My Week Off in a Nutshell

Oh our week off is over :o( This post shows most of my week off. The weather was pretty good. It rained two of the days, but the temperatures were good. When it wasn't raining it was really nice!

I did get some things done around the house ... those never get to things, like organizing drawers, cleaning the basement, etc. So nice to open a drawer and 1) be able to actually get it open, 2) find what you were looking for, 3) be able to close it as well. Gave the dog a much needed bath when it was 80 degrees out the other day ... always feel bad giving her a bath with such cold water outside, but it was so hot she was fine ... well she didn't think so at the time.


Maybe next time I trim the rosebush (which isn't very big and isn't even full yet) I'll wear gloves. The funny thing is once I washed my hands, I couldn't even find this cut, but I found many others from doing stuff around the house that looked much worse than this, but didn't bleed.


I was pleasantly surprised to see how well the primroses came back out front. There are 5 of different colors, but they are all full of flowers like this one.


I am pleased to announce that my orchid is doing very well. I pinched off some discolored buds from a really cold night where the temperature changed dramatically. Then when it was time to water it, I gave it some ferterlizer and a few more of the large buds opened up. It seems to be very happy by this window with the sheer curtains as was recommended.


We got some flowers to plant this week, and also this fuscia! I am hoping it attracts the hummers. We already had a male visit the feeder while we were sitting on the deck! So exciting. In the last two years we've only seen females.


I finished the Baby Surprise Jacket that someone at worked asked me to make for him for a gift for someone that was expecting. It just needs to be sewn up and buttons sewn on - I think I have to buy buttons, I don't have any colors that will go with this on hand. I'll have to look through my stash and see if I do or not.


Its always a little frightening when you have a gaping hole in your house :o) We wanted to replace this back door while we were home this week ... in case anything went wrong we'd have ample time to do it right ... and have a hole in the house. It went pretty well. Only a few hours from start to finish. The old door was wood, and wasn't painted properly or set properly so it was weather damaged and the top was too snug - like we had to SLAM it to shut it ... and the bottom was the equivalent of having a window cracked open all winter. Literally paper would move in the breeze.


Here's the new door. Also nice to have some extra light. In this photo we're waiting for the expanding foam to cure and then I can put the molding back on. I tacked up the molding for the winter when I painted the dining room last fall, now I have to chisel the construction glue off the back of the pieces so that I can mount it again, LOL! One thing that sucked though ... the hole for the locking mechanism on the jamb doesn't line up with the hole on the door ... so we have to pull the door up to get the lock to set in place ... this probably explains why our kitchen door deadbolt (that was here when we moved in) doesn't work ... it looks like the same manufacturer.


The frog pond already has 6 frogs!!! This is my gargoyle. This year I planted some impatients by him. I am hoping they fill out over the summer. I only had one of each color left after I planted the window boxes for the front of the house.


There's a frog here ... can you find him???


I spent some time spinning yesterday. Carin from Round the Twist mentioned that the Respect the Spindle digital download was available for 10 cents ... yeah 10 cents. So I checked out the link thinking I'd missed it and it was still available. While watching this, she mentioned a good point, you need to use fiber to learn, you wouldn't think it a waste if you had a pen that was out of ink if you'd been practicing handwriting. You'd think of it as a tool you needed to use. So I broke out the fiber that I was "saving" until I was good at spinning and my new spindle and I did pretty good!!

Respect the Spindle digital video download is still $0.10!!!

And my favorite part of Spring!! I have oh so many more, but I picked some of the most interesting colors to show here.

How to Knit a Shawl in 10 Steps

Step 1. Pick out yummy, super cool yarn from stash.

Step 2. Spend approximately 2 hours debating over patterns. Check out many of the projects on Ravelry to determine if the pattern is going to look good with the yarn you picked. Note: Make sure you don't start this process until very late in the evening.

Step 3: Finally decide on two patterns, go back and forth between the two several times.

Step 4: Purchase pattern. Download pattern. Transfer to flash drive because you're printer is out of ink and you have to use the other one in the house. Print pattern.

