podcast

Ep 159: Spring Break Project Heaven and a Whole Lotta Tree Talk

Marsha Failor

 

 

Tree removal competes with Spring Break weaving and the stuffing of Frog and Toad for the content this week. You never know what you'll hear about on the Two Ewes show!
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Marsha’s Projects

Walk Along tee by Ankestrick (Ravelry link)
Abington Mitts by Jennifer Lassonde (Ravelry link) Almost done. Just the thumb to finish.
In the evenings I've been spinning the green and brown merino.

Kelly’s Projects 

Iced Matcha socks (Ravelry link) from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dots Dabbles Designs. I’m using Invictus Yarns Seraphic. It is a merino/cashmere/silk yarn in a gray blue purple tonal color. I want to knit more with this yarn base!

I started stuffing Frog from Frog and Toad (Ravelry link) from frogandcast.com. I’m using the crushed walnut and it is staying inside and not coming through the fabric. Frog is currently sitting in a tumbler with a funnel in his head! I realized I should put the needles into the provisional cast on before I start filling them so I will be ready to kitchener the top. I anticipate it will be somewhat messy. 

Canvas weave sampler (Ravelry link) from JST Online Guild. Throughout spring break I spent time weaving and watching the Canvas Weave videos of Season 5. I used the warp that I wound at Christmas and adapted the sampler threading to fit the number of threads I had. I wove a dresser scarf for the linen cupboard, 5 dishtowels, and a small hand towel. 


I had Cesar Chavez day off and I got the Reading in Bed blanket (Ravelry link) threaded onto the loom and ready to start weaving. This is all using my handspun yarn. With 6 epi compared to 22 epi  and a 3 yard warp instead of a 7 yard warp it went really fast! Like the difference between a fingering weight sweater and an Aran weight sweater. 

Extremities Knit/Crochet Along

This KAL/CAL was inspired by the generous donation of these patterns:
Abington Mitts, Jennifer Lassonde, Down Cellar Studio
Coffee Socks Collection, Dotsdabbles Designs, Deborah
It ends on April 25, 2021. Knit anything for your extremities (hands, arms, legs, feet).

 

Transcript

Marsha 00:03

Hi, this is Marsha

 

Kelly 00:04

and this is Kelly.

 

Marsha 00:05

We are the Two Ewes of Two Ewes Fiber Adventures. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Kelly 00:09

You'll hear about knitting, spinning, dyeing, crocheting, and just about anything else we can think of as a way to play with string.

 

Marsha 00:17

We blog and post show notes at Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com.

 

Kelly 00:22

And we invite you to join our Two Ewes Fiber Adventures group on Ravelry. I'm 1hudredprojects

 

Marsha 00:29

and I am betterinmotion. We are both on Instagram and Ravelry. And we look forward to meeting you there.

 

Both 00:35

Enjoy the episode.

 

Marsha 00:43

Hi, Kelly.

 

Kelly 00:44

Hey, Marsha. How's it going?

 

Marsha 00:45

Pretty good.

 

Kelly 00:47

Good.

 

Marsha 00:48

lots going on here.

 

Kelly 00:49

Yeah, nothing noisy, though. We waited till late enough that all the noise is gone.

 

Marsha 00:54

Yes. We were actually.. were scheduled to record yesterday but moved it to today because yesterday, I had the Alaskan yellow cedar

 

Kelly 01:06

bonsai!

 

Marsha 01:07

Yeah, the former so I just the former bonsai. So I think I talked about this. But in case I didn't a really quick story about this is when my parents bought this house in 1962, there was a Japanese garden between the two houses that actually belonged to the neighbors. And in that Japanese garden was a bonsaied Alaskan yellow cedar. That was maybe four feet tall. And years have passed.

 

Kelly 01:38

Yes, I can say because I was born in 1962. So yeah, 59 years have passed

 

Marsha 01:44

yes have passed. Anyway, it was about 40 feet tall, and had grown. There were originally five trunks. And two are removed. I was able to remove two of them a few years ago, because the reason I wanted to get rid of this tree is it had damaged the sewer line. And we had to put in a new sewer line, irrigation line, the new deck, and a new roof. So it does so much damage that it was-- it had to go. And here's the real reason. Last summer sitting on the new deck, I got hit twice by bird poop! Because the crows would hang out in the tree. That's the real reason. [laughing]

 

