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Ed and Dave

Well based on some past requests and a recent one...here is the face that goes with this blog. I am the one on the left in the white shirt, with none other than my baby in black. People ask if we are related...lol...I am like...no...that would be sick. But it is fun convincing people we arn't. Many times we are asked if we are twins. More so now because I put on a few pounds this winter. This pic was from late 2005.

Slacker Post

I feel like such a slacker for not posting sooner, but I have been feeling down the past two weeks. Dave had to go out of state this week, so all of last week I started to feel depressed about him going and then when he left this week I was in tears (just a big old mess) I know I am overly dependent on him, but you see Dave and I have never been separated for any length of time since we met, this is the first time. I am feeling a little better today about it all as he will be home Friday.

So with having the day off I took Rose out for a little show and tell to Dawns shop. Ended up spending a couple of hours there working with Dawn on her spinning techniques. She was having drafting issues. So after a tips she was spinning like a mad woman. Who am I to be teaching others? I have only been at this for a few months. But do feel I caught on quickly, and according to some very experienced spinners, the fact I was able to spin Sari Silk moves me out of the novice ranks. WOO HOO!

I got a bag of Sari Silk   which is all different sizes and lengths and kind of sort of sorted my pieces then just started to spin. After wards I steamed it to set the twist and got it balled up. I was pretty impressed with myself as balls of that sell for $20.00.

Here is some of the other fibers I recently acquired.

The Black is Merino and the stuff on the right is Rose Silk/Merino

This is a Lincoln/Silk mix that Toni sent me with my wheel. It is as soft as it looks. I am going to ply it with medium wool I got from R.H. Lindsay Company which is kinda coarse feeling.

And last but not least here is mu OAK afghan that I am using some of my hand spun yarn in

I decided to crochet it. It is a refreshing change from knitting.

I also am getting ready to make some small bags for tarot decks with the spun silk. I am making one for a gift and am going to slap one on EBay for shits and grins just to see what happens. Will post some pics when I am finished.

OK that is all for now, I am going to go get some food have QT with Blue......

She looks thrilled about it. Well she will be during dinner...but will return to her normal sleep mode on the bed! What a life!

It's Here!

It came yesterday but my allergies were so bad yesterday that I could not truly play" until today. I was suppose to have the day off, but had to work due to the termination of a co-worker. I will not have a day off until Sunday now...BITCH! Actually it was better that she was fired because she was getting to the point on not being dependable at all. So back to the wheel. Yes Dave, it is "the Cadillac of wheels" well at least to me. I am still amazed at how fine it spins. I had to get use to how fast it spins on the 19 to 1 setting. Even at the slower settings it spins much finer than my Lil Kiwi. I almost feel guilty looking at my Lil Kiwi just setting there. But the good thing about Kiwi is that it spins bulkier yarns very easily. There is the most minimal noise while spinning with the Rose. I think every one who spins should try spinning on one of these and I am sure most will agree that it is well worth the money.

I will do pictures tomorrow. I was going to take some tonight but realized I had used all the rechargeables on the keyboard and mouse and forgot to recharge the old ones. plus the allergies are kicking up again and I need to take some meds which after I will be lingering in la la land.

New Wheel

The decisions was made....I decided on the Majacraft Rose.

And let me tell you....it almost did not happen at all. I decided to get a new wheel when I discovered how much I was getting back on my income tax return. Then last Thursday I got an email confirming the deposit and discovered that the IRS (blood suckers they are) had found some underpayment from last year, which was news to me as I never heard anything about it, but did discover that they were correct, the amount that I was getting back was a fraction of my original amount. So needless to say I was feeling a little down so Dave and I decided to go to the casino since we had the weekend off. Well I am happy to report that we were very lucky that day. Not only did we get our money back, I made enough to get my wheel and a nice little chunk of change left over. Dave  contributed some of his winning to cover half of the cost (he is such a sweetheart). Now I need to try the casino thing again this time to pay for Stitches this year...LOL

I found a place in IL that has them for 10% off the regular price and can ship one today...that is so cool I could have my new baby by Wednesday! WOO HOO! I will post some pics as soon as it get here.

Viruses

No matter what way you look at them they suck! My computer was spared but I wasn't. I have had the worse "bug" I have ever had. Forget the 24, 36, 72 hour stuff, try the 192 hour shit. Days and days of feeling like roadkill that kept getting run over. Getting nausea from setting up and looking at the wall. Spending so much time in the bathroom that it had become like the living room. Don't ask me how, where or what, I don't have a clue. All I know is I don't ever want to do that again. Fuck all the time off because it was useless, no knitting, no spinning...NOTHING except the constant invitation of death! Was a wonderful diet though.....15 lbs gone in the Grand Rapids sewer system! One of my coworkers had the same thing so I knew it was nothing more than a nasty case of flu. Must have been from some nasty customer coming in or one of those Brain Fucked STUPID parents that keep their kids home sick but decide to take them to get their hair cut....yes...you people know who you are...and the next one that shows up in my shop will be greeted with a can of hairspray and a lighter.
Well I feel back to bitchy normal, now to get back to work knitting, and spinning.
My new goal is to take all that I have spun from the beginning and what I am spinning now and dye it for an afghan. I am not sure if I will knit it or crochet it, but I am using my hand spun yarn, some purchased yarn...ribbon and so on....to create a one of a kind throw. I was trying to think what I was going to do with all the "thick - thin" stuff I had and thought that a throw would be perfect as gage really does not matter. I will post some pics when I get it started and am keeping a photo journal from fiber to finish.
Well I need to make my rounds on the net and read a ton of email.

