I wouldn’t want you to think that I haven’t been keeping busy, that all I’ve got to talk about is Mom’s vacation or Chappy’s vet visit.

Oh no. I’ve been spinning. See? A bobbin-full of merino/silk 2-ply yarn.

Now, the outer “layer” of the bobbin actually doesn’t look all that good–the amount of twist varies from section to section, some spots are badly over-twisted, and it’s not as good as I’d like it to be.

Or, for that matter, as consistent as the yarn further into the bobbin, or in the batch I finished a couple weeks ago. And believe me, it’s bugging me.

See, as I got near the center of my Woolee Winder bobbin as I plied last night, it decided it didn’t want to turn on my Lazy Kate anymore. It started sticking. A lot.

It wasn’t the tension on the Lazy Kate, because I loosened that to the point where the string was hanging off the bobbins. It wasn’t the “regular” bobbin–that was still spinning fine as I tugged at the singles.

No, this was the trouble-maker. So much so that at one point, I was able to lift the entire Lazy Kate from the floor simply by trying to get the singles to unwind from the bobbin. And finally, at 11:20 last night, I gave up. I was way too tired to have to fight–trying to get the singles to feed off the bobbin and manage the timing and tension necessary to have the plying feed correctly onto the wheel–all while getting frustrated and fighting yawns . . . well, I called it a night. With just this much more on the bobbin. Practically nothing! You can almost see the lighter-colored leader thread underneath the singles. So frustrating, really–I was so determined to get the whole bobbin full last night.

So . . . there’s going to be a certain number of yards of less-than perfect yarn, from the last ten minutes or so of plying, before I faced the inevitable. I’ll have to see just how bad they are when I wind this off to the niddy noddy tomorrow. (It was going to be today, but it’s too late now.) If it’s truly worse than the standard of the rest of the bobbin–or those two skeins I already have done–maybe I’ll put it aside, only use it if I need it later on. I mean, I do plan on making a sweater out of this yarn, and it would help for the yarn to be consistent, don’t you think?

Now, Chappy wants to thank all of you for your kind thoughts. He hasn’t been sneez. . . . er . . . coug . . . um . . . hacking as much today, although he seems to be a little itchier. He’s licking at his paws more. I personally think the medicated shampoo is to blame for that. In my experience, that stuff–even if it says “moisturizing”–is drying to the skin. Certainly his fur feels drier today than usual–it doesn’t have its usual soft fluffiness. I think on Friday I’ll give him another bath–this time with the moisturizing Oatmeal-Aloe shampoo I prefer for him. I tend to think that it’s more important to moisturize than medicate, at least when you’re talking the whole skin. I’ll dab some tea tree oil on the actual infection.

Meanwhile, he hasn’t been sneezing (coughing, hacking, whatever you call it) as much today, although he’s been doing it a little more the closer we get to bedtime. But isn’t that always the way? When you’re sick you always feel worse at the end of the day! He very much wanted to go for a walk today, though, but we didn’t. I’ve been wheezing myself all day. I pulled out the Albuterol inhaler I got last March when I was sick. (You’ll remember, an ear infection, lung infection, and bronchial asthma.Yeah. Good times.) But still . . . I more or less felt short of breath all day and since I know for me it IS allergies, well, I didn’t want to mess with my lungs any more than I have to. According to pollen.com, New Jersey is dealing with Medium-High pollen levels this week, which I believe. Every person I know with seasonal allergies at all is suffering this week. All the more reason for me to think that this is what Chappy’s got, too . . . but, who knows?

And, as to his diet? Chappy does already eat a home-cooked diet. We don’t do the raw-food diet (mostly because the home-made method is just way too messy and difficult, and the prepared raw-food diets are too expensive), but he does get food made with my two little hands. We use Sojourner Farms dog food mix, to which I not only add good, fresh meat, but also skin-friendly oils, garlic powder, some veggies. Also Missing Link. And he gets vitamin E, too, and Prozyme. I think I’ve pretty much got that covered, but . . . maybe not!

Oh, and I’ve been knitting, too, but the progress photos don’t really show that much . . . still, I’ll try to get some sort of progress shown tomorrow.

Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Knitting/Spinning // 4 Comments »