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 by Deb
4 Comments »

Do I have a good boy, or what?

Here’s Chappy, looking all wet and miserable (“You’re not going to put that on your BLOG are you?”), sitting in the bathtub for the mandated five minutes that the medicated shampoo is supposed to stay in contact with the skin.

Medicated shampoo?

Well, yes, the shampoo I got at the vet today, for Chappy’s recurring staph infection. (Which, if anyone has a recommended course of treatment OTHER than the antibiotic from the vet, let me know.)

Because, of course, we were at the vet because of Chappy’s hacking/sneezing/coughing. It’s hard to describe exactly what kind of noise he’s been making–like a cross between a sneeze and a trying-to-clear-the-throat kind of cough. You know, like when you’ve got phlegm at the back of your throat. Which, apparently, he does. As well as a touch of bronchitis. No idea where he got it from, or when, exactly, he picked it up. It’s only been the last couple days that he’s been, um, we’ll call it sneezing more than usual. Or, noticeably, anyway. But it’s not like he’s doing this all the time–mostly when he first wakes up.

In fact, that’s just like me during allergy season. (And, I’m sorry, isn’t it kind of early for allergy season? But I’m sniffly/coughy/wheezy this week, too.) Going from horizontal to vertical first thing in the morning induces a fair amount of snuffling and throat-clearing as the phlegm rearranges itself. But anyway, he woke me up a couple times last night . . . and I’m such a sound sleeper, that should say a lot . . . so I made the vet appointment first thing this morning. And of course, he barely sniffled at all while I was home at lunch, but I brought him at 3:15 anyway, and yep. A touch of bronchitis, along with the staph infection. Could they be connected? Could there be an allergic reaction there since my sinuses have flared up and dogs usually present allergies via itchy skin. But the vet poo-pooed the idea, but he tends to do that anyway. (It’s a clinic with an assortment of vets; this wasn’t my favorite, but for a last-minute appointment, you take what you can get.)

Anyway, he’s now on an antibiotic–which means I have to stop at the grocery store tomorrow to pick up some active yogurt for him, since his stomach is sensitive to begin with–but otherwise, seems entirely himself. In fact, he’s been very playful since we got home. I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve thrown his sneaker for him since I sat down here, but he’s happy, so I’m happy.

Although, really, he says he’s tired of being five now. Can’t he go back to four? Or skip to six? I don’t have the heart to tell him that these health things tend to get worse not better as you get older, but yeah. I agree with him. Five hasn’t been all that fun! Well, except for the fun (if exhausting) parts.

Tags: Chappy, Family by Deb
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Kind of like last year, here’s a vacation picture from Mom’s vacation on Martha’s Vineyard.

She’s been up there since Saturday, but my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew all drove up today to join her. They called here about 6:30 and said they were waving . . .

It’s impossibly grainy, of course . . . my brother-in-law is the tall one in the back, in the white shirt. Mom’s got a black shirt on, my sister’s in red . . . my niece is pretty hard to see here, but my nephew is sitting on his bike. Trust me, there all there.

You know. On Martha’s Vineyard. Without me.

But hey, I’m here with Chappy. And Dad is back from the trip he took this weekend to a seminar in Kansas City. (Yes, my Dad was one of the lucky people to fly last week amongst all the security chaos, although luckily, he had no trouble at all.) That meant that Chappy and I had the house to ourselves all weekend . . . though now that Dad’s home, I have to look after him, too . . . (grin)

Chappy–who apparently really is having trouble with being 5–sounds a little stuffy-nosed today. He’s sneezing more than usual, sounds a little congested when he’s sleeping, and is doing a hacking-cough kind of thing every now and again, much like I do when I’ve got phlegm in the back of my throat. In fact, my sinuses seem be to be doing the exact same thing . . . isn’t it too early for Fall allergies? If he doesn’t sound better soon–or, definitely, if he sounds worse–I’ll take him to the vet to get his lungs listened to.

Otherwise . . . well . . . the perfectly-beautiful weekend is over, the heat and humidity are back (though not those brutal, broiling temperatures of two weeks ago). Mom-and-company are on one of my favorite places. Chappy and I are sniffling together . . .

Yep. It’s Monday, all right!

Tags: Family, Martha's Vineyard by Deb
7 Comments »

Quilt, of course.

These are all quilts that I’ve made (although one of them remains incomplete–it’s got about another 15% of quilting to do, and an edging sewn on). That one, and the mosaic sunflower were both machine-pieced, but all the others–and all the quilting–were done by hand. I really much prefer sewing them by hand.

For the mosaic wall hanging, though, there wasn’t time. It was for a wedding gift, and I only found out about the wedding four months before it happened, and it was due exactly the same weekend as the quilt I was making for my nephew’s bed. It was quite a rush, there, to get them both finished . . . and not surprisingly, that was the last time I quilted at all until four years ago when I started the Eternally-Unfinished one heaped in the corner of my bedroom. For some reason, I felt just a little burned out on the quilting thing for a while!

Oh–and for a couple other “Q”s I thought about:

Quest. Or, Quiet.

Tags: ABC-Along by Deb
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Here are some Saturday Sky pictures for you. It’s a beautiful day today, so Chappy and I went to meet our friends for a walk in the park. Then we came home, Chappy got a bath to make him extra curly, and then sat out on the deck. Just . . . ahhhhh . . .