Still alive

It has been a while since my last post. I have been in a slight slump where I sit in front of the TV for hours doing nothing. Not to mention sleeping a lot. I think it is the weather/winter, even though this has been a very mild winter so far.

In spite of the slump, I did manage to ply some singles and wind them into skeins on my new Niddy Noddy

These were my latest acquisition from Ebay, 6 pairs of Rosewood needles for $46.00.

Pictured here with the Irish Hiking scarf that has been setting untouched as my brain turns to mush in front of the idiot box.

I am sure it will pass, I am up to the decreases on the sweater so that is always encouraging. Also I have been making a skull cap (aka condom cap) from cotton. I had a request for one. Since I did not need another knit project I cleared the cobwebs from the crochet memory banks and have been working on that, I forgot to take a pic of that and really do not feel like getting the camera back out again so I will save it for another post.

Also I wanted to mention a new LYS I found not far from my house called the Knitting Shack . I met Dawn and her Mother (owners) this past week. They are both very nice people which is a refreshing change from the snotty uptight shop owners that I have encountered at another shop in Wyoming...no names mentioned...LOL! They have enough yarn to satisfy a fix when I need one. Dawn is a new spinner too and she was saying that she wants to start carrying spinning supplies...woo hoo roving and I only need to drive 3 miles!

Well that being said I need to get around and got to Wally World for some much needed essentials.

Pencil Roving

My pencil roving arrived. It looks like this stuff will be easy to work with, just add twist to spin it. I ordered one pound each of natural and lite gray. I am off work tomorrow so I am going to spend most of the day spinning. There is still one bobbin that I need to finish, but it can wait as I am anxious to try the new stuff. I will post some pics and comments after I work with it.

Anniversary Wool

This was my gift from Dave for our anniversary

He asked me what I wanted and I told him FIBER! It is one pound of Lorna's Lace Wool Top. I told him not to spend a lot since the holidays have just past and the wonderful gifts he bought me was more than enough for both occasions. Unfortunately we were unable to do anything fun today as we both had to work, but both of us have Sunday and Monday off...woo hoo!

Here is the sweater I am working on.

Progress is slow because I get board with the lack of any pattern, so I decided to work the front with a cable pattern. It started out to be just a basic white sweater but as I said boredom has dictated otherwise. So I went looking for a cable pattern and remembered I had the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern printed off. Well it took me no time to cast on some stitches and see how I would like it.

I like it, now when I get board working the back of the sweater I pick up the scarf and knit for a while. I just need to get a bit more disciplined ( no comments Jon!) and get the back finished and vow to never make another st st sweater!

Spinning Away

Spinning has become an obsession, just like knitting. The first attempts almost made me think twice about it as it got to be very frustrating. But then I changed my drafting method and started to get nice consistent results.

There is still the occasional thick and thin spots and some over twist but in time I am sure it will get better. I read in Knitters Review (spinning section) and in an email from Tallguy about pencil roving. It is suppose to be thin enough to just add twist to it, thus making it real easy to spin with good results. So I am order some from a place I found online.

Knitting related...I am working on my basic white sweater. It is rather boring all that whit and all the stockinet stitches, I see a patterned sweater in my near future. There are so many cool patterns out there that I need to learn to knit faster or quit my job and be a stay at home knitter/spinner. (I can see my Dave sweating bullets...lol) Well at least now that we found out that his company has partner benefits I can eliminate the rather large expense of my insurance with my company (more wool/yarn money...woo hoo!)

Well I need to get some rest, tomorrow is Dave’s birthday and so the day is all about him and he does deserve it.

Happy Knitting/Spinning

Happy New Year

   As a new year comes slipping in I did take a moment to reflect on the past year and realize that even though we are not wealthy we are more blessed than many. We both have decent jobs, live in a nice home, have meals when ever we want ( that needs to change a bit!) and are able to pay our bills. We can not spend extravagant amounts of money...I buy yarn and Dave buys games, both of which can add up in no time, but we are able to buy these items. I was reading a fellow knitters on line bio about how he buys his yarn from Goodwill, that is when he can get a ride there and I am sure that the amount of donated yarn is very limited in quantity and selection. After reading that I felt ashamed of setting there earlier looking through Patterworks and wishing I could buy almost $200.00 of yarn. I will say when reality of others life situations is seen...it is a humbling experience.

I am not big on New Years resolutions, but there are a few this year I will try hard to work at.

1. Think before I speak or make harsh judgments.

2. Count to 10 before I loose my temper (may require drugs!) But his little story I read really hit home.

The Nail In The Fence

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence. Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.

He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there.

3. Try to help others less fortunate than myself. We are not wealthy, far from it, but I am sure we can give a little of something to others who are in need. Even if it it a couple of skeins of yarn that I decide I really will not use or picking up a couple of skeins that was on sale. It may seem like a small amount, but to another who struggles with just surviving, it will seem like a lot.

That is my focus on some major areas of my life. Now for some minor things....

• Getting out and taking more classes this year. I have found a bunch of classes at Thread Bear that I want to take. One being a spinning class that starts this month.
• Joining a few local knitting/spinning groups.
• Take the Master Knitting course through the The Knitting Guild Association
• Teach knitting to others

So that is it in a nutshell...and now onto some knitting related stuff.

I finished the felted socks...woo hoo!

I had to restart the wash cycle many times to get them to this point. Our water is really hot so that was not the issue. Any way it worked.

And I got the wheel all put together. I have "played" with it and decided that a class was definitely in order! LOL

I am off work today so it is a knitting day, so I where should I be now....KNITTING!