mistake I would be done.  Very frustrating and now I really just want it gone.  Out of my life forever.  I hate it and I want to kill it.  

4.  Beaded scarf.  Another project I am more than 1/2 way done on.  I really love the effect of the beads in the knitting.  I love it so much I started a second one (with sparkly beads and jewel toned yarn) before I finished this one.  Big mistake.  Huge.  Now both sit gathering dust.

5.  Woven Rug.  I got the crazy idea for this project when we were in Florida in September.  I really really want to do this.  Almost bad enough to move it to position #1.  This is my self-imposed lesson in self-control.  I will NOT even start it until the floor and the quilt are done.  I will most probably get serious about it as soon as I can and I think it may be helping to motivate me on those priority projects. I have been gathering the things I need to make this and all the parts are sitting on the loom ready to go.  Oh.. I want to do this. 

6.  Shrugigan.  This project I started in 2010 - When I was still working.  Peter gives me grief on a regular basis over this project.  I mostly want to get it done so I can wave it about in his face saying "Ha Ha Ha Ha! Neener Neener Neener!!" and doing a most ridiculous dance.  Once it's done I suspect it will go into a drawer and never be looked at again.

7.  Woven basket.  A fun little project.  This one is a good "car project" or for taking places that require waits.  I've made a couple small baskets and it's a fun technique.  I'm not in a hurry to get this done and it's really only on my list because it's started and does need to be finished.  Eventually.

8.  Shearing.  It's spring.  The Alpacas haven't been sheared in nearly two years.  It's time.  It's more than time.  They are shaggy and filthy and complete wrecks.  This is Cheeka.  Of course, once they are sheared then I'll have pounds and pounds of fiber that will need cleaning and washing and carding and spinning and.. Yikes!!  What was I thinking???

9.  Silk spinning.  Because I enjoy torture.  Spinning silk is a completely different thing than spinning other fibers.  Silk is fine and delicate.  I can even only TOUCH the silk when my hands are in the best condition.  If they are dry or cracked they snag the fiber something awful.  I most certainly can't touch it after working on the floor or messing with concrete.  Silk has intrigued me since I first learned to spin.  I have often looked at silk and silently ogled it.  A few months ago a fellow spinner gave me this "hanky" of silk.  Now it must be included on the to-do list.

10.  Cleaning Pads.  Back when I lived in Salem and Peter and I installed the wood flooring in my house I bought a swiffer sweeper with a large box of disposable pads for it.  I just used the last one this week.  Clever me, with time on my hands, has decided to make reusable swiffer sweeper pads out of an old towel.  It should be a quick project.  I may even sneak this one in before I'm done with the kitchen floor.  After all, I will need to be able to clean the floor once the lino is pulled up..

11.   Soap.  I need to make more soap.  I WANT to make soap.  I've been gathering supplies at discount prices.  I scored on 99 cent bottles of Olive Oil, a clearance on lard (yum!) and other assorted things.  I'm ready.  But where do I find the time??

12.  Blogging.  This is a continuing to-do.  I confess it's getting hard to write creatively.  My life is more boring than it used to be.  I assume any readers I have left aren't interested in daily postal fun, or the fact that the cat likes to sit in a box or it rained, again.  Blogging takes time and when something interesting IS going on, finding the time for quality and entertaining documentation is challenging.

All of these things are just the "my" projects.  As the weather improves we have a driveway to finish, the garage to convert, a garden to plant, additional pastures to build, SharonTopia to finish and so much more.  It's a good thing I don't have a dead line.  I tell myself to just keep plodding along and it will eventually get done, breath deep and relax.  And most importantly, appreciate the fact that I'm in a position to do these things at all.

I feel better.

Welcome to Sharontopia!

I lay claim to this 264 square feet, formerly known as the "Future Fiber Studio" in the name of Sharon, the Queen.  I name this space: "SharonTopia."

Visitors are absolutely welcome in SharonTopia. I shall have an open border policy. There will be strict import laws, however.  Anything brought into SharonTopia to stay shall have to be approved by The Queen.  Placement of imported items to SharonTopia must pass a strict approval process.

SharonTopia is a work in progress.  The Future Fiber Studio was a dream.  SharonTopia is real.  It is now. It is there.