And now, that’s where we’re heading . . . back to the deck, after a quick stop in the kitchen for a cup of tea. Ta ta!

Tags: Chappy, Family, General, Sky by Deb
4 Comments »

So, there we have it. A nice, turned heel on my socks.

Two, in fact, of course, since I’m doing both socks at once.

This means that all I’ve got is about 6″ of the leg of the sock, and they’re done. The color in the photos is pretty accurate, even though the pictures are a little dark (depending on the monitor, of course). I can’t say enough about how much I like the colors in this yarn. I love the shades. I love the subtle striping–not actual “stripes,” but this nice, horizontal line that kind of gives the impression of a stripe. Really, Lu, thank you.

And then, there’s this.

I can’t show you the INSIDE. (Well, I could, really, but then the person who’s going to get this in a couple of days–if she reads this blog, which she may, or may not, I really don’t know–wouldn’t be as surprised as she deserves to be.) But I CAN show you the outside!

So here it is. My YarnAboard2 Spinning Box, the Marco Polo, on its way out the door tomorrow. Isn’t it exciting?

I may have gotten just a little carried away with the stickers . . .

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
5 Comments »

Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday. The Atrium at The Breakers Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

For those of you who don’t know, Newport was incredibly popular with the rich and famous during the Gilded Age a century ago, and of all the amazing mansions, The Breakers is considered the best. The grandest. And by far, the most elaborate. (They didn’t call this the “gilded age” for nothing!) This 70-room “summer cottage” was commissioned by the Commodor Cornelius Vanderbilt in 1893 and designed by Richard Morris Hunt.

It’s huge. It’s beautiful. And oh, is it ever elaborate.

I went there with my niece three years ago–I brought her for the weekend as a combo-birthday-8th-grade-graduation present, and we had a wonderful time. We toured all the mansions (or, all the ones we really wanted to see–The Elms, Marble House, Rosecliff), and had a great time together.

I took this picture from outside on the patio. They’re very strict about “No Pictures” inside the mansion–which makes perfect sense–but this actually IS outside. I couldn’t take the picture while on the actual tour, but could easily snap this shot afterwards from the grounds . . . so I did. Because really, that tile work is amazing.

We had such a great time on this trip, too. Which is good, because I’d never really seen Newport before.

Well, once. Here’s the story.

One one very memorable trip to Martha’s Vineyard with Mom oh, I don’t know, ten years ago? The entire trip was an adventure. We got caught in traffic trying to get over the Tappan Zee bridge for hours on Friday night, and didn’t make it to our “halfway” hotel in Mystic CT until about 11:30, and yet we giggled all the way–opting to be silly rather than cranky. We rented bicycles–which was the first time Mom had been on a bike in years and years . . . and her first experience with hand-brakes. She got on her bike outside the rental shop and promptly tottered across the street, collided with a stone wall, and had to head back to the room for bandages. But still, we made it all the way from Edgartown to Oak Bluffs and back–about 12 miles in all–and had a lot of laughs. The whole trip was like that–just a little “off” but in a fun way.

Anyway, we had planned on stopping in Newport for a night on our way home–it’s not really that far out of the way–but when we pulled up in front of the B&B? Well . . . Mom says she expected Lurch from the Addams Family to answer the door. We went in and she was immediately creeped out and said she couldn’t possibly stay there. We ended up using the bathroom and then leaving (losing, I might add, the fee for the room for the night). We stopped in the center of town for lunch, and had a wonderful one. Outside, right on the water, at the Mooring, which has some of the best clam chowder I’ve ever had. Great lunch. The best part of the whole visit to Newport. Then we called home and left Dad a message that we were coming home early, and got back in the car. We called again when we reached New Jersey, to let him know we were getting close . . . and he hadn’t listened to the message at all. Even though Jilly (our dog at the time) kept running over to the machine, trying to get his attention. We still think he ran around like crazy to pick things up, make the bed, before we got home about 45 minutes later. (The dishwasher, incidentally, was still warm.)

Prior to the visit in 2003, that had been my sole exposure to Newport, but Mom always told me that I’d like it if I tried again, and with the right person. I guess she was right!

  I have always wondered, though . . . WHY is there a snitch on this old, stone arch?

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday, Martha's Vineyard by Deb
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Look!

Look!

See what came today?

My Yarn Aboard 2 spinning package.

Isn’t it pretty?

I love all the stamps. I have a thing for pretty stamps. I don’t collect stamps by any means, but I do make a point of buying nice ones from the post office (well, www.usps.com), and always appreciate seeing something other than the usual stars and stripes.

The best part, though, is that, of course, it’s even better inside. (Although it took me a while, I opened this super carefully so that I can turn the paper inside out and recycle it for my pal–since I don’t know where I could get more of this stuff! I just hope she wasn’t hoping to be able to do the same thing.)

Anyway, mine is the Marco Polo box.

Here we have, the illustration of Marco himself, no doubt on his way to discover pasta and gunpowder–or, more likely–Chinese silk for all us spinners. Because, he brought some with him! There’s 2 oz of Silk/Cashmere roving in here, in the “Reds” colorway. You heard me. Silk. And. Cashmere. Wow!

