Claypipe Homestead

The Things you find!

2011-01-17T06:35:00.000-08:00

I was updating my data base for the Lake Country Weavers Guild, and here I found Jan Zindel's blog spot. Wow! Nice job Jan! I wish I could stay on top of my blog half as well. I keep trying. Jan is also on the Northwoods Art Tour, as I am, you should stop by her unique place and see her awesome loom. I never saw one as intracate as her's. She is very knowledgable. So go check her out!

Time

2010-12-30T08:29:00.000-08:00

Time

I can feel our time slipping away.
Time is a tangible thing.
You can hold it in your hand
Like sand.
But like sand, it slips away
between your fingers.
You can clutch at it,
Try to grasp it within your fist.
But eventually, it will all get away.
Gone.

I treasure the time we share.
Each moment we have together
Is precious to me.
I want to hold each memory
Gently In my hand.
To gaze on them, and cherish them.
To string them together
Like pearls.

When we are apart, as we often are,
I will look at my pearls.
As I hold each one, I will see you.
I will see our time.
And remember all the moments we shared.
And I will hold time, our time,
In my hand, and feel peace.

The Hardest Day of the year for a Shepherd

2010-12-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

Today was the hardest day of the year for a shephard. At least for THIS shephard. Today was Cull & Slaughter Day. All the culls of my herd, those that must go, are pulled out, along with the lambs that are earmarked to go. We sort, pen, then start the process.
We have our system, Paul really ends up with the lion's share of the work. The actual killing, gutting, skinning. I do the sorting & penning, and drive/operate the bobcat that we use to haul & hang the carcusses.
It's grizzly work, messy, gory, and the barn looks like a scene from a slasher movie, waiting for the CSI team to show up. But this is our meat for the year, this is how I keep the numbers in control of my flock. You can not keep them all!! This is when I get my last gift from my sheep as they give finally their hides to be tanned.
So that's how it is for a shepherd. The sheep gives us their fleece to be spun into yarn, then they give us their flesh to feed us, and finally their hides to use. They remind us that life is all a cycle, a circle, that goes on & on & on.

Northwoods Art Tour 2010

2010-11-23T07:58:00.000-08:00

It was a great tour season, LOTS of visitors came. Again, there are now more new spinners and weavers in the world; so many people left excited and eager to get started! I knew of several looms for sale in the area, and phone numbers were given, after following up on them, about half of the looms were purchased by my visitors!! Spread that Fiber Arts virus!
Nothing else I know can bring the internal peace and self satisfaction of fiber arts. My best moments of my days are spent in my studio; it's like a whole different world there. The music is playing in the background, the sounds of equipment engaged, the warm, earthy smell of the fibers laying about the place. It's my little piece of heaven. Come on by sometime and hang out for a while.
Remember, if the light on the porch is on, then I'm working inside. And that means come on in. You are always welcome.

What's on the Loom?

2009-10-18T18:11:00.001-07:00

This is Paul's blanket I've been working on. It's on my big LeClerc loom. I'm doing it in 4 panels, finished size will be 110 inches X 120 inches, for our king size bed. I'm hoping my seams will be fine enough to not be seen after it's been fulled. I'll keep you posted on the progress. All the sheep are represented in the big checkerboard, and it's not real fancy so he's happy.
I want to get this one done soon, as I'm already planning a Summer & Winter project, which I'll need at least 6 harnesses and 10 treadles! By the time I'm done with Paul's blanket, my research will be done and I'll be so very ready to go!

Northwoods Fall Art Tour 2009

2009-10-18T17:51:00.000-07:00

We had a great turn out for the Art tour. The Homestead had lots of visitors; and the world has a good number of new spinners in it now. I didn't sell much in the way of woven goods, but the yarn & the hides did well.

I had a visit from a previous customer, Anna. She had purchased some of Whoopie's yarn for a sweater and came by to show me the completed work. It was truly beautiful and very well done. I'm so glad she came by!
It was a busy weekend, but I feel good that so many people came by to see my studio, to try out the looms and wheels, and to visit with my sheep. It makes all the work very worth while.

Machine Knit Socks

2009-02-28T20:34:00.000-08:00

Machine Knit Socks: I used sock yarn, which is rather fine

Cuff: Lock (carriage) on right side of machine. Bring 70 needles forward into rest position. Open the latches.

I used a 2-1-2 ribbing, other wise, push every other needle back into the neutral position, for 2-1-2=2 needles forward, one back, etc..

Cast on to the remaining needles, and bring to Yarn Receiving Position.

Set row counter to 000.

Knit for 24 rows, then bring forward the Neutral Position needles into the working position. Turn up edge & loop onto the needles that have been brought forward, so now you have a complete row of 70 working needles.

Reset row counter to 000.

Leg: Knit for about 110 rows or till desired length, I usually want about 8” for the ankle.

Now we’ll get ready to knit the instep (the part of the sock that is on top of your foot).

With lock on right side, using a contrasting length of scrap yarn, manually knit 3 rows onto the far left 17 needles, remove from those 17 needles. Push lock to left, and repeat on right side, with the far right 17 needles; then push lock to right.

Now you have 36 needles in the working position. Knit to desired length from ankle to base of toes, I need 80 rows or about 6”. Then it’s time to shape the toe!

Toe: start to decrease, one stitch from each side, till row counter is at 28 and there are 8 stitches left in working position, (that’s the top of your toes).

Start to increase, one stitch from each side, till counter is at 56. (That was the bottom of your toes).

