So many hobbies!

Wrist distaffs

This past Saturday when I was playing with my new spindle, I committed a rookie mistake.  I didn't wrap my predrafted fiber around my wrist or toss it over my shoulder and an errant breeze pushed it into my whirling spindle causing it to get completely twisted into my spinning.  Those of you who've used a drop spindle know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's an embarassing mistake.  It got me thinking, though, about distaffs.  When I got home, I pulled out my back issues of Spin-Off magazine and dug out the ones that had articles about distaffs.  I knew I didn't want a twig distaff because I didn't want to have to hold onto it, which left wrist distaffs.  There are different ways of crafting wrist distaffs and I started with macrame - my first macrame actually.

And here's an action shot in case you're wondering how they work:

Like I said, this is only one way of making them and I'll be trying others.  With this one, you just wrap your predrafted fiber around the dangly bits.  I was spinning extremely soft fiber and the distaff is made of BFL which means it's smooth so the fiber wanted to slip off.  I can see making different distaffs for different fibers and of course, enough so there's a distaff in each spindle box.

Oh, I almost forgot, I spun the yarn I used in the distaff Friday night.  It was supposed to be for my mom's Christmas present but there isn't enough.  On to Plan B.

The weekend, she was a good one!

First of all, I want to apologize for being a bad blogger:  I forgot my camera.  <duck and cover>  Sorry.  Both fiber fairs were pretty small and really, there wasn't much to photograph aside from some cute baby goats.  I am sorry I didn't get a shot of the babies.  They were all kinds of cute.

My friend Eric has been knitting and spinning for years and years and seems to know people everywhere.  I made the mistake of not bringing anything to work on with me so when Eric started talking to friends, I didn't want to rain on his parade, but I didn't want to sit around and be bored either.  Naturally, I bought myself a drop spindle and went looking for a bit of fiber to spin up while I was waiting.  (From now on, I will never leave the house without at least one fiber project!)

While I was sitting outside spinning, there were a number of people who stopped to watch, which was something I expected.  What I didn't expect was the bee that flew up to my drafting fingers and hovered like it was watching, then move around to another angle and hovered a few seconds longer.  I couldn't help cracking up watching it watching me.  It was the best audience I've ever had.

Sunday's show was much smaller than Saturday's and aside from a lovely location, there isn't really much to tell.  There was nothing there I couldn't live without, except for a really good hand-dipped caramel apple.  Yum!  Oh, they had a bagpiper.  I love bagpipe music!

When I got home this afternoon, I discovered that my larger sized spindle box... is too small for my new spindle.  I was planning on next weekend being a nice, quiet, stay-at-home weekend.  I guess making an even larger box will be on my nice, quiet agenda.

I would love...

to travel to Rome or Paris or Cardiff, etc. and live there for a month.  Rome and Paris, for example, are huge and there's so much to explore, you couldn't do it in just a week, or even two.  Most big European cities have great public transportation so getting around wouldn't be a problem.  I admit, renting a car in Great Britain or Australia would make me nervous because, well, they drive on the wrong side of the road (sorry, Val, but it's true :-).  I'd be terrified that I'd forget to stay to the left and end up hurting someone.  A car would be very helpful, though, because there's so much to see off the beaten path.  Did you know there are prehistoric ruins all over England and Wales?  My brother was in the Air Force and was stationed in England for a couple of years.  The atlas he bought was marked with dozens of ruins and most of them are just sitting out in a field where anyone can explore them.  But in addition to the sites and the exploration, getting to know the locals would be just as much fun.  Being a knitter and spinner, I have an easy in:  just find the local groups.  I have yet to meet a knitter or spinner who wasn't generous and friendly.  There's so much so see and explore, sometimes it makes me sad to just sit in my little corner of the world.  I guess I'd better start saving.

I'm a little slow...

but eventually, I finish things.  Like the first Pumpkin Patch sock:

Your guess is as good as mine when I'll start it's mate. 

This weekend is crowded!  Saturday, Eric and I are driving up north to the Northern Michigan Lamb & Wool Festival.  Woot!  I haven't been to this one before.  Sunday, we'll hit the Mt. Bruce Station Sheep & Wool Festival.  Also a new festival for me.  At Mt. Bruce, I'm going for the sheep shearing and the working dog demos.  I'd better leave my credit cards and checkbook at home or I might come back with another fleece.  Mt.  Bruce has Corriedales. 

