Thermalgal’s Temperate Mumblings

I just have to post this!

This is DH’s response to my suggest that we make some swatches to determine what size needles to use for his socks (that he is knitting himself):

Ack! Don’t bother me details! We must veture forth blindly! When the cat ends up tied to my face in a mass of fur and yarn in a freak accident involving nacho cheese and circular needles, then we back up (slowly and carefully untie Pushkin) and move forward with baby steps.

Hmmm… maybe some sample seem like a good idea.

Exciting news…

I forgot to tell you the exiciting news. Well, first some background. On Saturday I read At Knit’s End outloud while DH drove us to our stained glass friends’ house. He was laughing up a storm. He really is enjoying this book. On the way back, he dropped the bomb, he said to me… I want you to teach me how to knit. Of course I finally got him to admit that it was because he doesn’t think I’ll get his self-patterning knee high socks finished in time for the Ren Fest in September/October (it will be part of his costume). So, he wants me to teach him to knit so he can make them himself. I think he also likes the idea that he has made everything else in his costume (including hemming 8 yards of cloth for his kilt). He picked it up really fast. But I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually learned to knit during his 4-H days. I told him to just wait, I’ll get him spinning yet!

On other fronts, my evil plans are starting to come together. I just have to win something on Ebay and I’ll have all the tools to make my evil plans come true!

I’m hoping that my wool combs will come soon. I really want to start processing the fleece I bought and I want the combs to do that! In the mean time, I’m working through the roving I have in my stash (not that it is much). I have about 7oz of kool aid roving left, some merino/silk roving, some cormo/alpaca roving, some unknown wool roving (I got it as a thank you from the beginner class for loaning them my wheel), and the brindle alpaca roving I got over the weekend. I did have a small bag of roving bits that I picked up at MDS&W in ‘04. Know that I know how to properly card, that went really fast and I spun that up into a rainbow yarn. I’m thinking about using it to make a spindle bag for my bead spindle and bowl. Oh, and I want to spin up the samples I got in my variety fiber pack. Some I want to do on the wheel and some on the bead spindle. I also want to have another go at my drop spindles.

Wow!

Do I have a lot to talk about! The spinning workshop/conference was great! Fiber people are just so nice. I learned bunches and bunches and had a great time (and ate a lot!). I learned a bunch of different types of drafting. I learned on new plying technique (cable plying). Okay, I learned two if you count plying from a center pull ball instead of Andean plying (I consider them pretty much the same). I fell in love with the instructor’s little takhli. I spun some cotton, silk, flax, and mohair. I didn’t have time to get to the tencel or hemp but I have samples to try out. I learned how to hand card and comb. I learned some novelty yarn construction. And I think I improved my spinning (I really like the long draw). I also learned now to properly use my nostepinne. Friday afternoon I went to the vendor show and spent lots and lots of money. I bought a small bead spindle (no takhli’s in sight until after I bought the bead spindle) with a small pottery bowl to spin cotton, a tiny niddy noddy, Julius the knitted tabby cat, At Knit’s End, The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook, some Trekking XXL sock yarn, bottle of spinning oil, 4 oz of brindle alpaca roving from Morning Moon Alpacas, and a pound of alpaca fleece from ehh I’ll have to look up the name of the company when I get home. I’m sure I forgot something from my list but oh well. I hit the high spots, my bead spindle and the alpaca fiber.

I also started Dracolair’s Phoenix. Here is my progress for the week:

And on Saturday I went to a friend’s house and started my first stained glass project. I’m making a frog for my bathroom. I think he is going look great when I get him finished.

Back to stitching!

I started back on a real rotation plan this week. So, last night I put away Noah’s Ark and tonight I’ll pull out a new start, Dracolair’s Phoenix. It is a SAL with two other ladies from my weekly stitching night (Catherine and Sue for those interested). I think I’m going to try and complete Noah’s Ark before Christmas (should be plenty of time) so I can give it to James as a Christmas present. I mean what else do you get a one year old? This week I finished the ark scene and the sheep and started the pigs. I have a lot of backstitching to do (all the animals from the cats around to the sheep). So, next month that is what I’m going to concentrate on, finish the pigs and backstitch everything I can.

My spinning class starts tomorrow afternoon and runs through Friday lunch. Should be exciting. I’m kind of nervous since I’ve never taken a spinning class and I’m completely self taught. I’m also afraid that people will laugh at my Louet and think it is ugly (most people do). But it fits me very well. It is always described as ugly but well engineered and it is made in Holland (my grandmother immigrated from Holland when she was eight).

Bunch of stuff…

When I was going to sleep last night, I thought of three different things to put in my blog. I can only remember one of them. My friend, Catherine, and I have started the Couch-to-5K running plan. Yesterday was our first walk/jog and our next is today. The plan is three days a week (Monday, Thursday, and Friday) with Tuesdays and Wednesdays already being claimed for other things (band practice and stitching night). I think it went really well last night (jog 60 seconds, walk 90, repeat for twenty mintues).

About the only other things I can think of to write about are stitching, knitting, and our dishwasher. The dishwasher started acting funny last week (it won’t drain). So after DH pulled the thing apart, he thinks it is the drain pump, so I ordered a new one and it should arrive any day now. DH has refused to do any dishes until the dishwasher is working again. I might have to break down and actually do some dishes tonight.

On the stitching front, I was making great progress on Noah’s Ark until I started the sheep one stitch too many to the right. I’ll have to take out what I’ve already done (luckily not all that much). But I have finished all the stitching in the ark scene. That means I have five animals, backstitching, and speciality stitches left.

On the knitting front, I’m still working on the Sophie bag from my homespun. I don’t think I’ll have enough to finish it, so I might have to stop until I can spin up some more. Since I have a spinning workshop next week, it might need to wait a bit.