Sole: Knit for the same number of rows you used for the instep, (mine is 80 row, or 6”). NOW it’s time to turn that heel.

Heel: As you did for toe, decrease one stitch each side, for 26 rows, till there are 10 stitches in working position. Then increase back till there are 36 working stitches, row counter should be at 56. Knit one more row, then with contrasting yarn, run 3 rows. Remove sock from machine.

Stitching Time:

First you need to stitch together the leg tube, use your preferred method. I use mattress stitch as I can get the seam to lay flat. Then bring the heel with the scrap yarn and the bottom edge of leg/ankle tube with its scrap yarn together and using a kitchner stitch, grafting the edges together, cleanly. You should be able to pull the scrap yarns out. Join the sole to the instep. You are done! If needed, you can slip a piece of elastic through the cuff for extra support, I’ve never needed it.

NOW! Do this all again so you have 2 socks.

You will need to adjust your stitch counts to suit your foot and the type of yarn you’re using, adding or subtracting stitches &/or rows as needed to fit.

Good luck & happy knitting.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T06:34:00.001-08:00

A Joyous New Year to All!

This is a shot of my sons, Stephen & Josh, with Stephen's girlfriend Carrie. That's me on the right, like my new hair? (I'm just glad to have hair again!) We have a tradition of sending Mom home with a farewell breakfast, though this was closer to lunch.
I had a great time with visiting with my Family down in Illinois, stayed at my Mom's a couple nights, and each of my sons' a couple of nights. They have both become very good cooks, so I ate well.

This is my daughter Kate, holding up the sweater I had been working on for the last 3 months. Can't complain as it was a fun project, plus it came out exactly as I had planned. I even dyed it, using Gaywool dyes, much easier than I thought it would be. That's her boyfriend John.

So now I'm back home in the Northwoods, where it's extremly cold, with lots of snow. But it's a new year, and a new semester at school, so there's lots to look forward to.

This Year's Lambs, 2008

2008-11-17T05:24:00.000-08:00

I found this great photo of all my lambs for 2008. As you can see I had a good number of dark ones, only one is a true black. The others are moorit (brown), and one is really gray with black tips. Just like her mom was. She'll shear out to gray most likely.
There was one katmoget this year, a ewe lamb gray with black. She got snapped up right quick by a local shepherd. It's always nice to see them go off to good homes.
I know I can't keep them all, and I've had to do some serious culling, about half go in the freezer and the others head off to new homes.
I really should get out to the pasture and take some new photos. Everyone's fleece have grown back for winter and still look nice & tidy. That would make for some nice posts.

2008-11-15T17:22:00.001-08:00

Here we are on what was probably our last outing with our QCC700s. I'm paddling an Impex Currituck and love it. It's very maneuverable especially in rough water. I feel safe in it. Paul went to a Current Design Titan, and is loving it. It's so nice to hear him having fun and not complaining of pain in his legs or back.
We learned a valuable and expensive lesson. ALWAYS test drive your kayak, paddle for a long time, like an hour if they'll let you. If the boat doesn't fit right then that not the boat for you. It's like shoes, you might really like the looks but if it doesn't fit right, then it's a bad buy.

I'm baaaack!

2008-11-15T17:08:00.000-08:00

Hurrah! I finally got my password issues corrected, so know I can blab on my blog again. It's been a long time. I was so sick for too long, but that's all behind me. I had my one year anniversery.
My studio was accepted on the Northwoods Arts Tour, did great on the Summer tour not so good on the Fall. Had LOTS of visitors on both. Now I'm getting occasional calls for visits, help with weaving or spinning issues, or for yarn. It's good. I'm getting just about enough business that I can handle for now. It's enough.

Gotta take a break

2007-07-22T07:43:00.000-07:00

It looks like I will have to take a break for a while. I'm having surgery on Monday and will be laid up for a while. I don't know how much blogging I'll be up for doing. I just got this one going, as it seems to be easier for everyone to access it, rather than the Yahoo 360 account, which appears to require the viewer to sign up for their own 360 account. I hate pages that require that, like the Kodak pages. I'd like to see people's photos, but I don't want to have to create an account to do it!
So this page needs a lot of work yet. Maybe after I'm doing better I can get to it.
Wish me luck on Monday.

Deb At her loom

2007-07-10T09:54:00.001-07:00

This is me working at one of my looms. One of my favorite places to be.

Take a little trip

2007-07-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a shot from our little trip out of Saxon Harbor, WI. We paddled up toward Little Sisters Point, MI, about 5 miles. Saw some beautiful palisades and rock formations, the water on Lake Superior was like glass so we could see to the bottom down to about 60 feet. It was a great trip. On the way back, I saw a line moving toward us from the horizon. As it got closer, I knew it was a wake wave from who knew where as we didn't see or hear any ships go by. We turned into it, mostly so we could really see what was coming, and it was a short series of rolls almost 3 feet high! Very Cool! Later we asked a Park Ranger what would have caused it, she told us it was from a ore boat/barge that had gone by, probably miles & miles away. It just took awhile to get to us. Amazing.

Small Farm Life & Kayaking

2007-07-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

So here's my new Blog! I'm hoping this one will be easier for others to access, the other has/had an web-dress long enough to make you choke. Here I'll post the goings on at my little farm, my studio, and some of the kayaking adventures (a recent addition to my lifestyle) we've done. Funny how 2 very different areas can equate to the same thing for me: peace & the feeling of being centered. They all have their ups & down, but isn't that just life?