I'm ready for the cold and gray

Well, my hands will be.  I finished mitten #2 tonight.  I'm not sure why the two don't match but while I'm wearing them, no one will notice so it doesn't really matter.

Next project is spinning the yarn for Christmas present #1, another pair of mittens.  This pair needs to match.  I don't mind wearing mismatched mitts myself but I do mind giving them as prezzies.  The hard part will be getting them the right size without having the recipient around to try them on.  I think I'll trace the recipient hand and just knit until the mittens match the tracing.

Found

I found this while searching through all my pictures.  I thought it was pretty cool.

The poor economy is showing

So here I am at the end of a busy weekend, watching Doctor Who and hanging out with the cat.  (Moaning Myrtle is in this episode!)  Saturday, Seli had a vet appointment in the morning (yearly check-up), I had a haircut in the afternoon, then I had to prepare what I was selling at my spinning guild's fleece fair and in the evening, I had to go set up for said fleece fair.  The sale was today which meant that I was there from 8:30 this morning until 5:00 this afternoon.  It became very apparent that our poor economy was hitting us hard.  This was my first fleece fair but everyone said it was so busy last year, people were lined up down the hall and out the door waiting to check out.  This year there was no line.  There were six check-out tables and only the first three were busy.  There was a steady stream of shoppers throughout the day but it was a very light stream.  Nearly all the sales were roving and fiber.  There were some finished pieces and a little handspun that sold but not very much.  I'm happy to say that I sold a fair amount of my handpainted roving which was very nice because nothing is moving out of my Etsy store.  I'm taking tomorrow off from work to do everything I would have the rest of the weekend like groceries, laundry, dishes, etc.  Oh, and sleep in.  I am so looking forward to sleeping in.

Mitten #2

Started #2 tonight.  After I finish this one, I start spinning for the next pair.  I asked Mom what she wanted me to make her for Christmas and we settled on mittens.  I probably won't get to the spinning until next week. 

Most of my canning and freezing plans were a bust this summer.  My blueberry plans crashed and burned because the U-pick farm I was visiting was terrible.  I'm in search of a new farm for next summer.  My tomato plants seemed happy but most of the tomatoes are still green and it's getting too cold for them to ripen.  I still might be able to pick Fall peaches but I have to check and see.  Apples and raspberries are still to come if the weather behaves:  raspberries for the freezer and apples for apple butter and maybe apple sauce if I'm feeling ambitious.  My problem is the age-old problem of not enough time.  I can spin and knit or I can do things with produce.  I just don't have enough time to do both and spinning and knitting are too big a draw to put down when things are ripe.

She's a beaut!

I almost had a complete pair of mittens to show off.  I finished the hand Friday night and decided to weigh the mitten, minus the thumb, and the remaining ball of yarn.  The mitten weighed 31 grams and the ball weighed 66 grams.  Hmm, that could be nearly three complete mittens.  Just for giggles, I started knitting the thumb gusset out of the same yarn to see how it would work.  It looked like crap so I did the logical thing and frogged back to the cuff, and started over.  Now that it's done, and it fits like, well, a glove, I love my mitten with a passion that's almost indecent.  On cold, gray winter days, when the sun is only a distant memory, I can stare at my mittens of many colors and think happy thoughts.

I just talked to my dad and found out that my cousins who live in Houston are all okay.  I'd tried to call them earlier today but their phone was busy which could have meant they were using it or the lines were down.  So, Lynne Ann, Lucia and family, I'm glad you guys are all okay.  I've been worried about you.  Take care and I'll see you in February.

New things

I love learning new things.  Life can never be dull if there are always new things to see, do and learn.  Last night at Knit Night, Beth and Alice taught me to knit using the magic loop.  I was going to use circs instead of dpns to knit my mittens when I realized I only had one set of needles in size 5 and 7.  The girls saved the day by showing me the magic loop technique which requires only one set of needles and a sufficiently long cable. 

I've already knitted, flat, past the thumb and rejoined the sides to knit the fingers in the round.  With the route I've taken with these mittens, I'll also be learning to pick up stitches to knit the gusset for the thumbs.  I'm pretty excited about these so I'm pretty sure I'll have a completed mitten to show by Sunday night.  This weekend I'll be trying to figure out what my next project will be.  I'm not happy when I don't have something to work on.  As I mentioned before, Christmas is coming and those of us who make some or all of our gifts need to get cracking if we're not going to be up until 3am Christmas morning finishing off our prezzies.