
And here are my most recently finished socks. The Thrianta socks. As posted before, they are Lorna's Laces yarn in the colorway 'Flames'. The yarn in really, really soft. I have my concerns about felting and pilling, but we'll see. The pattern is a basic toe up with various modifications from me. The cuff stitch pattern is from Charlene Schurch (sp?) book. Would I replace my standard pattern for this one? nope. I still prefer the way a cuff down sock fits my foot. I also completely prefer the folded cuff socks. I hate socks that come half way up my calf (and always end up around my ankle anyway) but I also don't like tennis socks. These cuffed socks fit my ankle PERFECTLY. Many thanks to Marguerite of Stitches of Violet for the basic pattern. You will find her free pattern on the right sidebar. GREAT sock pattern!
and the ruin of my Memorial Day weaving plans. See that? need a closer look?
That's called a KNOT. I think it's called that because as long as it's there, you are KNOT weaving, you will KNOT have any of that thread in your stash to fix the problem and the store that carries it will KNOT be open so that you can buy more. {SIGH} It's fixed now and I'm back to enjoying the project but HOW did I miss that when winding the warp? Ah well, it gave me an excuse to spend a morning at The Mannings with a couple of really great people, so it is KNOT a total loss. :)
THEY HAVE GIVEN THEIR SONS TO THE MILITARY SERVICES. THEY
WOMEN WHO STEPPED UP WERE MEASURED AS CITIZENS OF THE NATION,
OUR DEBT TO THE HEROIC MEN AND VALIANT WOMEN IN THE SERVICE
WE ARE DETERMINED THAT BEFORE THE SUN SETS ON THIS TERRIBLE STRUGGLE
Weaving
k it off. Better a naked loom than an embarassingly neglected one. Sorta. Well, I finally got the warp back on the loom and ready for weaving.
variations at the Farm Show in 2005. The point was to show people how the different features of the weaving process - threading, treadling and tie up - affect the design. So now I went back and wanted to use the same warp in a more conventional way to make a pretty table runner. Big problem...I can't find my draft collection books OR the drawdown for this particular design and I already cut it off the loom weeks ago. UGH. Well, I'm rather proud of myself. I went back to the sampler, picked out the two designs I wanted to use and actually worked out the drawdown in it's entirety from my sampler! This might seem easy to an experienced weaver but I haven't done any of that for about 2 years. The nice part is that now I really do feel like I'm ready to get back to the loom. My brain is really thinking about the structure of the weave, not just the actions.
hey come in a few different varieties and every one he liked cost a small fortune. I'm sorry, but I'm not investing >$50 for a lima bean size fish as the first stock in a new tank. Well, the Clark's Clownfish was only $14.95 and nicely marked so that's what we went with. He's turned out to be quite an entertaining little guy too.

individual on this earth no matter how downtrodden, no matter how mean, ugly or abusive, no matter how arrogant or abrassive ...no matter how much it makes you cry. It's a commitment to cry...lots and often. A nurse, unlike any other medical professional including doctors, cannot ever refuse care to a patient for any reason. The nurse is the only medical professional whose mandated position is as the patient's advocate. Their voice when they have none. Their protector. Their confidant. Their confessor and their priest. Their best friend and their family. Sometimes their cheerleader and sometimes their taskmaster.



and here is the first...His 'lasso' is one of the scrumptious butter soft alpaca scarves that Wini 'whipped out' for us to wear. We all wore
off white shirts (except for our black sheep weaver) and a contrasting scarf of natural alpaca color. The knit stitch made the coolest surface design. It was done on a knitting machine and sometimes that makes stitches that can be tricky to duplicate, but if it looks familiar to anyone, please speak up! I left the picture fairly large so you can click on it and get a seriously close veiw.
The alpaca spinning is done. Invoiced. Mailed. Finished. {HUGE sigh}
Note: Sorry for the lack of pictures but friends will be emailing me files later this week. I promise some really great photos! But thank you's shouldn't wait that long.