Kelly 02:28

Well, the palm tree next door, the date palm or? Yeah, I think it was like a date palm next door, was taken down yesterday, also. So we would have had tree work at one of our houses regardless. And Robert saw the owner of the house this morning. And he's like, what happened to the tree? And he said, Oh, it was old it had to go. Which there was nothing wrong with that palm tree. I'm not a particularly big fan of palm trees. But it was it was a nice--I mean, it was a pretty nice specimen. If you like palm trees. In your case, you really actually did have a good reason to get rid of the tree. Not just yeah,

 

Marsha 03:11

It had done so much damage. Yeah. And it is just, I mean, I'll put on it... I have not posted any pictures yet on Instagram. I'll post pictures and when people see... Yeah, you know what it was like, but it was kind of a an emotional day, just because I don't like cutting down trees. I mean, this was a, it was a spectacular tree. It had been beautiful at one time, but it's just so big and in completely the wrong place and cutting off light. So my bedroom is much lighter, the kitchen is much, much lighter. But mostly it was just the damage. And then, you know,

 

Kelly 03:49

Well and the fact that it was right next to the neighbor's garage, and pulling up things that it shouldn't

 

Marsha 03:55

Yeah, it's about a half inch from the neighbor's garage, you know. So anyway, it's been a long process, I won't go into the whole thing. But have you have to get a permit in the city of Seattle to have a tree taken down, especially a tree this size. And it was it was a long, a long journey. But they finally got the permit. And they came yesterday and cut the tree down. I got the estimate and signed the contract in August, last August. And I can-- got the -- I think was on Thursday or Friday of last week. I got the email from the company that was going to cut the tree down that they had received the permit and they had scheduled me gave me the date that the tree was scheduled to come down. I said that's great. And so then I call them on Monday to confirm because it's in the contract and I confirm, I confirm once again that they are bringing protection for my new deck. Because this tree is sandwiched between my deck, it's, it's about four inches from my deck, the base of the tree. And so I had confirmed that they were going to bring protection and put something down on the deck. And they arrived at nine o'clock in the morning with nothing, no plywood to put on the deck. And the guy who was-- I found out later was the manager of the crew was a little snippy with me, a little rude. And I was like... and I kind of have that feeling of like, What do I do? And I decided, you know, WWRD, what would Robert do? And Robert would go out there and tell him to stop until they got the plywood. So I went out there and I told them to stop. And they said, okay, and they stopped for a few minutes. And then I went back in the house, and I saw they were dropping branches again. So I went back out and I said they have to, I said, I told you to stop, you need to stop. I've called the company. And they are sending plywood and you need to-- I'm telling you--you need to wait until the plywood arrives. So they stood there on my deck. And I went and made a cup of coffee and I sat in my breakfast nook, which is right overlooking and I just sat in the window so they could see me and then they just stopped. They dropped--put all their tools down at that point and went and sat in their trucks.

 

Kelly 06:40

Cursing out Old Lady Failor

 

Marsha 06:42

Yes. But I, you know, like in the end, I want to say something sort of sexist. I... it... there's moments like this when I wish I had a man. But you know that because I sometimes feel being female. And now, you know, when...when I was... Well, I think it's always been this way, just being female, that I think that I'm discounted in some way and especially when I was younger. And then when you get older, you're discounted in another way. Right? And I...and it's...and so I just thought, you know, Robert would go out there and tell them no, you're stopping! Because they all said to me, Well, we have insurance to cover any damage to the deck. But my point is, I don't want to have any damage done. I don't want to go down that path of having to deal with it. I don't even want to deal with having a damaged deck.

 

Kelly 07:36

Why? Why would you want.. Yes. Why would you not take precautions rather than just say, Oh, I have insurance in case something happened?

 

Marsha 07:42

Yes!

 

Kelly 07:43

That does not make sense.

 

Marsha 07:45

Yeah. So yeah. So I'm glad I did it. And then I did go out afterwards... So I'm not gonna say the name of the company because they ended up being great. And the we had a rough start. But they once the plywood came, the guys got to work, there was a crew of five. And I was watching them. And it really is remarkable what they were doing because they have to climb up into the tree. And it's 40 feet. They're up there. 40 feet with rope. You've had tree work done. So you know

 

Kelly 08:14

my tree work, yes,endless tree work.

