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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
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 by --Deb
14 Comments »

Okay, first, the good news–I found the yarn in the dyelot I needed! Flying Fingers yarn shop in Tarrytown. The only unfortunate part is I didn’t see my e-mail until after 11:00 last night and they’re closed, now, until January 4th. But, who cares?  Of course, I’d already given up and placed an order at Infinite Yarns because Anne had been so helpful. I sent her an e-mail at around 11:30 last night asking if it was possible to cancel it, because I really don’t need 8 skeins of the stuff, but no complaints if I can’t. It’s my own fault for (1) giving up too soon and (2) being a little too eager to support a helpful shop owner. I’d rather not have spent the extra $35 just now, if I can’t cancel it, but, well . . . it is beautiful yarn, right?

Now, I was away from the computer all day yesterday for a perfectly good reason. My best friend is home visiting from California, and we always make a point of getting together . . . and it usually turns into an all-day thing, and whoever could complain about that? She got down to my house a little before 1:00, and we chatted and opened Christmas presents for a while.

Her present? Well, I gave her a combo Christmas/birthday gift, since her 40th birthday is just a few weeks away. It was a bit of a wrench to part with, I admit, but so worth while. Not only was she very touched, but it looks fabulous on her. (You’ll remember that, on me, it looked huge and out of proportion, even after I tried reblocking it to be smaller.) Obviously, it was meant for her.

And, I know she’ll take good care of it, too. I did love that yarn, though–but at least I still have its first-cousin Peacock Stole to keep me company.

After we opened presents, we decided that we were hungry but that we wanted to go to the movie. So, we headed into the kitchen to look at movie times in the newspaper, and tried to find one we wanted to see that would give us enough time to grab lunch first.

She was really hungry, though, and said that, “I could really just go for a big tub of popcorn.”

Well! I’m always happy to oblige! I turned around, picked this up and plopped it down on the newspaper. “Here you go.”

Because, yes, it’s a huge tub of Popcorn Factory popcorn, courtesy of my aunt. It arrived on Friday . . . great timing, huh?

We ended up eating chicken salad that I very quickly threw together, and then went to see Charlie Wilson’s War, which we both enjoyed. Because, well, how can you not like Tom Hanks? And his chemistry with Phillip Seymour Hoffman was fabulous–their scenes were just great. Really, the whole thing was good. Funny, yet thought-provoking. It’s just a pity that “we blew the end-game” quote at the end was so very true.

Anyway, after the movie, we decided we weren’t really hungry enough for supper, so we came back to the house for some pumpkin pie and to give Chappy his supper. Except, we’d barely gotten our coats hung up when the phone rang. It was Mom–she, Dad, my sister, and my niece were on their way home from New York (they had Christmas-present tickets to see Curtains)–and would we like to meet them at Wendy’s for supper? Well, um, okay. I fed Chappy and we all kind of stood around for a few minutes, and then, back in the car. (You know, considering how much I dislike Wendy’s I sure have eaten there a lot lately! That’s at least three times in the last few months, whereas before this summer, it had been years.)

Here’s a look at my pretty, new yarn.

Yes, it’s a little over-plied. But since I had planned on this being sock yarn, I’m okay with that–it would just wear really well.

Although, I’ve been thinking that maybe it would like to be something other than socks. Like lace.

To recap, this is the Socks that Rock superwash merino roving I bought at Rhinebeck in 2006 from the Fold. 9.25 ounces, in the Carbon colorway.

It took me a full week to ply it all. And it’s got three plies. I didn’t check the w.p.i before I skeined it, but going by little Spinner’s Rule, it’s between 24-28 w.p.i. and it’s a fairly consistent size.

Really, I’m quite proud of it.

(Oh, and it’s not quite as blue as it’s photographing . . . It’s got more yellow and purple and really not much blue at all . . . go figure.)

I hope you’re all enjoying the end of your year . . . only a day and a half left of 2007!

Tags: Finished Spinning, Friends, General by Deb
10 Comments »

Well, you learn something new every day.

Like, today I discovered that I can read and count at the same time.