This weekend was the Alpaca Fleece to Shawl event at PAOBA which was inspired by Wini Labreque and organized by me, Elaine Harvey. We had more fun than ought to be legal! This year proceeds benefited the Children's Miracle Network/Penn State Children's Hospital at Hershey Med Center. Between Tom Knisely's daughter Olivia (herself a miracle child) going person to person for donations, the money people dropped in our team boxes to "vote" for their favorite, the 50/50 raffle - GET THIS!!! The generous gentleman who won the raffle donated his $900 back to the CMN!!!!!!!!!! somebody go buy an alpaca from him would ya? - and the raffle of the shawls, we believe we probably raised around $4000.00 for CMN/PSCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It don't get much better than that.
HUGE thanks goes to Tom Knisely our Weaver, Kris Peters, Judy Benner, Wini Labreque, our spinners and the Red Rose Treadling Toes team for such generous donation of their time and talents. Of course the biggest thanks still goes to all the individuals who donated so generously of their $$$$. It all benefits the children. What better Mother's Day gift than to save some mother's child, eh? If anyone would still like to make a monetary donation through this event, please contact Helen Humphreys
Silvercloud Farm
412.913.8147
helen@silvercloudfarm.com
Or you can go HERE to make an online donation and just let them know that you want to credit the PAOBA Fleece to Shawl Auction.
We hope to make a presentation of the money raised on the CMN Telethon June 4

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on
business, I noticed a Marine sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but
did not put two and two together. After we boarded our flight, I turned
to the sergeant, who'd been invited to sit in First Class (across from
me), and inquired if he was heading home.
No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him home to his family.
The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the gut. It was an honor for him. Hetold me that, although he didn't know the soldier, he had delivered the
news of his passing to the soldier's family and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days. I turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.
Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the following announcement over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I
ask that you please remain in your seats when we open the! forward
door to allow Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow
soldier. We will then turn off the seat belt sign."
Without a sound, all went as requested. I
noticed the sergeant saluting the casket as it was brought off the
plane, and his action made me realize that I am proud to be an American.
So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do so we can live the way we do.
Stuart Margel, Washington, D.C.
climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his
casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac.
During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful: "See the
people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their ! minds, knowing that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They will
remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to remember bringing that Marin
e home. And they should."
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
The
night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused
to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last
time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the
flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played
songs that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she
wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would
be kind of nice if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what
he would have wanted."
From me... Thank You.
Which is why you haven't heard much from me. I'm still working on the Handcrafter's Spin Off contest and although I really do love the whole process, it gets a little much after awhile. So I try to get away occasionally.
So last weekend, I did indeed get away to Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Had a GREAT time with some friends from EZasPi stayed with my good friend Susan and made a few purchases. I wasn't overly eager to jump on the usual blog-wagon and hurry to post all my acquisitions, but a few friends have asked, so here you have it. 
Cestari Cotton/Wool blend. I'm thinking an entrelac tank top for the summer. Anyone have a good pattern?
Cestari Wool in Denim color. I'm hoping this will be a great all purpose wool. They advertise it as machine washable with care. 

Sock yarns (brands obvious, right?) I was going for monochrome colors this year because I really want to do some texture stuff and I not only have enough handpaints, but they don't do texture as well. 
Oops, I lied a little. I did get this STR yarn. I couldn't help it, I like the colors. Actually, despite the 800 skeins (at $21 EACH?!) sold in less than 2 hours!!!! this was the only colorway that really wanted to go home with me. Love this yarn, they just were not my colors.
Hatchtown Drop Spindle which will perfect to spin this...
15 micron Hyperfine Merino. Yeah Merino...as in SHEEP wool. Holy crap that's fine. Check it our next to Anogra. It's equally fine. The Angora still has a much softer hand, but come on! SHEEP! wow. 
CVM fleece in the prettiest soft grey. I had to buy this...no really, I HAD to. My friend Kevin is considering adding this breed to his small spinner's flock and I took one for the team volunteering to do the R&D work. Aren't I generous? So sacrificial...yup, that's me. :) Hey, I only bought a pound of it anyway.
...that it ever would happen again?...God Bless America again! 