And then (because, yeah, there’s more!) 8 oz of Superwash Merino in “Great Balls of Fire,” which is so lovely, and so autumn-y, I can’t wait to see what it looks like spun up. I haven’t actually spun a real, multi-colored roving in a while. (Sure, the merino/silk I’ve been working on has variations and touches of other colors, but I wouldn’t call it multi-color, you know?)

  And, let’s not forget the little extras–as if all this roving goodness wasn’t enough–a “C” charm for Chappy’s collar, and a bar of dark chocolate for me.

Does my pal rock, or what??

What’s that? You want to know who she is? Well, I suppose she does deserve the credit, huh? Lots of it, really, let’s face it. Kathy from Knitigator.

Kathy, I’m blown away, I really am. Everything is gorgeous!!!

Now of course, it’s my turn to send the box out to its next recipient. I’ve got everything ready EXCEPT a postcard. Do you know how hard it is to find a postcard in my town? One that shows a picture of anything remotely like where I live? The couple I can think of show scenic spots that are about 30 miles from here, so where’s the fun in that? Or, the one and only postcard of my town? Shows a picture from about 1956 . . . you’d think no-one had taken any pictures since then. (I wonder if I could get my own postcards printed for things such as this?)

Anyway, my box is ready except for the taping-up part. I’ll see if I can get a postcard tomorrow, but if not . . . well . . . I don’t think my Pal would be crushed if I sent a notecard with a picture I took myself, do you? (I don’t really think so, either. Heaven knows it’s more reflective of where I actually live than a picture of High Point.) I can’t wait–I hope she likes her box as much as I liked mine!

So. In amidst all the near-terror chaos today . . . Oh, as bad as the airport mess is here in the U.S., my heart bleeds for all the people trying to fly out of Heathrow. What a near disaster this was–and really, kudos to the folks in the Intelligence industry who caught this. Anyway, aside from the awful news that we (the world) came this close to another massive terrorist attack, there was this touching memorial to the World Trade Center on msnbc.com today. Not the movie, but the buildings themselves, how our view of them has changed since we lost them.

1. Do you plan ahead for your reading? Work off of a to-be-read pile? A reading list? Or do you wing it, choose whatever you’re in the mood for?
   I rarely plan ahead, or not by very far. When I finish one book, I take it back to my “library” at the other end of the hallway and browse the shelves, looking for another book to catch my interest. I know some people who keep their unread books gathered together, but that’s too much like a quarantine to me–I like all my books to feel free to mingle together.
2. If you do plan ahead, how far ahead? Do you have two or three books waiting in queue? Or are you backed up by dozens of volumes waiting their turn?
   About the only time I plan ahead is for assembling books to read on a vacation–saving a new book by a favorite author, or something thematic for the trip (like a book about Cape Cod to read on Martha’s Vineyard, or something like that.)
3. If you do not plan ahead . . . well, never? What about if you’re reading a series? Or someone gives you a book for a present?
   I DO tend to read series in their entirety, beginning to end (assuming they’re all published), so in cases like those, I do know what my next book will be. And the vacation thing I mentioned above. But usually, it all depends on what my current read “sparks” in interest . . . like, pairing Dorothy Sayer with P.G. Wodehouse, or a book with an anthropologist as the main character, sending me to another, entirely different book that happens to also have an anthropologist. I think it’s much more fun that way.

Tags: Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
9 Comments »

Tonight, I’ve got some new fiber to show you, from Crown Mountain Farms.

It’s actually only part of my order–I also ordered some hand-dyed stuff for my Yarn Aboard 2 pal, but it (1) hasn’t come yet and (2) I might not show it anyway, in case she reads . . . not that she’d know it was for her anyway . . . hmmm . . . maybe when it arrives, I will!

Anyway, from left to right, there is some Shetland Moorit, some Baby Camel, (Liz is snickering to herself), and Baby Suri Alpaca. Some luxury fibers I haven’t had a chance (well, except for the camel) to try. And all in such pretty shades of brown, too.

Now, in the past, I’ve waxed rhapsodic about my knitting bag, a utilitarian canvas satchel (since discontinued) from PlanetDog. It’s big. It’s functional. It’s roomy. And yet . . . not the most attractive bag. Not ugly, but . . . no real style. And sometimes, a girl wants some style!

I’ve looked all over the internet for a similar bag and have been completely unable to find one. (Or at least, one that wasn’t actually a real doctor’s bag that cost a mint.) So, I thought, what if I tried making one? I could knit the pieces and felt them, and my sewing skills could handle the finer touches, I think . . . except, the bag still needs that frame at the top which holds everything in the right shape.

So, I searched all over for those, and finally found them just the other day. Or at least, even if it’s not exactly right, it’s something. Not only that, the site has a pattern for a satchel, too (about 2/3 down the page). How nifty is that, huh? Oh, and you know what else I saw, at a completely different site? “Textile Board” for the support at the bottom of bags, which sounds much more functional than cardboard, huh?

I have no idea when, exactly, I’ll make this bag. I’ve never felted anything before, and my sewing skills ARE awfully rusty, but still . . . it would look fabulous, don’t you think? And really, the PlanetDog bag can’t last forever, and it’s best to be prepared . . .

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
11 Comments »

This is all I’ve got to show you. The spinning I’ve been doing. About 3/4 of a bobbin full of singles. For me to have gotten this much spinning done in the last two weeks is pretty remarkable. (I hope you’re impressed.)