Because, yes, as you can see, my Will Taylor skeiner came today and I think I’m in love. I don’t even care that there was no packing slip of any kind so that I’m not entirely sure what I was actually charged for it, or that I never did hear from the shop, or that I don’t even know if it’s one of the types of wood I requested. Because it works just beautifully.

To recap, my Majacraft wheel skeiner and I have had issues because the pegs refuse to stay straight when there’s any tension on the yarn at all, but I really liked the vertical turning. My Knitting Notions swift and I have had issues solely because I do all my fiber stuff in my bedroom, which means it’s got to sit on the floor. And while that’s fine when you’re winding yarn OFF, the kneeling plus bending over the swift to rotate it to wind yarn ON is fatiguing. If I were only using it as a swift, or if I had a convenient table, we’d get on famously. It rotates nicely, is beautiful, and even stores easily . . . I just wish it were vertical rather than horizontal.

So far, on our brief acquaintance, the Will Taylor skeiner is perfect. Vertical rotation. Silky-smooth, too, once I put a little oil where the bars cross. Nice, sturdy arms to gather the yarn. A nice, chunky, rounded, easy-on-the-hand knob to turn with. Even a nice height for sitting on the floor and winding (although maybe next time I’ll pull over a pillow for a little extra height). Really, I should have just gotten this one in the first place! I think we’re going to be very happy together.

Yes, I know. I said this about the other two when they first arrived also. But that monster bobbin of yarn there took 369 rotations to wind off, and except for my shoulders complaining a bit, it was just as easy to do the last 10 as it was the first 10. That NEVER happened with any of the other skein-winding tools I’ve tried, except maybe the niddy-noddy. If this could get through that huge bobbin of yarn this easily, I feel reasonably confident in saying that we’re going to be good friends.

The only problem … (I hear you shouting, “I knew it!”) … was that after the first 20 or so rotations, I was getting bored and needed a distraction from my arms and shoulders, who were complaining about all this work. So, since I only needed one arm at a time, I held a book in my other hand. (Does this surprise anyone at all?) But I did want to count rotations, even though I haven’t even measured them yet to see what the yardage equivalent is. For a moment, there was concern that this wasn’t going to work, but then . . . it did. I can read and count evenly-spaced turns of a wheel at the same time. Oh, and the book? Non-fiction, since I’m still experiencing a find-appealing-fiction drought. Lynne Truss’s Talk to the Hand, which is informative and entertaining.

It’s wonderful to finally see the yarn off its bobbin, too. I think I’m going to be very happy with it, even though it’s possible it’s over-plied. It’s soaking in a hot sink of water at the moment, so I won’t know until after I’ve lovingly abused it a bit how balanced it will be, but right now? Balanced is NOT the word I’d use to describe it.

Curly and bouncy work, though.

I know it will relax after it’s had its hot bath, so we’ll see later on how balanced it is or is not . . . for now, though, I’m admiring the colors and how even the spinning is. At some point I’ll pull out a dime or something so you have a scale comparison, but for three-ply yarn? I’m really very pleased.

And, having curly hair myself, how can I really complain about an exuberance of energy?

Now, regarding my yarn quest of the other day. I decided that it was unlikely that I was going to find the dyelot of that yarn, and also decided that I’d rather have enough yarn here rather than wait until someone may or may not pipe up that they have it and don’t want it any more. So I ordered four skeins from the yarn shop that was most helpful. I sent e-mail pleas to a number of them the other day, and while I heard back from several who were nice enough to check for me, Anne at Infinite Yarns was the only one who went the extra step and offered to let me send her a sample of my yarn so she could check to see how close her dyelot was to mine. I decided that I was going to work on the principle that the dyelots are likely fairly consistent and plan on merging in the new one at strategically-placed locations on the sleeves when I get there, just in case there IS a difference. But in the meantime, I’ll have all the yarn I need HERE where I can lay my hands on it.

And, you know, I DID say that I planned on selling on my Knitting Notions swift if I liked the Will Taylor one. So . . . anyone want it? Blog-readers get first dibs!

