Pleasant Day at Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe, Kansas

My daughter, Jennie, and granddaughter, Lala, and I spent the afternoon today with fellow KansasKnitter Elizabeth at her yarn shop Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe. She has a neat little store that's cozy and inviting. She's starting small, and is only open 3 days a week, but if you are around LaHarpe on Tues., Thurs., or Saturday, you should stop in and visit.

Remember all my talking about discovering drop spindle spinning? Elizabeth invited me to the store to teach me how to use my new spindle. Boy, does she know her stuff! I can't begin to tell you all she taught us but it sure had my interest. Not only does Elizabeth understand spinning, she's up on spinning history. Like me, she isn't a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, but we both find elements of the group intriguing. (For me it's costuming, crafting and creating a persona that is interesting. I have no desire to wear armor or joust.)

Elizabeth showed us how to work the roving and stretch it to get a thread going, then how to work the spindle to spin it. I had expected my spinning to be as thick as worsted wool. She explained that what we were spinning was just one ply of the final yarn. Individual plys are put together to build yarn. Different weights of yarn have different numbers of plys. Ah! The light dawns.

Lala began talking about Sleeping Beauty and the spinning wheel, so Elizabeth showed her a real spinning wheel and how it worked. She also showed Lala a different wheel used for making fine yarn, such as cotton or silk. This wheel had a needle spindle, such as the one in the fairy tale. Lala touched it very carefully and agreed that would be sharp enough to prick the princess' finger.

I know this is the Year of the Stash, but I had to buy some yarn. Being a good girl, I started making a hat to use up the sock yarn left over from my latest pair of socks. I did use up the yarn -- before the hat was finished. So that was a valid reason to buy enough yarn to finish the hat, right?

So now I have a new interest (spinning) and a fantasy of raising angora rabbits (don't have space for sheep) so I can grow my own yarn. Hm... no, Pat has sworn he doesn't do rabbits... Maybe I should perfect the spinning before I worry about a source of fiber...

Shawl Stick

I found a neat goody Saturday at the Settler's Farm yarn store in Wamego. It's called a Shawl Stick. The stick I bought is about six inches long, and tapered to a dull point. The thickest part of the barrel is about the size of a #10 knitting needle. There are decorative turned knobs on top. Other sticks that were for sale were flat with scrolled decorations on top. The possibilities for decoration are endless.
Why is it a neat goody? It keeps my shawl on my shoulders! I love my shawls but never wear them very long because they slip off one side or the other. The stick works like cloak pin. It slides through some of the decorative openings in the knit or crochet and secures the shawl around me. I even took a nap with my shawl on and nothing came loose. It was great!

I can really enjoy my shawls now.

Wamego Oz Museum

Many of my KansasKnitters friends who went to the Wamego Wool Fest also zipped over to Manhattan to pay homage at the Wildflowers yarn store. We didn't. After a leisurely lunch at the Friendship Restaurant with Carol and Carla, two of my long standing friends, Lisa, Lala and I toured the Wool Fest and the Settler's Farm yarn shop, then we took in the Oz Museum. The minute we arrived in town L
ala had declared she wanted to go there. We kept our promise that we would see it before we left.

It's a cool little museum. There was a lot more stuff to see than I anticipated. There are life-sized replicas of the characters from the Oz film and a lot of movie memorabilia as well as copies of the book in various editions, English and other languages, as well as Oz spin-offs such as dolls and games. I never knew there was an Oz version of Monopoly! Lala wanted to take home the Glenda the Good Witch doll. It was at least 20" high and fully costumed as Glenda. I'm glad there was a glass case around it or my doll lover would have been checking it out up close and personal.

We asked Lala which was her favorite character. She couldn't decide, so I took her picture with all of them. She likes Dorothy and the ruby slippers (the slippers on display had hundreds of rhinestones handset on them), Tinman, Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow, but she decided the Wicked Witch was scary. The Wizard was temporarily unavailable (or hiding behind the curtains) so we didn't get a picture with him.

Ever since seeing the Oz movie as a child, I have wondered how they got the flying monkeys to fly. I couldn't decide if the monkeys were real people in costume or models. Sometimes they looked one way, sometimes another, but the transition was seamless and it was hard to tell what I was seeing. This was especially true when I was watching on a small screen and was wearing glasses with old prescription lenses.

