Is it silly to not want to post for a few days because I don’t want the hand-dyed fiber to move down the page?

I was just checking Bryan’s website and I realized I have forgotten to mention the beautiful poem that he wrote to me. Everytime I read it I tear up because it means so much to me.

I’ll post more this weekend.

Take five adults – four women and one man. Give them some yummy fiber, some pretty, colorful dyes and watch them turn into kindergarteners all over again. This was my day on Saturday. I felt like I was in a piece of fiber heaven.

At Wool, Warp and Wheel on Saturday, I had a wool dyeing class with Sandy Jones from Sandy’s Palette. I went to the class with two 4-ounce balls of Corriedale roving and a 2-ounce ball of Corriedale.

Our dyeing application was just straight dye on the fiber, I needed more fiber after that. I didn’t realize what we were doing and I put all of my fiber in the two Nesco pots. I’m actually glad that I did because now I have eight ounces of pink and purple fiber with 2 ounces of just purple fiber.
One pot was red and purple. The other was just purple.

“Rasp-Blueberry”

“Blueberry”

A four-ounce ball of Corriedale came with the class and I used it for my first fiber painting. I had to get the rainbow dye experience out of my system. It’s interesting how many people actually did a “rainbow” sort of dying on their first skein.
“Rainbow Dreams”

My second skein was yarn painting and was just blue and green with some of the natural fiber still showing. It looks great.
“By The Sea”

Our last dyeing technique was the spray-bottle technique. I did red, “desert rose” and yellow. In the steaming process everything sort of ran together but it’s a very interesting mix of red and pinks.

“Desert Berry”
I really like it, I just wish I had done one more with more of the natural color of the fiber showing. Oh well, I guess I just need to befriend someone who has room for dyeing. :)

I had so much fun on Saturday, I felt like a kid playing again. I was thinking on the way home, is it possible to have that much fun and it still be completely legal? :) I would could have spent a small fortune on fiber to dye and done dyeing all weekend if I was allowed. There are definitely dyeing classes in my future.

Tonight during a very bad thunderstorm complete with scary flashes of lightning, I finished my Clapotis. Photos of the completed Clapotis will be posted soon. The storm came on quite quickly and it was raining so hard that you could barely see the houses across the street. Areas north of us are without power and there is a tree down in our complex parking lot. We’re fine and our cars are fine too. There are a group of houses on the other side of the street and just past the park that you can’t see because it was raining so hard. At least, the heat has subsided and relief is here. :)

Not wanting to be left behind in the move. George decides to pack himself, prematurely of course. You have to look closely, but you can see his eyes peaking out from underneath the top box.

I have some great news to share with everyone. We’re moving! Bryan was accepted to the U of Illinois for their Master’s in Library Science program. He received a graduate assistantship and will be working at a library at the university. We’re be moving in about two weeks. I gave notice yesterday at work. Now, the job of finding another job. I’m so excited to be moving, I can hardly stand it. We’ve been packing and we’re getting down to the things that can only be packed at the end, such as the kitchen.

This past weekend, we made a trip out to see Bryan’s sister, her husband and our adorable niece, Paige.
She’s so adorable and her laugh is so infectious. What a little sweetheart. She was exactly 10 months old when we saw her on Saturday, she was born two days before our wedding. It was so funny because as soon as she started to get crabby, we took her outside and put her in the swing and she was happy. At one point, Bryan picked up a ceramic dog that his sister has sitting in the house and was making it bark at Paige. She loved it and was laughing and laughing. Her laugh was so cute that we all couldn’t help but laugh with her.

I’ve been spinning quite a bit, it’s mostly been plying. I finished spinning the Concord merino/silk last week, and plied it over this past week. I only had 2.5 ounces so I spun it as finely as I could. I had no idea that I would get as much yarn out of it as I have. I ended up with 320 yards. The yarn is gorgeous. It has a bit more purple in it than it looked like it would have when it was just top and even when it was being spun. I’m so fascinated by how different the fiber can look between top, singles and plied.