 

Marsha 08:17

And then they, you know, they tie every branch. Before they cut it it's tied onto a rope and then it's lowered down. So there's..it's not like they're just up there dropping wood, you know, they're very careful. And such a tight area that they had to work in with two houses and a garage and the infamous deck. So I went out at the same time they're doing all of this. First Mark and then later on Ben and I were working on the garage roof because we've had to do some patching because it was leaking. And so we were...that's another whole story for another episode of the podcast, but we're up there working on this roof. And I came down at one point. And while I was up there working, I got to thinking, I wonder if there was just like... Oh, I know what it was! It was when the the young woman from the company arrived in the pickup truck with the plywood. She then said to me, okay, now we're grinding out the stump, right? And I said, No, we're not because first of all, it was too expensive. But also, they couldn't.. if now that the deck is built, they can't get the machinery in there. And just to grind out the stump was going to be the same price as removing the tree. And it doesn't matter. It's an area once the my fence is up it's like a no man's land. Nobody goes over there. So I wasn't going to do that. And so then I started thinking about that. I thought, how come she didn't remember that I'm not having the the stump removed?

 

Marsha 09:43

So the young man who was the foreman of this group, this team that removed the tree I said to him, you know, when he had a quiet moment, he was smoking a cigarette, and I said, Hey, can we just talk for a minute? And I could just tell he's like, Oh my god, what's this woman want now? But I went, I said to him, I said, I just want to talk about this morning. And I said, I think we were both a little irritated with one another. And I said, I got to thinking, is it perhaps you were not getting any inf...? Were you given any information about the job before you arrived? And he said, No, I was given your address and told to cut down the Alaskan yellow cedar. He said, I had no idea that there was a deck. I had no idea that it was sandwiched between these two houses. I had no idea that it's like an inch from the the garage and three inches or four inches from your deck. He's had nothing. Yeah. So and he said, I came in you know, it's a dangerous job. And so his adrenaline gets a little up, which I understand after having watched them.

 

Kelly 10:43

and especially if you arrive and find all these obstacles that you have to be worried about.

 

Marsha 10:48

Exactly. And then he said, you know, and he said me, I apologize to you, too. He said, I was kind of rude to you. And he...and he was he was very rude to me! And I said, you know, I accept it. I said, that's fine. I said, I think we were both a little frustrated with one another. And he said, Yeah, yeah, he was not given any information about what his job was going to be. As I say, we figuratively, not literally, kissed and made up. [laughing]

 

Kelly 11:14

There was no kissing. [laughing]

 

Marsha 11:16

Yeah, there was no kissing

 

Kelly 11:17

No actual kissing that occurred!

 

Marsha 11:19

And he was a very... and, he started talking. He's a very interesting man. He's actually a certified arborist. And so we started talking about the other trees in the back garden and things that he said he would like to come back and, you know, work on them, because he said they they need some help, which they do. Yeah, they definitely do. They've, I mean, the whole garden needs some work. So anyway, it turned out fine.

 

Kelly 11:43

Well, and I, I can vouch for having an arborist do the work as opposed to just a tree service with the trees in our yard. But But I have to , you know, you said the tree was in the wrong place. So there was one arborist that we had that-- he's actually too busy now and working mostly on the Monterey Peninsula side of the county--and so we haven't been able to use him, but he was really good. And, and so one day, he was talking and he's like, you know, this... Robert had planted... We have Monterey Cypress, really large ones in the yard. And there were some babies. And so, you know, thinking sentimentally as you do, like, oh, we'd like to grow one of these babies to replace them. Because our cypresses are at the end of their life. And you know, the death of a tree could take 100 years, but they're definitely in the, the death side of their-- not necessarily tree hospice. But you know, they're on the downward slope of life, most. And some of them are gone, and have had to be removed. So anyway, Robert had planted one of these babies, and he's like, you don't want this tree here. You really don't want this tree here! Because by the time it gets to the point where it needs work, I'm going to be too old and you're going to be too old. So I started talking to him about like, well, what tree should we plant? And we have a lot of space. You know, there's quite a bit of space. Like, well, what tree would work?. And he reminded, he reminded me of me in the summer that I volunteered at the SPCA where people would come in to adopt a dog. And I would be like, read their application. Like, in my head. I knew they were going to adopt a dog. But in my head, I was like, No, no, this is not a good enough family. No, this is not good enough! And basically, there was no tree that was right for the space. He cared so much about the trees having the right habitat, that he he practically couldn't tell me a tree that I could plant to replace the cypresses because it would, it would like physically hurt him to be in the wrong place, right? To not have the habitat that it deserved, like the Monterey Cypresses deserve the habitat of highway one, where the wind is pruning them, and they can break all they want and they can have all these broken hangers. And you know, it doesn't matter, but the wind keeps them pruned. Anyway, it's just like, I couldn't get him to tell me like he was so so so... I don't know, just so reluctant to tell me a tree that would be right. I really can vouch for having an arborist. They do a great job making sure that the trees in your yard are not just cut right but that you know information about them.