The mystery is solved! The Wamego museum has two of the last surviving four miniature monkeys used to film the flying scenes. The figures are about four inches high and appear to be made of clay. They are modeled and painted to look like the actors who dressed as monkeys. The flying was done as some version of claymation.

A video clip discussed other movie animation tricks. There were several techniques invented for this movie. It had some of the most intensive special effects of its time, the Star Wars of its day. The video clip was discussing how the tornado scene was done. The funnel cloud was created by making a gauze funnel and attaching the top to a runner across the top of a sound stage while the base was on wheels on the floor. This allowed special effects men to operate top and bottom independently while the film crew got shots of it long distance and coming straight at you. The flying debris was added via blue screen later.

The visit to the museum was enjoyable. Lala just had to have her own Toto from the gift shop. On the drive home she sat in the backseat happily playing with Toto and singing Oz songs.

Yarn crawl, grandkids, a good museum. It was a good day. I'm going to have to take Lala to Sedan next. They have a Yellow Brick Road.

Wamego Wool Fest 2009

Lala and Lisa at the Wamego Oz Museum

My friend Lisa, granddaughter Lala and I made it to Wamego. I saw several KansasKnitters there, so I believe we had a good turn out. Some of the vendors were surprised we came from so far away to see their wares.

We had a great time petting yarn, watching demos, and adding a few lines of stitches to the giant scarf project they had in the works. The goal is to make a scarf that will wrap around the entire room we were in by the time they hold another event in late Spring/early Summer. (didn't catch the details on that part.)

Even Lala, age 9, had a good time. She learned to needle felt. I now have a dark pink heart with a lighter pink "breast cancer" ribbon inside it to wear on my coat. Lisa received a felted Goldilocks for her sweater and Lala made a braided/felted breast cancer ribbon for her mom.

Lisa and I are now proud owners of drop spindles and some roving, but we aren't too certain what to do with them. Lala was humming "Baa Baa Black Sheep" at me as we were getting in the car, because I had 3 bags full. (Hey!T'were Ziplock  bags.) Sheep's wool, Alpaca, and Mohair. Don't know what I'll make from them, but it will probably be something small like scarves or hats. Some of KansasKnittersters talked about finding bamboo roving, but I didn't notice it or I would have tried that, too. Who knows. Next I may learn to dye yarn.

It looks like the spinning demos inspired many of us -- and reinforced those who already knew how. Lisa and I talked to a young girl named Ashley -- okay, she was young to me but probably college age (Lisa's age.) Dressed in black and very Goth, with a odd hairdo, spiked leather dog-collar necklace and strange jewelry, she made quite a contrast sitting there doing such a traditional craft as hand spinning yarn. She made spinning with a drop spindle look so-o-o easy. We caught the spinning bug from her. Spindles today, wheels tomorrow!

After talking to Ashley, we chatted with some of the vendors. One of the ladies had some expensive, weighted wheels to sell, but she told us there are lots of patterns available on the Internet. She showed us drop spindles that were made from CDs CDs and dowel rods. Talk about inexpensive equipment! My son always has a supply of "coasters" fCDs CDs that didn't burn properly. Since Lisa is his girlfriend, she has access to that stash... Hm... Resources! avarousricious leer> However, we opted for "real" ones made from wood that another vendor was selling. They were heavier. (Okay, they were the same spindle Ashley was using, so we thought we'd seen how they should be used.)

You know, watching someone do it IS NOT the same as doing it yourself? I chatted with Lisa online online later that evening. Neither of us was having any success getting started. Elizabeth of Whimsical Wool in LaHarpe, Ks., has come to the rescue. She heard my whimperings on a Kansasknits post and told me offline that she could teach me how to use this new toy. I will be visiting her very soon.

Yarn Crawling

Oh, the JOYS OF RETIREMENT! Tomorrow my granddaughter Lala and I are going to Wamego, Kansas to the Winter Wool Fest. I'm looking forward to Girls-Day-Out time with Lala and with Joe's girlfriend Lisa. Most of all, we are all really looking forward to petting all the nice yarns that we will see. We may take in some of the free training being offered.

This is the second Girls-Day-Out I've done since retiring. My daughter's friend Becca came up from Texas over New Year's. Since Becca is as big at knitting as I am, my daughter and I HAD to take her to Lawrence to the Yarn Barn. We also hit Hancock's while we were there and I purchased fabric to redeem the Grandma Iris' Boutique gift certificates I gave Jen, Lala and Reyes at Christmas. (There are several others yet to be redeemed for other kids and grandkids.) They each get one handmade outfit from me: they get to pick the pattern and fabric.

