[size=7][color=red]Go get 'em![/color][/size]
Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog the other day! Good to have you back again!
Whooooooooosssssssssssssssssssssssssh and it’s over.
HI ALL. Mon dieu there are so many new people I can’t keep up. So it’s the last week ha ha.
I have some wonderful pictures that happen to be knitting related so I thought I’d post them here. Pics from the fabulous and not fabulous summer: My Dad’s Visit is a new work-in-progress that I’ve started writing because his visit was SO STRESSFUL but then after he left I missed him.
He actually tore up a basket of bread in a restaurant because he was mad at the waiter.
Anyhoo. I visited Martha’s Vineyard again (last summer too) and discovered a fantastic sheep farm where I bought six skeins of wool that I keep taking out and smelling (WHY does the DH turn up his nose when I have him smell it) IT SMELLS SO GOOOOOOD I think they should market it. Speaking of that, maybe i’ll contact them: there’s this purfume company Demeter I was reading about and they have purfumes that smell like
DIRT, a MARTINI, CUCUMBER, a COSMOPOLITAN, cannabis.
Why not SHEEP? :happydance:
Here’s the site btw: It’s funny.
http://www.perfume.com/demeter/
So. Besides the wonderful farm on The Vineyard of which pix are posted below
I visited The Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY with my Dad. (there’s 2 pix of us) (doesn’t he look too sweet to be all the trouble he is?) This museum is fabulous. Really worth a visit if you are in the area. And there I found the most beautiful yarn that was hand-dyed on the property and also learned about the process called MORDANTING. I’ve been reading about this…cochineal, indigo, madder, brazil wood, osage…these are natural dyes… and I think I want to try it. I made my way to some smoke billowing up in the air, a big pot over a fire, looked in & there was this pile of WOOL. This extremely knowledgeable man told me all about the different effects different metal pots will give you: copper, enamel, steel. Anybody know about this mordant thing? Anybody every dye with natural products from the backyard?
Since I didn’t get to sell at the market where I wanted to (in Margaretville where they have a fear of TOO MANY CRAFTSPEOPLE TAKING OVER) (I did send a very good letter to which there was no reply) um I am going to give it a go at an upcoming craftshow in Delhi, NY on Sept 30 so I’m knitting away everyday little things to sell but what I really want to do is use that BEAUTIFUL VINEYARD YARN for myself… and finish my cat vest, and make a mohair shawl and start the KAL on the clogs
Oh yeah, last but not least is the alpaca farm where I keep returning to. It’s called Thompson Hollow Alpaca Farm and wow do they have some fantastic alpacas. This one sweet baby was missing her mum so much, each time I visited, they had to seperate her coz her mum was having another baby and oh it was so heartbreaking. OMG, I have too many pix. I’ll do the alpacas later…
A good thing: my cat Toisie stopped her asthma attacks thank god, I think it’s a change of season thing. So happy about that the sweet baby…
Here’s the neat pix. Check out that pot! (mordant pot)
AWWWWWWWWW. 
Hi Victoise, nice to see you!
Still can’t get over that crazy woman not letting you have a booth. Selling crafts knit from local yarn…um, hello? Who do they think raise those sheep? Astronauts? (Local farmers, duh! :grrr:)
Well, anyway, LOVE the pics. The little sheep is soooooo cute! And wow, that pot over the fire, how cool is that! I want a pot like that, just so I can cook crazy brews like that over an open fire. Dying yarn, dipping beeswax candles… that’s so traditional and neat! Thanks for sharing!
Ohhhh wow, Amy! So good to see/hear you. I passed right by your neck of the woods when driving back from The Vineyard, wanted to go to WEBS sooo bad but it was a long trip for the cats so we didn’t stop. But now I know it’s not too far and I’m going to get there one day!
Yeah, I want a big pot like that too, I love the whole set up, it was just so neat.
Enjoy the rest of the summer! Love those colored Denise needles, what a great idea! sooo pretty
Good morning good mooooorrrrning… (sing that)
I think I’m ready for blogspot.com. Maybe. I spent 2 or more hours trying to get pictures in there right. It’s a mystery.
It might be working.
Now I have to figure out… oh, I’ll just go post a question.
