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 • Permalink:False Alarm // 8 Comments »

So, first, I finished spinning my “Floral Camisole” yarn that I started the other day. And yes, I know, I only finished bobbin #1 and started bobbin #2 two days ago.

But, I was anxious.

  Because I had this pretty stuff waiting for me.

That’s four ounces of cormo, people. Isn’t it pretty?

And I’ve only just begun to spin it. It occurs to me that it’s been YEARS since I spun naturally colored fiber. I learned on undyed fiber, back in 2004 when I was figuring out this spinning thing. I’ve spun a little baby camel which was undyed, but mostly? Dyed fiber.

It’s actually kind of refreshing, spinning that pretty, natural stuff. It’s really a lovely color, not quite white, more like cream. And my hat full of fiber keeps making me think of whipped cream. I might be longing for some color by the time I get through this first pound of fiber (I probably will be), but still! I just hope I have enough yarn from 1 lb to make a cabled sweater, because that’s definitely what I want this to be.

And, the second pound? I was thinking about asking Jessica to dye it for me. Half undyed, half dyed–sounds reasonable to me! And certainly one pound is plenty for a basic sweater for me … it’s the yarn-eating cables that makes me just a little nervous about doing a 50/50 split. But, hey! What can you do?

Okay, so I’ve mentioned the tv show Chuck, and how much I love it, right?

Well, season two starts tonight, and after reading the review in this morning’s paper, I’m more excited than ever.  I know it’s in a tough time slot (Monday at 8:00 on NBC), but I’m telling you folks, this is a FUN, delightful show. Even if you’re watching Dancing with the Stars or the Big Bang Theory (which I also love), or one of the other shows, you owe it to yourself to record Chuck to watch it later. It is definitely my favorite show of last season. And, how can you resist a review that raves:

What’s the opposite of the sophomore slump? The sophmore surge? Sophomore surprise? Whatever you want to call it, “Chuck” is experiencing it — big-time. An amusing enough diversion during a brief pre-strike run last fall, it’s found a higher gear at the start of season two. All the entertaining pieces that didn’t quite click with one another are now working in harmony, and there may not be a show on television that makes me happier right now.

Also–such a relief–my copy of the Yarn Harlot’s latest book has finally been shipped! (You heard me whining about not having it the other day, right?)

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Spinning // 6 Comments »

So, I went to Jessica’s yesterday for some spinning and socializing. I even finally (finally!) finished the batch of spinning I started several years ago.

Well, okay, it wasn’t years, but it WAS months. As in, April. But, anyway, I treadled away for about two hours while we all chatted and laughed and had fun and finished just as we all took a break for food about 3:00. And, well, something didn’t agree with me. I finally left Jessica’s at 4:30 and felt pretty much sick most of the drive home (not nauseated, but, um, lower than that, if you take my meaning. You don’t really want me to be more graphic, right?)

So, I got home about about 5:00 and my parents were out to dinner, and I managed to get my wheel, and my big knitting bag to the door and opened it, and turned to turn off the alarm. Except, I wasn’t really concentrating on anything other than getting in the door and to the bathroom and so my fingers stumbled on the keypad with the wrong number. And then I tried again, but it didn’t take the number that time, either. I dropped everything to the floor to try a third time, and by now the “beep beep beep” is getting faster because my allotted minute is almost up and then ….

WOW! That thing is loud. Ear-piercingly, mind-numbingly LOUD. Really, really, obnoxiously LOUD. And obnoxious. And LOUD.

Now, at this point, all I really want to do is get to the bathroom. Poor Chappy is bracing his paws in the hallway with his eyes wide, trying to figure out why his house is making this awful noise, and I CAN’T GET IT TO STOP. And then Chappy started to bark this awful, high-pitched, terrified bark, like he was screaming, “Make it stop! Make it stop!” (Which, really, is exactly what he was saying, I’m sure. I know I was.) But that didn’t help matters, either–my little boy was in distress!

I don’t usually fall apart in minor crises like this, but I wasn’t really at my best last night, and finally, I just grabbed the phone and went out the back door with Chappy so we could hear ourselves think. I thought I heard the phone ring–and the alarm company IS supposed to call–but when I answered it, there was no dial tone. That’s actually happened a couple times this week, so I don’t know if it was a fluke or if the alarm somehow interrupted the phone signal, but so that didn’t work. I made another dash into the kitchen to try to get the alarm to turn OFF, but still no luck, and by now I’m thinking the police could be on their way. So I headed to the front door and reached for Chappy’s leash … and looked down … he had dashed out the front door on his own and was almost to the driveway, he was so frantic to get AWAY from the awful noise.

Meanwhile, I still really needed to go to the bathroom, and the noise is making me just as frantic as Chappy, and, darn it, I can’t stand there all night, waiting for the police to get there or the alarm company to call and turn the thing OFF. So I tried one more time at the number pad and … blessed silence.

I apologized to Chappy, and would normally have immediately sat down to soothe my poor, frantic dog, but … no, I really had to go to the bathroom. And why hadn’t the alarm company called? And, when were the police going to come? So I tried to be as, um, quick as possible, and then went to sit with Chappy in the dining room, watching for the police car I was sure must be on its way since I hadn’t heard from the alarm company. Well, poor Chappy was still shaking and practically climbed on top of me for comforting, and I was apologizing to him for scaring him so much. I’ve NEVER heard him bark like that. If the noise was so godawful for my ears, I can only imagine how much it hurt his more sensitive ears. And that made me feel even worse.

But, because of my, um, abdomen issues, I couldn’t sit with him for more than a few minutes, so I figured I’d carry my wheel upstairs. Of course, he followed me up and wasn’t watching where he was going and ended up hitting his head on the bottom of the wheel at the top of the stairs. (Neither of us was at our best just then.) I glanced at the phone as I put the spinning wheel down and … red, blinking light. That means there’s a voicemail message. (The downstairs phones don’t tell you when there’s voicemail–no help at all.) So, I call in and, yep, there’s a message from the alarm company, telling me to call a certain number and quote a 10-digit long “report number.”

Naturally, something was stuck in my desk drawer so that I couldn’t get to a piece of paper to write down the number. But eventually, I did, and dialed the 800-number with shaking fingers, gave our special passcode, and was told that, since the alarm had been cancelled soon enough, the police had NOT been dispatched. Which was a relief. I would have felt terrible about their making the trip for my own stupidity, but also, I really needed to spend some serious time in the bathroom and didn’t have the time to wait for them. Not to mention that my mother would have been frantic if she had gotten home and found a police car in the driveway!