I have been knitting, too, of course. The sweater (vest?) is getting bigger. In fact, I’m almost at the armholes. Another few more rows, I think. . . .

. . . Which means, of course, that that means I’ll need to figure out what I want to do about the shaping pretty much . . . um . . . now (grin).

The socks are about a half inch away from the heel shaping. (Exciting, I know.) My Peacock Stole Part 2, I admit, I haven’t actually touched in a few days. It’s a shame, isn’t it? It’s never going to be finished at this rate, and I’ve got so much pretty lace yarn in the closet that I’d really like to work on! But . . . we’ll get there once the siren call of irregular stripes is silenced. Because, deciding where to put the stripes on the sweater is almost as good for incentive as a cable pattern, or a fair isle, where you feel compelled to “just finish this section,” before putting the project away for the day.

Speaking of Fair Isle, look at the fabulous book I got today. I haven’t had a chance to actually read it yet, but get this, it’s actually a knitting book that has pages and pages of real text. Not just a little intro followed by nothing but beautiful photos and patterns. No, real, solid explanatory words illustrated by beautiful photos and patterns.

There’s also an analysis of mixing colors, of designing elements. Now, I haven’t had a chance to read Alice St*rmore’s book on Fair Isle (though, thanks Liz for a chance to flip through it). And I do have Sheila McGregor‘s excellent book which has lots of charted patterns. Actually, that’s the one thing this book lacks–it’s got some, but mostly, just for the specific sweater patterns–but it makes up for it with the great color photos of how different colors can blend in a fair isle design. Really, I’m looking forward to reading this . . .

Huh. Any of you interested in punctuation foibles? Check out this article about a comma that’s going to cost a company over $2 Million . . . phew! Grammar rules really ARE important!

Tags: General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
10 Comments »

In the absense of greater inspiration, sometimes it’s most helpful to borrow inspiration from someone else.

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find
that I lived just
the length of it.
I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

–Diane Ackerman

Tags: Sky, Uncategorized by Deb
6 Comments »

I know it doesn’t look like much, but this is what I’ve spent most of my knitting time on this weekend.

Right now, it’s true, it’s basically just a tube . . . but it’s going to grow into a sweater. Or a vest. Something, for sure, with short or no sleeves, because I don’t have enough yarn for long sleeves, which is fine, because I didn’t want them anyway.

I tossed in a skein of yarn so you can get an idea of the scale . . . another couple inches and I’ll be ready to break for the armscrye.

Really, except for some sock knitting at Starbucks yesterday, all my knitting time this weekend has gone to this. I think part of the fun is deciding where to put the stripes. I was going to do regular, measured stripes, but Mom and I both thought that random would be more fun. Not truly random, of course, because I have a disproportionate number of skeins, but still . . . you get the idea.

It’s coming out so pretty . . . it’s a shame I can”t quite get the colors to photograph accurately. But the fabric? With the Karabella Aurora 8 plus the springiness of the 5×2 rib . . . it’s just . . . great.

One of these nights I’ll pull out my thesaurus and remind myself of some other, better, lesser-used superlatives like “striking,” “keen,” “awesome,” “meritorious” or “smashing.” You know, something a little snazzier than “It’s so pretty!”. It’s not that I don’t have the vocabulary, or that I think you folks wouldn’t recognize a word such as “prodigious” or whatever, because clearly you are all wise and wonderful people, just . . . I don’t know, really. Is it a cultural thing where you just don’t show off, even something as simple as vocabularly and correct grammatical structure? Is it wanting to fit in, talk like everyone else who’s not an English professor? Or just that these simple words like “good,” and “pretty” are just that? Simple. Straight-forward. Solid, Anglo-Saxon, strong words . . . not fancy like the Latin-based ones?

Although the case could be argued that “pretty” and “nice” have been so overused that any strength they originally had has been diluted, leaving them insipid, weak shadows of their former selves . . . but really? Isn’t that a sad thing to think about any word? Can’t you just picture them, sitting in their recliners, their canes and walkers nearby, reminiscing about the days when they WERE the words to use? The strong, active, cut-to-the-chase words that everyone wanted to voice? “I wasn’t always just ‘Nice,’ you know, I used to mean all sorts of things! Wanton. Coy. Punctilious. Well-bred. Now I’m just a worn-out old catch-phrase.” When, no doubt, the word “Gay” says, “You think you’ve got problems? I used to mean happy and merry, and now I’m a political land-mine. Woo hoo. Hurray for me. I remember when I was just a nice word . . . oh, sorry, buddy,” as the word “Nice” winces, “I didn’t mean you.” All while “Like” is sitting in the corner, twitching . . .

Well, anyway (two other words that probably have some issues to work out), it’s been a pretty quiet weekend. Lots of reading. Lots of knitting. We got out for walks each day (Chappy was thrilled). I baked a banana cake this morning and still can’t find a vanilla frosting recipe that tastes like anything other than pure sugar. I made pot roast for dinner, did some really light cleaning (okay, almost none). Sat out on the deck where I got two new mosquito bites to go with the three from last week (which have finally stopped itching, so clearly it’s time for some new ones). (Don’t get me started on mosquitoes. I hate them.) Trimmed some fur on the bottom of Chappy’s feet so he’ll hopefully stop sliding so much on the floors. Did NOT get around to setting up the new wireless router. Did NOT get a chance to take apart my Woolee Winder and clean it (hence, it’s still sitting, unused). But all in all, a good weekend.