Step 5: Find a non-wobbling bar stool to set up yarn swift on, luckily this takes 2 seconds as opposed to the 2 hours it took to choose a pattern. Using a wobbling one is a lot like using a grocery store carriage with a wobbling wheel ... its annoying at best.

Step 6: Find needles. First find empty package of the correct size and curse ... really you don't even know where they are. Check interchangeable set for this size, almost certain that this one doesn't ring a bell. Squee with delight when you find that you did indeed purchase tips in this size.

Step 7: Wind yarn. Photograph yarn for blog prior to casting on.


Step 8: Look at the clock and ask yourself if you really even want to knit this stupid shawl now that its almost midnight. Note: The shawl is not stupid, you are.

Step 9: Cast on shawl.

Step 10: Admire the first pattern repeat. Ohhh pretty!

Take a deep breath ...

I've decided that In Dreams and I are at a point in our relationship where we need to see other people. Every time I knit on this thing it aggravates me. I don't know if its a little too far beyond my level of expertise or what.

I knit 4 rows yesterday, read the border pattern chart from right to left (right side) and left to right (wrong side) then decided for some unknown reason to read the main pattern chart from right to left for any side ... duh!!! Luckily the wrong side rows are the same whether you read them the correct way or backwards, however, again, I am short a stitch now and don't know why.

Because In Dreams and I are on hiatus, I then decided that I wanted to start another shawl, or better yet a shawlette. I have two in the queue ready to go, but both require size US 6 needles, which are currently on the baby surprise jacket. Oh, this is why monogamy is good.

They are, however, interchangeable, so I could take the tips off and put them back on if I wanted to. Not sure yet what I am going to do. I do also have some Dream in Color Starry that I intended to use for a shawl ... who wants bits of metal on their feet??? So I may look for a pattern so use that for.

We are on day one of our vacation. Our intentions for this vacation were to get some things done around the house that we never get to. Also, to relax and decompress from work.

Today first thing we went down and cleaned up the basement. When we moved in two years ago, we moved some things that we probably should have thrown out. Also, we're really good at chucking things down there and slamming the door ... out of sight, out of mind. That went well ... we stopped conversations and moved on to another area when things started to get to the you do this, or you keep too much crap, etc.

I would still love to have the kind of basement where we can go down to the workshop area and find a tool we need, instead of cursing, and saying, I swear it was over here, and tossing boxes and things out of the way while swearing some more. But that would require that we put things back where they belong when done with them ...

I also cleaned out the junk drawer in the kitchen, now we can actually open it and find a screwdriver or pen if needed.

Then we took a trip to the Walmart Supercenter in the next city over. It was a nice store, I like it much more than our local Walmart. Found some things we were looking for and then some.

While cleaning the basement I found a fishbowl. Since we were tossing things or putting them to use, I figured why not get a fish for my computer/knitting room?? And since these poor guys are kept in tiny cups in the pet store, I figured its no 5-star hotel, but a bowl is better than a cup, no?




Its a bit blurry, but ah hem, fish usually don't keep still for very long. He was the closest thing to purple for my purple room.

Its ... its .... yarn!

OMG I enjoyed this so much! Yesterday and today while spinning I found that I can be quite consistent, so I had a decision to make. The yarn on my spindle thus far was pretty wonky. Thick and thin as I practiced drafting and getting my hands to cooperate with my brain. I have about 2.79 oz left of this roving that I haven't mutilated already.


I decided that I didn't want to continue spinning if a good portion of it was a mess and I thought I could continue consistently (and thinner) that I had been. I was itching to try plying too!


So I stopped where I was and wound it into a center pull ball. I know I can ply from the cop, but it was odd looking and I thought the shape weird and I do have a ball winder, so wind I did.

Although I was concerned with the instructions of pulling a ply from the outside and inside of the ball and how, conceivably this could turn into a huge mess, I continued anyway. It really went quite well until I accidentally let go of the yarn during plying and the twist traveled to the unplied yarn.


Unbelievably its actually a balanced yarn ... or its so far removed from actually being yarn that its not behaving normally. The yarn hangs all by itself without twisting back.