So, at least that was something. All in all, I had a great day until about 3:30, a still nice but not so great from then until 5:00, and then all hell broke loose.

And, yes, even though I didn’t eat anything last night, Chappy got some extra supper AND an extra-good biscuit last night. He deserved it!

At least I have a beautiful skein of yarn to show for it. I don’t know the yardage, though. Dad walked in the room and started talking to me while I was winding it onto the skein winder–I was at 103 rotations at that point, but then lost count. “But, you were reading,” he said in self-defense. “Yeah, but I can count and read at the same time.” He just went away, shaking his head. You’d think after all these years he’d be used to the fact that I really can read and do all sorts of things at the same time!

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Friends, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:From Fun to Terror // 8 Comments »

So, last night I finished plying the leftover blue singles. That’s a fair amount of extra, pure-blue yarn, wouldn’t you say? I don’t know what I’ll do with it yet, but it’s definitely going to grow up to be an accent of some kind to that cardigan.

And, do you see how evenly my blue roving was divided?

I only have this much left on my woolee winder bobbin–you can see the leader yarn though the spaces. Even if the merino and corriedale singles didn’t end up having the same number of yards, at least I worked it out nice and evenly anyway. (And, really, I would rather have had extra of the blue than extra of the navy.)

Now all I have to do is wind both of these off onto the yarn skeiner. It’s so satisfying, having all the yarn for this sweater done! (Well, okay, still the skeining, washing, drying, but that part’s easy.)

Oh! And, finally, I have an answer to what that big hole in the shopping center downtown is for. I found the website of the leasing company and found this.

The layout and designer art for what it’s going to look like. That big hole? It’s a drive-through window. Just what every shopping center needs in the middle, right? I find it interesting that there’s going to be a parking lot in the back, too, although that opens onto a one-way road, so it wouldn’t exactly be amenable to people trying to find parking spaces if it’s particularly busy! Anyway, I’m glad to know what that will be–it’s been bugging me. And, just what we need … another Walgreens. They just built a brand-new one not two miles down the road….

Hey, would you believe, I went to the bookstore with Mom after work–she desperately wanted this book, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon–And the Journey of a Generation, and they just got it in today, so I drove her over when I got off work. That’s not the unbelievable part. The unbelievable part is that I went to a bookstore and didn’t buy anything. (Cough) Maybe I’m getting sick?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:More Blue // 9 Comments »

The other day, Elvis showed his skills at cleaning out peanut butter containers. Now, Chappy’s nose isn’t long enough to reach the bottom of a PB jar, but he wouldn’t want you to think that he doesn’t take recycling seriously.

First, there’s the milk carton. I’ve mentioned before that, once empty of milk, they make excellent toys. We rinse them, let them dry, and then I put his morning vitamin in it, set it on the rug in the middle of the hallway (while he Sits on the rug by the door) and then give him the go ahead and he charges down the hallway to tackle it. After which it becomes one of his favorite toys–the vitamin makes a fun rattle (before it finally falls out), the handle gives him something handy to carry it with, it crunches nicely into a shape he can fit in his mouth, and it skitters so nicely across the floor that it’s great fun to chase. Great invention, those milk cartons.

And then there are the cream cheese containers. We prefer our cream cheese to be easily spreadable and so get ours in these bright, pink plastic containers. Of course, once they’re empty, they need to be recycled, but all those sticky bits of cream cheese need to be cleaned out first. So, again, Chappy helps out. I put his vitamin in here, too (because why not make vitamins fun?). Since cream cheese–even tiny amounts–on an empty stomach sometimes makes him spit up on the floor, I usually add some kibble, too. (You know that he doesn’t normally eat kibble–I make my own food for my boy–but it is handy to have around for toys and emergencies. We use Innova brand. In case you were wondering.)

Anyway, once the cream cheese container is ready to go, with its lid back on, Chappy goes and sits in the corner of the kitchen. I haven’t taught him to close his eyes, but from this spot, he can’t see anything but the kitchen cabinets, so it’s close enough. And while he’s sitting….

…I hide the container. This is getting harder and harder because by now, he knows where all the possible downstairs hiding places are.

As soon as he gets permission, though, off he goes. He almost always follows the same route, trotting through each room with his nose busily trying to find the container. The better hiding places can keep him searching for 5-10 minutes…

…but usually he finds it fairly quickly–on the first or second lap around the house.

Then, the fun part–getting it open so he can get in to all the yummy, creamy, crunchy goodness inside. (If you look really carefully, you can see him licking his lips in this picture.)

I did try to get a picture of him happily cleaning out the inside, but he’d nudged it under the dining room table by then and that kind of made anything like a decent camera angle impossible. He’s really good at getting inside these, though. He lays the container on its side and then uses his nose to press the sides, near the lid, to break the seal. No wasting time trying to pull the lid off from the top, oh no. This way, the lid will pop off on its own and out pours a delectable pile of cream cheese-flavored kibble. Mmmm.

In other recycling, I’m trying a new recipe today. I’ve had this Oatmeal Cake recipe for about 18 years now, but in the current issue of Cooks Illustrated, they have an updated version–including putting it under the broiler to carmelize the topping. I don’t know if I’m going to like it more than the other one–I mean, we’ve been together for quite some time–but it seemed worth a shot. Besides, I’ve never broiled a cake before….

The verdict? Very tasty, as all the C.I. recipes almost always are. But do I like it better than the recipe I’ve been using for the last couple of decades? Well … I don’t know that I’d go that far! The crispy, broiled texture on the top sure is tasty, though.

I have some other leftovers to recycle, too. Some leftover singles of that pretty, pretty blue roving. Which is great. I’ll ply these together and then have some accent yarn to go with my sweater. I don’t know how much (yet), or what I’ll do with it, but . . . yum!

Because, of course, bobbin #2 is done! It just needs to be skeined, washed, and dried and it will be ready to go. Since the first bobbin had something like 500 yds, though, I’m thinking that I’ve got a little time to play with, here. No rush.

Because, yes, my knitting bag is no longer empty. Phew!

• Tags: Baking, Chappy, Family, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Recycling // 9 Comments »

More pretty yarn pictures for you because it’s not like I’ve got any KNITTING to show you.

Although, I’m taking it as a good sign that this ball of yarn is trying to get into the knitting bag.

