Hello Blog--remember me?

Well, to anyone that reads my blog (yah right!), I apologize for not being very wordy of late. I just didn't want to be a drag and write negative stuff. So, now that my physical drama of the month has abated, I am once again free to express myself. I suppose this self imposed exile is because I REFUSE to become like my mother and constantly drone on and on and on about what hurts and where. It is going to be a cold day before that happens!

So anyway, lets see whats been happening at my humble abode.

Halloween came and went. Once again we were spared any unfamiliar short people coming by for a visit. Love it, love it, love it! Halloween in my humble opinion is not a holiday. Something is kinda wrong with the world when demons and monsters are placed on high in celebration. I know, I know.....it's fun for the kiddos. To that, I can say yes, it is. It's all the other stuff that kinda goes along with it that creeps me out. That being said, just LOOK at this photo of my granddaughters. Have you ever seen a cuter pumpkin than that. I. Think. Not. That is my lil' squid Malia and her big sissy.


Let's see....on the fiber front, I have been moderately productive. I had previously cleaned a jumble of wool that was mostly grays and some brown/black in the mix. I overdyed it a soft turquoise color and it came out really interesting. That batch that I dyed the turquoise was on about one pound. It was mainly just a test to see if I liked this wool done that way and I discovered that I really really do!

So, a couple nights ago, I got to carding the stuff. I now have a FULL laundry basket of neat little rolags to spin up. I am thinking that I may go ahead and do the rest of the fleece from that batch the same way so that I could hopefully have enough for a sweater. On the other hand, depending on how well I do in the spinning of this mountain of fiber, I would make a lovely shawl. My friend Lesley just finished her KIRI shawl and man oh man did it turn out nice!! Lesley has the knack with the needles I tell you. A more prolific knitter I am not knowing. You can see this shawl over at her blog http://mapleontheweb.com/. Here is what I have to spin up. It is ALOT to comprehend doing on a spindle. Maybe if I hold out a little longer on it, I will have my wheel by then! That would be too fantastic to imagine. Especially since I drool over wheels EVERY SINGLE day. I think I have it narrowed down to two choices of which to choose from. I am seriously loving the Majacraft Rose alot of reasons. Mainly because it comes already finished, it has an adjustable head so I can put it where I want it, and because it has sliding bobbin hooks and a large delta orafice. On the other hand, I also seriously love the Ashford Traveler. It is a less expensive wheel. The Ashford name in wheels is a popular and wellknown brand. You can find parts for it everywhere and stuff like additional bobbins etc are inexpensive. Both wheels have similarities. They are both castle wheels, both double treadle, both have scotch tension options. Both have a wide range of speed ratios. So, I don't know what to do! The Ashford comes disassembled and unfinished. But the literature says it is a snap to put together and finishing isn't hard, just time consuming. Maybe I'll just say screw it and buy a Roberta Electric Spinner! It would be the bomb to have them both! The Roberta and the Rose are within the same price range so there you are with another added factor. Accccckkkkk!!! Someone please help me decide!!

I have actually spun a few little skeins of yarn. Little is a mute point actually because with a spindle, little is about what you get I suppose. Let's see if I can show you what I've been up to there.

This little ziggy bit of yarn is from a bit of mohair/merino that Jeanne sent me to play with. Oh the patience of Job was needed here. Slippery as snot on a glass doorknob is this stuff! But isn't it a pretty color. This is just single ply, and I know that my twists here and there are tight. It makes for the squiggly stuff. I am sure to the experienced spinner it looks like poo, but to me it is rather unique.

The photo on the left shows a piece of Romney roving that I dyed. The yarn in the right photo is the end product of that wool. What happened here was this: I spun up the dyed roving and then I plyed it with some commercial white wool that I had in my stash. The resulting yarn is super soft and very attractive in my opinion! I wish I had more so I could actually MAKE something out of the stuff. Oh well, I keep on saving all these little skeins and pretty soon I will have enough to make a very pretty shawl or scarf or SOMETHING.

I suppose that is it for now. I have to get going with the turkey day preparations. Once again, I was elected, or should I say, my house was. I guess that is what we get for having a big enough place. Works ok for me though actually. I'd rather just stay home anyway.