Really, it was quite nice.

Tags: Baking, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
11 Comments »

  A nice, blue sky for Saturday.

Well, okay, technically, I took the picture yesterday, but really, it was the first time the sky has looked interesting in ages.

First of all, it was actually blue. Not that pale, insipid shade of blue that’s been bleached and beaten by the heat and then hidden behind a haze of humidity. No. This was a real blue, and a pleasure to behold.

And then, the puffy white clouds. Not dark, ominous, thunderstorm clouds. Not, again, the long, transparent hazy clouds that come with high humidity. No. Actual white clouds, with feathery edges and fluffy piles, like they were enjoying the weather as much as we were.

Because yesterday was a welcome break from the excessive heat of the last week. At lunch, it was only about 80-85 degrees (depending on the themometer you looked at), with a breeze and low humidity. How good did it feel? Well, will it help if I tell you that Chappy got his first real walk in over a week? He was as surprised as we were, I think!

It made him so happy, in fact, that last night, he was acting entirely like himself for the first time in ages. He played. A lot. I snapped this picture as he was tossing his squeaky-toy sneaker in the air. (I know, the toy’s in his mouth in the picture, but trust me. It’s an action shot.) He chewed on his bone. And, really, played and played with his sneaker after supper. I hadn’t realized how much I missed that squeak! Because between being either so tired, or stiff/sore, or just plain old bored, he hasn’t played like that in weeks. It was NICE.

This morning, Mom and I went into town for some errands. I got a new passport picture taken since mine is about a month away from expiring. I picked up some Suede yarn for those Ugg baby booties (one of my Summer of Stash exceptions, and it’s for a gift for heaven’s sake so, no guilt). We stopped at the hardware store for a pair of knobs for the roll-top computer desk in the family room, since the ones that came with the desk had apparently given up. We sat outside with some coffee. It’s a little warmer, a little more humid than yesterday, but still quite nice. And so great that the good weather is falling on a weekend!

Oh, and if you didn’t see this on Stephanie’s blog yesterday, go take a look at the Fairy Doors in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I think I’m in love. What a wonderful, precious little series of surprises.

Tags: Chappy, General, Sky by Deb
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Here’s this week’s contribution to Sundara’s Eye Candy Friday. (For which I planned ahead since it’s not like I can post from the office, huh?

I figure after the week that most of the country has had (in other words, HOT), it would be a nice idea to show something cool.

And so, here you go.

Pictures of a nice, deep snow from March, 2005.

I took this picture in the afternoon. The snow that we’d plowed from the driveway had softened around the edges the day before, and then frozen hard, leaving these amazing, fascinating shapes.

And then, with the light coming in at that steep angle? Casting shadows and highlighting the translucent parts? Ooh, so pretty.

Not to mention cold!

As in, refreshingly cold.

Ahhhhh…..

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Tags: Eye-Candy Friday by Deb
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Okay, can somebody explain to me the difference between a skein-winder and a swift? Because they look remarkably similar and have remarkably similar purposes–to hold a skein of yarn, either as winding it into or out of a skein. So far as I can tell, the only “real” difference is that skein-winders are often vertical, like a ferris wheel, while swifts are horizontal, like a carousel. Is there a reason for that? Does anybody know?

I can see that an umbrella swift would be difficult to use as a skein winder, that the yarn would be too apt to tangle on the corners as it would off the bobbin. But otherwise? Because, see, Liz has a skein-winder on her wheel which made making a skein so much easier than using a niddy-noddy. So I’ve been looking at them. I found some very interesting tips here at Knitter’s Review. But when I started looking, I got confused

  First, there’s the Fricke clamp-variety. Which is more or less what Liz was using and looks admirable for it’s functionality and versatility.

  But it also looks awfully like this horizontal swift. More or less the exact same thing, so far as I can tell, except for being horizontal. Not to mention about half the price.

  And then there’s the Goko swift, which everyone seems to be raving about, which can apparently be used as both. It really does look like a ferris wheel, doesn’t it? All it needs is a few cars filled with happy people . . .

Anyway, I suppose my question is–I’d like to get one of these things, and have been thinking about changing my umbrella swift anyway. I’d rather not spend $120 if I can get basically the same functionality for $60 . . . opinions?

Otherwise, not much going on.

Between the weather (alternating between really hot or really wet for most of the month of July) and his sore back (when he needed to take it easy, but which pretty much overlapped with the decent days in July), poor Chappy has not been getting anything like his usual exercise lately. I think that, plus the lack of sleep, was the main reason he didn’t play more with his new friends last weekend. I tried playing with him yesterday, but he got bored in just a few minutes. And really, it was far too hot to even consider a walk this afternoon. So what did I do? I took him for laps around the house. As in, inside the house. After I finished eating my lunch, I started walking the circle from room to room. Kitchen to family room to living room to dining room to kitchen to family room… Chappy pretty much always wants to be where I am, so he started following me–thinking, at first, that I was going to stop at any of the usual places–the sliders out to the deck, our favorite chair, by the leash–but I didn’t. And so he kept trotting along behind me. I should have counted “laps” but we must have done the circle at least 20 times, and at a fairly good clip, too. Fast enough to stretch the legs, but not so fast as to risk sliding into doorways or anything breakable. The best part, though, was the slightly confused, but “Okay, this is new!” eager look on his face.