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
2 Comments »

Phew!

Look at that massive bobbin of yarn. It’s huge. And I can’t believe how many nights it took me to finish plying this–a week’s worth of treadling. I started plying it a week ago yesterday, took one night off, but otherwise, averaged an hour or so a sitting. I’ve never had a bobbin that took THIS long to ply (grin).

Now, seriously, I have to figure out how to get it off the bobbin.

I talked about my options the other day, and I even pulled out my Majacraft skein winder, but . . . three rotations in and it was causing trouble. Obviously, there’s no way I would get all of this would off properly. I can’t face trying to do this on my horizontal swift/skeiner because my shoulder aches just thinking about it (and still, trying to keep it level so everything winds on properly is HARD). And the niddy noddy? Even if my shoulder and I were up to this many yards of rotations (shudder), I don’t think I’d be able to get it all to fit anyway.

Um. As much as I want to fondle this properly, it might be sitting on the bobbin for a while.

Oh, but I’m very proud of myself as to how even I got my three bobbins of singles. One ran out, and the other two are reasonably close to the end AND, even better, look like they have about equal amounts of singles left, so I’m going to ply them together one of these days on a spindle, just to see how they look.

Now, I’ve got a bad headache, my shoulder is stiff, I’m starting to wheeze a little from whatever’s going on in my sinuses, and I’m still so, so tired . . . and I can tell you already that tomorrow’s going to be a busy day. Crazy at work, I already know, but also, I have to come home and bathe Chappy, bake at least two pies, finish making my cranberry-apple sauce, cook Chappy’s food, and somewhere in there, collapse in preparation of a busy, but hopefully Thank-Ful Thanksgiving.

In other words, I really need to go lie down, or something. (grin).

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
9 Comments »

Well, it’s time.

Remember the really expensive roving I bought from the Fold at Rhinebeck? Well, I figured it was time I finally spun it up.

So, the first thing I did was break it into 9 roughly even pieces and spread them out on the floor to decide how to subdivide. . . .

Which is when my helper came over to make sure that the wool was sufficiently soft and of the quality his Mom deserves. His verdict? “Comfy.”

(Gee, thanks, honey, now would you please get off Mommy’s most expensive roving?)

Once it passed the Chappy test, I divided the roving into thirds.

I put two of them aside for now, and then rolled one of them into little fiber “roses.” I split each length of roving into smaller strips–absolutely necessary because the roving had been so compacted–and then rolled each one around my fingers and piled them into my hat.

And, yeah, I don’t know why, exactly, I use an old straw hat for this, but then, why not? It looks nice enough sitting on my stool by my wheel, waiting . . . Sure, a basket with a handle might be more practical . . . or something with a lid, so it would be easier to travel with it, but . . . the hat works!

The colors of this roving . . . which is the Carbon color . . . are just lovely. Subtle. Greys, yellows, purples, taupes, hints of blue . . . And how is it spinning up?

Beautifully. Considering how extremely compacted the roving was (not to mention how difficult it was to tear it into strips), this drafts beautifully. And it is spinning up super fine. I still think it was ridiculously expensive ($46.25 for 9.25 ounces) . . . 19 microns or not, for hand-dyed, superfine merino, I still don’t see any similar roving online for anything like that much money per ounce.

However, I am nothing if not fair, and I will say that the quality of the roving is excellent. I mean–look how evenly that’s spinning! It’s just lovely to work with.

The plan is that this will be spun into a 3-ply yarn, presumably for socks, unless something else more wonderful comes to mind once the yarn is done and I have some idea what the yardage is. There’s no way I’m going to get all of this onto a regular bobbin, though, when it comes time to ply. Which is a shame, because I’d rather ply with a Woolee Winder than not. I actually kind of like spinning multi-color rovings without because I like to see the color progression in “stripes” on the bobbin, but for plying? Oh, it makes life soooooo much easier. I wonder why they don’t make plying-size woolee winders? (Good question–I just sent them an email asking.) I wonder if it would be worth ordering a plying head for my Little Gem?