 

Marsha 14:59

Yeah. So I even gave him cuttings. So he was excited about something that's in the garden. Yeah. So I gave him cuttings. So

 

Kelly 15:12

You know the other thing about about that job that I think about whenever we have...Here again, 15 minutes in, and we're still talking about trees! [laughing]

 

Marsha 15:21

More than that!

 

Kelly 15:24

But when I, when when we have three work done, I'll always think about, you know, like, as a job. Anybody who likes to climb, like Ben likes to climb. I don't know if he would like to climb trees, but you know, people who like climb, who like to work outside who like... I mean, there's there's some science involved to the arborist job. But there's also the working outside and the climbing and it just seems like an interesting... It seems like it would be an interesting career choice that people wouldn't necessarily think of.

 

Marsha 16:00

Well, and there's a there's a real skill set, because you have to know how things are going to fall.

 

Marsha 16:07

Right.

 

Kelly 16:07

How to cut so they grow the right direction.

 

Marsha 16:10

Oh, yeah.

 

Kelly 16:12

What to cut to make the tree not grow in a funky way?

 

Marsha 16:17

I was thinking, Well, I was just thinking, Yes, that's true. Yes, you have to... In fact, Ben has said that he is interested interested in that, too. You know, the, the being an arborist. But just watching these guys with the ropes, you know, going up there that you've got a chainsaw, so you have to be strong. But a lot of it is, is I think, sort of like what Ben, how Ben talks about rock climbing. It's not so much about strength, but it's about skill, you know, using using your body the right way and, and, and using your tools to um... what's the right word... is like leverage. Yeah, that's not the right word. I don't know. But you know, to, like, block and tackle.

 

Kelly 16:59

Right, right.

 

Marsha 16:59

If you just had a rope you couldn't move it, but if you have the block and tackle you can move something. Yeah, I was so thinking that way.

 

Kelly 17:05

It was a real problem solving.

 

Marsha 17:07

But the other thing is funny is like you were talking about, you know, it always hurts you a little bit to take a tree down.

 

Kelly 17:12

Yeah. Yeah, even the palm tree that I didn't like, I was sad to see it go.

 

Marsha 17:16

Yeah, and so it was, it was just, it was a difficult day, in a lot of ways. Because I had to go I had to channel Robert and and... you know. Or, as I say, pull up my big girl panties. And go out there and tell him to stop. It was kind of emotional, too, just because I don't like that--cutting down a tree. And honestly, if this tree had been in a different spot in the garden, it would still be there. Right? It just it was in the wrong spot. And I have another, that deodar cedar out in the front yard, which I will never get rid of. It's beautiful and I've spent a lot of money you know, having work done to it to make it..to keep it. And so it does hurt to get rid of it and so I was kind of emotional and when Ben finally arrived to help me with a roof and I said to him you know I'm just kind of emotional about the tree and I was all... And he says to me, Oh My God, grow a pair! [laughing]

 

Kelly 18:27

Someday he'll be sentimental about something.

 

Marsha 18:29

Yeah, he's not sentimenal now, he's too young. Right now he's too young to be sentimental about anything

 

Kelly 18:35

That's right.

 

Marsha 18:36

Mostly it's just the idea that I don't like cutting down a tree. Well, anyway,

 

Kelly 18:40

Well, you could plant another one.

 

Marsha 18:42

No, I'm not going to plant another one. [laughing]

 

Kelly 18:43

No, I don't mean in that spot. I mean you can plant another tree somewhere.

 

Marsha 18:48

Oh, I can plant another tree. Yes. Well actually what I really like to have is an apple tree

 

Kelly 18:54

so there you go.

 

Marsha 18:56

Okay, so Kelly!

 

Kelly 18:58

Knitting!

 

Marsha 18:58

I'm now looking at this is 20 minutes and 40 seconds of tree talk. So let's get on to

 

Kelly 19:08

There's fiber in wood!

 

Marsha 19:10

That's true. [laughing] So let's go on about projects. So I don't have very much so I think I'm just gonna go first.

 

Kelly 19:19

Okay. Do it.

 

Marsha 19:20

I don't have very much. So I have really nothing to report on the walk along tee. I've knit on it a little bit but I've not made very much progress because other things have been going on. And mostly I've been spinning. So every night I've been spinning on the the Merino in the green and then the bitter chocolate. And so I almost have enough now that I can start plying it.

 

Kelly 19:48

Oh cool!

 

Marsha 19:49

And then I am almost done with the second Abington Mitt by Jennifer Lassonde. I bound off the second mott. And I just now have to go and pick up the stitches for the thumb.