Hey, at least it got him off the couch. Stop laughing.

I also get Good Daughter points tonight. Not only did I make supper tonight (pasta with fresh zucchini, squash, onions, red cabbage, and broccoli), but . . .well, when I bought my new laptop last Winter, I had always planned on giving my old one to Mom, as an upgrade to the one she was using. But there were problems with my new one (several new ones) and I hadn’t been ready to give up the old one yet, not altogether, even though it just sat here in my bedroom. It basically hasn’t been used since May, when I brought it on vacation (since it’s about a pound lighter). But her computer has been acting weird lately–the fan’s going all the time, and it’s gotten really slow, don’t know why . . . so, finally, I decided it was Time. So tonight, while she was cleaning up from supper (which I cooked), I moved her old one and set up the newer one in its place, and then crept away, leaving it to surprise her. And it did! (grin). I mean, sure, I could have given it to her months ago, but that’s not really the point, is it? I gave it to her when she needed it. Right? It just means she’ll appreciate it more….

Do your reading habits change for the summer months? If so, how??

Not really. Even when I was still in school, and Summer Vacation would stretch out with all those lazy days, the only real difference in my reading was in quantity. I don’t hang out on beaches, so that’s not really an issue, and a good book is a good book–I’ve taken history on vacation just as readily as light fiction.

I wonder if this changes if you have kids, so that there’s a clear delineation between “summer” and “not summer” in your life, rather than just wearing cool clothes rather than warm ones?

Tags: Chappy, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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So, Scout wanted to see my UFOs?

Okay, happy to oblige.

First, the beginnings of a sweater or vest (I haven’t decided yet) that I’m making with the Karabella Aurora 8 I got last February, in exchange for leftover Olympic yarn. I don’t actually have a pattern, and am kind of feeling my way as I go along. So far, all I can tell you is that it’s about 16 rows, and knitted in a 5×2 rib.

Now you pretty much know everything I do about this (grin).

Second, there’s Peacock Diva Part Two. You’ll remember that I finished the first half last month, and am now working on the second.

As usual, the second piece feels like it’s going muuuuuch slower. I’m just ready to move on to the next chart section, but have a feeling I’ve got a long way to go. You know how some lace projects just zoom along? Well, this isn’t one of them. But, really, it sure is worth it. I mean, Part One, for all her Diva-ness, turned out to be absolutely beautiful.

(For those of you who have forgotten, I’m taking the famous, beautiful Peacock Feather Shawl and turning it into a rectangular stole.)

Last but not least, my socks. Knitted in hand-dyed yarn from Lu (my Tea-Swap pal). These colors are absolutely gorgeous. A little washed out in this photo. But, regardless, trust me when I tell you that this is beautiful yarn. I really, really love the colors.

So, what else? That, honestly, is all I’ve got in my knitting bag. One sweater. One lace project. One pair of socks. Honest!

I got to see my sister, niece, and nephew today, which I loved, although I think Chappy enjoyed it even more. He was so happy to see them! It’s been weeks. I was also very brave, and I gave away my Green Gable sweater. Technically, I gave it to both my sister and my niece, but it was my niece who seemed happiest to get it. And after I left for work after lunch, Mom tells me that my niece was really happy about it, so I think I made the right decision, huh?

Not only that, my sister and niece were at the sister-in-law’s baby shower this weekend. And apparently, except for the few handmade gifts that they made? She got nothing hand-made for the baby (whose name will be Kaitlyn Elizabeth). I’m so glad I decided to make her those sweaters!

Oh, one inconvenient thing–my office’s IT department has blocked all AOL and Typepad access. Sigh. I mean, of course I should be working all the time I’m there, but still . . . That means I can’t check or answer any email, and I can’t leave comments on any Typepad blogs. At least Newsgator and Bloglines seem to be working. And gmail was allowed when I checked . . . I wonder if I could get in the habit of using that email instead of the AOL….

Tags: Family, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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I’ve got some actual spinning progress shots to show you, isn’t that exciting?

Well, yesterday I showed you the baby camel and the targhee that I spun over the weekend.

But after I plied the camel–which I couldn’t do at Liz’s because I had only had two empty bobbins to bring with my Lendrum and I didn’t want to use her wheel because I wanted to be able to concentrate on plying, not on plying AND adapting to a different wheel (besides which, I was tired)–I wanted to do more, to free up some of my other bobbins in case such a situation came up again.

(And yes, that paragraph was one entire sentence. Why do you ask?)

Anyway, so first, I took out three bobbins with leftover singles from other batches of yarn. Something, I might add, I wouldn’t have thought to do if I hadn’t seen samples of Liz’s with different yarns plied together “just because.” They were all corriedale, just in different colors–purple, green, and red. So . . . I plied them together, just to free up their bobbins and ended up with a multi-colored skein with purple all the way through, but 2/3 with green and 1/3 with red. Really, it came out quite pretty.

Then, I was going to spin some more of my Merino/Silk that I’ve been spinning since November. I reattached my Woolee Winder to my wheel. (I took it off before leaving because I only have two bobbins and they were both busy.) Only . . . it’s not winding. Or at least, it’s technically working . . . kind of . . . but not easily. There’s a vibration as I treadle, a slight “chuff” sound on every other rotation, and a whistling noise like you get when you hum through a comb covered in waxed paper. All things that weren’t there before I lovingly placed it on my desk on Thursday night.