Here's the scoop.  I got married a couple years ago and now share my life with someone else.  That someone else, who I adore, seems to think he rules the roost.  I'm (mumble mumble mumble) years old and for most of those years I have been the roost ruler.  I have been master of my domain, Queen of my realm and the final word on anything involving anything around me.  Not having that control has been a frustrating element in my life for the last couple years.  We live in a house smaller than I'm used to and Peter has stuff.  He has lovely stuff, and I'm not complaining about his stuff, but it just doesn't fit and I've slowly gotten squeezed out of the house.  Originally our home office had two desks, one of which was mine.  We still have two desks in there, but his files and papers have slowly migrated over.  I had my spinning and weaving stuff tucked into the pretty spare bedroom, but now his stuff is sneaking in there.  He lives here too and he has every right to put things wherever he wants.  My problem is that I can no longer find any of my things - and when I can - I usually have to move 'stuff' to get to them.

Before we got married, even before he came back into my life I stated loudly and proudly that I wanted to live in a house that had enough room, or as little stuff, that I could ride my bicycle in it.  Clutter makes me crazy!  I want to be organized and clutter-free.  I NEED to be organized and clutter-free.

Saturday I planted my flag in SharonTopia.  The future fiber studio needed doors, but to do the job properly, the floors and sheet rock should go up first.  But before sheet rock, insulation needed to be installed, but before insulation wiring needed to be added.  That was the problem.  Although I can do insulation, sheet rock and flooring, I needed Peter to do the wiring.  So - toss out the future fiber studio and embrace SharonTopia.  A less-than-perfect but perfectly serviceable world I can control.  I decided to install my interior french doors.  Peter was busy installing a pump and filter in the fish pond so I snuck off to SharonTopia and started cleaning, straightening and installing the doors.  I wrestled them into place, and tacked them up.  Then I found out that there was a board fastened to the bottom of the doors to keep them from opening.  I removed my temporary nails and tried to tip the doors.  Unfortunately, they weren't fastened at the top so the  doors started to separate and pull the frame apart.  I stood there holding up the doors and keeping them together and unable to move.  I was in a pickle.  I managed to get them to lean against the doorway and propped them up on blocks, then I tried to use a hammer to remove the board attached on the bottom of the doors.  Problem was, it was screwed in, not nailed.  Sigh.  My only choice was to lay the doors on the floor.  I started to move them into the position to lay them down when one door flew open, the frame twisted, and I was again left stranded holding my doors at a wonky angle.  Unable to put them down, unable to lift them back up.  This time I was truly stuck.

I stood pondering my predicament for several minutes when Peter poked his nose through the doorway.

Our conversation went something like this:

He, very nonchalantly: Whatcha doin?
Me:  Nothing
He:  Are you installing the doors?
Me:  Apparently not.
He:  You know it would be better if we installed the walls and floors first.
Me:  I realize that.  (about ready to buckle from the weight of the door)
He:  Need some help?
Me:  No.  I'm fine.
He:  Are you sure?
Me:  Well, maybe I could use a little help getting this thing off the bottom...

Peter helped me get the board off the bottom and then helped me maneuver the doors in to the doorway opening  and left me to my own devices (good man!)

So here are photos of SharonTopia as it stands today..  I am happy has a clam for electricity via extension cords, walls made of boards leaning against the studs and peeling floors.  It is mine.  I shall soon remove the outdoor furniture (for it never to return) and I will make other changes as I see fit but for now it is perfect.

Have you Herd??!!

It's been an exciting week around here!

A week ago Sunday I asked Peter if he wanted to go to the ReStore with me.   You just gotta love that place.  It's like GoodWill for construction materials.  The best of both worlds.  After a few minutes of thinking things through, I changed my mind and said, "Never mind - I'll just find doors or stuff I'd like for the studio, but we don't have time to use and then we'll just have to store them and I'll just torture myself and it's not worth it."   I did not mean it snarkily - but really, what was the point of going?  Peter drug us there anyway and just like I thought, we found the perfect doors for my studio.  Despite my dread of just getting things we have to store and not use, we got them anyway and with a little help from my freighbor Shelly we even got them home.  By Monday night we had one set of doors mostly installed:

Peter had to say something about my pessimism and didn't he prove me wrong!  Yes, he did.  But also, maybe I just learned that a little bit of pessimism get's things done around here.  Hmm... I better be careful not to let him in on my new knowledge AND I better be careful not to abuse such power.