How to put the link in here…
Nope. It’s not working right. Where is a computer angel when you need her?
If I go to this link I get all my new pictures.
http://127.0.0.1:2267/=victoise.blogspot.com
If I go to blogspot.com and then sign in and click on my page they are in a September archive but not on the page that comes up. Do I hate this? Yes. Cookies? Is it those nasty cookies again?
Maybe it’s time to work on my sweater…
btw I went down to Seaport Yarn last week and bought two more skeins of Peruvian Tweed Alpaca because I ADORE IT
even though it’s $28.50 a skein (although that’s 600+yards)
and when I went to pay the fantastic owner Andrea reinformed me they don’t take credit cards. I didn’t have a check on me.
She’s says “Want to mail it?” This was for $86 worth of yarn. Now that’s a nice lady.
She was making the most DELICIOUS SHAWL I ever saw. A new lightish mohair from Australia that she will be carrying soon. It was a berry color (kind of like the color I’m seeing over there on the border of this site) and it was lacy lacy, just a rectangle but she had beaded it !!! with silver beads and the combo was extraordinary. I HAVE TO MAKE THAT SHAWL.
MORE LATER…
What ever happened to Beldaraan and Isomar?
boo hoo I miss them.
So glad yesterday is over. What a tough day. Whew.
And beautiful outside just like it was 5 years ago.
I remember sitting by the window and watching people, mostly business execs in suits with their jackets clutched in their hands, running up Broadway. Hundreds of people walking by like in a horror flick. Mind you, I’m on 78th Street which is miles above the site but they were still running up here.
My heart goes out to those who are still struggling with the pain of loss, which I know they always will be. One young boy on tv,whose father was killed when he was in his senior year in high school, now in his last year of college, looked like he was 45. Almost bald. So much aging from all the pain.
Prayers to all who were and are affected.
VicIT WAS FABULOUS! Both my DH and I were totally blown away by the beauty of the day and what a good feeling to be around so many creative people!
Posting some pix here for you’all. It’s really a festival worth going to. It’s sweet, there’s good food, and just so much to do I wish I could go both days.
What’s really weird is I almost immediately fell in love with this guys hand crafted CROCHET hooks and I don’t even crochet that often. They were so beautiful I kept returning to his table to look and got him to come down to the whopping price of $40 for a crochet hook :pout: I know I know it’s way too much but I sat right down yesterday morning and whipped up a delicious pale pink alpaca hat with that hook in two hours. The crochet hook is so beautiful you just want to pick it up and work with it. He also has amazing spindles and knitting needles.
I’m going to post his website link because they are just the nicest people ever. He has his stuff on ebay also.
http://www.graftonfibers.com/crochet.htm
The other yarn people I really liked, well there is a place called Brooks Farm all the way up from Texas and man was their yarn something. A HUGE line of women buying it too. (I didn’t get any coz I had bought too much already)
http://www.brooksfarmyarn.com/cart/
Another farm that’s really super people is FOXFIRE which is closer to us, Shelburne, Mass. Really nice ladies. I bought from them last year and this year and next year will get some of their laceweight yarn which was amazing, color and softness. They don’t have a website unfortunately. Said they like to spend time with the sheep instead of the computer. ha
Didn’t spend too much on yarn since as my guy kept reminding me, I haven’t used the yarn I got there from 2 years ago yet!
:doh: But I did get enough! More alpaca which I love lately.
What a beautiful place Rhinebeck is!!! WOW.
Ok, so it’s a knitting forum I know I know but this is just so beautiful.
LOOK AT IT!
Oh well, I can’t help it, I love it.
That needle is gorgeous! [size=2]But I don’t want to crochet anymore…[/size]
Nice photos! Alpaca butt was funny! :teehee:
Huh, I just noticed there is a FoxFire farm and then there’s
FOXHILL Farm in Leo, Mass. Both good people with great yarn.
This is Foxhill yarn:
That is a pretty hook–I can see why you bought it.
One of these years I’ll get up there. In a way I’m glad I didn’t since I would have spent money I don’t have on yarn I don’t need. On Sunday, my grandson and his other grandma went up. She was telling me that on their way to the car there was a woman sitting on the ground, knitting with her new yarn. She didn’t even make it to her car.
