Shiori's Stories

It has been a little while since my last post. Thanks again to everyone who wrote and sent us good thoughts. Our little corner of the Cascades has had relatively calm weather as of late and that has allowed Shane and me to catch up with work and household stuff. The latest information on the drive is that it is repairable. Yay! This is good news as the alternative was to create a whole new drive way. Repairing it still going to cast a lot but far less than a new driveway would have. The only bad news is that we are not going to be able to even start repairs for a month or two. The roads to our house are still not safe for construction trucks. Until they are, no one in the area will be able to fix a thing. At least, mail is being delivered again. I was getting a little tired of standing in line to pick it up at the post office.

Stephanie and I have been crazy busy getting ready for Madrona. I have been skipping knit nights left and right. I have missed seeing everyone but we should have lots of yarn and fiber ready to go. Sure, some of it may still be a little wet but at least it will be dyed and labeled. Hopefully, we will have more than a month to get ready next time. Still, we are excited to be going and look forward to seeing lots of you there.

Nihon Vogue was this weekend. Of course, I am still not up to date with my homework. I always find that embarrassing but I had a great time, nevertheless. I am continually amazed by the complexity of yarn design. The more I learn, the more I realize I have yet to learn and the more excited I am to learn it. I have said this before but, I really love taking classes!

I recently got my nostril repierced. It has a pretty little silver ring in it right now and soon will have a gold one instead. I forgot how much I love having a nose ring. It is like having an old friend come back. I have also decided to try stretching my earring piercings. I am now wearing gauge 8 steel curves in my ears. I don't want to go really big but, there is some beautiful jewelry out there in sizes 6 gauge and up that I would really like to wear.

Also, I am going to get another tattoo tomorrow. I found out about (thanks to Steph) about a wonderful little tattoo shop in Fremont. Instead of the usual rockn'roll type atmosphere most places have, The Hidden Hand feels more like a Zen tea shop. I love it and am really looking forward to getting some work done there. I'll post pics when it doesn't look scabby anymore.

See you all soon!

Update!

Just a quick update!

First, thanks to everyone for your kind words of support. Shane and I are hanging in there. We went back this morning and was able to reach the house. The subsidence on our driveway was a little worse so we are back to hiking up the drive. But, that is fine with me as long as the house is still ok. Which it is. No leaks, no water damage. We are returning tomorrow as the power is supposed to be back on by then. They, the DOT, are still warning us that they cannot guarantee our safety if we use the roads but what choice do we have? After these last few weeks, I am used to being trapped at home. Surely, not being able to get home is much worse.

Below is a pic of the damage to the drive. It is hard to tell but that is a 6 inch crack (is there a band named that?). After many calls to our insurance provider, we have learned that they are not going to cover it. As our agent says, once the rain hits the ground it is flood damage. Of course, we don't have flood insurance as we do not live in a flood plain. We are going to have to chalk up this up as an expensive life lesson.

Here is another one with Shane in the background for scale.

Road Closed!

So, you would think that after whining for weeks about not being able to get our car up and down the drive that Shane and I would be happy about being out of the house. Well, no one told us that we would be able to leave but not be allowed to come back. You see, we were advised to evacuate. The rains had fallen so hard in our neighborhood that both roads were blocked. The DOT cleaned up one of them (Middle Fork) only enough for us to leave.  We were told that they were no longer able to guarantee our safety if we stayed. We decided to go.

We had just a half an hour's notice but managed to get a few things out. We are now safely installed in a hotel but we are worried. Unfortunately, as we were leaving we noticed our infamous driveway was turning into a mudslide, too. We are going home to get more things tomorrow but we may find the house is inaccessible. In addition, recent DOT reports claim it will take 2 YEARS for them to fix Lake Dorothy Rd. There is no word about Middle Fork Road. We can live without Lake D. but, if Middle Fork is closed also we may never get back.

Here are some pics. The last is a shot of the water rushing across the road. It was scary to drive through but we did ok. Send us some good luck. We can use it!

STILL MAROONED!

Egads! Shane and I are still not able to get down our drive. I am simply dumbfounded. This season the snow is tenacious. The last time we drove down the driveway was December 16th! Thankfully, Stephanie (AKA Rainy) came by one day and took us out for supplies. We had to hike down to the street to meet her but I am glad we did. If not, we would be reusing our coffee grounds right now. It was no fun hauling everything up the drive, though. We made it worse by choosing paper bags. Nearly all of them fell apart about halfway up the drive. What fun!

