Packing.... Again....

It's true. We're on the move again. We've spent almost 6 months here in Las Vegas and it's time to go. We knew we weren't going to stay here thru the holidays. We had hoped and prayed that it was time for us to move out to the East Coast. We were ready to look for our "back-east-farm" but thankfully, that isn't to be... if we had left on our time line, we'd have been somewhere on the road on our way to Maine when Sandy hit. So instead we find ourselves heading back to the Bragg, back home. It isn't what we had planned but as my dear and beloved Huz keeps saying "Everything happens for a reason, Baby."

Packing up this house is interesting... We really haven't acquired anything since moving out here, we always knew our stay here would be temporary. For some reason, packing this time doesn't seem as urgent or organized. Honestly, this time around, I am calmly(ish) putting random things in random boxes and taping them shut. Books and toys and unused kitchen items. Towels and clothes and scarves and diapers and kid art and a big huge belly cast... my life in boxes. It's an interesting sensation.

I packed my yarn stash in 2 parts. The first part, the majority of the stash, is going into storage...  All of the yarn that doesn't have a concrete project idea has been stored, as well as most of my spinning and knitting books and magazines. All of my spinning wool, except for my drop spindle project, has been either spun or packed... mostly packed. Also in these 2 large tupperware bin are all of my swatches and my stash blanket. 

I'm really sad packing up my stash this time, I don't honestly know when I'll be spinning again... We have a goal in mind of where we want to see our family in 6 months, but in our experience, things rarely go to plan. at all. ever. Sorry about the dark quality of these pics, I think it was late at night when I finished...

And the Second Stage of my yarn packing: The Traveling Stash.... A collection of my drop spindle and other tools as well as a huge stash of my hand spun, pattern books, magazines, project yarn, and all of my needles and notions.

I'm very proud of my fiber packing skills this time around, although I am more than heart broken to leave my wheel behind in storage, but there really isn't anything I can do to stop that. 

I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Medicated & Motivated Suicide Prevention

A cause close to my heart... You can read the full summary of this project at it's GoFundMe page so instead I'm going to share how it effects my family. 






A few years ago my man's sister killed herself, with anti depression meds just months after the birth of her 5th child, her long awaited only girl. At the time I was pregnant with the ManChild, I don't know how much I blogged about it, it was kind of a big deal. During that time, I saw my life partner, the strongest man I've ever know, break down. He fell apart. We thought his mom was going to follow his sister and we were pregnant with number 2... he was a mess. After the dust settled, he took a step back and really started looking at how this society, with more than enough help from the pharmaceutical industry, perpetuates suicide. With more and more of our young people turning to drugs, legally or illegally obtained, willingly or unwillingly taken, suicide is becoming increasingly common. At this point, the only way he can really get to schools to reach out to the youth is by speaking at schools that still have assembly budgets and those schools are unlikely to be in low income areas. With help from donors and sponsors and maybe even some of the folks who read this silly little blog, we can start building a real curriculum, touring schools that have been thru severe budget cuts, and community centers in areas hit especially hard by the increase in suicides. Any thing you guys can do to help us so that my husband can keep doing what is important to him is incredibly blessed. 

Thank you. 

Bllaaaahhhhhhhh.

well ok, thanks bloggerstaff. looks like i'm back. woot

what the hell blogger. fix my stats board and don't be lame or i swear i'm going to wordpress. @bloggerstaff- fix the problem.

Morning, and a Very Odd Rant.

Well, it wasn't supposed to go that way. Yesterday, I mean. It didn't go the way I had hoped... maybe shark week is starting? fuck. I blame the coffee. Although Huz did go out and spend $600 on an iced coffee for me. I'm hosting knitters pre-thrift-crawl today and I have to find mugs, go to the store for coffee and cream, and tidy up. Actually, the mess* isn't too bad right now, according to my standards*, so really we just need to pic up some stuff and shut some doors. *see blog title. 

KaBean got up about 10 minutes after us, which will be great on my dream farm, but now she's bored and watching My Little Pony. Which is actually not bad. and it's hella punk rock on instagram right now? once upon a time, punks used to be hard core. They made they're own shit out of old black denim and saftey pins. They sewed their own skinny pants with dental floss and wore bondage belts and but flaps, because sewing crotches is harder than pant legs. Brewed beer in the garage. 

To Start the Day

~Today starts with no coffee I drank it wall yesterday. Even though I knew there was none left and I knew that I'd be a full dollar short after paying for shipping confirmation on the 2 pretties I just sent out in the mail. A skien of handspun for one of my favorite online peeps and ... erm- cough... a surprise for one of my favorite in real life people. 