To reassure you that I haven’t completely abandoned knitting, I have been working on my Clapotis. I knit on it on Saturday on the way out to visit Bryan’s sister’s family. I also knit on it for a while tonight. The big news on the Clapotis is that I started the decreasing rows! It should be finished within the next few months. :) Okay, probably in the next month depending on how much knitting I get done with the move coming up.

I have another exciting weekend in store. This one is fiber related! I will be taking a dyeing class with Sandy from Sandy’s Palette at Wool, Warp & Wheel in Richmond, Illinois. I can’t wait. I’ve wanted to learn how to dye yarn but haven’t had the space to do it. I’ll tell you all about it next week.

Of course, some kitty-kat news is in order. Chloe is enjoying her newest toy. This photo is an action shot, even though it doesn’t look like it. She had tossed the mouse up onto one of the boxes and then hopped up on the chair to grab it, then ran off with it after I got this photo. This was a mouse on an elastic string that hung over the door but she and George managed to stretch out the string so much that we just cut the string. Now it’s been severely beaten up by Chloe playing with it, which is really funny because I bought it to replace a mouse that George used to play with that was just ripped apart.

If you need another good book to read, I have two recommendations. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I read this a year and a half ago and have been recommending it to my co-workers. One of them read it two days and another one is currently reading it. I love this book so much that I’m currently listening to the audio book in my car. I’ve fallen in love with it all over again. The other recommendation is really a book that was recommended to me by my sister, it’s called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I bought it since I needed a new book to read and can’t check books out from the library because we’re moving. I started it on Monday night and am already almost 50 pages into it. I can tell it’s going to be a great book.

And finally, how about having a spinning wheel on your nation’s flag? Sounds good to me.

Not a lot is new, but I just felt the need to post. Not about knitting or spinning but something else. Keep reading, I’ll get to the something else in a second. First, I must do a little spinning/knitting update.
I finished spinning the Concord merino/silk yarn. I started plying it on Wednesday evening. I knit a bit on the Clapotis on Sunday while watching a movie. So that’s about it for knitting and spinning.

I’ve been reading The Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club by Laurie Notaro that last few nights and I have to share it with you. A friend from work recommended this book to me. It’s hilarious. I kid you not, I’ve been giggling in bed at night as I’m reading this book. I even used my extra five minutes of sleep-time that I begged for to read a chapter from this book. It’s a book of essays that are hilarious. With my gift card from my secret pal, I went to Barnes & Noble this afternoon after work and bought another one of her books called Autobiography of a Fat Bride. I love book-enabling gifts. I think I’ll have to add Laurie Notaro’s other books to my wish list since they aren’t available through interlibrary loan. None of the libraries in the system have any of the books, except Idiot Girls’ Action Adventure Club. If you need a good laugh or want a light book to read, check out one of her books.

So that’s my main reason for posting – to share the book with you. Have a great weekend.

Well, B and I were slugs this weekend, it was great. I got some spinning done and I finally knit some too.

On Saturday, a package from my Secret Pal arrived! Thank you Secret Pal!
Oh, what lovely things were inside. Let me tell you about them. 1. A lovely card. 2. A cool little bookmark. 3. A gift card to Barnes & Noble (book enabler) 4. Six ounces of some extremely yummy red fiber!
Secret Pal, have I mentioned that you rock?! The fiber is going to be absolutely beautiful spun. My SP doesn’t know what the fiber is, but she said she’ll find out for me. Once I find out I’ll know what I’m going to make with it. Or, at least plan to make with it. Nothing’s better for stash enhancement than learning to spin. If you’re considering learning to spin and think you don’t have time, trust me, you’ll make time because it’s so relaxing. I never thought I would want to turn the TV off for long lengths of time but spinning makes me want some quiet, I think because it’s a quiet craft and I really want to pay attention to my spinning. A good audio book or some good music has become preferable to the TV.