All this snow has had one benefit. When there is nothing to do it gets really easy to clean. The house hasn't been this clean in weeks. That is not to say that is clean by normal human standards. Shane and I live a little too lazily for that. It is just cleaner than usual.

When I am not cleaning, I have had time to break into some of my long neglected crafts. For example, I finally got my Gocco printer out and made some very nice sachets to serve as swag for the store. The image was created by Stpehanie. It depicts a set of very nice legs (not mine!) in some GothSocks. Well, techincally, she is wearing striped tights but it is close enough and looks great. Here is a pic.  

Don't they look cool? I like the natural variations that occur from print to print and the smudgy quality of the images. It almost looks like a woodcut.

The store is doing really well. We cannot keep up with the demand for GothSocks. This last batch sold out in hours. There is still a skein or two from the pervious batch but the new colorways sold like hotcakes. The GothTops went fast, too.  More good news! Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs will have a booth at Madrona! Yay! It will only be a half size booth but we are happy to get any space at all. It does mean that there is now a huge amount of work to be done between now and then (anyone interested in becoming a dyer's apprentice?) but how fun! Please come by and visit!

Additonal notes -

Nihon Vogue - I am behind in my homework but I am totally in love with the method now. Every new ratio and fitting tip we learn makes me love it all the more.

Weaving - the class with Syne will be held on the 17th of January. I am really looking forward to this one. I am getting a new loom (due to be delieverd when the snow finally receeds - more details later) and can't wait to break it in.

Spinning - outside of getting ready to mentor at Madrona, I have little time for spinning. I have plans to make a short little youtube video on spinning longdraw but when will I have the time? I even bought a new video camera for it but who know when I will be able to use it. I would also like to make a few short videos about dyeing but again, when will I find the time?

Workshop with Judith - even though the weather made it hard for Judith and I to work on our plans (we lost power and phone 3 times), our workshop is still in the works. I will update everyone regarding the details as we figure them out.

I hope everyone had a great holiday!

Marooned!

 Well, not really. We are still not able to get down the driveway but the snow is so beautiful that we do not mind a bit. Ask again in a few days when we run out of coffee. Please check out the video!

Lime & Violet like us!

Wow! My little store (and I do mean little! I have been calling it a micro-business as it is too small to be called a small business. Can you have a nano-business?) was discussed in the Yarn Porn section of the most recent Lime & Violet, episode 74. How nice is that? Ain't you proud of us? True, true it was just Yarn Porn but the ladies oohed and ahhed over our orifice hooks and our new GothSocks line of self striping sock yarn. They even particularly liked the way we color our roving (we leave some portions of the roving in its natural color). Is it ok to gush a little?

Ah, the sweet scent of a Democratic President Elect. How is it that the whole world isn't skipping?

Back from Orcas

Shane and I are presently resting up from another wonderful week on Orcas Island. We think seriously about moving there every time we visit. It is so beautiful and filled with liberals. Everywhere you look there is another craftsman's or artist's studio. How could anyone not like living there? It has the fatal flaw of not enough great restaurants, however.

Regular readers will already know that we went to Orcas to attend a spinning retreat with Judith MacKenzie McCuin. Every class we take from her is fabulous and this one was no different. Her skill and knowledge impress the shit out of me. She has been spinning for around 50 years so I will be very lucky if I can even get close to that amount of experience.

This retreat was focused on calculating yardage for a given project and making the right fiber choice. We got to sample several different fleeces everyday and learned to spin them to maximize their inherent qualities. We started with primitive breeds and luster longs wools and from there tried out medium, fine and down wools. So much fun!

I, 0f course, had lots of dye questions related to opening up the shop and Judith kindly made time  for me to show me a few tricks. She showed me a few techniques I was unfamiliar with and explained some points on dye color theory and light. Additonally, we got to do some more lichen dyeing (always fascinating!) and got a review of several methods of hand preparation. At the week's end, I was nearly bursting with ideas! What more could you ask of a teacher?

Another nice thing Judith did was to check out my rolags and our orifice hooks. I asked her to be honest and she gave me a rave review. I was pretty chuffed, to say the least. It was hard not to squeal when she said my work was beautiful. Isn't she great?