Sorry for the icky pics, but its raining and grey here again, so its the best I could get. Now my yarn is hanging to dry. I think I got about 16 yds out of it. I used a Niddy Noddy to wind the hank, so I counted the strands and did the math from there.

Spinning and Spinning

I wanted to try and spin every day this week to practice. I think there was only one day that I didn't spin! Even if it was for 10 minutes, I spun every day.


I'm getting better. Not where I would like to be, but definitely better. At least my yarn is consistently inconsistent, because the spindle only started to wobble once and since then its been balanced enough to not wobble at all.

Because I have been so good, and Verizon now issues their rebates via Visa gift card, I decided that I was due a treat. So I went to the local yarn shop on my way to work today (and today was a holiday and I am on vacation next week, so this was supposed to be the start of my vacation, also a reason why I think I deserved a treat).



The roving is by the same company as the one I am currently spinning. Its BFL and the colors are just awesome! I also wanted to try out a top whorl spindle, the one I am using now is a Turkish spindle. While there I found this book as well. I have come to the conclusion that some of the best books are the least attractive looking!

Spinning out of control

So, I am determined to get spinning. I have my little basket with my *practice* (this will make sense in a minute) roving and spindle next to my desk so whenever I have a few free minutes I can practice. Also, if I have to practially trip over it to get in or out of the chair, well then I can't forget!


I spun quite a bit over the weekend. I finally had an ah ha moment today. I've been spinning a bit for pratice, being unhappy with the slubby, icky yarn produced. I wouldn't call myself a perfectionist, but in some cases I am. If I make something, it'll be the best it can be ... or I'll start over. If I am installing a floor in my house and see something doesn't quite match up or looks weird ... I'll rip it up and start again (yeah don't ask how I know this). That splotchy weird section of paint on the door that didn't look quite right, tried to paint over it, it looked worse ... I repainted the entire door. This must be why knitting and I get along so well. Its so easy to drop a stitch to correct one several rows back, or heck, rip back several rows and redo things.

This isn't so easy with spinning. Sure, you can unwind a section and re-spin it, but its already got some twist in it and it isn't so easy to work with then. I finally figured out, hey stupid, this is PRACTICE ... keep practicing and then you'll get good at it. So, I -think- I can deal with this. If something is really horrible, like a huge, loose, slubby section or a section that's so thin its going to break, then yeah I can unwind and redo, but if its just inconsistent, well MOVE ON! I'm never going to get good at it if I don't just keep moving on and practicing!


And its really not so bad. Now I have an idea of how much fiber makes a certain yarn thickness. I'm getting better at drafting. It just takes practice. After all, practice makes ..... perfect, right?

Weekend Update

I don't have much knitting to show this week. Work was busy and I am helping a friend with a fundraising even for a non-profit tomorrow, so I've been concentrating on that in my free time this past week.

Last weekend I got an orchid for my knitting room. I had one last year, but it didn't last through the winter (I'm sure my brown thumb didn't help it). This one is larger (so I hope has more girth to sustain itself with my care). So far so good. The picture is a little dark, its overcast today and I thought the flash would be too bright.


I was perusing my blog reader this morning and came across some new designs to benefit the disaster relief in Japan. I though I would share some of the ones I came across.

Designs by Romi

Janel Laidman

Wendy Johnson

I am back to practicing spinning. I tried one weeknight this week and think that I wasn't predrafting enough and that I was putting too much twist into the yarn. I took out my copy of Productive Spindling again (since last time I successfully spun it was with the assistance of this book) and tried again today. All went well. I am going to try and spin for at least 10 minutes a day until I am comfortable with it. I have one braid of roving I am working from that I am using for practice and don't expect to get anything out of it except for learning. I have another braid waiting for when I can spin consistent yarn.I'm impatient, so I think instead of going slowly and drafting consistently I try and whiz through and end up with super thick slubs or super thin sections that break.

I am working on the Baby Surprise Jacket. I'm more than half way at this point. I really hate when people ask me to knit things for them. Right now I would really like to be working on the In Dreams Shawl, but I want this baby jacket completed so its off my to do list. I think I wouldn't mind except I spent the last two weeks finishing that baby blanket for the shower this past Wednesday ... so its a double "have to" knitting right now!!