That’s just short of 500 yards of yarn, I believe. (Assuming I’ve remembered correctly that my Yarn Skeiner at its widest point is two yards–something I could easily calculate by putting a piece of yarn around it and measuring but which I rarely think of unless I’m sitting down at the opposite side of the room. And also assuming that I counted correctly and that there were, in fact, 247-248 rotations.) And bobbin #2 should have pretty much the same amount.

I’m going to knit a swatch tonight, so I have an idea of what kind of gauge I’m going to get. Or supposedly going to get.

Then I need to find a pattern. I think this yarn wants–wants badly–to be a cardigan. Something comfy, casual, and good with jeans. Now, I can go through my Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns and piece together a pattern to match my (alleged) gauge, but I thought I’d ask you folks first … Can you name a good, casual cardigan pattern that you think would suit this yarn?

It’s got to be simple because of the marled nature of the yarn–it would just take away from any lace or cables or texture stitches (although some around the edges would be okay). Gauge-wise, the yarn-weight is just about fingering weight. It would make perfectly nice socks if I were so inclined (and wanted lots of them). But, of course, my gauge will be off-the -charts loose, so that’s something to keep in mind, too.

I’ve mentioned my weird gauge issues a couple times this post. Can you think why? Well, yes, because as I’ve mentioned many times before, my personal knitting gauge is beyond bizarre in terms of looseness. But also … you may have noticed that you haven’t seen a finished, modelled picture of the Flutter-Sleeve cardi? Um, yeah. It doesn’t fit particularly well.

Surprisingly, the width of it is really quite good–knitting the entire sweater on size 1 needles definitely helped–but the length. Obviously my row gauge was way off from my swatch (as usual). It’s not truly terrible except … the placement of the button holes, which should be just under the bust, are at my stomach–not particularly flattering.

All is not lost. I just need to think of something … Sewing closed the buttonholes I’ve got and doing after-thought buttons for better placement is one option. Removing the buttonbands all together and making newer, shorter ones and then stretching them to fit (thereby making the length of the front opening shorter) is another. I’ve even played with the idea of running yarn or ribbon along the top and back to gather everything in a little to make the front fall where it should. I haven’t given up, and darn it, I’m GOING to figure something out because this sweater is lovely. But in the meantime, well, all I can say is that gauge swatches LIE. Especially to me. (You remember Autumn Rose, Celtic Icon, Union Square Market Pullover, Celtic Dreams…. Really, I don’t know why I bother with swatches at all!)

And, sheesh, I really need to come up with a knitting method that pulls my gauge back to somewhere in the ballpark of normal people. It would be so refreshing to knit with a needle larger than a US size 4 for a change….

But–don’t forget–any ideas about a good pattern for this yarn?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:…And Balled // 11 Comments »

There you go. One, finished bobbin of plied yarn, posing with the two bobbins of singles that will make up the second bobbin of plied yarn . . . any day now, once, um, I’ve started plying it.

I finished the plying last night just before bed and wound it off into a skein at lunchtime (since it was raining and therefore not walking weather anyway). Besides, I only have one plying bobbin for my Majacraft and needed to free it up to be able to do the second half. This skein, meanwhile, is drip-drying in the bathroom as we speak.

As you can see, it was an April-Showers kind of day. It more or less drizzled for most of the day, though the sun is out now. (You know, now that it’s too late to get Chappy out for a walk.)

Mom gave Dad and I a scare at lunch-time. She was trying a diet drink today (one of those meal-substitute drinks) and had an allergic reaction–though we don’t know to what, exactly. But the right side of her tongue swelled, and the gums on the right side of her mouth, and the whole, right side of her head felt odd. It was a gradual thing, though, that developed over an hour after she drank it, and started to subside after she took a Claritin. But, how weird is that? We’ve looked over the ingredient list and can’t find anything that looks like something she’d be allergic to, but clearly, something in there did not agree with her. Is it common for an allergic reaction to only affect the right side like that?

Otherwise–it’s been a fairly normal Tuesday. Although, my knitting bag is still empty. I’m thinking that this blue yarn of mine wants to be a cardigan, though, and maybe, once that first skein is dry, I’ll do something about it . . .

Oh, and I got distracted for a good half hour tonight, watching Victor Borge videos on YouTube. Do you remember him? Not only was he a fabulous pianist, he had a wonderful sense of humor, and I adored watching him.  The bit with the page-turning is hilarious. And I always loved his Phonetic Punctuation and Inflationary Language. But really, it’s just the sheer fun he brings to his acts that was so fantastic.

Here are a couple of internet April Fool’s jokes for you: Think Geek has some, er, interesting items for sale. (Love the lock at the bottom.) And Google’s new project sounds challenging. Flying penguins, anyone?

• Tags: Family, Finished Spinning, General • Permalink:Spun // 15 Comments »

You know, it occurs to me that I haven’t shown you any finished pictures of my Snow Squall singles since I washed them.

The color, again, was from Spunky Eclectic, and the fiber is Icelandic wool. I can’t tell you how much I adore this color–gray wool with blue and green dye. But I do kind of wish it were a softer wool.

Still . . . here it is. Something like 430 yds of laceweight Icelandic in an absolutely wonderful color . . . the only problem now is to figure out what to DO with it. It’s a little scratchy for a wool shawl. Although, of course, my Pi-are-Square shawl was Icelandic singles…. although I don’t remember that being quite so scratchy. Any suggestions?

In the meantime, my Flutter-Sleeved Cardi is moving along nicely. The back is completely done and I’m just through the short-rows section of one front. Unusually for me, I’m knitting the fronts separately. I figure the entire pattern is spelled out by number of rows, so the likelihood of all the pieces ending up the same size seems pretty good. The color isn’t great here, though–the green looks very grayish, but, well, what else is new? (grin)

And . . . darn!

Well, I wish I’d known this yesterday. Not only was March Fourth the only day on the calendar that is a complete sentence (which, of course, I posted about three years ago when this blog was new), but it was also National Grammar Day. Who knew? (I mean, other than Sharon at Daily Writing Tips, which is where I saw it.)

And . . . could this be true? Could Friday Night Lights be coming back for a third season? Oh, I don’t want to get my hopes up!

Now, Chappy’s looking at his toy, so I should go . . . or maybe he’s looking at his crate, which seems like an even better idea, since I’m rather tired myself….