The last bit of good news is that she asked me to teach a class with her! I nearly fainted. So, in the next few weeks she and I are going to plan a little retreat that we will co-teach together. When she said she always thought I would make a great teacher I actually cried a little. She is such an inspiration to me and to teach with her would be such an honor. I was floating for hours.  Additonally, she said she was going to call retreat and fiber festival organizers on my behalf.  Would it be too proud of me to say she gave me her endorsement? Probably, but I am happy anyway!

Nihon Vogue is next week. We are going to learn more about puffy sleeves and dolmans. These are not items I would make on my own but the theory behind their construction is very unique so I am looking forward to making them anyway. In order to save time, I have decided to knit the sweaters to fit not myself but the daughter of one of my classmates. That way, I will still be able to test the fit and then be able to use the sweaters as samples for the shop. I was a little resistant to the idea at first but then I realized that her back and front measurement would serve as sleeves for me. Imagine the time I will save!

Shane and I saw "Zack and Miri make a porno" recently. It is the best film Kevin Smith has made in some time. Funny and sweet. We recommend you see it if you can handle the requisite bawdy humor.

That's all for now!

Wedded Bliss

We are back from California. The wedding was wonderful! It was held in a beautiful resort called St. Orres. It is located along the coast north of Bodega Bay, a part of the state I haven't visited in years. I forgot how beautiful and Pacific Northwest-like it is! We rented one of the cabins, Pine Haven which was just sweet inside and out. We arrived rather late on Friday evening and were pleased to discover the fireplace had been prepared for us. How lovely to relax in front of the fire, sip coffee and listen to the surf. In the morning, we could hear the seals barking on the beach and watched deers eat from the apple trees right outside our window. We hadn't realized that breakfast was included so we were pleased to discover a basket outside our door filled with quiche, fresh fruit, granola, fresh squeezed OJ and cream. Heavenly!

The wedding itself took place outside. The fog stayed out over the ocean and served as a gorgeous backdrop. I know the locals thought it was chilly but Shane and I loved the cool air. There were about 60 people in attendance, nearly all of them dressed to the nines. As Paula is from the UK, many of her family members wore wonderful hats. How I wish more people would wear hats! The ceremony was short but very moving. There were poetry readings and a spoken word piece written and performed by the son of the brides. I particularly loved a reading of excerpts from letters written by the brides soon after the start of their relationship. I was reminded of the sweetly dizzying feeling of falling in love, how your heart lies cosy in the small circle of your dear one's arm but the nevertheless how your heart must burst and in doing so it takes you and the whole world in and then out aflame . It was a good thing Shane brought plenty of tissues as the entire family, including myself, shed copious tears of joy.

The reception was held in the main hotel's dining room where Chef Rosemary Campiformio served us a delicious array of fresh local items. Shane and I both had the butternut squash soup with pheasant broth to start, followed by an heirloom yellow tomato and goat cheese salad with olive oil and basil dressing for the second course. For the main course, Shane had the wild mushroom ravioli with a cream sauce and I had the fresh Sonoma duck breast with strawberry orange pancakes and fresh strawberries. Yummy! How nice to actually get great food at a wedding. Cory and Paula know how to host a  party. Sadly, I missed the evening reception. I was looking forward to the dancing but while taking a small break after luncheon, I passed out in our cabin. I didn't think I drank all the much champagne but I must have been wrong. Oh, well!

We drove back to San Francisco the following morning. There, we managed to meet up with a friend from our college days, Jerome. There is little dead air when we are in Jerome's company. Shane lights up in a way reserved only for his dearest friends and we laugh for a long time. When we see our friends from TECH our conversation revolves around humiliations large or small. All of  us seem to count our days by our miseries and take a chilly pleasure in recounting them to one  another. I love it! Jerome is a little grayer but much the same I am glad to report. It was good to see him. That evening, we visited Cory and Paula in their home and spent a happy hour (literally, they got a lot of very fine wine as gifts as well as for the wedding, so we helped them out by drinking a lot) bashing the right wing and sharing a little Obamania. We got home late Sunday night.

