Lots Of Changes

There have been lots of changes around here in the last two years. The pandemic has affected all of us, and we are no exception. Pat and I and have lost interest in cycling, spinning, weaving and knitting. I sold my spinning wheel, and have put the looms and knitting away for now. The bikes have all been sold along with the cycling tools and accessories. These have been replaced by stained glass, fused glass, and, for Pat, guitars. All the garage space taken up by bikes and work stands has now been converted to a glass work area. There are more posts to follow as we pursue a new, to us, world of glass art and guitars. Please come back and check from time to time.

See ya,

Sandy and Pat (yes, Duffy is still with us!)

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One thing leads to another

This……..is now turning into this……The warp is hand spun merino wool hand dyed with rubber rabbitbrush and iron to give it a light celery green color (the camera doesn’t pick up the true color.)  I am weaving it on a Schacht Flip rigid heddle loom.  It wants to be a scarf.

Stay tuned for more at My Yellow Swing.

See ya,

Sandy O’

Yes, it’s been a while!

To say that I have been busy is an understatement.  Three years ago, Pat and I moved to a 55+ gated community.  As one who can not just sit around, I submitted my application to be elected to the Homeowners Association Board of Directors.  I was elected for 2018-2019 term and served as Secretary of the Board and was appointed chairman for the Activities and Hospitality Committee during 2018 and as Vice-President of the Board and the chairman for the Safety, Security and Facilities Committee for 2019.  As the old adage goes, “in for a penny, in for a pound”, I was elected for a second term and am serving as President of the Board of Directors and chairman of the Finance and Reserve Fund Committee for 2020.   What can I say?

In my spare time (yes, I have spare time because my absolutely wonderful husband does the shopping, cooking and cleaning!), I spun up some roving, merino, yak and silk.

I finished a scarf on the rigid heddle loom.  It is hand spun alpaca.

The tapestry loom is warped with Brown Sheep gray, red and black.  It’s slow going but who’s in a hurry!

Duffy, Pat and I send you the best holiday wishes.

See ya,

Sandy at My Yellow Swing

Winter? Here?

This is what I woke up to this morning!  Arizona Winter!Yes, that is snow and the prediction is more to come.  Not enough to make a snowman or even a decent snowball.  It will be gone soon.The funny thing is my rosebush decided to put out one more flower.Not much weaving, spinning or knitting going in the Studio.  I hand quilted a top that I found in my mom’s sewing room last year.  Mom bought it at an estate sale in Kentucky years ago. It’s very old and faded, but I just couldn’t let all that hand appliqué be lost.  I still need to wash and dry it.  That can wait until the weather improves.Here’s wishing you a belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year!

See ya,

Sandy

Sorry it’s been so long!

I did not realize it had been so long since my last blog post.  Wow!  One would think I had fallen off the planet, but truly, I have been busy.  Last October, I was elected to our Homeowners Association Board of Directors and volunteered to be Chairman of the Activities and Hospitality Committee for our HOA.  That has left me with not a lot of spare time.  However, I have managed some knitting and just a little weaving. Here’s a shawl that I knitted from variegated yarn.I am working on a scarf called the “Work Day” scarf.I love making mug rugs on my Hokkett loom.I took another trip to Kentucky at the end of September to visit family.  Mom and “The Girls” had lunch at Cracker Barrel.Lunch again with Mom and my niece, Kaylee, at a Mexican restaurant.  Who knew you could get good Mexican food in Kentucky?Of course, a stop for ice cream!Back home in Arizona, I celebrated my ……(drum roll, please!)………….65 trips around the sun.  Can’t believe it?  Neither can I!  I had a wonderful dinner with our neighbors, Dorothy and Jerry.  They brought the “Birthday Bread”. Pat and Duffy made the celebration complete.I am still enjoying the beautiful mums from Dorothy and Jerry.As always, I will leave you with a Duffy moment.  It’ s Wubba Time.See ya,

Sandy O’

Spinning for the Tour de Fleece

During the month of July, there is a professional bike race in France called the Tour de France.  Wool spinners celebrate this race by participating in the Tour de Fleece.  I dusted off my Kromski spinning wheel and managed to pedal (spin) a few hundred yards of Shetland wool.I played around with some thread plying on another of my single hand spun yarn.  The type of thread made a big difference in the final look of the yarn.   The lighter color was plied with a rayon variegated thread.The darker yarn was plied with a thicker variegated cotton thread.  What a change!On a different note, we had quite a storm last week in Southern Arizona.  It’s our “monsoon” season and normally we get afternoon thunderstorms, a lot of lightning and thunder, not much rain.  This time it rained 1 3/8 inches, enough to get a stream running down the street plus about 10 minutes of pea size to marble size hail.We really can’t complain, we need every single drop.

See ya,

Sandy O’ at My Yellow Swing

Travels

Pat and I have been on the go recently.  I went to Kentucky to visit family, Pat went to Albuquerque to bike ride with friends.  Duffy stayed home.  My visit to Kentucky started with a road trip to Bowling Green, KY, specifically Western Kentucky University to watch my youngest niece, Kaylee, graduate.The rest of the time was catching up with sisters and Mom.I did find a special place in Lebanon, KY.  Oh, yeah!

Two weeks later, Pat loaded up his bikes and headed to Albuquerque to ride the La Ruta del Rancho Rendejo 2018 with Patrick O’, Khalil S. and Herb C., internet blog buddies from Mad Dog Media.  It was a 33 mile out-and-back ride on the Paseo del Bosque, no mishaps and from the grins on the faces, a pretty good time.So everyone is back home and Duffy is happy.See you later at My Yellow Swing.

Sandy O’

Simple Pleasures

Hi All,

It’s been a strange springtime.  The weather in Southern Arizona has kept me guessing on how to dress each morning.  I start out in jeans and long sleeves and by noon, it’s still jeans, but short sleeves.  This morning, I pulled on my shorts and it finally felt good.

So, what has been happening at My Yellow Swing?  I set up my antique pin loom with some scrap yarn.  I am pleased with the final product.  It will make nice placemats or small throw pillows.  Thanks, Kay.

I’ve spun the Churro fleece from a local ranch.  I will be using it in a tapestry weaving.I knitted a neck scarf from some leftover sock yarn.And I tried some art yarn in a couple of small weavings on my Hokett loom.  I just love that little loom.I will close now with an absolutely beautiful sunrise from last week.See ya

Sandy O’ at My Yellow Swing

 

Just a Quick Note

This is a super short post to show my recent spinning session.  I bought 4 ounces of Churro wool at our local farmer’s market.   I used the drum carder to blend in the light and dark colors of the wool.  Here is the finished double plyed yarn.  I am thinking that this would make a good plain weave fabric to become a tailored vest.  My friends cannot believe that I could cut up my hand woven fabric instead of leaving it whole as a shawl.Duffy’s not so sure either.

We shall see.

Sandy at My Yellow Swing

The Beginning and the End

I had received some beautiful hand dyed indigo wool roving from Dan Wibbels,  a distant cousin in Indiana.   I used my drum carder and blended the blue with white merino wool.  It spun up wonderfully.  I knitted it along with Brown Sheep navy and light gray yarn into a long sweater vest.  There is also my light blue hand spun yarn on the cap sleeves and around the collar.  I didn’t get a picture of the knitting on the needles, but here is a picture blocking the front vestAnd a not so good picture of the back.The finished project…..  I would have modeled it for a picture, but it’s in the mid 70’s here and WAY too warm to wear it.  I will wear it IF we get some cooler weather.  If not, there’s always next winter.

Duffy was impressed.

See ya,

Sandy at My Yellow Swing