~Today will see us at the "big playground" as soon as KaBean wakes up, gets dressed, and eats something. I think we found desert sage growing near our favorite playground, but I'm pretty sure it's part of the landscaping and may therefore be coated with pesticides. If it is not wild or if it looks like it is probably maintained with some sort of chemical cocktail I will leave it there and move on... If not, I will be gratefully clipping a branch and thanking the plant and earth and neighborhood for such a special gift. The bundle that Huz brought out with us on our move is almost gone. We burn it like crazy here, love sage. So it's time to get some more... speaking of which, i need to find my red string!

~Today finds Huz and the ManChild awake before 7am. I know I know... someone out there is probably like "that's nothing my fill-in-the-blank gets up at insane-ungodly-hour!!!" But still, this is my story and 7 am hurts my brain sometimes. Instead of chilling in bed nursing, the ManChild is currently racing his matchbox cars across the steamer trunk that came over the ocean with my great great grandmother's people from some no longer in existence European country. A very loud game for a momma who woke up before 7am to no coffee. 

playground here we come.

*say in zombie voice* YYYYYYAAAAAARRRrrrrrnnnnnnnn

I'm getting that feeling again where I want to pull out my whole stash and all my patterns and everything on Ravelry and reorganize my que. With all the new roving and fiber that's come into my life I know I'm going to have yarn to spare in a few months. Plus I now that I'm trying to find a place to put the new Malabrigio, I am beginning to think maybe I still have a lot of yarn. Which is the opposite of what I had in mind when I decided to stop buying fiber... Tools only I said, no new fiber... yeah right. Well, the ManChild is awake, off to nurse and snuggle.

Also...

There has been knitting by the pool.

A Little Bit of Wooly Wednesday, Ginny's Yarn Along, and Unschool Monday All Rolled Into One.

Today's post is a blog roll mash-up. A little bit of Spinspiration's Wooly Wednesday because I have been really loving spinning and found myself surrounded by delicious roving with no idea how it happened. There's a bit of what I'm working on mixed with what I'm reading for Yarn Along over at Small Things. And then what I'm reading and how it inspires my family's unschool adventure for the Owlet's Unschool Monday... even thought it isn't monday.

I find myself standing in my yarn room looking around at all the different wooly choices. I was recently blessed by a box of 16oz pin drafted roving, some Noro, a Manos top braid, a copy of Taproot, Mendo Homemade Blackberry Jam and Vanilla, and special gifts for the Littles. My beloved friend Lily went to the fiber fair in my place (she was going any way, but she made time for wool) and totally scored for me. No really. Big win. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but she found the hottest yellow orange dorset x merino with firestar... it's like spinning the sun. I was enchanted by it right away, at the same time, I thought it kind of odd, sending me this hot sun while I live in the desert. Then I realized it will be perfect during our first winter in Maine. Perfect. I've spun about half a bobbin of teeny little singles that I'm going to wind around card board and keep tight in the bag, ready for the dark and cold. Then another 7oz of alpaca / bamboo silk / Corriedale in a sort of fluffy purple. I'm really excited about this one, I haven't spun with any of this blend and that makes me a little nervous, but man, it's gonna be fun. Both from Morro Fleece Works and both pin drafted roving both on my floor being drooled over right now. 

Those, plus the Manos braid she stuck in, plus the sparkly stuff and that gorgeous angry ocean grumpy rainbow braid from Wanda, plus the stuff I brought with me, plus all the undyed heaven I've been lugging around with me.... well, let's just say, I never need to buy roving again.


Meanwhile, I'm feeling a lot of pressure from various fronts regarding the education of my kids. The more I read about unschooling, the more interested I am in just letting the kids be kids. I feel like moving to Maine is going to plant us right in a community that supports that idea. The issue of Taproot (thanks lil, even huz is reading it) that I have my hands on right now supports that idea. I am aware that things are rarely as awesome as they seem from outside, or, in this case, from the other side of the continent. It will be cold, and we will be outsiders. KaBean told my mom today via skype that she "has concerns about moving" but is "really excited to have a garden where it snows." Huz and I are ready to switch our struggle from 'explaining why daddy is always gone getting money for the family to live' to 'growing a garden and raising some chickens and at least trying to be a little self sufficient'... As I read thru Taproot and share ideas with my man, I see people who have already walked this path. People and families who are trying and failing and succeeding to live on their own, in a community of people who want the same thing.

Yarn and Children. Love.