 

Kelly 20:07

Oh, you just have one thumb left to do that's it?

 

Marsha 20:10

One thumb. And it's only... I only have to pick up 12 stitches.

 

Kelly 20:13

Oh my gosh. Yeah.

 

Marsha 20:14

And and knit five rows. So yeah, I'm so close. Very hoping this will not be the like the skull. [laughing]

 

Kelly 20:24

Don't jinx yourself by saying that! [laughing]

 

Marsha 20:26

Yeah, so maybe tonight, I should just finish it so...

 

Kelly 20:30

Nice.

 

Marsha 20:31

Anyway, I like them a lot. So anyway, that's all I really have. Oh, that's it. I don't have much to report.

 

Kelly 20:39

All right. Well, I have a lot because last week was spring break. This week we have Cesar Chavez day. So I'm not sure why... I'm not going to get into a whole calendar and union discussion on top of the tree discussion, but I am not really sure why the union decided not to give us Easter week off as our spring break, because then

 

Marsha 21:05

Yeah, that's odd.

 

Kelly 21:06

Cesar Chavez day would have been in the middle of spring break, and not an additional holiday. But instead, they split the 16 week calendar into halves, and gave us spring break after week eight, which was the week before Easter week. So I had spring break, came back, now I have Cesar Chavez day off, and then go back to work. So weird. But anyway, the end result of it is great, because I got a lot of stuff done. So I have been working. In fact, I'm working right now on the Iced Matcha socks from the Coffee Socks Collection by Dotsdabbles Designs, and I finished the first sock. And I've got the... I'm at the top of the second sock, I've got the cuff finished. And then I'm starting on the pattern. And I think I mentioned this before, it's not really cable either way I thought it looked. It's more purl stitches. But it's really fun, really easy to memorize. And I also, I should take a picture of it showing the inside. Because even though it's... even though it's just done with purl stitches, that the design on the inside makes these ribs that are curvy. So you have this like, I don't know, they're like wobbly ribs. I really like the inside, I think I might make a sock that was wobbly ribbing. The outside is a three by one rib. It's...that's the base. And the pattern is a three by one rib. So the top of the sock is a three by one rib. So if you look on the inside, you have a one, one stockinette stitch going up, right. When you get out of the ribbing that one stockinette stitch curves in and then curves out and then curves back in and curves back out. And so you've got this really interesting, ribbed pattern on the inside that I would not have expected based on what's on the outside.

 

Marsha 23:12

Oh, that is so pretty.

 

Kelly 23:14

You would not expect even though it's just purls and knits on the backside makes that sort of wobbly rib.

 

Marsha 23:22

Mm hmm.

 

Kelly 23:23

So I think I might use this again and make socks inside out. Well, you know, inside out from this pattern. Yeah, and have that wobbly rib pattern. It's really pretty. So and I love the yarn. It's a it's got some heft to it because of the silk and maybe because of the cashmere. Nice and soft. And I love the color. It's a bluey-purple color. So anyway, Iced Matcha socks, Invictus yarn, Seraphic. And it's a Merino, cashmere silk yarn. And it's really nice. The other thing that I've been working on, I've basically finished all the knitting for Frog and Toad. And I got excited and started stuffing Frog with the crush walnuts-- walnut shells, and I figured out Okay, I'm gonna use a funnel because I don't want these things all over the place. And I put them into one of my really tall glasses. So he's sitting inside of a glass with a funnel in his head, like

 

Marsha 24:25

Like a specimen, right?

 

Kelly 24:26

Yeah! And he has a funnel, the open crevice of his head. Then, you know, his provisional cast on and I start stuffing him and I'm poking this stuffing down into those legs and poking into the arms and suddenly I realized, Oh My God! When I get the stuffing all the way up to the head, I have to be ready to knit him closed. You know, do my, my kitchener stitch. I haven't even picked up the provisional stitches. So I thought okay, Kelly, just stop. put this aside. Come back to it. Pick up all those stitches. And then you know, do the job, right? Don't just get excited that you can stuff...start stuffing him. So he, right now he's sitting in a glass on my kitchen table with a funnel in his head.