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Snow Singles // 9 Comments »

Well, I finally got around to winding my Snow Squall singles onto my skein winder, though I haven’t yet summoned up the courage to take them off and see how twisty they are. They took 218 rotations of the winder, I believe it’s a 72″ circumference at its widest point, so that’s 436 yards (398 yds)–plenty for something like a lace shawl, if I felt so inclined, although I think it’s going to be too itchy, really, for lace. The picture doesn’t capture the green in the yarn very well, either, which is a shame. I just loved this colorway, but have my doubts about the usefulness of the yarn. Because, again, it seems kind of itchy, although maybe washing it will soften it a bit. Maybe? The recap, for those who haven’t been playing along: this is 4 oz of Icelandic singles in the Spunky Eclectic “Snow Squall” colorway, which is not only beautiful, but apparently comes with magical powers.

Otherwise? Pretty quiet day today. I started spinning bobbin #2 of those blue merino singles. Did some reading (would you believe I’m on book #3 of the month already?). Went for a walk with Mom, Dad, and Chappy. Did some basic dusting and some laundry, but … nothing particularly productive.

Chappy, really, was just glad to have me home. He gave me SUCH a greeting when I got home yesterday, and Mom and Dad said that he basically sat on his chair all day yesterday–not interested in playing (though they tried) and basically didn’t do anything all day except help Dad out with a few snacking emergencies. He obviously was not happy that I was gone most of the day, and while he really does have to accept this kind of thing once in a while, well, it wasn’t exactly onerous to spend all of today with him.

Oh, and here’s a link for the book-lovers among you–30 of the most creative bookcases. Now, I think most of these are fabulous to look at, some are downright beautiful, some are wonderfully creative, but . . . Here’s my thing. I have almost 3000 books spread out over something like 12 overflowing bookcases plus additional closets and storage boxes. When I see clever, creative, whimsical, aesthetic bookcases like these, I admire them at the same time I’m thinking, “But, that’s wasting so much SPACE!” (Not to mention that the odd angles of some of them have to be murder on the book spines.) You can tell that these are usually designed by people who consider a large book collection to be, oh, maybe 100 books.

Really, though, the Freshome site is entertaining to browse through. (A faucet that lets you know if the water is hot or cold? Wall tatoos? Corner picture frames? All very nifty stuff.)

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Spinning Sunday // 9 Comments »

So remember a week or so ago, when I “caused” snow squalls by spinning my Spunky Eclectic Snow Squall Roving? Well, I finished spinning it last night . . . all more or less lace-weight singles.

But I really don’t think you can blame me for this, because it was in the forecast long before I sat down at my spinning wheel last night.

Still, we’re not complaining, because Chappy finally had some snow to play in again. Knee-deep in snow–just the way he likes to be! My office was open this morning, so I trekked through the snow–slid a bit on the roads, but didn’t have any real trouble (love that AWD Volvo!)–and made it on time, but the office was pretty much a ghost-town. About half the people who should have been there were there, and we closed at 11:45. Woohoo! (An especial “woohoo” when you consider that I basically had nothing to do all morning and was bored stiff.) When I walked in the door, Chappy was RIGHT THERE, saying (I swear), “Yay, you’re home. Let’s go play!” I’m lucky he let me eat my lunch first.

We went out back around 2:00 and played with his Flying Squirrel toy for about half an hour, even though by then things had changed over to light rain . . . but we didn’t let that stop us!

I mean, look how happy he looks, all covered in snow…. (I love the cheesy smile, too–with his eyes closed, yet–like he’s just savoring the moment.)

And, if you can’t see it clearly, you’ll note that he’s doing his sheep impression. (Maybe he’s enjoying the new lamb photos too much?) If he hadn’t been wearing his coat, he would have had these little snow balls all over.

The only way to get all that snow and ice out of his fur is by melting it with warm water, which essentially means a bath . . . he says it’s not a fun way to end all that fun romping, but considering I was out in the snow and rain with him AND he gets to sleep on the bed tonight, I don’t think complaining is really fair, do you?

All in all, we’ve gotten about 6″ of snow from this storm. About 4″ of that (that’s 10 cm) came overnight and the steady, all-day snow was so fine, it only added a couple more inches on top of it. It’s hovering right around 32 degrees right now (aka 0 cm), so any precipitation that comes down at this point can kind of go either way in terms of rain or snow, and I don’t think it’s done yet.

Oh, and this is an encouraging sign. I’ll be printing out my book this weekend, though I’m trying not to get my hopes up. Could use some good news, though….

• Tags: Family, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Happily // 14 Comments »

So, here’s a look–half the yarn spun and plied, and half waiting to be spun. How cool is that, huh?

And boy, do I ever love the colors in this yarn!

Christine wants to know…

1. Do you make notes in books as you read them?
2. Why or why not?
3. If you do, do you make notes only in certain kinds of books or all of them?

No. Never. I may have highlighted a chapter or so in a textbook in college, but couldn’t live with myself. Other than that, I’ve put my name in my books. Maybe a tiny pencil mark in the margin of about a total of three books. That’s about it.

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning, Reading • Permalink:Before and After // 13 Comments »

I (finally) finished my last batch of roving. Crown Mountain Farms Superwash Merino in “Good Vibrations.” As usual, the fiber was beautiful and a delight to spin, but I’ll admit the finished result isn’t really my cup of tea. A little too pink-y green for my taste. Lovely, don’t get me wrong, and I’m not complaining at all, just . . . not “me.” Maybe I’ll use it as a prize for a contest or something . . .

Next up? CMF’s Corriedale Pencil roving in “Crown Jewels.” I’ve got 8 ounces, which I just divided into quarters to make two, 4-oz, 2-ply skeins. I love the sunny colors in this roving–primarily yellow and blue, but with other touches tossed in.

Today’s weather wasn’t as lovely as they had SAID it would be, but still, Chappy got another walk in the park today. A short-ish one, since his grandma still isn’t feeling up to par (I did mention her cold the other day–luckily, it was a “light” one).

But do you know what we saw while we were at the park?

In this little corner of flooded field from all the rain we had the other day?

Look closely . . .

A turtle!

At first, we weren’t sure. We thought it was a rock . . . but, no . . . rocks don’t have eyes. (Last time I checked.)

Of course, Chappy mostly ignored the turtle, choosing to concentrate instead on eating the grass along the path. Mom and I were enthralled, though. I’ve never seen one this large outside a zoo. (And even then, do you know how long it’s been since I was at a zoo???) By the time we finished our mile-or-so walk around the park, though, he was gone. We’re thinking he didn’t like having the camera flashed in his eyes.