Our little shop is doing very alright. Thanks to everyone who has favorited us or made a purchase! We make a sale every other day or so. That seems very good to me as the shop is too new to have any kind of reputation. Some sales may be from our new store blog, Rainy Days & Wooly Dogs but I think most have come from Etsy searches for colors or content. Cool, eh? Stephanie made an amazingly beautiful orifice hook which we listed recently. Take a look! A artwork is all free hand. It knocks my socks off. Surprisingly, we have only made two local sales. I am surprised as we did some very anecdotal but informed market research in order to appeal to the local fiber community. Oh well!

Next week, I am going to Orcas Island to attend the Fall spinning retreat with Judith. I am really looking forward to this! I have so many questions for Judith and hope to get her opinion on the quality of my rolags and top. I am very proud of my handwork but Judith is the Queen. If she says she likes them, I think I will squeal.  I don't even care that I cannot  remember the supposed topic of this season's retreat.  I am just really looking forward to the spinning.

What else is up? My cough is much better. I still cough deeply but much more rarely. Shane is busy at work and playing way too much WOW. The trees outside are golden and the air is nippy. Today the light was wonderful. Seattle just glows when sun is out and the temps are low. My summer SAD seems to have faded at last.

Fini!

Tussis on the Glottis

I have been ill, really ill this last week. Coughing, sniffling, sneezing and a mild fever were only the start. Once, a doctor told me that I had a rather small pharynx and nasal cavity (why he told me that is a story for another day). Well, you wouldn't believe how much phlegm it can hold despite its size. My diaphragm is actually sore from all the coughing!

Thankfully, Shane was there to hand me an endless supply of tissues and cup after cup of lemon tea. During periods of illness we learn a lot about our partners, whether the illness is ours or theirs. Years  ago, I contracted Guillain-Barré syndrome and learned that I could always count 0n Shane to be there for me. He helped me with everything and never lost his cool, even in the early weeks when we didn't have a diagnosis and I was more than a little anxious. Whenever I am sick, I remember those days and all he did for me. So maybe the occasional cold isn't so bad.

Bad news for me, I will not be teaching at Madrona, after all. Suzanne had plans to invite many of the teachers from Madrona's early years as this their 10th anniversary. Sadly for me, she has more teachers than she needs. So, newbie instructors like me are on the outs. Oh well.  Happily, she did offer me the position of spinning mentor. I will be hanging out in the atrium, teaching anyone anything they want to know about spinning. That sounds pretty cool to me. Please come by and visit!

Our little Etsy shop is doing well, I am happy to say. We have been featured on two blogs, Lime & Violet and Sweet Figments. How cool is that? And we have had 5 sales! I know that doesn't sound like a lot but considering the turn the economy has taken, any sales at all is impressive to me. My thanks goes out to our buyers, most of whom, I am proud to say, I do not know. Imagine a small little indy business like ours selling to folks halfway around to world. Coolness upon coolness! We will be adding more rolags (not to brag, honestly, but lots of spinners like my rolags) and hand pulled top and batts in the next few days. Also, keep an eye out for our hand made orifice hooks and more of our soap.

Owari!

Ch-ch-changes!

Wow! It has been some time since I have even bothered to look at my blog. I sometimes forget I even have one. My apologies to you, my dear and patient reader.

So, what have I been up to you ask. Well, lots of the usual - spinning, knitting, silver smithing and a little weaving and crochet, too. I finished the first year of Nihon Vogue since I last wrote. I enjoyed it so much that I have signed on for year two.

The most recent excitement has been the launch of my Etsy store, Rainy Days and Wooly Dogs. I have partnered up with my wonderful friend, Stephanie. We spent two months in developement, working every weekend to improve our dyeing skills and our eye for color. We have also spent a lot of time developing our noses while we work up our hand blended scents for our soap. It has been such a pleasure to work with her and we have become such good friends. I think we have gotten pretty good, too.  We are currently hosting a "soft opening" while we work out the kinks. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to work through all the hundreds of details. It is a lot of fun, however. Amazingly, we had a sale in less than 5 hours. Cool, eh? Please check out our site and favorite us if you feel so inclined.Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I would love to hear from everyone. Be honest. We can take it.

Next month, Shane and I are heading down to California for his sister's wedding. Since the state finally came to its senses and legalized gay marriage, she will be able to marry her partner of over 20 years, at last. I hope that Washington state will soon follow along. Corey and Paula are an amazing couple and denying them the right to marry for so long has been a travesty. Thank the gods that things are changing!

That's all for now.