Barn Owl ~ Nightstalker 2

Another spinning project completed but this time it was a commission job.   It will be mailed out after this weekend  to a customer in Victoria, BC. 

Night Stalker is based on a barn owl's colouring and so features the red of eri silk, sooty grey of peduncle silk,  beige of baby camel,  pale gold of muga silk and a creamy white superfine merino.    I bought the rolags from  Fellview Fibers in the UK.    Always a quality product and a joy to spin up!  

My customer bought one of my earlier Night Stalker spins and asked me to spin up more for him.   I slowly worked away all over winter and early spring. 

Freshly washed and dried and skein into satisfying braids.

close up view

Its buttery soft and light as a feather.

Weights in grams and ounces

I put them through the yardage counter as I wound into cakes. Totals for all four are: 980.5 metres or 1078.5 yards. 388 grams or 13.6 ounces.   I'm kinda sad its all done now!

But as you can see, I have moved on already.....

Abstract Amethyst

 The colour purple.... just the colour, not the movie ..... is one that seems near and dear to many.  So I fell hard for this exotic melding of many shades called "Abstract Amethyst" by Fellview Fibres (UK).  Its glorious! 

I quote:  used 7 shades of violet, lilac and purple merino (21 micron), and added lashings of gold tussah silk. When these were not sparkly enough for me, I added gold Angelina into the mix in the second batch.

It does not disappoint!

If you haven't already, you should really visit the shop and enjoy the yummy goods on display.

So, not as romantic as the web site pictures, but here's the rolags on my tacky desk. It was a lovely spin up!

Plied,  time on the niddy noddy and then a gentle bath.  Hung to completely dry. Some wound into cakes (with yardage taken at the same time) and one left as a skein to show the colour changes.

I spin for relaxation and not technical about it in the least, but with my spinning being a daily effort in the past 5-6 months, my skills have improved and some of my latest efforts (not show here as yet) are looking like something to be proud of. 

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It's been a busy time here at the house!   I found new drapes for the house, on sale and no delivery charge!  A lovely ivory shade and so bought enough to do five windows. I just couldn't take a chance they would run out if I only bought a trial set.   So there was a LOT of time spent at the ironing board and getting them hung. I took 2-3 days to get the job done and I must say they look fabulous and change the whole feel of the home.  It looks and feels more open. More light.  We changed the more private areas such as bedroom and den to a medium blue this past late winter / early spring.

Our gardener Kari has been working away at the flower beds and over hauling them.  a large tree stump was dug out (Hawthorn and must have weighed 70 pounds!) and flowers now bloom where it once stood.

We are now on the hunt for some interesting yard ornaments / statuary as we have a shady spot under two trees where we have hostas  and other shade plants, and  something unique would look nice there.   A bird bath was suggested, but they require daily cleaning, filling, and can be a great mosquito 'hot tub' and I'd rather not have them that close to where we like to sit.    There is a large pond behind the yard where the birds can get water, and the local fish and dragonfly larvae can eat the mossies!   The pond is also full of frogs.

I'm feeling much better in myself lately but the back is still an issue by mid afternoon.  I can now see a day coming when I'll be weaving again. Just more physiotherapy to do yet.....

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some pictures to share.... the hawthorn tree stump and pond behind the house.

Then a sampling of some of our gardens flowers

Night Stalker 🦉

This is a Barn Owl     They are silent on the wing and all you might hear is a slight swoosh of air through the tips of their flight feathers.  How do I know this?   It was some years ago and we lived near the dyke in Richmond, BC. We went for an evening stroll along the dyke to Steveston  (an old fishing village and home base for fishing boats.)   We walked back home in the darkening evening light and paused by a notice board and post to watch the sunset. Suddenly, I had something fly close to my head and I felt the breeze of something against my hair and looked up to see a barn owl settling in on the top of the post.   I never heard a thing!    It was absolutely gorgeous  and showed no signs of leaving so we watched it and then moved on up the dyke to home.    That experience has never left me. 

So when I saw the "Nightstalker" rolags at Fellview Fibres (UK) with all the colours based on the markings of a barn owl, I ordered some.   Spinning it up was like working with a cloud !   Its a blend of superfine merino, baby camel, muga silk, eri silk and penduncle silk.

All done and spun up, wound up! I would order this again in a heart beat and perhaps ply it with creamy bombyx 20/2 silk?

At home we are busy with irrigation system tune up including replacing the manifold, the programmer and many of the old spray heads. We will be on strict watering orders this year and we want to get the best use of the watering system.  No one wants to be that person watering the sidewalk.   😥

Since we had issues with leaky skylights this past winter, we are getting some minor roof / vent issues dealt with and a natural spray treatment for moss on the shingles done. That was awful this past Dec / Jan with roof issues!    The contractor said our roof is basically in great shape but it seems who ever did the replacement back in 2010 took some shortcuts and those are showing up now.  We bought in 2016.... and no one went up to check it over. It was only 6 years old then, and 13 years old now. 

I started my first physio appointment !  Just small 'seated' exercises designed to increase my range of motion in my lower back.  My lower back is pretty rigid and it's going to take some coaxing, with resulting increase in aches and pain as we pry it loose.    Baby steps for now.    I will be getting an MRI sometime in July according to the diagnostic booking nurse.

I also saw an orthotist and we discussed my poor feet and I had plaster casts made of my feet.  They looked like little ballerina shoes when all done.   I was born with flat feet and so this is more about supporting the bones into a better position and more like cradling my feet.  It will be  3-4 weeks before I get them and then we'll see how they fit and feel and make adjustments as needed.

I'm being good and getting all my adult stuff lined up and ticked off: had a mammogram done, booked eye exam appointments and seen my opthalmologist too.    Care and maintainance of this older model human is extensive ( and expensive 💰), but the pedicure and time spent at the hairdresser was pleasant. 

Long weekend here; Victoria Day and the semi official start to summer.  I've made potato salad and Hub is busy cleaning the BBQ.     🍹 ⛱️