I've spent my days off this week cleaning and organizing the stuff in the studio.  Removing lumber and pipes and shade cloth.  Not to mention possum poo, rats nests, birds nests and other heebie jeebie kinds of things.  Ewww.  We're almost ready for insulation.  I'm very excited!  If I squint real hard I can see the light at the end of this fiber studio tunnel!

Friday we went to the new feed store down the road.  It's not as close as the local one but this one has an assortment of friendly barnyard animals, as well as a very friendly blue and gold macaw and a whole room of chicks called ChickenLand (the room not the chicks).  You know how I like chicks!  

When we got there, our first stop was the barnyard.  They had chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, quail, some goats, a miniature donkey and two alpaca.  The donkey was being very nasty to the two alpaca and the alpaca were fighting back with some pretty sloppy spitting.  I've never seen such a hullabaloo.  

After we admired all the chicks and made some decisions about the breeds we'll get when we are ready, we happened to bump into the owner of the place.  A very nice man named Matt, who also happens to be an old friend.  We were talking about the donkey and the alpaca relationship issues and Matt asked if we wanted the two alpaca.  Umm... YEAH!!  The donkey was a family pet and these are recent additions to their barnyard.  They had purchased them at the local farm auction for $5.00 a piece and were willing to just give them to us because he knew they'd would be well taken care of at our house.

Free alpaca?  That's even better than the ReStore!  They were named Darcy and Darla.  Not names I love and since these were new names, the girls didn't really answer to them anyway - not saying that alpaca ever really respond to their names.  The one with the white patches on her face is now named Cheeks or Chica and the other one (the one with the impossibly long eyelashes) hasn't told us what her name is yet.  I think she'll let us know soon.  Please feel free to make suggestions - naming things has always been hard for me.  

Cadbury and Chupa seem to be mostly fine with their new herd members.  There is a little posturing, some serious smelling and all that "hey!  you're new!" stuff.  Alpaca are herd animals - they prefer living life in a group.  I'm certain that our little herd of 4 will be a peaceful and harmonious place in no time at all.  

Baby Wolf's first run..

I took my baby wolf out for it's first run today.  I decided that rather than starting from scratch I would try to use what was already on the loom.  It wasn't a mess - but it was sure something I couldn't figure out.  So I undid all the heddle threading the previous owner had started.  I unwound all the yarn and THEN I ended up with a mess.  The cats were quite intrigued by the process and really wanted to help.

I eventually got it straightened out.  Not an easy task.  There were 99 warp ends.  (that means 99 strings - see I'm learning the lingo!)

I decided on a simple basic basket weave and began pulling the warp ends through each heddle as appropriate.  I finished a third of them before I figured out that I had neglected to find the middle.  You MUST center the threads on the loom or everything goes whacky (no .. that's not official weaving lingo).  It was an important lesson learned that I shall certainly remember in the future.

Finally - everything was threaded and ready to go.  Seriously - 5 hours into the project I finally had it ready to actually weave.  I feel confident that as time goes by this process will be less cumbersome.

I hope. 

20 minutes later I had actual fabric!  How exciting.  The process began going much faster and I'm quite pleased.

And..  miraculously within a few hours I had an actual thing.  A thing I tell you!

Now I want to figure out how to set the treadles and heddles to create a twill.  So far I'm not understanding the drafting of such a project.  There is a weaving guild that meets in the same place as my spinning guild that I shall maybe have to join soon.  They can probably help me over the rough edges.

I am now faced with a daily conundrum..

Should I knit?
Should I spin?
Should I weave?

My life is so complicated!!

I have a dream..

I have a dream.  It's a dream of a fiber studio. 

I've thought about this long and hard.  For more than a few minutes even.  I want a place to weave, spin, dye and knit away from the house. 

