Nesting

The view from the shop

In recent years my cozy little cottage here on the mountain hasn't been quite as comfortable for me. I don't like to be negative, either here on the blog or out in life, so I don't talk much about the fact that my father moved in with me five years ago. It has caused some inconvenience, since the house is small and needs a lot of work, and the added expense of having my father there has kept me from doing a lot of the things I would like to the house. And since the house is small my share of the place is crammed up in one room, where I sleep most of the time and tried to work and have a life.

Yarn room at the shop

I'm blessed, of course, in still having both my parents and in relatively good heath, so this isn't really a complaint. But I'm doubly blessed, in that my uncle has allowed me to move my shop into the little house on Concord Road, which doesn't seem so little after so much time in so little space back at the house. For the past two months I've been happily working away at creating what I hope will be an inviting shop for book lovers and fiber fanatics with the help of friends and family. What I didn't realize until recently is that I've also been creating a retreat for myself where I can be surrounded by silence and the serenity I've often missed at home recently. I'm looking forward to meeting visitors at my little home away from home.

And I'm triply blessed in that my wonderful friend and fellow fiber maniac Chris of Woolybuns came for a visit this past week. It was wonderful to have a place for her to stay and for us to get together with local friends for a knitting fest. I don't know why I didn't manage to get any pictures but I'm sure she will be blogging about our adventures. We had a wonderful visit and I only wish the country was smaller so Connecticut was closer to Virginia!

What I'm spinning: Just finished plying "Bluegrass" hand dyed Romney singles
What I'm knitting: Charity scarf, Truly Tasha's Shawl and fingerless mitts
What I'm crocheting: Hibernating
What I'm reading: Black Notice by Patricia Cornwell, Dracula by Bram Stoker (Craft-Lit) and The Golden Ass by Apuleius (1001 Books)
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: The wind in the trees

A Blue Ridge January

January in Meadows of Dan sometimes looks like this:



And then sometimes it looks like this:

What I'm spinning: "Bluegrass" Hand dyed, hand carded Romney wool from Thistle Cove Farm
What I'm knitting: Fingerless mitts and Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Hibernating
What I'm reading: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte for book club and
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit podcast, Dracula by Bram Stoker

This lamp post in front of the shop delights me. I suppose because it reminds me of Narnia.

A Mad Hatters' Tea Party

My Fibery Mad Hatter's Hat

When I decided to start blogging at the first of the year, I made a promise to myself that I would make a post every day, even if it was only a photograph or a quotation. I haven't quite kept that promise. It's not so much that I'm busy, although I am, with setting up the shop and keeping the bills paid on time. It's more that there seems to be only a few days when there is something new to say. Most of my days march along with a certain sameness to their hours.

A Classic Merry Widow (the hat, I mean)

This past Sunday, however, was very different from all the days surrounding it. I took the day off because I was invited to a Mad Hatters' Tea Party at the house in Croquet Hollow, just over the hill from my place on Squirrel Spur.

The next victim

When I arrived there were already hats in the making, and the process was entertaining, if a bit grim for the participant. The hats are made of sheets of packing paper and clear packing tape, and the idea is that each hat is unique and fits the participant. To make it fit, the hat is formed TIGHTLY over the face and head of the, uh, volunteer.

Is she still OK in there?

Then the edges are rolled up into a hat brim and the pleased new hat owner heads off to decorate her new creation. They all turned out beautiful, very different from each other and they all reflected the unique personalities of their creators.

A real charmer (and so is the hat)

There was a little contest to see which hat was the most popular. It was tough to vote but Mary D. was the winner for her quirky creation.

Mary's fun hat

We had a lovely tea with wonderful savories and sweets and three different blends, including an unusual Hungarian herb tea and a flavorful African black tea. There was an interesting mix of intelligent people, good friends new and old and the discussion was great between exclamations of admiration for the table and food.

Sweet Stella

The family dog, Stella, wasn't always sure what was going on but since everyone seemed to be having a good time she was OK with it. It was a wonderful and relaxing afternoon and I was ready to go back to work after having so much fun.

What I'm spinning: "Bluegrass" A hand dyed Romney batt
What I'm knitting: Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John
What I'm reading: The Golden Ass by Apuleius
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit Dracula
How the diet is going: Haven't lost any weight according to my cheap scale but a few inches are gone here and there

A Peek At the Bookshelves at Greenberry House

A few of the history titles at Greenberry House

The Calm Before the Storm

Snow is supposed to be on the way but today is gloriously warm and sunny. At least, gloriously warm for January. I've been hurrying to get a bunch of things done before the weather changes. Bringing books and paper into the shop so that I won't have to go out onto the road if the snow really happens, getting a few groceries so I can nibble while I work and bringing in lots and lots of wood at the house.

So I've accomplished most of that, and suddenly I've been hit with a remarkable lack of initiative. All I want to do is lay down and take a nap. Possibly because I haven't been sleeping as well as usual the last few nights, or maybe it's because the weather really is going to change and it's triggering some latent need to hibernate. Whatever the reason, this lack of ambition is seriously cutting into my creative efforts at the moment. I really have so much I want to do, and there aren't enough hours in a day, even without a nap!

Speaking of creative, I had a wonderful opportunity last month to take a class with Merike Saarniit, knit designer and extraordinary teacher of all things Estonian knit. Wooly Jumper Yarns in Floyd hosted this local class and I learned amazing things. The fingerless mitt above is what we learned to make and they have become my constant companions since I finished the pair. They don't exactly match, but don't tell Merike!

What I'm spinning: Finished the East Friesian and haven't started another batch. Maybe some dyed Romney in my future
What I'm knitting: Truly Tasha's Shawl by Nancy Bush
What I'm crocheting: Winkle Vest by Tracy St. John
What I'm reading: Just finished the Trollope and haven't started another book. Weird. But there was a handspinner in La Vendee!
Current sounds & sights for spinning along: Craft-Lit podcast - Dracula
How the diet is going: Holding my own, getting lots of exercise

Winter Beauty

We're having an unusually warm winter here in Meadows of Dan. Two light snows and a short cold snap have been the extent of it so far. Today it's foggy with a little rain, more like March than January. I keep thinking the weather will get bad and I will have to stay in and spin! I did get back to the wheel last evening and finished spinning up a bobbin of East Friesian wool.

Yes, this is from a sheep. Apparently this breed, the East Friesian, is a relatively recent import to America from Europe and is used as a dairy sheep as well as a meat breed. According to the online resources I checked the wool is considered coarse, but the wool I've been spinning, from a local farmer, is pretty nice. Not extremely soft but certainly not unpleasant. Would be great for hats and mittens. This wool was clean but there are some short cuts in it. I'm going to recommend that they fuss at their shearer and make sure their fleece skirters shake out the fleeces to get the second cuts out.



Things are moving right along at the shop, thanks to the help of a lot of people. My stepdad Wendell put up my larger mailbox so I can keep mailing eBay purchases out and maybe receive some yarn and knitting needles from here and there. Linda and Mary have been coming and helping organize and Stella, Beth and Kathleen have visited and cheered us on. Peter and Kathleen did the huge bulk of the work in moving over all the displays and a lot of the remaining yarn and fiber stock. It has been a wonderful community effort and I'm grateful. Right now I'm pricing books from storage and getting them onto the shelves in the book rooms. An April opening date is certainly looking possible right now.