One last picture of that Celebrations Shetland. It was sitting on my dresser this morning as I was getting dressed, and I just happened to glance in the mirror . . . yep. I took this picture IN the mirror. It was reflecting back the lit-side of the skein, and the rest of the room looked dark . . . I just thought that lighting was fabulous. And the neatest part? I was able (in another picture, but I won’t bore you) (too much) to zoom in to get more of a closeup but without needing to use the Macro feature, because the mirror added extra “distance” for the camera lens. Cool, huh?

Hope everyone’s having as good a Monday as is reasonably possible. I’m still looking for the right pattern for that Sublime yarn of mine (though there are possibilities).

And, Harry Potter fans? Take a look at this fan-art picture from last Christmas. I don’t, as a rule, follow fan-art or fan-fiction, but Marta’s work is just wonderful, and this picture is just delightful. (This other Christmas picture is funny–love the slippers–and Awwww. I’m really looking forward to what she does for Book 7.

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
19 Comments »

I knew in my heart that I was fooling myself yesterday. That yarn was too under-plied. And since it was otherwise so satisfactory . . . I mean, it’s not like I hated spinning it, or was truly disappointed in the colors . . .

. . . So, really, there was no choice.

I owed it to myself and to the wool to run it through the wheel again.

It was just so obviously the right thing to do.

This was my first time spinning with Shetland wool. It’s hanging in the bathroom now, having had it’s hot bath and thwacking. I’m surprised at how fluffy it feels. I wasn’t expecting that! I guess it’s happy now, too.

Edited to add: I just had to add this–I mentioned at supper that I’d run that yarn through the wheel again, and Mom asked what “under-plied” meant. I explained that when I twisted the two plies together, I didn’t add enough twist. Then Dad said, “So then, it’s only implied?”

Which, actually, is a perfect description, don’t you think?

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
18 Comments »

It might be a little over-plied in spots, but here it is, my really lovely new yarn. And, really, a little over-plying isn’t necessarily a bad thing for sock yarn–the socks will just wear longer, right? The really good part is that it’s pretty consistent in size. And I’m very, very happy with it. See the little sparkly bits? That’s nylon for strength. And the gleam? That’s the silk–all surrounded by superwash merino for soft wonderfulness.  Assuming I didn’t lose count, that was 179 turns around the niddy-noddy, so . . . just under 360 yards.

Right now, in these pictures (one with a flash, one without), it’s actually still wet. I haven’t been able to fondle it as much as I’d like to. I think I might have soaked it just a little too long in its hot water bath–the red dye ran and now the yellow parts aren’t quite so yellow as they were before I washed it, but again, who cares? It’s still gorgeous.

Which means that I’m going to do a really, really good thing . . . I’m going to give it up. I told you that, if it came out well, I’d make it the prize for my Millennial contest. Because, of course, I wouldn’t give it away as a prize if I wasn’t proud of it . . . but I am, and it’s gorgeous, and well . . . it’s now officially the prize.

That includes not only the fiber from Franquemont Fiber, but the blood and sweat of yours truly. Well, okay, not really any blood, but there was definitely sweat. Of course, ladies sweat. They perspire, or they “glow.” Well, I was practically dripping with “glow” last night. I treadled so hard to get this all done last night! My legs are still tired today, and I finally understand the appeal of an electric spinner. Not that I’m going to go buy one, but . . . I understand the appeal.

I’ve been seriously tired all day. So tired, I barely flipped through the new anniversary issue of Vogue Knitting which came today. It’s a huge issue, as befits a 25th anniversary issue. I don’t always love the patterns in this magazine, but I’ve always loved the articles. Although in my brief flip-through, I did see a mention of Ruth from Knitting on Impulse and also one of Modern Yarns in Montclair. How nifty is that, huh? It’s always good to see friends doing well.

I’ve subscribed for a long time, too. See? Thats the Fall/Winter 1988 issue, the oldest in my collection. I think I’m going to have to reread that interview with Elizabeth Zimmerman, you know, now that I’ve got the magazine sitting right in front of me. It’s kind of fun  looking through it, actually. There’s an ad for Rowan Knitting Book Number 4–40 new designs in full color for just $9.50, and I actually made this sweater way back then.