I tried oiling it. Tried adjusting the tension, the height of the mother-of-all, the ratio. Tried the other (full) bobbin, just to see how it spun. Tried manually spinning it very slowly to get a feel for any rough patches. Frankly, I have no idea. Now, it came with a five page set of instructions on how to disassemble it for cleaning which I suppose might work, but . . . it looks pretty tricksy. Not impossible, or not even necessarily hard. Just fiddly and tiny and painstaking.

So, then what was I to do? Well, for one thing, I decided I would empty off the less-full of my two W.W. bobbins. One of them is (was) completely full of singles, and the other was a quarter or third full (I’m really not sure). I decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a completely empty W.W. bobbin to play with while I fiddled with my Woolee Winder, without risk of somehow catching or messing up the singles on the bobbin.

So. I attached my plying-head flyer to my Lendrum and plied all the singles I had on the smaller bobbin, which leaves the first bobbn something like 3/4 full. And yet I got two, good sized skeins of such a pretty yarn… 75 turns on my niddy-noddy for one, 99 turns for the other–so that’s about 350 yards (or is it meters?) Either way–a good amount of yarn!

And, really, I’ve got to tell you. This stuff is sooooo pretty. It’s a gorgeous deep, charcoaly-purple. In direct light, or with a flash, like here, it looks very purple in deed. But in less-direct light (like that top one of the niddy-noddy, or on the left of the one showing all my weekend’s different skeins) it looks almost charcoal gray. But with the nicest accents of white and green and even a hint of burgundy.

I am just so glad I snatched up this stuff at Rhinebeck! I mean, sure, I may have gone overboard in buying three pounds of it. (Really, how was I supposed to know how much I would need for a sweater?) But, oh. Soooo nice. Soooo pretty. Sooooo soft . . .

Now, you must go over to Liz’s and check out her post about our weekend fun, paying special attention to the gorgeous picture of all four of our dogs standing in the front door. Granted, mine is the hardest to see, but still–beautiful photo. And then go to Shelley’s go see the hilarious picture of me and Liz for which she’s having a Caption Contest. (She has some lovely, “normal” photos too, but that first one is just ridiculously silly. We were all so serious and sedate all weekend, I don’t know how THAT happened!)

And, last but not least–check out this F Minus cartoon my Dad made a point of showing me today. (He says Chappy told him I wanted to see it.)

Tags: Friends, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
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Here’s my reading list from July–interestingly, there’s only one “current” book on the list, the bio of Andrew Jackson. All the others are either old books being read for either the first time or for a revisit, or new-ish books that were already on the second reading. Hmmm. Go figure! And, really surprising? Since I was visiting this last weekend, I didn’t read a single thing from Friday morning through Sunday afternoon. I literally cannot remember the last time I went even 24 hours without reading something! (No, flipping through copies of knitting books doesn’t count.)

1. SWORD OF ORION by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (276 p.) More of a YA sci-fi book than their usual series. Perfectly nice, but . . . not my favorite of theirs. I do love their Liaden series, though. Basically, I resisted the urge to take one of those off the shelf and picked up this instead.

2. A SUDDEN WILD MAGIC by Diana Wynne Jones (412 p.) She also usually writes YA books, fantasy, this time. This one, though, is written for adults and, again, it’s fine, but not as great as her other books. Basically, I read it about once every five years, and that’s plenty…

3. HEART OF GOLD by Sharon Shinn (359 p.) Next to Archangel, this is my favorite book by this, one of my very favorite authors. Sci-fi, placed in a world technologically very like our own, peopled by three races, the Indigo, the sociologically in-charge, matriarchal race, the Gulden, patriarchal, but the less-powerful race. (Oh, and the Albinos, who basically aren’t important to the story.) Nolan is an Indigo man, engaged to be married to an heiress, but working in The City at a biological-lab in the meantime. Kit is an Indigo woman who has been raised with the Gulden and in love the terrorist son of the Gulden leader. I just find this book fascinating in its exploration of power-bases, morality, and what is and is not important. I love it. Love it. By now, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it.

4. DAMSEL IN DISTRESS by P.G. Wodehouse (254 p.) My favorite non-Jeeves book by Wodehouse. George Bevan is a wildly successful, but lonely composer, who, one day has a girl jump into his cab as it drives through London. He falls in love instantly, but she is in love with someone else . . . typical Wodehouse zaniness ensues. (This was made into a mediocre movie with Fred Astaire and George and Gracie Burns way back when, but trust me, the book is better.) Fun and amusing.

5. AUNTIE MAME by Patrick Dennis (292 p.) Speaking of fun and amusing, this novel of the fictional, madcap Auntie Mame throughout the crazy, Bohemian late 20s, through the Depression, and into the forties, raising her orphaned nephew and Living Large all the while. Hilarious.

6. BREAK IN by Dick Francis (317 p.) A nice, enjoyable mystery with one of my favorite Dick Francis heros, Kit Fielding. He is a champion jockey whose sister and brother-in-law are being unfairly attacked by a newspaper, and dives in to help. I love Kit. He’s smart, resourceful, strong, athletic, and generally just a wonderful guy.