From Charlie Daniels...yes, THAT Charlie Daniels! :)
Mexican Standoff
I don’t know how everybody else feels about it, but to me I think
Hispanic people in this country, legally or illegally, made a huge
public relations mistake with their recent demonstrations.
I don’t blame anybody in the world for wanting to come to the United
States of America, as it is a truly wonderful place. But when the first
thing you do when you set foot on American soil is illegal it is flat
out wrong and I don’t care how many lala land left heads come out of
the woodwork and start trying to give me sensitivity lessons.
I don’t need sensitivity lessons, in fact I don’t have anything against
Mexicans, I just have something against criminals and anybody who comes
into this country illegally is a criminal and if you don’t believe it
try coming into America from a foreign country without a passport and
see how far you get.
What disturbs me about the demonstrations is that it’s tantamount to
saying, “I am going to come into your country even if it means breaking
your laws and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
It’s an “in your face” action and speaking just for me I don’t like it
one little bit and if there were a half dozen pairs of gonads in
Washington bigger than English peas it wouldn’t be happening.
Read the entire article here...no really....READ the entire article!
CHARLIE DANIELS FOR PRESIDENT!!! (quick, sombody make me a button!)
I'm posting a link here to my flickr page showing my current litter of Thrianta juniors. What I'm looking for most is juding comments about these guys, hense the belly shots. The rabbits were mostly unposed so that they would show their own posture and type. The photos were shot in bright sun and identical automatic color correction was applied to all the photos. There are no DQ's, no white fur though some is very light on the ends of the tails. They are still housed together and I noticed a scratched eye or two but no other injuries (time to separate I do believe). The photo numbers are pretty common sense. There is one doe and her number is D1, the bucks are B0(zero) through B3. I know which ones I like best, but let me know what you think.
Note: Please know who your author is before making comments. She IS indigenous, and she is far from uninformed. This country WAS colonized in a ruthless and violent means. If you are not American, yet commenting on American politics, it would be wise to understand American history.
The ends do not justify the means. If you are hungry, work as hard at changing your own environment/country as you do illegally sneaking into mine. A man being hungry does not justify breaking into my home, sleeping in my bed, claiming my paycheck, being treated by my doctor at my expense and insisting that we all speak his language while he changes my radio station. If he wants to live in my world, he can follow the same rules as the others living in my world. If his world is so horrible, he can expend the same energy to change it for himself as he can stealing from me.
English for Immigrants 101...
Criminal - n. One that has committed or been legally convicted of a crime.
Illegal - adj. Prohibited by law.
Alien - n. An unnaturalized foreign resident of a country. Also called noncitizen.
America was not built by Immigrants. It was colonized by Immigrants. America was doing quite well when populated by it's indigenous people, thank you very much.
American INDUSTRY was built by Immigrants; LEGAL immigrants.
When I, an American citizen, commit a crime i.e. break a law, I do not expect amnesty because I managed to get away with not getting caught or because there are so many other people doing the same thing. Because the other drivers are driving 20 miles over the speed limit I do not expect to be excused from a ticket. Because I have been driving 20 miles over the speed limit on that very road for 2 years before being caught, does not excuse me from a ticket. What I did was ILLEGAL and I expect to pay the consequences. That is the responsibility of living in a civilized society.
If you wish to teach otherwise to your own children...if you wish to live with the language and customs of your own country...then please do so...in your own country. I will happily celebrate our diversity, within the conforms of an American society. I am very, very proud of our American culture with all it's diversity and variety, but without a common language and societal construct, we don't have diversity, we have division. Please practice your own divisiveness elsewhere.
OK, back to things fuzzy.
LOOK! I managed to finish something! Woohooo!!! Socks are from the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina.
Of course, I had to make them my own. I really like cuff socks. Because of the way the cuffs are knit, then turned backwards and continued, the cuff "v's" Actually go the opposite direction of the foot "v's". Cool. The yarn is Opal, but I threw out the ball band and have no idea the color...sorry.
Did someone say MD Sheep and Wool?