Now. The plan for tomorrow, my last “official” day of vacation? (The rest, if it’s not obvious, is “weekend.”) Liz is coming! (Shelley, unfortunately, couldn’t make it.) But Liz could, and she’s coming up tomorrow, and then the two of us are heading up to Rhinebeck together on Saturday. Woohoo! I don’t know which I’m more excited about–all the fiber and goodies for sale at Rhinebeck, all the bloggers meeting at Rhinebeck, or just the chance to spend a couple more days with Liz again. It all sounds good. (Not that I’m trying to brag or gloat or anything. I only gloat in December.) It’s supposed to rain tomorrow, but the forecast for Saturday is looking good–56 degrees and sunny. I can definitely handle that. It’ll even be cool enough for a sweater . . . whatever will I wear?? (All I know is that I’m carrying my newly-finished bag. The actual clothing, other than jeans? I’ll be figuring that out on Saturday.)

I WAS going to go to Stitchy’s book-signing in Montclair tonight, but when it came time to leave . . . I was just too tired and lazy to get out the door. I’m simply not a night person, and even though we’re talking 7:00 . . . it’s a 40-minute drive to Montclair, and I’ve been busy all day, and darn it . . . she’ll be at the blogger meet-up on Saturday anyway, right?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Tortoiseshell // 6 Comments »

  Here’s a look at my very pretty finished yarn.

To recap, this is 70% Merino and 30% kid mohair, in the “Copper Slate” colorway, bought from Crown Mountain Farms.

I bought 6 oz, and spun it into 3 sets of singles, which I then triple-plied, and ended up with 22-wpi. The fact that I managed such fine 3-ply just makes me so happy (grin).

For an idea of the size of my yarn, here’s a comparison. The one on the left is the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock I’m using in my socks. The one in the middle is the Koigu KPPPM I used for the sock heels. The one on the right is mine. (Mine!)

Really, I’m very proud of this yarn. And boy, it’s just beautiful!

Now, yesterday, I experimented with some other roving I had. I’ve decided that I don’t like spinning with 100% alpaca. It’s beautiful and soft and silky, but still . . . I didn’t enjoy spinning it. The deciding factor ended up being when the yarn broke and I could NOT find the end on the bobbin for anything! Obviously, it wasn’t meant to be. I took the singles off the wheel and stuck the rest back into its ziplock bag where, no doubt, it will languish indefinitely.

Then I took some nice wool and tried the whole woolen-spinning thing again. I don’t know–I think this is one of those techniques that is easier to learn if you’ve got somebody right there to say helpful things like, “You’re pulling back too far,” “Your tension is too tight,” “You’re fiber isn’t drafted enough.” Stuff like that. Now, I understand the concept of woolen spinning, and the idea of long-draw drafting. And of course, I understand that it’s easier to do this with hand-carded wool rather than the commercially processed stuff. But still . . .

My biggest problem seems to be that I’ll actually get the wool drafted out in something like a reasonable consistency. I’ll let the wheel add some extra twist before I feed it into the bobbin. I’ll test periodically to make sure the yarn is solid enough not to drift apart. All of which sounds like things are going like they should, wouldn’t you agree?

But the problem is that when the yarn inevitably breaks (which, of course, it will during a new technique), not only is it particularly hard to find the end, but the yarn breaks. And drifts apart. And splinters. And turns into fluff. All while I’m trying to get the bobbin rethreaded. SO frustrating. I wasted so much wool while I was trying to just get my end rethreaded through the orifice . . .

Which then makes me wonder . . . assuming I kept going, how well (or badly) would this stuff work as yarn, anyway?? It certainly doesn’t seem promising! If I can’t get 12″ of yarn pulled back off the bobbin so I can continue spinning, how could I ever ply these singles? Or knit with them? And since I’m doing this experimenting on my own, there’s no one to ask.

Really, for whatever reason, learning to spin worsted on my own was much easier than learning to spin woolen!

On the plus side–look at the pretty roving I got today. This is in place of the “Beat Goes On” that I sent back to Teyani last week. I decided I’d just get a whole, different colorway, but couldn’t make up my mind. I ended up saying, “I like these two, surprise me.” Well–surprise! “Good Vibrations” it is!

But first, I’ll finish the Shetland I’m playing with on my wheel . . . I wonder how many yards I can get out of 4 oz….

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:I promised pictures // 18 Comments »

Well, here it is. My 50/50 silk/cashmere. All spun up.

Isn’t it pretty??

I’ve got about 200 yards of it . . . I think. As usual, I can’t remember if my niddy-noddy measures in yards or in meters, although I’m almost positive it measures two fo them, whatever they are . . . and I also lost count right around 100 turns. There may have been 101 or 102 turns around the niddy-noddy . . . but, whatever. I’ve got my yarn and it’s beautiful.

Despite my care in spinning the singles, it’s still not quite as fine as I had hoped . . . not that I care. I love it anyway. And it IS the finest plied yarn I’ve spun. Just not quite as lace-weight as I’d hoped.

On the plus side, though, it’s pretty balanced . . . see?

The interesting part? Though it hangs nice and straight as a skein, there are individual pieces that curl up on themselves. Why? I’m not sure. I mean, obviously those spots are under- or over-plied (though I can never remember how to tell which is which), but overall, the skein is balanced, so . . . no complaints there, either.

Or here. In this little picture, you can see exactly what I had left when I was done plying. One piece is the sample that I took off the singles as I was spinning. The other is the amount left on the second bobbin when the first one ran out. I’d say I got that just about right, wouldn’t you??

I was working on my sock today, while I was getting my gas tank filled ($2.75 a gallon–the lowest it’s been in months). When it was done, I stuffed everything back in my purse as usual. No big deal.

But. When I got home, somehow the working yarn (of course) had managed to get itself tangled in the zipper. Not the teeth of the zipper, like you’d expect. No, but somehow threaded through the mechanism, as if I’d cast on that way. I have no earthly idea how that happened. I even slid the zipper pull all the way to the end of the zipper, so I could easily see both the top and bottom and . . . where the “entrance” was, I have no idea. There was nothing to do but to . . . cut the yarn. So, as of 4:15 this afternoon, this little beginning sock was an orphan. Nothing but loose ends, poor thing.