I just said, “So? What’s your point?” 
Cute pictures, Vic! I think that crochet hook is GORGEOUS and I don’t know how to crochet :teehee:
Didn’t Brooks Farm have some gorgeous yarn? I got some at Stitches. Their booth was crowded!
That’s cute Ingrid, the woman knitting on the ground. I cant’ believe you don’t go!!! Well, it’s just so heady and all, being surrounded by all that yarn and stuff. But it’s just a nice place to hang outdoors also (except you have pay $10 to get in). I’m glad you thought the crochet hook is gorgeous, oh well, he’s selling one on ebay right now for $26 but there’s $5 shipping so my $40 wasn’t too off the mark. justify justify
Glad to see you!!! 
I love alpaca butts!
You know there’s a problem when you take pictures of people wearing items you’d like to knit… :teehee:
OHHHHHHHH I just abandoned my blog for so long I can’t stand it suddenly!
Hi all old and new. Have been surreptitiously following things but… since Christmas I’ve been in another land. I threw my back out (some of you may have heard this) by duh wearing 3 1/2 inch heels out to a Christmas dinner (the 3 martinis may have led me to step down off the bus in an unsually hard manner?) and I couldn’t move for 2 weeks, right through the holidays. (I’m selling the boots on ebay!) Then on top of that I got the Viscious 2 Week Cold that’s been around NYC – it even lasts longer than 2 weeks, an unbelievable cold.
Then, just when the cold is getting over, last Thursday I went for my First Physical Therapy to help strengthen my back. I was feeling better than ever, still some pain but able to walk the 10 blocks there. (oh, I have a pinched nerve the doc, who wrote a book on the subject says).
So I have the examination with this young fellow who had me do lots of stuff, bend over backwards, touch the floor, push my legs over each other in long strentches, and ha, on Friday and all weeked I COULDN’T WALK. I couldn’t stretch my legs out in bed at night. So now for the first time I’m on these super duper pain pills… um, OXYCODONE. AND, steroids for 5 days. I am NOT a pill taker, usually go with Advil as the strongest thing to take and even over the weekend when I thought I might die from the frigging pain, I refused my husband’s codeine he bought in Canada.
I went to have an MRI on Friday and I had to have the man take me out of the machine because of the pain. Whew. Anybody ever take Oxycodone?
Well, even though I can take up to 8 :doh: pills a day I will only take one. I hate that not-in-charge feeling but on the other hand, the pain has been crippling. All because I put in a slate patio over the summer by myself.
Sorry to go all pain/complain but you know it sometimes helps just so much to talk about it… thanks for listening.
The good news is I’ve had LOTS OF TIME to KNIT! Thank god for that.
I haven’t been out of the house for days, it’s so freaky.
I’ve been working on a few things at once. My first skirt, picture of pattern and mine below. Wonderful to work with Peruvian baby alpaca, it’s so soft soft soft. And funny but chocolate brown is soothing to work with also.
That’s a mindless piece, all stockinette on my new WONDERFUL Addi’s. I figure if it makes me look like a balloon coz I’m not size 6 like the girl in the picture, I can wear it as a poncho! :happydance:
Also working on the sweater below (new Bryspun needles, interesting) but it will look nothing like the picture coz I’m not doing it in red and I’m not putting a fur collar on it. I just liked the seed stitch bottom on body and sleeves, sleeve length is nice too.
I’m using the yarn I didn’t like at first, thought it was too coarse but then I changed my mind… think I will wash it like someone here suggested and maybe it will soften up. Bought on Martha’s Vineyard and it’s so PLAIN I love it’s simplicity. Also, it smells like the sheep but in a good way, both DH and I pick it up and smell it from time to time, it’s lov-er-ly.
And, making some wrist warmers with left over bits of yarn, it’s fun to be creative with colors esp when you’re feeling a little sick.
And, I finished the funny hand warmers below, kind of like the ones I made for DH… but no index finger. oops I’ve exceeded my picture limit, have to do a seperate section for these…
Ok! I’ll stop or no one will read all this. I MISSED MY BLOG! Missed all of you, will do some catching up… although I don’t always post I do read what ya’ll have been up to.
