Puck | Through The Yarny Curtain

On the Road

When last I wrote, Tiger was about to start radiation therapy. I expected the weeks of radiation to be difficult for all involved, and for things to get easier after. While the radiation was challenging, Tiger came through with flying colors and I thought the hard part was behind us. I was wrong.

Tiger caught a cold. Then our other cat, Puck, started having health issues. Within a week, I thought we would lose both cats. Over the last month, I’ve spent many nights sleeping on the couch so I could provide medicine and food at all hours of the night, without disturbing Chris’s sleep. Tiger recovered and is doing fabulously. Puck passed over the rainbow bridge sometime last night. I will write a more detailed post about all of this, along with a slideshow tribute to Puck, in a couple weeks.

Driving and More Driving
Months before the cats got sick, I had planned an epic trip. I embarked on that trip this past Tuesday. The first leg of the trip was a 14.5 hour drive from Orlando to Greencastle, Indiana to visit my friend Stacy and attend The Fiber Event. My plan was to leave at 6:00 am, so that I could drive through Atlanta in the middle of the day when traffic is more likely to be light, and to drive as long as I remained alert. I expected to stop and stay in a hotel at some point.

I did leave my house at 6:05 am and arrived in Atlanta around 1 pm. I had no traffic slow downs in Atlanta — the first time I’ve had that happen when driving through the area. By 2:30 pm, I was in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and starting to feel too sleepy to drive. It seemed too early to stop for the day, so I pulled into a McDonalds parking lot and took a nap for 1/2 hour. I felt much refreshed, so I got back on the road.

I arrived in Nashville around 5:00 pm. I expected to be caught in rush hour traffic, but only slowed to a crawl once, when the road I was on split into two major roads. Once I was past the split, we were back up to the speed limit. At this point, I called Stacy to find out when she usually goes to bed. I started thinking I might drive all the way through.

I did end up driving all the way through, arriving at Stacy’s house at 10:15 pm. I had ideal driving conditions — a little rain in Georgia, but it wasn’t a deluge; the weather was beautiful for the rest of the trip; no slow downs in the construction zones, no accidents; no rush hour traffic. I couldn’t have asked for more!

Coming Attractions
Stacy and I have been doing some weaving on our rigid heddle looms. Tomorrow and Saturday, we will be at The Fiber Event. Monday, I’m driving to Kansas City, Missouri. I’ll be site seeing and visiting family for a couple days, then attending PLYAway, the first spinning conference put on by PLY Magazine. After PLYAway, I’m driving to Memphis to visit a friend, then driving home to Orlando. I plan to visit The Yarn Barn of Kansas, two Laura Ingalls Wilder sites (The Little House on the Prairie and the home Laura and Almanzo lived in for most of their lives), Graceland, and who knows what else.

I’ll be blogging as often as possible during the trip! I only brought my iPad with me, and I’ve discovered that the WordPress installation does some funky things when I’m using Safari on the iPad. As a result, the formatting of my posts might look a little different than usual. Hopefully, it isn’t too distracting!

Ponce Inlet 2016

Over the Martin Luther King, Junior weekend, five friends and I stayed in a condo right on the beach in Ponce Inlet, Florida. Another friend joined us just for the day on Saturday. It was glorious. We knit, we crocheted, we spun, we wove, we blocked, we discussed dyeing, we watched Marvel movies, we talked, we laughed. It was everything a knitting retreat with friends should be. Rather than give a long-winded description of this perfection, I offer you pictures. With captions, of course.

The building we stayed in. If you look closely at the left hand side of the building, you might be able to pick out the red lounge chairs on our deck.

Lunch on Sunday. l to r: Lorelle, Fredi, Dawn, Nancy, Shellee, me.

Every fiber event should have a ball winding station!

Shellee was the only one of us who didn’t already know how to spin. Nancy gave Shellee her first spinning lesson!

Fredi set up her drum carder on the balcony, so any extra bits of fluff would blow away on the breeze.

Lorelle learned how to use the drum carder, and turned compacted roving into beautiful batts.

Nancy finished knitting this shawl 3 years ago, but wasn’t sure how to block the curved edges. Eight months ago, she gave it to me to block. I hadn’t done it yet, so I brought it to the retreat and we got it blocked!

I promise I actually did weave -- the loom wasn't just a handy fiber holder. — I promise I actually did weave — the loom wasn’t just a handy fiber holder.

The speck in the water behind the third gull from the left is Lorelle. She was the only one of us brave enough to actually get in the water!

Lorelle’s in this picture also, pretty much smack dab in the middle of the shot.

Fredi, Nancy, and Shellee watching Lorelle swim.

We had a fantastic time, and none of us were quite ready to leave. But our lives called, so Monday we all packed up and headed home. But we’ve decided that this will be an annual event. MLK weekend = local fiber retreat every year!!

This happened when I got home. Apparently my cats missed me.

KCBW6, Day 3: Experimental Photography

The prompt for today is to take creative pictures. On this blog, I usually use straightforward pictures. However, I often take creative pictures of the pieces for fun or to include in homework submissions for the Harry Potter Knitting / Crochet House Cup. Professors often give bonus points for creative pictures! I decided to pull out some of my favorite pictures and share them with you today.

In 2010, I knit a crown in Ravenclaw colors. Since Tiger believes himself to be king of the house, I thought him an appropriate model. I love the look of disdain on his face.

This skein of yarn was a present from my friend, Stacy. She collaborated with Christa of Nerd Girl Yarns to plan a custom colorway, based on the colors of the frog in my Ravatar at that time, and named after my imaginary magical beastie (this is a thing in Ravenclaw Tower). Here, I've posed my Frogman statue with the yarn. — My friend Stacy gave me this skein of yarn. She collaborated with Christa of Nerd Girl Yarns to plan a custom colorway, based on the colors of the frog in my Ravatar at that time, and named after my imaginary magical beastie (this is a thing in Ravenclaw Tower). Here, I’ve posed my Frogman statue with the yarn.

While its not a fibery picture, I love this photo of Pepper stalking the Christmas village. — While it’s not a fibery picture, I love this photo of Pepper stalking the Christmas village.

On my recent trip to India, I took this photo of goats lounging on the steps of a temple.

The Weasel of Wrath

In the fall of 2013, the Weasel of Wrath became a thing in Ravenclaw Tower. Every project I turned in that term included a picture of him and told a piece of a continuing story. The Headmistress Challenge that term was to write your own lyrics for a wrock song, with bonus points for recording it. I wrote lyrics, another member of Ravenclaw Tower recorded the vocals and instruments for me, and I put together a music video. The photos below are my favorites from that term.

Searching in the jungle (aka our hydroponic system) for the Raspberry Monster.

The wrock video included two different sets. The lyrics are about basilisks, so I went to the home of a friend who has snakes and shot stills and video there.

The other set was the Weasel's burrow. This behind the scenes shot shows the burrow set up on my dining room table. — The other set was the Weasel’s burrow. This behind the scenes shot shows the burrow set up on my dining room table.

The Weasel of Wrath, with his friends Foxy and Jewel.