Guess what I'll be doing for the next few months?

Gotta get that spare room reorganized and set up the sewing machines. Time's a wasting and there is fabric waiting to be sewn and yarn ready to be knitted. Ah, it's going to be so nice to be retired.

2008 Projects

It's the end of the year and time to think about what I accomplished.

Well, the big one was -- I RETIRED!!!!! I've been officially retired for about a week and 2 days. It hasn't sunk in yet, but I could get used to staying home. The house is already cleaner and I'm cooking more. Hm... preparing for 12 to eat here for Christmas does lead to cooking more... and housecleaning.

On the family side, both of our daughters (and their kids) moved to Kansas this year. My daughter and her two kids moved to Iola from Dallas, Texas in the summer. Pat's daughter and her three daughters moved to Burlington from Batesville, Indiana right before Christmas. We have five of nine grandkids within driving distance. How much better can that be?

As for my knitting, socks were my main accomplishment. I finished the 5 pairs of grandkid socks I had planned to make. Reyes and Lala, living in Texas, didn't want socks. (They are rethinking that decision now that they are in Kansas where we actually have WINTER!) They wanted scarves. Reyes got a Harry Potter scarf; Lala got a pink hat/scarf set.

Now they have moved to Kansas, so I cast on socks for them, too. Lala got hers in Sept. I have about 2 inches left on Bear's socks. Should finish them tomorrow when Pat and I make a road trip to Indiana. Why Indiana? Our other daughter, JJ, and her 3 girls are also moving to Kansas. We're helping with the move. The drive to Batesville, Ind. is longer than the drive to Dallas, so I should finish Bear's socks and the pair I am working on for myself as well. (Pat never lets me drive.)

I finished the 3 sections of Pat's vest, but found out they were all different lengths. I've ripped them back to the same point and will finish it soon. I need to be in a place where I can concentrate on the pattern when I bring it back together.

I have a baby blanket on the needles for one of Jen's friends. Of course I've made several dish clothes along the way. They are ubiquitous. Love 'em. Don't want to wash dishes with anything else now that I've learned to knit my own.

I have big plans to knit more in 2009. I will also be sewing. I gave everyone gift certificates from Grandma Iris' Boutique this Christmas. I will be sewing clothes for grandkids, kids, and Pat, as well as myself. You can see that I'm going to enjoy being retired.

Why I Don't Do Sweaters

This picture shows the last sweater I ever knit. I made it when Jennie -- the mom in the pictures -- was in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Lala, the one wearing it, is now in the 3rd grade.

Yes, it took three years to make the sweater. I'm fortunate it only took that long. If we had not had unusual circumstances that year, it might have taken longer. I finished the sweater in the spring of 1990. George and our son Joe were still in Arizona selling the house there, and Jennie and I were living in an apartment in Texas where we were camping until the family could get back together. It was the only time my job caused us to move instead of George's job. Let me tell you, having Dad tying up the loose ends and finishing the move was far more difficult than all the times the kids and I followed him! (But that's another story...)

Jen and I were living in an apartment complex that had a swimming pool. She was a fish and loved to swim. I was an overweight whale embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit. We compromised. Every evening after work, she got to swim and I sat by the pool knitting.

It was a restful ritual. I enjoyed watching her have a good time and the sweater grew under my fingertips. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn just as I was ready to finish the turtle neck. Motts was our only source of yarn, so I didn't have much to choose from. I found an ecru that almost matched. It was scratchy and I was never happy with it, but I finished the sweater.

Jen wore it until she could not longer get it over her head. Then the sweater got stored in a box and forgotten.

When we moved to Kansas, I found the sweater. Jen now had a daughter who was in grade school. Hm... I wonder...


Before I cleaned the sweater and gave it to Lala, I decided to fix that turtle neck I never liked. This time I had better yarn stores available. I found a yarn that could pass for the original. I frogged the old collar and knit a new one.

It may even be worth taking three years to knit a sweater.

Now this Aran biking sweater is a family heirloom. The next generation can wear it -- and maybe pass it along to her daughter when she enters the 3rd grade. As for me, I'm going to stick to smaller projects. Like socks. I'm really enjoying socks. At the most 2 skeins of yarn and I can get them done in a fraction of the time that sweater took!