I can see myself getting up in the morning and skipping happily out to my studio.  I could spend all day in the studio creating wonderous things and not feeling guilty that I haven't left the house in days.  Because I will have.  It would be like getting up and going to the office every day - only WAY better.  WAY.

We have a large white 3-room shed/schoolhouse in the back under the trees.  I asked Peter if he minded if I turned one room into my studio.  He replied: "this is your house too - you can do whatever you want."  Ahh... I like that man.  :)

Anyway - the building is a wreck.  It has no doors.  It has studs for interior walls - but no sheetrock or insulation.  The existing floor is plywood and it's full of stuff.  It has no heat.  This is what it looks like:

I have a friend/neighbor (friendly neighbor?  Freighbor?) who has a "party barn" that is my inspiration for the task I'm about to tackle.  Her party barn is so clever and attractive.  I think I can do something like that.  I hope she doesn't mind that I copy her style just a little.

The room is 11 x 24.  A fine size.  The exterior door opening is a double door.  I picture sliding glass doors.  I'd prefer french doors but I think sliders are more in my budget.  I'll put up sheetrock and paint it white and bright.  I'll hang a beautiful re-claimed chandelier from the vaulted ceiling and put down wood floors and a big warm area rug.  I'll add left over cozy furniture from the house  (we have way too much) where I, and my friends, can sit and knit or spin or visit.  I'll hook up my wood stove for heat.

I will create a lovely path lined with hostas and ferns through the woods from house to studio.  I'll need a small deck outside my shiny new doors too.

I started today by clearing out the room.  It's better but not great.  I've a long way to go.  I think the next thing is doors.  Next week I'll go shopping for doors. 

Baby Wolf

I need a Fiber Studio!  A big one.  Yesterday I purchased a Schact Baby Wolf Floor Loom.  It looks like this  (only without the textile on it)

I bought it used for less than 1/2 the price new.  The perk of buying used is that the previous owner has accessories.  Loom benches, shuttles, books, videos, yarn, fleeces, warping boards, hooks, samples, and more that she just "threw in."  She's 81 and getting out of the business. 

Haha - the funny thing is I have absolutely no idea how to use a loom.  Thank goodness she's throwing in all the books.  I just assume I'll like weaving.  Man.. I hope I do.

I also swapped three buckets of potatoes for a car full (literally) of fleece:  mirano wool, alpaca, romney - some custom dyed.  I turned down the samoyed.  I don't think I'm ready to work with dog hair yet.

So now I have 2 looms - this one and a very very tiny one given to me earlier this year.  I have two spinning wheels - my antique one and my new one.  I have boxes and boxes of yarn and roving and fleeces. 

And I'm living in 650 square feet. 

What was I thinking??

Peter says I can use one of the bedrooms in the farm house as a studio, once we move but in the mean time I think I have problems.  I might have to rent a storage unit.

On a similar front.  I really do need to come up with a suitable business name.  I've decided "My little goat shop" is not really a good one for a business.  Perfect for a blog and a dream, but not so much for a business.

So..  Help me choose:

• Woolingdon Farms  (get it.. Willingdon... Woolingdon?)
• Phase 2 Phibers  (Finished with the corporate world and now on to this new adventure)

Any other ideas?  Help.. really - I'm about to register for a booth at next year's Lynden Farmer's Market and I need a name soon..

The future looms.

Today was my last day at work.  I know.. old news.  It was emotional to say the least.

But now, it's done.  It's time to let go of the past and embrace the future.  To help with that, a co-worker  (oops.. EX-co-worker) gave me a small, used table-top loom.

I think my goat shop needs woven things.  It would be a good fit with the other things I envision for it.  My first attempt at weaving reminds me of my first attempt at knitting..  (see:  Day 2).  I certainly need more practice but I've been oogling looms at the spinning wheel store in Newberg for several years.  It's very exciting to finally have my own.  This loom was purchased overseas in the early 70's.  It's older.  I think there may be pieces missing.  But I'm having a ball with it just the same.

Once I get all moved and settled I think I can craft the missing pieces.  I think I would VERY much enjoy it too. In fact, I might see if I can rustle up a pattern for a larger loom and make the whole thing!  Won't that be fun?

Yeah.. I think I'm gonna dig this new life!