So many hobbies!

Cabochons

I've been feeling the urge to bead lately and I've had a few ideas for new pieces.  To that end, I've been ordering some cabochons online.  These were the first ordered:

A gorgeous petoskey with beautiful definition.

This petoskey has less clear definition but is still lovely.

And finally, a small agate slab.  This one is smaller than I was expecting, a little more than an inch long, but has great banding.

I'm finally using the ice cream maker I bought for my birthday quite a few years ago.  Last night I made a thick, chocolate custard which spent the next 24 hours in the fridge getting cold.  Here's where it is right now:

When it's done, it's going to be a fantastic, rich Chocolate Peanut Butter ice cream.  I've already sampled some (of course) and it's wonderful.  This is an only-on-occasion ice cream since it has 6 egg yolks and 2 cups of cream plus the PB I'll add in just a couple of minutes.   Some friends are coming over tomorrow after work to help me eat it.  I can't wait!

Chuck Norris jokes

This one's my favorite:

The cats are taking over the blog

I didn't really do anything bloggable this weekend.  Well, one thing.  Mostly I cleaned and worked on laundry (although, Saturday I went to the Spinning Loft in Howell and Forma in Whitmore Lake).  At the Spinning Loft, I couldn't resist some raw Corriedale from New Zealand:

I don't think you can see it in this picture but the wool has amazing luster for a Corriedale.  Apparently, they grow some nice wool in New Zealand.  I bundled the locks in their tulle packages for scouring and afterward, spread them out on a sweater dryer to dry overnight.  This is what I walked into today:

I guess this stuff is really soft and comfy.

Saturday morning, I folded a load of towels.  I didn't pick up a stack of them quite fast enough:

And a pile of sheets that didn't get folded fast enough got burrowed into:

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish up the laundry.

Miscellaneous Thursday

1.  Finally saw The Avengers tonight.  It was fantastic!  Joss Whedon did it again.

2. Turns out, if you snip the spent stalk off of snapddragons, they get bushy and look like this:

3.  It's been rather hot here and it's only the end of spring/beginning of summer.  I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come.

4.  The yarn is plyed and hanging out on the ball winder.  Now I need to spin up the rest of the roving so I can warp my loom.  Let's hear it for starting Christmas presents in June!

5.  Tyr has this adorable way of keeping on top of what's going on outside.  She'll lay/stand like this for a while:

6.  I've got five other movies in the theaters that I want to see:  Battleship (probably catch this one on Netflix), Brave, Men in Black 3, Snow White and the Huntsman, Prometheus (seeing this one on Sunday with my sister), and Abraham Lincoln:  Vampire Hunter.   Okay, that's six.  Man, I love the summer movie line-up!

7.  Strawberry season is over for 2012.  Next is blueberries.  Should I make jam?

Terrible Tuesday

Can't think of a darn thing to say.  Enjoy the yarn.

Spinning

Roving became singles.

Singles were wound into a center-pull ball... and now I'm plying.

A cool shot of my kitchen.  The light landed just right on the platter and had an interesting look.  Now I have to go put things away.

In training

I'm in training, starting today, for the Tour de Fleece.  I haven't wheel-spun in a long time and I'm a little rusty.  I'm spinning some nice Merino/bamboo roving that will eventually be woven into a scarf.  As Galen can attest, it's really soft:

It was even soft enough to knead:

 

And, sadly for the kneading boy, too soft to stay on the table.

The darker of the two bundles of roving I'm going to ply on itself and use it for the weft of the scarf.  The light roving I'll also ply on itself and that will be the warp.  Once the scarf is done, I'll then have to get myself to give it away.  THAT will be the hard part.

Strawberry jam

Believe it or not, this is a double batch of jam.  Picking was terrible at Rowe's this morning but it was my last chance to make strawberry jam this year.  It's been so hot, I couldn't chance not being able to pick at Whittaker's (my usual place) next weekend. I much prefer Whittaker's over Rowe's because they're a small farm family and not at commercial as the other place.  Plus, Rowe's was overgrown with weeds which made picking incredibly frustrating.  Mostly, I just like the Whittaker's better.

I'm starting to gear up for the Tour de Fleece, which starts when the Tour de France starts on the 30th.  On Ravelry, I've joined Team Crankypants, Team Tardis and Team Spindling.  I'll be spinning yarn for future woven scarves and finishing up the second sock I'm spindle spinning.  I'm really pumped about this!

Tyr and socks

She jumps down off the nice, comfy couch to go sit under the table.  I have no idea why.

New socks from handspun.  I think it's Merino/silk but it's been too long.  These will likely be house socks.  You see those scratches on my left foot?  Guess who gave them to me?  I'll give you a hint:  look behind my left foot.  There I am, minding my own business, laying in my nice, soft bed when I had the misfortune to move my foot.  I really need to clip her claws.

Wooster, OH

What will I remember about the Great Lakes Fiber Show?  It was HOT!  Oh, and the thunderstorms that blew through Friday night and nearly blew out tents down.  Happily for me, my tent didn't leak a drop (I highly recommend Eureka! tents).  That's my tent on the right.  Rhonda and Sheri's tent, the one on the left, however, leaked like a sieve.  That's Rhonda's cot back there, drying out.  During the day Saturday, it was at least 90F and probably hotter.  Sunday as we were striking camp, it was 95F.  Poor Sheri got a heat-induced migraine and spent most of the ride home trying not to throw up.  There's a reason people usually camp in the spring and fall.  It's much more comfortable.  To be fair, though, it did cool down at night and we had nice sleeping temps.  All in all, we probably won't be going back to Wooster.  The festival was nice but it was lacking something that I couldn't put my finger on.  Oh, and while there were nice showers, there was only one nozzle which was for the hot water.  The cold one was missing on all three showers.  Believe me, that last thing any of us wanted was to take a hot shower.  The whole thing was very strange.  Here's hoping the Michigan Fiber Festival in August is a little more comfortable.