I’m sure you noticed I mentioned knitting above. Yes, I tried to knit this weekend. After slamming my fingers in the sliding glass door, my yarn holding hand (left hand) has been out of commission as far as knitting goes for five weeks. Two weeks after the accident, I figured out how to hold the fiber so I could spin, but knitting has been a bit more complicated. I wrap my yarn around my index finger on my left hand and the yarn was laying across the sore spot on my index finger. Saturday, I got out the Clapotis and figured the yarn is large enough that it probably wouldn’t hurt too much. I’d tried to work on B’s sock a few weeks ago and the sock yarn hurt too much. The Clapotis yarn was just like Goldilocks’ yarn, it was just right. I knit probably three drop stitch repeats through the weekend. Only about three more to go before I start working on the decrease rows! It’s become a small blanket but it will feel mighty wonderful when it’s 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside with 95 mile-per-hour winds (okay, maybe not that bad, but sometimes it sure feels like it).

In spinning, I’m still working on the Concord fiber. I have about an eighth of it left. I started out with 2.5 ounces and I thought it would go so quickly. I’ve been spinning it so finely that it’s taking me longer but that’s fine since I don’t have a deadline. It’s funny, I’m so excited about spinning that I just want to spin everything that I have and I figure that 2 ounces will go quickly and it doesn’t but 4 ounces goes quickly. I know it’s how finely I spin the yarn, it just seems weird. Either way, I know the Concord fiber will be beautiful. I can’t wait to see how it looks plied. I already know what I’m going to make with it, looks like another lacey scarf is in my future.

Last week, B made homemade gnocchi for dinner. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the boy working in the kitchen. (please ignore the crazy refrigerator)

My heart goes out to everyone in London. I was there four years ago and stayed near the King’s Cross station. The Yarn Harlot has a beautiful quote that says everything so well. Days like this really remind you of how important your friends and family are. If you have family or friends in London, I hope they are safe. We can’t fight these horrible acts with violence, only with peace and love.

It was a holiday weekend that wasn’t quite long enough.

Friday, I was home early from work and spun a while with the pink cotton candy fiber. Unfortunately, the superwash merino and tencel together is very slippery and requires a lot of attention. And for some reason, my hands sweat when I’m spinning with the fiber. I looks really lovely, I just wish it wasn’t so frustrating to spin. I think I need to be more patient with myself when I’m spinning the cotton candy fiber.

The cranberry merino yarn staring at me from the coffee table didn’t help the situation, it had that look of “are you ever going to finish me?”
So I put the plying head on my wheel and started plying the cranberry merino.

Saturday, Bryan worked so I spent a good part of the day with my sister.
Before I picked my sister up at the train, I had to take George to the vet. The trip to the vet couldn’t have been uneventful with the Georgie-cat. He’s always extremely vocal on the ride to the vet, this time was a bit more eventful than the usual yowling. Because the kitties run and hide whenever they see the carrier, we have to leave the carrier out for a few hours before we actually need to use it. George was completely caught off guard when I woke him up from his nap and put him in the carrier. When we arrived at the vet, I realized I should have asked him if he needed to use the box before we went on our little journey to the vet because he jumped out of the carrier as soon as we got into the exam room and was soaked. The poor kitty had needed to relieve himself in the carrier on the way to the vet. I felt so bad for him. He had to get his yearly checkup and thankfully, they gave him a bath after the checkup. He went home much cleaner than he arrived.

After the vet, I dropped George off and went to pick up my sister from the train station. We had lunch and then went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Saturday afternoon, I came home and worked on plying the cranberry merino.

Sunday and Monday, Bryan and I took it easy. We did the normal chores around the house that need to get done but we decided we were going to enjoy our weekend. I finished plying the cranberry merino yarn.

Not long after I put the yarn in it’s bath, I started spinning the Concord fiber – 70% Merino/30% Silk.

It’s spinning up much differently than it looks. I thought it would be a nice rich blue but it’s spinning up with a very silvery look to it. It has a very cool irridescent look.

(I played with the colors on this photo and I still can’t get the right look of the actual fiber when it’s spun.)

While I was spinning a good part of the weekend, I was listening to The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. It’s by the same author that wrote The Secret Life of Bees that I really enjoyed. During parts of The Mermaid Chair, I’ve wondered if it was my kind of book but as I get more into it, I’m realizing, yes, it is my kind of book. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure book, the perfect book to read/listen to during the summer and a very good book to spin to. If you’re looking for a good book to listen to while knitting or spinning, I recommend this one. It’s fairly new so it may be hard to come by at your local library.