 

Marsha 25:15

I say like Doc Ricketts. [laughing]

 

Kelly 25:18

Like Doc Ricketts lab. [laughing] Yeah. So anyway, but all the clothes are done, I just have to fill them up, fill up Toad and kitchener the the head together. And that's, I think I might do that outside. Because that seems like it could be a very messy job with all those crushed walnut shells. So yeah, but they have to be done by Sunday. So I don't have a lot of time. But I have a little bit of time to get that finished. Because I'm gonna take them over to, I'm gonna take them over to Faye and take Kye his books on Easter. So drop those off. Do a drive-by, drive-by drop-off because I still-- I will have my second vaccine because I have it on Saturday. But you know, I mean, the full immunity doesn't happen for 14 days. So I'm still going to be careful when I see them. But I will drop it off on Easter. So that's Frog and Toad. And I'm already starting to forget how fiddly they were and thinking, Oh, I could make another set. I have a colleague whose daughter is the same age as Faye. And I thought, Oh, you know what? I should get another set of those books and make another Frog and Toad. I don't know if I'll do it, but but I am kind of forgetting the pain of the fiddly-ness. Oh, and then I have weaving!

 

Marsha 26:43

Mm hmm. I saw your post on Instagram. You've been busy. Mm hmm.

 

Kelly 26:48

Spring Break I declared myself a weaving retreat. I cleaned house Saturday and Sunday of spring break. I edited the podcast on Monday of spring break and did a little bit more housework. And laundry, I think. And then I declared the rest of spring break to be a weaving retreat. And so basically all I did was weave. The last day I didn't stop for lunch. I just wove. Like all day long, I wove. Dinner was on our own. You know, there was just me and Robert here and we just ate while we wanted. And I just wove all day the last day of my of my designated weaving retreat. So I did the canvas weave sampler from the Jane Stafford guild online. And what I turned it into was instead of doing just one long sampler I made the first part of it... was a... I called it a dresser scarf, like a little table runner, but for a dresser. And so I made a little and I don't know, is there another name for it?

 

Marsha 27:57

Well, runner, I guess but I don't know.

 

Kelly 28:00

Yeah.

 

Marsha 28:01

I don't know,

 

Kelly 28:02

Like a like a, a woven doily, you know. So anyway, I made a cover, a top table topper, dresser scarf for the cabinet that Robert has for the linens in the dining room.

 

Marsha 28:17

Mm hmm.

 

Kelly 28:18

And so it's a little wider than I would like it. And he expected it to, like, flow over the edges. And I didn't do that. I made it like stop at the top not hang over. So I did that first that was just plain canvas weave. And then it was bright white because I used the warp that I had put on--the warp that I had a wound at Christmas time that was white with red trim. And I wove it with white and then I tea-dyed it. So now it's beige and looks a lot better. So that was the first thing and then after that I made towels, and I made I think six towels altogether. Five dish towels and a hand towel and did a whole bunch of different experimenting and used a whole bunch of colors. I had just a fabulous time! I got them washed, washed them up, hemmed them up. The only thing that's not quite finished is I'm going to hand hem the thing I made for Robert and that's not--that is not done but the first hem is done like the the sewn... you know to get the raw edge out of the way and then I'm going to turn it and hem it by hand the last hem so.

 

Marsha 29:35

Wow, impressive.

 

Kelly 29:36

Yeah, it was.. that was a lot of weaving. I was tired.

 

Marsha 29:41

And it--was it sort of cathartic to just to do that after all of the the first half of the quarter?

 

Kelly 29:49

Oh yeah, I totally. I totally felt like making things is my mental health. Like just the ability to just stand there at the loom and just make stuff was... Yeah, it was it was so... rejuvenating, I guess would be the word. Yeah, it was! It was great. And I watched the Jane Stafford videos and I watched my, the knitting men video podcasts that I that I started watching a little while ago, I caught up on those and... Sweet Tea, No Shade and Needles at the Ready. And then I watched all the, you know, some other knitting podcasts, and I watched Netflix. And you know, just standing there at the loom with a computer going, and thinking, and just making, I just felt really, really good. So that was fun. And then I thought, Okay, well, weaving's gonna be on a hold for a little while. But I had a little extra time. So first, I wound the warp for the next Jane Stafford guild thing. She put out the information about what it was going to be and it was small, it's a scarf. And, and I thought, well, maybe I'll make it into a dish towels. And then I thought, No, just make a scarf, because it's not wide. It'll be fast. And you have yarn, so I wound the warp for that. So that's all ready to go as soon as she publishes the next episode, which is huck weaving. And then the Reading in Bed Blanket, I had the time to actually thread the loom with it. I yeah. But the reason is, after you know, weaving something with 300 and some odd ends, you know that you have to thread twice once through the dent and once through the hetal. And then you have to tie them all. There's a lot, there's a lot of threads, right?

 

Marsha 32:03

Mm hmm.