Oh, and in the lame fortune cookie stakes? How is this second one possibly, remotely a “fortune?” It’s not even a pithy aphorism or saying like the other two. No, it’s the fortune cookie version of an advertisement or a shopping list. As you finish your meal, it’s telling you, don’t forget to bring some take-out home. Sheesh.

Booking Through Thursday

Well, after last week’s record-breaking number of responses (92 last time I checked–an all-time BTT record), I was tempted to use this week’s question to ask what you all thought about Harry Potter 7–but since a decent proportion of you weren’t going to be reading it at all, that seemed unfair. So instead …

Who’s the worst fictional villain you can think of? As in, the one you hate the most, find the most evil, are happiest to see defeated? Not the cardboard, two-dimensional variety, but the most deliciously-written, most entertaining, best villain? Not necessarily the most “evil,” so much as the best-conceived on the part of the author…oh, you know what I mean!

I’m enjoying all the answers to this question–it’s always good to see such a variety of responses. (And  I’ll just pat myself on the back for the title of the post, too, because I thought “Best Moustache Twirling” was pretty clever.) I have to put a word in for Sethos in the Amelia Peabody books. He’s not “evil,” but he’s got such flair as a villain–I always have a soft-spot for characters that do evil while retaining impeccable manners and charm. (And yes, Dolores Umbridge is another–a refreshingly 3D children’s book villain.) How about Acheron Hades from Jasper Fforde’s “Thursday Next” books? That villain has a wicked sense of humor  (pun intended). Jordan de Riberac and Gabriel in Dorothy Dunnett’s Niccolo and Lymond series are incredible….

Tags: Finished Spinning, General, Knitting/Spinning, Reading by Deb
16 Comments »

My cashmere/silk yarn is done. This is 2 oz, and about 225 yards. The plying still isn’t perfectly even, but I don’t care. I’m happy with the way this came out anyway. And regardless of the plying’s consistency, the yarn is pretty consistent in size, so . . . and, did I mention? Silk and Cashmere. Can anybody spell SOFT? The only problem? While I was perhaps over-enthusiastically thwacking it against my shower walls on Sunday, one strand got caught on the shower-head and broke. (The yarn, that is, not the shower.) So, there’s just a little bit of a problem there when I go to wind this into a skein some day, but, well, these things happen, right?

This is what I’m spinning right now. Superwash, silk, and nylon from Franquemont Fibers. It’s beautifully-prepared stuff, and great colors. (Boy, does it ever coordinate with my gold-and-red bedroom!). I agree with Theresa that the nylon makes it just a little rougher on the hands than just merino and silk would be, but not enough to make me stop spinning, and it spins up just beautifully. The colors are really fabulous.

Then, this fiber came today. I finally broke down and ordered some from Spunky Eclectic–that’s four ounces of Blue-Faced Leister in the “Vineyard” color. How could I resist a name like that?

And, um, did you hear about the Knitpicks Book Sale?

And–thanks for the entries so far on my Millennial post. You people are really excellent at sucking up! Keep it coming . . . Chappy and I will try to prevent our heads from swelling….

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
13 Comments »

So, you know, I finished the knitting on my Tatami last night . . . at long last, the knitting on my Tatami is done! (Let’s try that one more time, to make sure the fit is right.) My Tatami knitting is finished!

And, did I mention that Tatami is off my needles?

But, here’s the funny thing. Between it and the Celtic Icon, I’ve been slogging away at the same, two sweaters since last autumn. (October for the C.I., and December for the T.) I did sideline them both, briefly, to focus on the Ribby I made for my niece’s graduation present, but otherwise, I’ve been devoted.

Which also means that, other than looking at new patterns as they’ve come out in magazines (online or otherwise), or admiring WIPs on other blogs . . . I haven’t allowed myself to give any thought to other sweater patterns since, well, December. I’m pretty good about resisting the “Shiny Penny” syndrome of being easily distracted from my projects, but usually, when I’m about 3/4 through a project, I’ll start thinking about what’s going to come after . . . if only to make sure that I have the yarn and such ready to go when needed.