Now, my new yarn is drying in the bathroom, after I soaked it in Soak (thanks to the little samples Shelley gave me last month). I can’t say, exactly, how well it cleaned since I don’t know how “dirty” my roving might have been (not very, is my guess), but I will say that I liked the way it smelled. Not overpowering–which is a huge plus. My nose is very sensitive to smells–too strong and they’ll trigger a sinus headache. I abhor room sprays, and I like my scents light. So . . . this was nice. And I can’t wait to feel this yarn when it’s all soft and dry!

And then–the next decision. What does one do with approximately 200 yards of fingering weight yarn?? It would actually probably make great socks (the cashmere and silk . . . makes my feet happy just thinking about it) and yet I can’t help but think that something lacy to wear around my neck would be much nicer, don’t you?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Silky Cashmere // 13 Comments »

2 plus 2 equals 2.2?

Hmm, that’s not what I remember learning in math class.

And yet, when I plied two sets of two bobbins, I ended up with two bobbins of yarn, and a little over.

Obviously, I’m pretty happy with the yarn, huh? I lost count of how much yardage I have. Something in the vicinity of 500 yards, I think. The one pair of bobbins, the yardage was pretty close–a couple extra yards on one bobbin, but quite close to equal. But the other pair? I have quite a lot of singles left over, and am not entirely sure how that happened (grin).

The bad part? Really not very balanced at all–hopefully setting the twist with a weight at the bottom will help that. Oddly, when I started spinning and was just horrible at spinning even singles, my skeins usually came out pretty well balanced. But the better I get at the actual spinning part, the worse my plying is, in terms of balance. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, or why I’ve lost this knack that came so naturally at the beginning, but . . . well . . . it’s still nice yarn! I just need to figure out what want to do with it.

Anyway, my legs are actually pretty tired from all the treadling I’ve done the last few days. I spun and plied 8 ounces of wool since Saturday. That’s five days. That’s unheard of for me! No wonder I’m so tired…. I didn’t even do Chappy’s nails tonight, badly though they need grinding. Nor did I work on the sleeves to my sweater–I was just too tired to think.

No, my knitting tonight was concentrated on my socks–which are coming out just beautifully. I figure I’ve put enough pictures in this post, though, so photos will have to wait. I think about another half inch of ribbing and they’ll be done. You can wait that long, right?

The meme? “List 5 weird things about yourself, your children or your pets. Tag 5
friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs
about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Don’t
forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their
blog!”

1. Chappy loves to rub his head against any hanging fabric–bedskirts, shower curtains, skirts, towels.
2. Actually, he’ll do this to fabrics on the floor too–rugs, dropped towels, laundry on its way to the washing machine.
3. And, of course, there’s the pillow fluffing. He’ll also head-butt pillows, rubbing his ears, his jaw, his cheek hard into the pillow, tossing them to the ground or about the bed, or wherever.
4. When he sees someone worthy of being barked at in front of the house, he’ll bark at the window, and then run into the backyard to continue barking–you know, actually outside, so the barking comes across that much louder and forcefully than blunted by the window.
5. When he says hello, he’ll do this sideways, sidling approach. It goes back to when he was a baby puppy and would roll on his back for tummy rubs. He stays on all four feet, but the impulse is still there, and the head and shoulders have that pre-roll posture . . . it’s very cute.

Now, the tagging? I’m not tagging anybody in particular–but please do join in! And leave me a comment so I know.

• Tags: Chappy, Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Two Plus Two // 9 Comments »

  This is what I was doing just about a year ago . . . figuring out how to spin really lumpy, really bad yarn.

See, years ago, I bought a “learn to spin” kit (book, wool, spindle), and never really got around to doing anything with it. I kept it in my closet with the yarn, looked at it every now and again, but basically, it just sat there.

  But, last year–well, November, really–I finally decided that I needed to do something about it. Either I was going to get rid of it to free up the space for knitting yarn, or finally figure out how to do the spinning thing.

Guess which one I opted for? For the next couple weeks, I sat with my copy of Lee Raven’s excellent “Hand-On Spinning” and, little by little, started making sense of the whole thing. (The Knitter’s Review boards were really helpful, too.)

Then, one year ago this week, I got my first wheel. A second-hand Ashford Kiwi off Ebay. It arrived just as I went under a bout of bronchitis from a cold I almost fought off, but which came back and got me, just in time for my brand-new toy to come. (And a weekend with a guest and a gathering of some really serious Carly Simon fans, getting together for her concert at the Apollo theater last December. I more or less slept through the visit, and luckily had always planned on staying home for the concert. But that’s another, long story.)

But anyway, my wheel arrived just about exactly a year ago, and I thought I’d take advantage of this milestone to look back at some of the spinning I’ve done over the last year. Heaven knows I’ve improved!

The skein at the very top is my very first attempt. I don’t plan on ever doing anything with it but keeping it as a reminder. It came off my clunky, bottom-whorl drop spindle (Ashford, is my guess, but I really don’t know for sure). The next was my first “real” skein–Navaho-plied kind of badly, it’s true, but it’s got an interesting texture to it. Someday, I might actually turn it into something . . . or not!

The blue-green (which you may recognize from the header at the top of my page) came along about February–two months’ worth of spinning experience. Not too bad, huh? The orange-burgundy, I just finished last month.

As you know, I’ve since gotten a Lendrum–about nine months ago, in fact. As much as I liked my Kiwi, I decided fairly quickly that I wanted one that was a little smoother, a little more versatile. Risa showed me her wheel collection, and introduced me to her twins, to help me make my decision. (I didn’t really look past her Lendrum, to be honest, I didn’t want to be tempted by any of the more expensive wheels . . . though I was very much taken by her Journey Wheel. That is one nifty piece of engineering.)

Luckily, my spinning has improved immeasurably in the last twelve months. In fact, there’s almost no comparison. I still have a lot to learn, and there are skills I’d like to, but don’t yet, have. It’s been great fun so far, though. I very much want to get a handle on woolen spinning and the long-draft method. I’d like to give another try to preparing my own fleece. (Although I think a drum carder would be more or less mandatory. I don’t think I have the patience to hand-card or comb a whole fleece’s worth of wool.) Dyeing would be interesting, too, although I don’t know where I could do it, what with the white kitchen sink, the white bathroom . . . too messy and too nerve-wracking for Mom to attempt that.

But, really, so far, everything I’ve learned has been self-taught. Me, wool, books, helpful websites, helpful suggestions, and lots of trial and error. So, if anybody is thinking they could never do this and can’t find a teacher. . . it’s possible. There were spots when it would have been seriously helpful to have someone point and say, “Do this,” or “This will work better,” or–especially–”This is how much twist you need.” But the exploration has been fun, and I enjoy figuring things out, so . . .

