How pretty is this, huh? Remember my 2 lbs of Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm Cormo? This is the first 4 oz, all spun up. About 240 yds, and so, so pretty. I mean, really pretty. The cormo is wonderfully fluffy and clean, and a beautiful creamy color. This is right off my skein-winder, and it’s drip-drying in the bathroom right now.

The challenging part? When I plied it, I didn’t get quite enough twist in it, but since I really didn’t decide that until I was halfway through the skein, I decided that I would finish the bobbin at the rate I was going, and then would re-ply a second time to add a little more twist. The problem? When I took the bobbin off the wheel, my Little Gem’s brake band broke.

So … first question. For those of you with spinning wheels (preferably Majacraft), what do you use for your brake band? Right now, I’ve got a length of leftover Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy doing its best, but who knows how long that will last? But, back to the story.

Well, I wanted to get this done, so what I decided to do was (gasp) use my Lendrum. My poor Lendrum hasn’t been used in, oh, about two years … since I got my Little Gem. So you can imagine its delight at getting to spin its wheel again. And it wasn’t until after I finished that that I tried to come up with another brake band for my Gem. Really, both wheels are happy, I think.

The tricky part is going to be … when I do the next bobbin, um, I really want the twist to match from skein to skein, so getting them the same with just one pass (I hope) might be a little more challenging.

Because, have I said how beautiful this yarn is, and how delighted I am with the way it feels and looks?

Okay–now, in other news, Chappy had a rough day.

I don’t just mean because of the lawn guys outside, blowing away autumn leaves for something like six hours. And, you know, a self-respecting watch dog simply must keep an eye on them … no matter how he feels.

Because … at 12:00, I come back to my desk and find a voicemail from Mom. An urgent, “Call me.” So I do, and she’s all worried–Chappy’s not putting any weight on his back left leg, and is panting like he’s in pain, I think you should call the vet.

So, I do, and the first appointment is 2:00. I make the appointment, call Mom, and “Can’t you get anything earlier? Now he’s throwing up, and he’s drooling a LOT.” Okay–I call the vet back, and they still don’t have any earlier appointments, but if it’s an emergency, they can get one of the vets to hold off leaving for lunch while we come over. Did he eat anything suspicious? Is his leg sore? I, of course, can’t answer these questions–I’m still at work! But then I remember that I can do a conference call, so I call home, get Mom on the phone with the vet, and she’s worried, so we all decide that yes, I’ll hurry home, get Chappy, and get him to the vet. I run and tell my boss and that I don’t know if I’ll be back after lunch or not, shut my computer down, and hurry home.

Where … I walk in the door and get greeted by a happy, tail-wagging Chappy. Sure, his back leg looks a little stiff as he leapt off his pillow to come running to the door, but he’s happy. His eyes are sparkling, he’s jumping up to say hello, he’s just delighted. Well, of course, I get that reaction every time I walk into a room (grin), so I try to calm him down–it could just be adrenalin, and I don’t want him to hurt himself any further. But, no … even after the “Mommy’s home” excitement dies down, he seem, well, like Chappy. Favoring his back leg a little, maybe, but more like it’s stiff than because it’s HURT.

So, right away, I call the vet and tell them that I don’t think we need that emergency visit. I’m not sure if they charge extra for that or not, but well, there’s no reason–with Chappy prancing around looking all happy and healthy–that the vet can’t go eat his lunch. We’ll just take that 2:00 appointment instead … Oh, it’s been taken? Okay, 2:30. I eat my lunch, give Chappy a few extra hugs, and head back to the office for at least one more hour of work … Except, really, he seems FINE. And, why pay for the vet visit if he’s perfectly healthy? Don’t get me wrong–he’s totally worth it–but, well, if it’s not necessary, um … why? So, we cancelled that, too.

All the while, both my parents are saying, “He really seemed sick an hour ago.” “I’ve never seen him drool like that before.” As if I wouldn’t believe them, that they were making it up (grin). But they are GOOD grandparents. Not only did they clean up the floor, but they both sat (or crouched) next to him as he curled up on his pillow in the kitchen, and massaged his leg for him. Wasn’t that nice of them? If his Mommy wasn’t there to make him feel better, at least his grandparents did an excellent job of pinch-hitting, huh? (Or, you know, so they claim.)

For the record, since I’ve been home from work, Chappy seems perfectly healthy. Once or twice, when he’s first gotten up after sleeping, that back leg has seemed just a little stiff–just like my right shoulder is stiff on some mornings when I wake up. We even pulled out the heating pad, just in case it helped. I mean, hey, it made us feel better!

Tags: Chappy, Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning // 10 Comments »