 

Kelly 32:04

The the blanket is, you know, like worsted weight yarn. And it's only six ends per inch as compared to 22 ends per inch. So that's a lot fewer threads. And then the warp is only not even three yards long. Because the blanket is going to be three feet wide, and five feet long. So it's not even two, the blanket is not even two yards long. And then you need a little bit for waste. So I think its like a two and a half or three yard warp. So really short. So I was able to thread it, Robert was able to help me wind it on it went really smoothly. It didn't take hardly any time at all. It felt like making you know, an Aran weight sweater after making a fingering weight sweater,

 

Marsha 32:58

a lace weight sweater?

 

33:00

Yeah, yeah. Going from size zero needles to size nine needles or something. It was really, it was really easy and fast to just do an evening. So a couple of evenings. So I got that I got that accomplished. And so I've got something to... I've got something ready to go to start weaving tomorrow, which I won't because tomorrow is a work day. But you know, I have something ready to weave on the loom and then I have something warped and ready to thread on my table loom once I get the instructions from the the Jane Stafford guild on how to weave it, so

 

Marsha 33:42

Okay,

 

Kelly 33:42

yeah,

 

Marsha 33:43

That's very nice

 

Kelly 33:44

My projects!

 

Marsha 33:47

Well, I was looking at Ravelry at your reading in bed blanket.

 

Kelly 33:51

I'm so happy with it.

 

Marsha 33:53

The colors are nice.

 

33:54

I did make a rookie mistake. I will, I will admit to a rookie mistake, even though I've been weaving for a while. When I was counting, I was organizing my-- I was doing it in three parts. And I thought, okay, I've got I've got 24 ends in each section. I knew how many ends I needed. But I was counting in a place where when I count once it was actually two warp threads. So I got about two thirds of the way through it. I got two sections done before I realized that every thread I counted was actually two warp threads.

 

Marsha 34:38

Mm hmm.

 

34:39

And I didn't need to go any further. In fact, I had already gone further than I needed to be because I went further than half. You know what I mean? If I was going to count everything, if I was going to count every two as one, I only needed to have half of it. So anyway, I won't explain how that happened it's kind of embarrassing that I even made that mistake but but so I you know so I stopped. And I have a little section of the warp that that I didn't use at all that I'm going to use for my weft I'm going to save it and if I have to use it for weft threads I will. But yeah it's really pretty on the loom I I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

 

Marsha 35:27

yeah. Well the colors are pretty, really nice

 

35:30

and it's all handspun

 

Marsha 35:32

mm hmm

 

35:33

and not all dyed by me. I think two of them are dyed by me and three of the-- three of the colors came that way. You know came dyed and two of them I dyed but it's... I'm going to be really happy with it when it's done. So I'll keep you posted once I start weaving

 

Marsha 35:50

Yeah. Really nice. And what else

 

Kelly 35:56

the Weave Along is ending!

 

Marsha 35:59

Oh no... well, is that it?

 

Kelly 36:00

Yeah, that's that's my projects

 

36:04

yes the weave along is about to end so quickly go in there and put your projects in there.

 

36:10

Yeah, actually by the time this gets posted it will be over

 

Marsha 36:15

Yeah, yeah,

 

36:16

By the time this episode is up and published it will be over. In the next episode we'll announce prizes and talk about... talk about sort of the highlights of the Winter Weave Along.

 

36:29

So um, we should also then talk about our Extremities Knit and Crochet Along. I'm making the Abington mitts for that and that ends April 25. So and that's it. Anything for your extremities which we've talked about in every single episode but we'll just briefly say it's hands, arms, legs, feet. So you can... and it does say even though it does say knit crochet along, you can weave you can macrame, you can...

 

Kelly 36:59

I haven't seen any macrame socks or hats or anything in there! [laughing]

 

Kelly 37:05

Or those friendship bracelets or I mean...Jewelry.

 

Kelly 37:08

Yeah, jewelry. Would work

 

Marsha 37:10

Yes, anything. So

 

Kelly 37:13

an ankle bracelet? Oh yeah, I need an ankle bracelet. I have beads. I should make myself an ankle bracelet--crochet an ankle bracelet with the beads I have.

 

37:25

So anyway, we will draw the winner after the 25th of April and I will have two winners. One will receive a copy of the Abington Mitts pattern and the other person will win the Coffee Socks Collection patterns.

 

37:41

So yeah, so thank you! Shout out to Jen, Boston Jen for the Abington mitts pattern and Dots Dabbles Designs, who is Deborah, for offering us the Coffee Socks Collection prize.

 

Marsha 37:58

Yeah. So Kelly, is there anything else we have to talk about?