7. BOLT by Dick Francis (318 p.) The second Kit Fielding book, this time helping his fiance’s family deal with a hostile business associate making threats. Light, fun, perfectly decent little read.

8. HAVE HIS CARCASE by Dorothy Sayers (440 p.) Harriet Vane, on a walk on the beach, finds a dead body, and investigations with Lord Peter Wimsey begin….

9. DIE FOR LOVE by Elizabeth Peters (274 p.) One of those light, fluffy kind of mysteries. Jacqueline Kirby, to avoid a Nebraska winter, heads to a Romance Writers conference in New York. There, she meets up with two old school chums, a shifty literary agent, a beautiful writer, a handsome “front” for a bestselling male author . . . it’s murder at its most fun, and Jacqueline herself at her most outrageous.

10. ALDEN AMOS’ BIG BOOK OF SPINNING (473 p.) Finally, finally, I got through this book! It’s been the foundation of the pile next to my bed since November, when I got it for my birthday. Sheesh! Big, complex, really more detailed than necessary. (Were that many equations really necessary for a book on spinning?) And yet, his writing style is darn readable–he comes across as very opinionated, but with a sense of humor, which is the saving grace. Some of the footnotes are well nigh hilarious. But slogging through all that math just before bed? Well, it did take me eight months….

11. NAKED ONCE MORE by Elizabeth Peters (360 p.) Now that heroine Jacqueline Kirby has become a romance novelist herself, she gets a chance to write the sequel to a famous book whose author disappeared under mysterious circumstances seven years earlier . . . but is she really dead? How do you explain the mysterious accidents that happened to both Kathleen Darcy and now to Jacqueline? This was the first book by this author that I ever read, and I still have a soft spot. Jacqueline is a great character, outrageous and yet always a lady (grin). Fun and light.

12. FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING by J. R. R. Tolkien (527 p.) Do I really need to give a synopsis of this one? The first of Tolkien’s trilogy, where Frodo begins his quest to destroy the One Ring. This book was a huge favorite of mine back in high school, and has been repaired  many times because I’ve read it to bits! I couldn’t even begin to estimate the number of times I’ve read this book. In fact, my copy is the “Silver Jubilee” edition, published for the series’ 25th anniversary . . . 25 years ago! Anyway, I lost count of the number of reads somewhere around 30….

13. THE TWO TOWERS by J. R. R. Tolkien (447 p). The second of the trilogy, and frankly, it’s always been my least favorite of the three, though it has its good spots. Really, though, I could do without Shelob.

14. RETURN OF THE KING by J. R. R. Tolkien (385 p) And, the finale of the Lord of the Rings. What’s not to love? Good conquers evil, love prevails, nobody you care too much about dies (though Theoden’s death is kind of sad). I find, these days, that I have to be in the right kind of mood for the flowery language, but when the mood is right, I still love these books.

15. THE SWORD AND THE SATCHEL by Elizabeth Boyer (311 p.) Sadly out of print, this is a fantasy book that I’ve enjoyed since high school. Take a classic fantasy quest to save the world from Evil, a magic sword, a wizard, a hero, etcetera. Place them in a quasi-Scandinavian world which has a lot in common with old Norse myths, throw in (very important) a good helping of humor, and there you go. It’s amusing. It’s funny. It’s enjoyable. It’s light-hearted, and most of all, it’s pretty unique. She hasn’t come out with a new book in years, and her last several were a lot more serious and not nearly so much fun, but this one? Her first? Sure, kind of derivative and predictable in places, but it’s so enjoyable, who really cares? This and “Elves and the Otterskin” are my two favorites of hers.

16. RING OF ALLAIRE by Susan Dexter (231 p.) Another old fantasy off my shelf, but this one remains on my “favorites” bookshelf in my bedroom. I love all of her books, but this is the first. It’s a very classic  fantasy–quest, wizards, save the world. Yeah. All of that. But Tristan is such a great character–an orphan raised by a wizard, but with irregular control of his own magic. But suddenly, it’s up to him to take up the centuries’ old quest of finding Allaire of the Nine Rings, held captive . . . yes, I know, it sounds typical and dull.  And yet, her writing is wonderfully descriptive, her characters wonderful, and even after all these years, it’s one of my favorites. The worst shame is that it’s out of print . . . a crime.

17. ANDREW JACKSON by H.W. Brands (560 p.) A good, solid biography of Old Hickory. Other than the battle of New Orleans, he wasn’t a man I knew a whole lot about, and it was interesting learning about him.

17. SWORD OF CALANDRA by Susan Dexter (341 p.) The second book of the “Winter King” trilogy, following the Ring of Allaire. Despite the successes in the first book, Tristan needs to find the sword that belonged to the King defeated when Allaire was imprisoned all those years ago . . . It’s just . . . good. Really good. Tristan is not a traditional hero who does everything right. Nor is he a bumbling incompetent. He’s just frequently in over his head–or he thinks he is–and is burdened by a desire to do what’s right, and an accompanying sense of guilt when he doesn’t feel that he’s done enough. Really, I love him. (grin)

18. MOUNTAINS OF CHANNADRAN by Susan Dexter (367 p.) The third of the trilogy, where Tristan and company head to the mountains to try to defeat Nimir on his home ground. Yep. Still love all of these books.

Tags: Monthly Reading List, Reading by Deb
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