Yesterday was the day I set aside to open, air and rotate my fiber stash. I had seen a M#th flying around the other day and wasn't sure if it was a loner or if I had an 'issue' to be dealt with. Thank heavens the offending problem was found, isolated and eliminated. (@#$% Llama!) Thankfully, the little bastards had plenty to occupy themselves with, my other stash was well protected by good packaging, fragrancing and maintenance. Whew. So as usual, everything was taken to a neutral spot, opened up and examined and new fragrance oil cotton balls placed.
My whole reason for taking the photo though was to carry with me to MDSW and place on the screen of my PDA. Everytime I get tempted by some new wool, I can mentally peruse my stash and think whether I REALLY need something new. Honestly, you should see what's inside some of those boxes. I feel blessed to own some AWESOME fleeces. I kept looking for a just 'eh' fleece to send away and didn't find a one. There is a BL white in there that is not really my style, but not because it isn't a great fleece, I'm just not fond of BL. But I can blend it with anything else to make a really resilient sock yarn, so it stays. :) the other stuff is mostly very fine wools and exotics. Rambo, Finn, Rambo/Romney (a fav or mine), cormo, Teeswater, Wensleydale, Shetland...lots of Shetland, and of course Alpaca. Um, the alpaca is less than stellar. There are maybe 2 of the 9 fleeces that I would actually spin. Anybody want some average quality alpaca? The cotton bolls? OMG, there is like 10 pounds!!!!! When the heck can I possibly deal with a fraction of that much cotton?! but it's mine. :) and the whole container of WoolEase? Hey! socks! Shut up.
Some might notice that the word 'angora' isn't mentioned there. Well...that's because the angora has it's own storage place....Let's just say it wouldn't fit here. :\ MINE!!! All MINE!!! Bwwwaaaahhhaahhhaaaa Ok, some of it's for sale, the link is at the top left. check it out. :)
OK, back to things fuzzy.
LOOK! I managed to finish something! Woohooo!!! Socks are from the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina.
Of course, I had to make them my own. I really like cuff socks. Because of the way the cuffs are knit, then turned backwards and continued, the cuff "v's" Actually go the opposite direction of the foot "v's". Cool. The yarn is Opal, but I threw out the ball band and have no idea the color...sorry.
Did someone say MD Sheep and Wool?
Yesterday was the day I set aside to open, air and rotate my fiber stash. I had seen a M#th flying around the other day and wasn't sure if it was a loner or if I had an 'issue' to be dealt with. Thank heavens the offending problem was found, isolated and eliminated. (@#$% Llama!) Thankfully, the little bastards had plenty to occupy themselves with, my other stash was well protected by good packaging, fragrancing and maintenance. Whew. So as usual, everything was taken to a neutral spot, opened up and examined and new fragrance oil cotton balls placed.
My whole reason for taking the photo though was to carry with me to MDSW and place on the screen of my PDA. Everytime I get tempted by some new wool, I can mentally peruse my stash and think whether I REALLY need something new. Honestly, you should see what's inside some of those boxes. I feel blessed to own some AWESOME fleeces. I kept looking for a just 'eh' fleece to send away and didn't find a one. There is a BL white in there that is not really my style, but not because it isn't a great fleece, I'm just not fond of BL. But I can blend it with anything else to make a really resilient sock yarn, so it stays. :) the other stuff is mostly very fine wools and exotics. Rambo, Finn, Rambo/Romney (a fav or mine), cormo, Teeswater, Wensleydale, Shetland...lots of Shetland, and of course Alpaca. Um, the alpaca is less than stellar. There are maybe 2 of the 9 fleeces that I would actually spin. Anybody want some average quality alpaca? The cotton bolls? OMG, there is like 10 pounds!!!!! When the heck can I possibly deal with a fraction of that much cotton?! but it's mine. :) and the whole container of WoolEase? Hey! socks! Shut up.
Some might notice that the word 'angora' isn't mentioned there. Well...that's because the angora has it's own storage place....Let's just say it wouldn't fit here. :\ MINE!!! All MINE!!! Bwwwaaaahhhaahhhaaaa Ok, some of it's for sale, the link is at the top left. check it out. :)