 

Kelly 38:04

I don't think so. This was an amazingly short episode.

 

Marsha 38:10

Most of it was talking about trees. [laughing]

 

Kelly 38:17

Well, you know, sometimes you just don't have a lot. You don't have a lot of knitting going on. It has been I mean, I had a lot because it's spring break, but you've had a lot of construction stuff going on. So

 

38:30

yes, cuz I yeah, cuz I've got the Ballard house under construction right now or you know, the remodels. So I have a lot going on. So

 

Kelly 38:39

I do have one question.

 

Marsha 38:41

Yes.

 

38:41

I just thought of this. Have you been able to find a or been able to sign up for an appointment for a vaccine? Do you know?

 

38:52

No, I have not. I've actually I signed up for the... in Washington State, they have the Washington, what is it now?

 

39:02

Find your phase.

 

39:03

Oh, find your phase, find your phase dot wa dot org. I think it is anyway, the point is, I signed up for that. And I have received three emails. And so they send you an email and so for the... and it says, you get it. I got it like at nine o'clock in the morning, and there's there's a there's ... over the next three days, there's appointments available at these locations. And then you get in and you just start clicking on it and but nothing's available. There was nothing available at all. So then the three days pass I get another email for over the next three days. There's spots available at at all these locations. Go in there, nothing available. Got my third one. Their spots, they'll but all these locations and nothing's available. So I don't know. So you know, you were talking about your experience. It's sort of like getting concert. tickets. And so I've heard today that even though my medical insurance is not Kaiser Permanente, you can go to Kaiser Permanente and get a...go to their website and schedule an appointment. Okay, so I was going to... I was... Tonight, that was something that I was going to do is see if I can get an appointment. So what I'm finding is I fit the criteria now I'm eligible, but I can't find an appointment. And I think it's one of those things, you have to just, I think, really, what I need to do is just sit down and just start in the morning and just early in the morning and just start looking.

 

40:38

Yeah, where to get them? Yeah, ours, I mean, I always just looked at the county, the county website, that's where I started looking at the COVID data, because I was interested in, you know, how bad it was in Monterey County. And I started looking at that, and that's where I was looking for the vaccination information, but there's getting to be more and more supply. So

 

41:00

I think so. And I think that it's one of those things when you get the email, you can't wait three hours. Like I saw the email and well, I mean, when I looked at my email, when I first looked at my email, I saw Oh, I have an email and I realized it had been sent like, three or five hours before. That's just too late. Yeah, I have to just like every morning, like, just start checking my email.

 

41:19

Yeah or check the site that they tell you to go to, like, just bookmark the site and just go to it.

 

Marsha 41:26

Even when I... After I get the vaccine, I don't really think that I'm going to be going to restaurants and

 

Kelly 41:30

Rght. No.

 

41:31

I don't honestly, like sitting here right now, I have no idea when I'm gonna be going back. I mean, I feel like once I get the vaccine, I'm probably not going to go back. When am I going back?

 

Kelly 41:41

I don't know. Yeah.

 

41:42

Not really. I don't really have. I mean, I would like to go somewhere on a plane. I mean, because I want to go someplace. But I'd like to go back to the life the way it was when we got to travel and stuff, but I can't see myself getting on a plane.

 

Kelly 41:55

Right.Well, that'll take a while. Yeah,

 

41:58

So yeah. Anyway. Well, so yes, it's something that I need to work on. I think I need to be at be a bit more proactive or more on the ball with it, too. And I'm going to, you know, as soon as I get the email as soon as I, I mean, I need to start searching for the email, instead of just like, Oh, look, I got an email.

 

42:16

Yeah, well, and I had, you know, emails from colleagues. It'd be like, Oh, I was on the website. So I saw there's this many appointments available. You know, I had I had that sort of network.

 

Marsha 42:27

Yeah, yeah.Okay, well, um, since we have nothing else to talk about. I'm sure we could go on forever.

 

Kelly 42:34

But let's not. Yeah. [laughing]

 

Marsha 42:39

Okay, my dear. We will talk.

 

42:41

Yes. Bye, everyone. Bye, Marsha.

 

Marsha 42:43

Bye.

 

42:44

Thank you so much for listening. To subscribe to the podcast, visit Two Ewes Fiber Adventures dot com.

 

Marsha 42:51

Join us on our adventures on Ravelry and Instagram. I am betterinmotion and Kelly is 1hundred projects.

 

Kelly 42:59

Until next time, we're the Two Ewes

 

Both 43:02

doing our part for World Fleece!


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