I’ve been thinking of letting my Kiwi go off to a new home, to let it help someone else. It doesn’t seem fair to let it just sit in the corner, doing nothing. One of these days I’ll go through the Kiwi’s stuff (the bobbins, the extra flyer, the maintenance kit, and so on) and come up with a price I think is fair . . . although, really, trying to pack it up safely in a box and trusting it to the hands of the Post Office? A little too worrying.

On a different note, my SP6–the one I’ve been spoiling–got her last package the other day. Go say hello to Tracey, a knitting mother of 2 1/2 kids. My KRSP pal should have gotten her final gift just about the same time, but I haven’t heard from her–I hope the package arrived! Her name is Angel. I’m still waiting for my last SP6 package–my pal sent me a note saying that it had come back in the mail with a smudged address, but I expect it any day. And my KRSP gift-giver . . . haven’t heard from her in a while, but I can’t wait to find out who she is. These two exchanges have been fun.

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:12 Months // 11 Comments »

  Finally, I’ve got my orange and burgandy yarn done. You’ll remember, I started with singles in each color, which I barber-poled together, until I ended up with 4 and a half bobbins full of yarn. Which then sat around in my closet, waiting for me to get everything wound onto my niddy-noddy, soaked and washed to set the twist, hung to dry . . . but finally, today, the last of it is done, and I’ve got this lovely pile of yarn.

That’s about a pound of fiber, about 940 yards (if I counted correctly and remember the size of my niddy-noddy correctly. 470 turns around it, at any rate–give or take one or two I may have lost while counting). The wool is Corriedale, bought from the Blue Goose Glen store on Ebay. The red dye ran ever so slightly when I washed it, but nothing to worry about.

Despite the flaws–it’s not nearly as well-balanced as a yarn should be, though the drying-with-weights helped–I love the way this yarn came out. I love the tweedy color. I love the way the two colors compliment each other, and yet the orange isn’t as blindingly orange, the burgandy isn’t as sober a red. They get along swimmingly. I’m thrilled.

Now . . . whatever can I make with it??? (You know, once I’ve finished my current projects. Naked Stix, you know.)

  I haven’t been neglecting my other spinning, either. My lovely merino-silk blend from the Sheep Shed. This is another I’m adoring the color of. At first glance, it just looks gray–a nice, medium-dark gray. But in fact, under a brighter light, it’s got a whole lot of purple going on. I really like that a lot.

I’ve always been a fan of gray wool. I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe it was those Lothlorien cloaks during my impressionable days when I first read Lord of the Rings. (And, in fact, grey cloaks seem to be a very popular garment for fantasy heros–the villains wear black. Need I tell you that I made myself a gray wool cloak when I was in college? The warmest thing I have ever worn for going for walks across campus in the cold.) I love gray flannel trousers, too. There’s just something cozy about gray wool, to me. So the fact that this yarn looks primarily gray? Loving it.

Oh, I want to thank Susan for sending me a copy of Bark magazine. I have read it a couple of times, but don’t subscribe, so it’s a rare treat to get to see an issue. Thank you for thinking of me and Chappy!

And speaking of dogs, Chappy and I are just a wee bit jealous of Lizzie and Max, Shelley and Marley, for fun playdate they had this weekend. I keep pointing out to Chappy that it’s 5-6 hours in the car to get down there, but all he keeps saying is that HIS blogging friends got to play, so now he wants to, too. Obviously, he won’t remember how much he dislikes the car until he’s actually in the car.

Remember a couple days ago when I was complaining about the early, early start to the Christmas music? I’m not the only one. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, love the music–but I really, really think the people at the radio stations could restrain themselves until after Thanksgiving. And I feel sorrier all the time for the people who don’t even celebrate this holiday and get stuck with all this over-blown hoop-la that gets worse every year.

My feeling is that it’s fine that Christmas is about gifts as much as it is about the religious connotations (like, you know, Christmas TREES or hats thereof). Really. And as much as we like to think that Christmas is really a religious holiday, its roots actually go back to the old, pagan, Winter Solstice days–the Christian Church just decided to “adopt” the winter celebration and turn it into a holy-day, since people were going to be reveling and whooping it up anyway. It’s really never been about the birth of Jesus.

I think that it’s gotten (and getting!) far too commercial, but really, it wouldn’t be the same without the gifts. I personally relish the chance to find something that my family members will love–it’s a chance to really show them how much I care about them, by getting them the perfect gift, that they wouldn’t get or make themselves. There’s something kind of nice about a holiday where you get to show the people you care about how much you care, how well you know them, rather than just sitting around eating (or whatever one does on other holidays). And let’s be honest, it’s fun to get gifts yourself, too . . . because really, who doesn’t love getting presents?

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Autumnal Yarn // 16 Comments »

What’s this?? An empty Lendrum? Not even a bobbin? Why, whatever could have happened?

Well, maybe it’s that I did a prodigious amount of spinning last night while watching a documentary on the Apollo 8 mission, and finally finished spinning my burgandy singles. That makes two spindles of orange and two of burgandy. Done!

And now they’re looking like this. Barberpoled together, and on my Ashford Kiwi, nonetheless! The bobbins are smaller (I think), but I have 6 or 7 of them, whereas I only have the one plying-sized bobbin for my Lendrum. I’ve also been feeling guilty about my Kiwi, which hasn’t been used since I got the Lendrum, and this gives it a chance to spin. It’s making me earn it, too–not only was there all the readjustment to the different feel of the wheel, but not only did the tension band slip off the bobbin while I was spinning, but the leather strap connecting the left treadle with the drive shaft came undone. I fixed both, of course, and the wheel is spinning fine, but . . . now I remember why I wanted a Lendrum in the first place. Boy, the olde days….

Still, it’s happy to be used. And look at how pretty the result is! Not perfectly even, perhaps, but I like it.

But, for some really good pictures, check out Ann Marie’s photo journal of her day. And, please, don’t miss Jane’s great combo photos of her ruling passions.

Now, it’s Friday night. Not that I have anything exciting planned. Tomorrow, though, I’m bringing Chappy to the town Rabies Clinic for his legally-mandated (and free) rabies shot. Then we’re meeting Mom and my niece in the center of town–because, we’re getting my niece for the weekend! The four of us will go out for supper tomorrow night for my birthday. Then on Sunday, my sister, brother-in-law and nephew are coming for pot roast and scalloped potatoes. And, oh yeah, cake!