But, of course, I’ve never had two projects tie me up for such a long time. Even my Union Square Market Pullover–which at the time I thought was endless–only took five months. These have tied me up for ten months. Ten months when I didn’t dare think about what other sweaters I’d like to do, because, well, that would just be cruel, too tempting.

It honestly didn’t occur to me until last night, after I closed my knitting bag for the night, that . . . I was now free. Free to start something new. Free to browse patterns to my heart’s content. Free.

I tell you, it made me practically giddy.

So, naturally, today, I started browsing through pattern books, magazines . . . and yes, Ravelry, because those Pattern lists are marvelous (when they finally get this up and running for everyone without needing an invitation to “play,” it’s going to be beyond marvelous). . .

But do you know what pattern I keep coming back to? Not a sweater at all, but this cabled, hooded shawl from Nicky Epstein’s “Knitting Beyond the Edge.”

I know, I know. I told myself that I’d make something simple next–and with minimal (if any) cables, and yet, there’s something about this shawl that I think is just fabulous. Granted, it’s got bobbles, which I really don’t like making at all . . . but still it’s stunning. Worn this way, it’s almost like a capelet . . . but not quite. It’s a dense fabric, so it must be really warm–more so than a lace shawl, but still lighter than a jacket, which makes it good for outerwear for cool, autumn days as well as for something to be worn over a coat on bitter, wintry days.

And, well, I’m a sucker for almost anything with a really good hood.

The truly ironic part? Even with my stash of 94 different kinds of yarn (yep, Ravelry’s helpful), I don’t have enough of the right weight in any kind of yarn. The pattern calls for 15 skeins of RYC Cashsoft DK, and I don’t have a whole lot of DK yarn in my stash. I’ve got 10 skeins of Rowan Wool And Cotton (from back when they still used the “and”–it’s been in my stash a LOOONG time) in Chocolate brown–far too little yardage, and too dark a color. I’ve got 10 skeins of Silky Wool in green . . . but again, not enough yardage. I’ve got 13 skeins of Jo Sharp Classic DK Wool in Wine–a beautiful color–but still . . . no comparison for yardage. And even with my screwy gauge issues, I don’t want to take a chance on running out and not having enough for the hood.

Of course, the recommended yarn is kind of expensive in those kinds of quantities. As much as I like this stole, I’m a little reluctant to spend $120 for the privilege, you know? But then I saw Elann’s Peruvian Highland Silk. 80% wool and 20% silk for only $4 a skein. Much more like it. The only drawback is that they only had three skeins of the color I truly wanted (Ruby). I opted for the Tapestry Blue, but really . . . I really wanted that deep red!

The other knitting question I’ve been pondering? I rolled my “Pacific” Blue-Faced Leicester into a ball, fully intending to start it as a pair of socks just as soon as the Claudia Hand-Paint ones were done . . . but the more I look at that skein, the less I want to turn it into socks.

Do you know what I keep thinking of, instead? Lace. Don’t ask me why–I had always intended that for socks–but the colors play together so beautifully, and it’s such a gentle color combination . . . I think it would actually look gorgeous knit into some kind of lace shawl. I’ve got somewhere between 350 (if I counted wraps on the niddy noddy correctly) and 400 (if you believe my McMorran Balance) yards of the stuff, and that’s surely enough to make SOMETHING, huh?? I mean, something in the vicinity of a shawl? I’m so bad at comparing yardage needed to finished results, but . . . it certainly seems possible . . . right?  Any suggestions?

But now, I’ve got to go and actually do some work on my Tatami . . . I’ve got lots of stitches to drop–the handspun doesn’t “run” as well as the smoother yarn called for in the pattern, so every single stitch needs to be encouraged to drop. And there are ends to weave in, too. Then I’ll need to block it before I can sew up the seams . . . I didn’t say it was DONE, you know. Just that it was off the needles!

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
15 Comments »

Yep. Those two bobbins you saw yesterday?

All plied now.