Oh, I’m so sorry! That sucks! Bad boots! Bad!
I’ve had oxycodone before. I unexptected gall bladder issues in Sept.; the ER doc gave me a prescription for it to help me deal w/the pain until I could see the surgeon. The surgeon gave me hydrocodone after the surgery. I ended up not using the hydrocodone–as I’d drift off to la-la-land, I’d start to think that I wasn’t breathing, & panicked. That was enough to keep me on the oxy, which didn’t do that. I didn’t need it for too long, though.
I hope you’re feeling better soon! And lovely knitting, btw!
Hey Girl–glad to see you’re feeling better!! I am so glad to be almost over what I had–the sinus part is going to be here forever, I guess.
Your knitting is coming along great!! I wish I had some larger projects to show off. They’re lookin’ realy good!
I LOVE Paula Deen, too!! She’s my favorite of the cooking shows, I think. I’m a southerner, and I guess her style of cooking appeals to me more, plus the story of her success is wonderful… she just needed to look after her boys, and she found a way to do it–and become very rich!! I think it’s a blessing for her–she worked very hard, and she really deserves all her success, I think.
I can’t wait to see your finshed objects!
ps–aren’t books great!!
Vic, sorry to read of your injury, I was not aware of it because I’ve been on bedrest for the majority of the time since Nov, so I’m with you.
I’m allergic to all NSAIDS so for inflammation (with my hip/leg) I have to take steroids and the feelings you are describing are absolutely normal, they also make you very hungry, crave certain foods as if you are pregnant, all sorts of side effects.
As for the oxy, yes, I’ve taken it, as a matter of fact, it’s one of the pain meds i’m on now, but I, unlike you and most people have had to take pain meds for many years because of my disability so it doesn’t effect me in such a way. But, for the average person, again, the side effects are very normal.
Sounds like your physical therapist may have overdone a bit…did you call your doc to see if he/she wants you to continue after this much pain from the 1st session? I highly recommend doing so!
I’m not on here often (more often this past week than in months, but still not often), but please know that I will be praying for you and email me with any other questions you might have about these meds or anything related to bone and/or muscle pain and I will see if I can help any…after going thru this for over 20 years you pick up a few tricks 
Oh, I would advise you that when you sleep on your back to put a pillow under your knees and keep your knees slightly bent; when you sleep on your side, put the pillow between your knees, as well…this will help keep your spine in alignment and should help lessen (at least not increase) your pain.
I sure hope you feel better soon! 
to you, my friend.
Oh, Sweetpea–I’m sorry I hadn’t commented on your fall. I guess 3 martinis and those classy boots WILL make for quite a Christmas!! I’m so very sorry you had a bad holiday!! THe therapist doesn’t sound like he helped you at all!
I have taken Oxycodone before–many times, in fact…I have chronic pain problems, like Rebecca…and it really doesn’t help me a lot. I go to a pain mangement center every month, and I have been for over 10 years now. I really hope that you’ll be in good shape soon–glad you’re selling those boots–they’re pretty but I can’t wear anything with heels anymoe!! THey kill my back and my feet.
Ohhhh thanks you lovelies for your support and help.
La la land, indeed. I’m sorry to hear some of you have been going through this a long long time. Rebecca I know, I’ve been aware of you missing thiese past few months and so happy to see you could stop by and read my story. I can’t lay on my back yet and stretch my legs out, I try to do it a little for a few minutes just to well, try to get back to doing it but I always end up on my side. I’m sick of sleeping on my side! I will definitely do the pillow thing between the legs, I never thought of that when being on the side, only knew about it like when you’re laying on your back.
Cravings for food! Ha. I posted a whole thing about food yesterday over in another topic, it was hilarious, I couldn’t stop writing about food.
I’ve had this craving for 3 days now (and my hub won’t go get it) for lemon meringue pie which I haven’t had for years! Luckily I can still cook a little and made some great cauliflower/potato soup yesterday. I can only stand up to cook for a while after I take a pain pill.
It’s the staying in all the time that gets lonely and it’s so great to have some playmates here isn’t it!!!
okey doke, thanks againg you guys, Vic