Sad News and Finding Spinning Solace

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Mokihana

Yesterday I got some bad news, that my dear friend Carol, who’s been battling cancer since 2005, now had a metastasized tumor in her brain. I was stunned, upset, and very teary and emotional. I’d been spinning some mixed fiber, which was a real challenge for me. There are both long and short fibers in the roving, and I’d never spun anything like it before. After getting the news about Carol from her husband, I came home and tried to spin for solace. It wasn’t going well. I thought that maybe I even hated the spinning I’d done from this pretty bump of roving:

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Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Tour de Fleece | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Tour de Fleece, Chapter Chree

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Mokihana

I’ve been so busy spinning and photographing and posting my progress to Ravelry, that my poor bloggie gets left in the dust!

So here’s more photos of what I’ve been doing.  I finished spinning Beargrass from Raven Ridge Fiber Arts (my favorite indie dyer). I learned how to use an Andean plying tool from Gift of Grace Handspun, and Noelani supervised everything.  The Andean plying tool is made from Curly Koa from Maui, and I love it so much.

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Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Tour de Fleece | 2 Comments

Speaking Of Knees…

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Mokihana

…I’m scheduled for a partial knee replacement on September 10th. Scary, yeah? For the last year, my right knee, which is actually in better shape than my left one, has really been hurting bad.  I had to give up spinning for awhile…horrors! Last year at Oregon Flock and Fiber I was hurting so bad I hardly saw anything at all. It was very disappointing, though it was wonderful being in that atmosphere.  My primary care doctor gave me a cortisone shot, which took the edge off, but ultimately he referred me to an orthopedic surgeon… Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Tour de Fleece, Chapter 2

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Mokihana

Okay, this is what’s happened so far. Yesterday, Day 2, I finished spinning half of one braid and started on another. Kalakoa was helping by modeling my first bobbin. I saw one almost ripe blackberry in our driveway, too.

Day 3. Keola was my companion while I did more spinning.

The two bobbins don’t look that much different, but I did spin for about 45 minutes.

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Tour de Fleece | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Tour de Fleece 2018

Posted on July 7, 2018 by Mokihana

Okay, pau the nostalgia and sadness for awhile. It’s Tour de Fleece time.

Yep, it’s that time again, folks. That time of year where we handspinners attempt to try new spinning techniques or attempt to spin prodigious amounts of fiber into yarn. This year, I’m in the second category. Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Tour de Fleece, tour-de-fleece | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Trip Home From California 2008

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Mokihana

A week after we got to Los Gatos, a week after the initial shock of my mom’s death, Leilani and I headed home. We were exhausted.  When we’d first gotten to town, we’d  stopped by Mom’s house to drop Patty off and to spend a bit of time with my sister and brother. Then we headed to our motel.  I’d originally made reservations at a nearby one for us, but when we got to our room, we were aghast. It was awful. The room was tiny, the bathroom almost impossible to get into, and the room old and musty. Bless my amazing daughter. “This will not do,” she stated, and found a hotel in town for us to stay at. She was so competent, going to the check-in desk at the motel, getting our money refunded, and directing us to the hotel. A hotel, mind you. I’d never stayed in anything so elegant before. Ever. I was in awe of her competence and determination. When we checked in, I was exhausted and tearful, and told the lady at check-in that my mom had just died and she immediately gave us their bereavement rate. What a blessing after over twelve hours on the road!  Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, ʻOhana | 2 Comments

First Trip to CA After My Mother Died

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Mokihana

(As I post this, I saw that the very highway we were on has been closed between Ashland and Yreka because of wildfires. I’m feeling grateful that it didn’t happen with us, but it almost did on the way home.)

Going through my old posts, I realize I never posted the photos of the trip Leilani and I made down to my mom’s; it was a pretty hectic time, obviously.  It was such an unplanned, really fast trip down there. And I’ve always been so grateful to Leilani that when I told the family I was going to drive down there, hoping to get there in time, she just said, “Mom, I’m going with you.” And in a very short amount of time, I was on the way to pick her up. We only got as far as Salem because my mother died unexpectedly, but we started out again early the next day.  Continue reading →

Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, ʻOhana, Holoholo Pacific Northwest | 4 Comments

Ten Years Ago Today…

Posted on July 4, 2018 by Mokihana

It’s hard to believe itʻs been this long, but on this date ten years ago my mom died unexpectedly. She’d been in the hospital for a week with unmanageable high blood pressure/low heart rate, and on the 3rd of July, her doctors installed a pacemaker for her.  The next day she was transferred to a rehab place; we expected that she’d be there for a couple of weeks and would then be able to go home. We were happy about that.  During long discussions, three of us siblings talked about how to manage her care once she got home, but several hours after getting to rehab, she had a massive stroke. She was rushed back to the ER; my brother and sister, who were there, hours later made the decision, which Mom had stated she wanted should the situation arise, to remove her from life support. You can read the  whole story here, and the story of our road trip back to California six weeks later for Momʻs memorial service here.

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Posted in Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, ʻOhana | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Da Kine Numba Six

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Mokihana

Time for anodda da kine!

My Christmas amaryllis from a year ago started blooming again!

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Posted in 'Ono Kine Grindz, 365 Days, Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Handspinning, Knitting | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My Local Kine Pōpoki

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Mokihana

Kalakoa is my kolohe pōpoki, and so much like my beloved girl, ʻUkulele, who I miss so much, that plenny times I know ʻUkulele sent her. Just like ʻUkulele, Kalakoa finds balls of yarn, or socks, and brings them into the hallway for me like trophies, meowing so loud, as if to say, “Look Mom, I wen kill dis yarn/sock foa u!” (And yeah, my kitties all talk pidgin.) LOL.

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Posted in 365 Days, Da Kine: Sometimes Full-on Pidgin, Pōpoki | 6 Comments