I used Abby’s method of plying (to the best of my ability, at least). The plying is not perfectly even, but it WAS so much easier than the method I had been using. It took be about an hour to treadle my way through those bobbins, and I literally sat with a book in my lap while I did it, out of sheer boredom. Well, “boredom” might not be the exact, right word, but . . . sitting there, treadling, with my left hand doing absolutely nothing? The poor thing needed something to occupy it.

Anyway, this is 4 oz of Blue-Face Leicester from Vesper, in “Pacific.” I got approximately 350 yds of yarn, at a very-consistent-for-me 22-24 wpi. (I sort of lost count, but it was at least 22 when I got distracted.)

By that time, you see, I was in no mood to re-measure or re-count anything. Because between this bobbin of yarn, and the one from last week, I had quite the adventure in skeining today.

First, I tried using my Majacraft Wheel Skeiner to wind off the “Tibetan Dreams” yarn and ended up with this problem again–the yarn winding on too tightly (despite my best efforts) and forcing all the pegs to lean toward the center so that the yarn kept escaping. Heaven only knows if that skein is ever going to let me wind it into a ball, or if it will just be one, big, tangle from all the times I had to stop and rearrange the strands on the skeiner . .  making them overlap in ways not originaly intended.

Obviously, by the time that skein was wound, I was in no good mood to try using that again for the “Pacific” yarn.

So I got out my back-up skeiner. Being horizontal, it’s a little harder to wind yarn onto, because of the reaching-across thing (which gets wearying after the first couple dozen turns), but I figured it would be fine. . . . But, um, not so much. Apparently–even though the house is air conditioned–the summer heat has caused it to warp or some such thing . . . because I could not get it put together. With the two main pieces crossed at the center, the peg that holds everything together would not fit through the hole. It did when the swift arrived in February, but not any more.

I figured I’d try it anyway, but after twelve rotations, it was obvious that wasn’t going to work . . . since the two pieces weren’t fitting together properly, it wobbled way too much to try to wind yarn with. Of course, I then made the mistake of taking the 12 rotations-worth of yarn off the thing and, since I deliberately over-plied to make it longer-lasting sock yarn, it immediately turned into a nasty tangle. So, that’s about 6 yards of yarn that I won’t be getting back . . . although, I thought I’d try soaking the tangle to see if it relaxed enough to make it possible to untangle. (It’s worth a shot, right?)

Which means that I skeined that bobbin’s worth of yarn on my Kromski niddy-noddy . . . thereby making my shoulder (which was already upset with me about the wheel skeiner thing) that much more unhappy with me. Which is ironic, of course, because I got the wheel skeiner, and the other skeiner/swift, in the first place to help make winding skeins easier. Easier on my shoulders as well as just, well, easier. More efficient. Hah! I wonder if I would have been any happier if I had sprung for the more expensive Will Taylor version, or the Goko?

Oh, and I wasn’t any  happier about my Lendrum’s lazy kate which I was using to hold the bobbins steady for this skeining. (I’d already put away my Katie-a-go-go before realizing I’d still need it.) It just refused to let any of the bobbins rotate easily on their shafts–especially toward the center of the bobbins. I was having to PULL to get that yarn off of there. I mean, really pull, with my foot holding the base in place. Ugh. It was the perfect finish to a perfect skeining experience.

The one bright part of all of this? By the time I’d pulled out the niddy noddy, I was clearly not a happy camper. So what did my sweet boy Chappy do? He maneuvered the obstacle course of wheel, skeiner, other skeiner, skein of yarn, tangle of yarn, and lazy kate just to come over to me and give me a hug. As in, yes, a real hug–wrapping his arms around my neck and giving me a kiss. He just hates it when his Mom’s upset, you know.

And, at least I’m happy with the way the yarn looks!

Tags: Finished Spinning, Knitting/Spinning by Deb
9 Comments »

Well, didn’t we have fun today? That’s Ina, Risa, Jessica, Liam and Kim.