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Old-Time Spinning (Old Wheel, Anyway) // 5 Comments »

Happy Fourth of July, everyone. (And I do mean everyone, even if it’s not actually a holiday where you are!)

I’ve spent my day doing good, old-fashioned kinds of things.

  Like, finally skeining the purple–yes, purple, despite the blue color in the photo–yarn I spun a while ago, and then setting the twist for both it and the green. Both colors are currently hanging in the shower to dry. (Note the clever re-using of the old, outgrown dog collars to attach the yarn to the towel rod. Yes, really, I’m rather proud of that idea.)

  I knitted the neckband and the shoulder seams of my NbaT, which looks in this photo more like it’s been dismembered, rather than not-yet-assembled, but you’ll have to trust me when I tell you that it’s feeling no pain. All I have left is to sew in the sleeves and do the side seams, and it’s done.

  I did some cleaning and some laundry, although I didn’t actually vacuum my room, which really needs it. But look what happened to my silk pillowcase! I washed it like a good, clean human being, and as I was putting the pillow back in, it split, right along the seam. Frustrating. But the most frustrating part is that it came in a package of two, back when I bought this (silk, to help keep my curls intact while I sleep), and I cannot for the life of me find the second one. I don’t know how often I’ve mentioned that I’m almost obsessively neat, but I just generally don’t lose things. Whatever I’m looking for may be in the second place I look, or even the third, but almost never anywhere beyond that–I’m a firm believer in the “Put things where you’ll look for them first” rule, and it almost never fails me . . . so where could that second case be? And in the meantime, it’s a choice between a cotton case, which feels good, but grabs my hair and ruins the curl, or satin, which is synthetic and gets too hot against my skin, occasionally producing a rash (sigh).

  Other than that, though, it’s been a pleasant day. I spent at least part of my afternoon following Tradition. . . . watching “1776: The Musical” on tv. I love this movie, and have ever since my 5th grade teacher used to play the Broadway soundtrack to us in class, to work to, when we were being good. I did a report in 7th grade on Richard Henry Lee because of his “Lees of Old Virginia” song. I first heard of the remarkable marriage and correspondence of John and Abigail Adams from this show. Then, when we got our first VCR (around 1981), my best friend and I stayed up late one Independence Day to tape it off of Channel 9 WOR. I didn’t realize then that the version had been “sanitized,” not until I saw this cut with various, archaic profanities left in. The songs are catchy, and it’s remarkably accurate, historically speaking, as to what really did go on in the Continental Congress that hot summer. This DVD includes the long-lost “Cool, Considerate Men” number, which I had never seen. But ultimately, it’s William Daniels as John Adams that makes me love this so much. He’s perfect in the part, and a delight. My best friend and I used to watch this over and over (and over), so that I can recite whole, long sections along with the characters. And, we counted once, in the censored WOR version we had on tape, John Adams says “Oh, Good God” thirteen times, and we laughed at every single one of them. I hadn’t seen this in a couple of years, but still, it’s a tradition to at least think about watching it, every Fourth of July. It’s patriotic, fun, and educational, too!

• Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Good Ol’ American Day // 2 Comments »

Now I know why they call that aerobic exercise in gyms on stationary bikes “spinning.” It’s exhausting!

I came up an hour early to start plying that purple yarn of mine. (The one where I had three, unequal spindles-full, and was trying to figure out the most efficient way to ply?)

Well, first, I had to set up the plying head on my Lendrum–for the very first time. Then I had to figure out why it was so creaky, squeaky, and hart to spin. (Answer: badly needed oil. I haven’t oiled anything else on my Lendrum since it’s not supposed to need it, but the metal orifice very definitely needed some lubrication.) By the time I got that working correctly and started to ply , I’d been up here almost 20 minutes.

Now, an hour later, I have this.

  That’s an almost-full, plying-sized bobbin of 2-ply yarn. (Which looks huge, right now, sitting on my dresser.)

  This completely empties two of my three bobbins of singles, leaving me with this much left on the third. Now I get to decide whether I want to unwind this so I can ply this to match the rest, or just hang onto it and maybe ply it with something else some day for some variety.

The amount of treadling, though, let me tell you, left me feeling like I’d had a good aerobic workout. The yarn came out to be about sport weight, I think. For each arm’s length of yarn–say, two feet or so–there were 6 treadles, at the fastest ratio on the plying head. Now, I don’t know the yardage yet, but . . . that was a lot of treadling!

Obviously those folks at the gym got their idea for those cool, new aerobics classes from watching a real spinner at her wheel.

  Here’s a close-up look at the yarn on the bobbin. (Again, it’s really darker than this, with more purple, but so far, that’s been impossible to photograph.)

• Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning • Permalink:Now I Know Why They Call it Spinning! // 4 Comments »

So, other than the Suggest-a-Contest Contest, what’s new, you ask?

Well, I finished plying my apple-green singles last night. I don’t think I did a fabulous job, though; I don’t think they’re particularly balanced. Even with counting treadles and all the rest, this is going to be energized yarn . . . but I don’t care. One, it’s my first yarn off my Lendrum. Two, it’s my first yarn of any kind in months. Three, it’s pretty anyway!

  I’ll admit to being less than meticulous in trying to get that balanced yarn . . . I really got quite a workout from this. Lots of treadling, and today, my back is stiff from the 45 minutes’ hard “exercise” while perched on my ottoman. But I was determined to get it done–for two reasons. Because, well, I wanted it to be done, and because I was anxious to see if it was going to work out. I just barely squeezed the plied yarn onto one bobbin, and I think I did a pretty good job judging the half-way point in the roving, too, because look how few singles I have left on my other bobbin!

Okay–a question for all of you. I have a friend who’s still fairly new to knitting who is going to be an Aunt in July and who has very little time to knit, but who wants to make something for her niece/nephew-to-be. (She doesn’t know the gender yet.)

Any suggestions for a quick, easy, but still cute pattern for a layette set of some kind that she could make? (Something online, with a link I could e-mail her?) She had planned on making an afghan, but time is running too quickly, and I think that boat has sailed.

Edited to Add:

Okay, I wound my yarn onto my niddy-noddy tonight. 144 times around, but what that makes the actual yardage, I’m really not sure (grin). I am, however, pleasantly surprised at how balanced it turned out to be! Lousy color in the picture, but you CAN at least see that it’s hanging straight