And, of course, our spinning wheels. Although, the one Ina’s spinning on isn’t actually hers . . . Risa brought down one of her (many) spares for her to try. There’s no question that she’s got drop-spindling down now, and Risa thought it would be nice for her to give a wheel a try. (As you can imagine, the rest of us . . . who already have wheels . . . didn’t encourage her at all.)

Risa cooked hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch, and the rest of us brought salads and/or dessert. And Ina brought a little something else, too. A “Jersey Spnner” . . . a beautiful, lace frisbee . . . for each of us. Wasn’t that nice of her?

As you can imagine, I won’t be letting Chappy play with mine….

We had a lovely time, and Liam particularly enjoyed the swimming pool. But one of the moments I found most amusing? When we all walked around, taking pictures of each others’ yarn.

See? And it wasn’t just me, it was all of us, going from wheel to wheel with our cameras. It is so NICE to spend time with people who completely understand this compulsion to photograph yarn!

I brought home two bobbins of yarn ready to be plied, my Jersey Spinner, the rest of the fruit salad I brought, and, unfortunately, a headache from the sun. I am SO glad I thought to bring a hat with me. (Sunshine too easily gives me headaches which, along with the fact that I burn easily, is why I’m a shade-girl.) But I don’t care. I had a great time anyway, so it was worth a headache.

And Chappy forgave me for leaving him, just as soon as I got home. Apparently he and his grandma played in the backyard this afternoon while I was gone, so he’s happy and tired, too. Because, yes, apparently sitting, spinning, laughing, and eating good food for four or five hours can tire you out. (Or, me at least!) I got home just as my parents were heading out for a bite to eat. I made myself a quick omelet for supper, only had the energy to eat 2/3 of it (Chappy graciously took care of the rest), and then fell asleep on the couch for half an hour.

I tell you. This fun, socializing stuff can be tough!

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

My poor mother had an unnecessarily early start to her day today. I woke up at 6:06 and had to go to the bathroom, so I got out of bed, told Chappy that I’d be right back, and slipped out of my room, pulling my door mostly closed behind me. Just like I’ve done countless times before . . . Except, this time, he apparently decided that six a.m. counted as morning and not night-time, and so he hopped off the bed and went trotting down the hallway into my parents’ room, where he promptly stole my father’s socks from the floor next to the bed and got my mother out of bed to chase after him . . . I apologized profusely after I’d retrieved the socks and ushered Chappy back into my room to climb back into bed, but the damage was already done. Mom couldn’t get back to sleep. All my fault. Well, Chappy’s really, but still! The boys both enjoyed the “adventure” though–Chappy thought this was great fun, and my Dad was glad to get a chance to see him before he left for the golf course. (Most weekends, Chappy and I sleep in and so don’t see Dad until he gets home around 3:00–the two buddies miss saying good morning to each other.

Really, it’s just as well that Mom got a head-start on her night’s sleep by dozing through the movie we watched last night . . . ironically, “While You Were Sleeping.”

So, anyway, I haven’t been quite so busy today as I was last weekend, but I did manage to get a few things done.

Like, finishing that first half of my Tibetan Dreams yarn. I finished plying it, wound it into a skein. (Well, two, technically.) And then I gave it a nice, warm bath before hanging it up to dry.

Sadly, it’s photographing more like autumny-shades of oranges and reds than the golds, purples, magentas that it really is in person, but it’s still awfully pretty.

Not perfectly spun, of course, but still, really lovely.

We took Chappy out for a nice, medium-length Sunday walk, too, which we enjoyed even if he didn’t get to see any of his neighborhood friends.

I baked some corn muffins, which made an excellent afternoon snack, with a cup of tea alongside.

Made a pot roast.

Ordered a zipper for my Celtic Icon. This is firmly an act of wishful thinking, because I’ve got a ways to go . . . but I like to be prepared. And am hoping I guessed right on the color.

Curled up with a good book.

Used my Scooba to clean the floors. (I do love my Scooba!!)

Spent the entire day with Chappy . . . which is exactly as it should be

All in all, a pretty good Sunday. Hope yours was good, too!

Tags: Chappy, Family, Finished Spinning by Deb
9 Comments »