Using My Degrees

Yesterday I used the hell out of my education.

Item 1:
Demonstrating that SpongeBob was one of the enemies the sun god had to face in the Underworld. Proof:

This is every bit as legitimate as the Abydos Helicopter bullshit.

Wollmeise--Skarabaus (Photo credit: lobstah1977)

Item 2:
Offering to build someone a pyramid in exchange for Wollmeise. I've never even touched Wollmeise. And damn do I need some of the Skarabaus colorway that I discovered when Zemanta spat out media related to this post.
Mmmmm, pretty, pretty yarns.
As soon as the person in question collects some gold, some limestone blocks, and some labor that will work for beer, bread, and onions that fancy pants yarn will be mine!

Itty Bity Spinny Committee?

I ordered 2 new drop spindles from Spinerosity earlier this week and they arrived yesterday.  One is a full-size lace weight, the other is a mini-spindle that was just too adorable (and too reasonably priced) to pass up.

I decided to play with some Norwegian undyed top (I think it's top) on the mini-spindle and am soooo glad I did.  It was ridiculously fun to spin with and I think has really really helped me get a bit better at drafting.  For the non-fiber fanatics who read the blog drafting is pretty much pulling fiber apart enough to create a thread of desired thickness via twist from spinning the spindle without pulling too much and having the spindle drop.  If you don't pull fiber apart enough you wind up with thick, chunky yarn, if you pull too much the fiber can't sustain the weight of the spindle and breaks. 

I have a spindle I bought for my birthday last year that is a bit heavier and in the range for medium weight yarns and recommended for beginners.  While I've made some progress with it, I had big problems drafting, mostly with my yarn being waaaay thicker than I wanted.

The smaller, lighter mini-spindle seems to have really, really helped me get the hang of drafting and general hand motion.  I'm still doing park-and-draft, but I'm getting better at it. 

I have my hood up because I've got a migraine. 

Post-birthday awesomeness

First, thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes, everyone.

Secondly, being 30 is pretty awesome so far.  I have my new sewing machine, which is awesome!  I set her up the other day and went through the manual and tested all the stitches on some scraps.  I even made my very first buttonhole.
I picked up reference book Sew Everything Workshop which has already come in handy for some basic tips and have started working on some curtain panels I've been meaning to make for 6 months.

We had a pajama party last night and an ice-cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery.  Mmmmmm, ice-cream cake.  We also tried teaching people to play Wii - that was hilarious in its own way.  Also, boxing is *exhausting.*  Lots of fun.  Also, I got chocolate and tea and a lovely gift card.  Sweet!

The past few days, especially when I've felt crappy otherwise, I've been shopping online.  I placed most of my orders today:
Some sock yarn (some for Tom and some for me), a chart keeper, some more stitch markers, needle protectors, and the book Respect the Spindle: Spin Infinite Yarns with One Amazing Tool  from Knit Picks (all their books are on sale for 40%, so it was actually less expensive than Amazon).
After much hemming and hawing and research and dithering, I decided to get a Schacht Hi-Lo 1.1 oz spindle and 8 oz of undyed wool roving from Paradise Fibers, half in Blue Faced Leicester and half Norwegian.  Both seem to be recommended for beginning drop spinners.  The Hi-Lo can be used as a high or low whorl which is also cool and is nice and light which seems to be a highly recommended feature as it allows spinning of finer gauges.  Interestingly, as I was looking into historic spinning techniques, it seems that the ancient Egyptians and Mesopotamians preferred high whorls spindles while the Anatolians and Greeks tended to use low whirl and Levantine peoples, being in the middle, perhaps used either as it suited them.
Both types of roving are amenable to Kool-Aid dyeing, so I should be able to have some fun once I get the basic hang of things and play with color as well.  I am already drooling over other types of wool, other fibers, and various colors.
I also ordered  two skeins of  Super Kydd from Elann, one in red for a gift and one in green to make something for me.  The red is to make Wisp from Knitty as a first lace project and as a gift (yes, I know, using mohair may not be the best idea, but I'm planning to do some practice swatches/wash clothes with cotton before I jump in.  The dark green is to try Ice Queen, also from Knitty, for myself.

I think I should have plenty to do for the foreseeable future.  Now if I can get going on my motivational problems, I'll really be doing well.  :P

Someone had fun tonight...

This used to be a neatly wound skein. And then Oreo found it. Punk.

Dizzy

Nice low-key day again today.  I went and bought some new reading material.   I'm shopping for spindles and spindle kits.  And while I'm at it,  I'm collecting titles of resources on the history of textile production, archaeology and textiles, and in particular textiles in the ancient Near East (and Egypt, for those who have decided that Egypt wasn't part of the Near East).  I'm hoping for a library excursion some time next week.
Partly this is out of curiosity - textiles were not really something I paid much attention to prior to getting interested in knitting and crocheting -  and partly with a vague idea of developing a continuing education course about textiles and the ancient Near East, possibly with a bit of hands-on fun with drop spindles and wool and/or linen.
Actually, I should amend the above - textile production was something I worked on for my BA paper long, long ago, but I didn't delve much into it.  I should probably dig that thing out again and have a look at it though...

Stash enhancement

Michael's is having a big sale on yarn this week, including on Thick and Quick, which means that I went and scored enough in the beautiful cranberry color to make this cardigan. I also got some worsted acrylics to experiment with for some amigurumi patterns I'm thinking of attempting to write.  I also scored a brayer.  Excellent.

While looking at sweater patterns for myself, I thought it might be a good idea to start off with something smaller, so my nephew and/or niece may be winding up with sweaters for Xmas.  Unless I get too impatient to do the little ones and just start on my own.  :P

Knitting Away

My latest knitting project is this wrap that I've been working on while I watch TV (mostly The A-Team lately - I love our Roku). It's supposed to have a slight bit of ribbing to it but I keep loosing count of knit and purl stitches and so it's a bit wonky. The yarn, Lion Brand Homespun, is sufficiently knobbly and fluffy that it really isn't all that apparent that I fail at counting and paying attention. I have to say, I really like the softness and texture of the yarn. Now that I've gotten more experienced with knitting and crocheting I can actually make out my stitches in this too, which makes it far less frustrating to work with (beginners take heed). And the colorway - Corinthian - is really more lovely than I've managed to capture with the photo. Lots of rich jewel tones. So, hopefully this will be a nice wrap for me either around the house if it turns out a bit wonky or for going out if it winds up being nicer.

I've been eyeing more luxurious yarns lately too, primarily with the intention of buying a skein or two to make fingerless gloves or mittens for the coming winter. I still haven't decided on anything, though I'm leaning toward a silk-blend something, maybe with mohair. I'm not sure about weight. And I'm also trying to be a little cautious with the budget, so I may be waiting a while.

Yay, shopping!

I spent a very restless night last night - I was exhausted but had a terrible time getting to sleep and then, unusually for me, trouble staying asleep. Bleh.

Apartment hunting is making me anxious, so that's probably the trouble. We have a lot of leads now, many of them outside our current neighborhood. That will involve figuring out how much more or less expensive things will be as hubby will have to commute daily and I will need to do so regularly for medical appointments. Many of the places we're looking at are rehabs too, which are beautiful, but usually don't have boilers and radiators which could mean a huge jump in electricity expenses. So, we have to offset those sorts of costs with less expensive rents. :P

Anyway, we went out shopping with a friend today in the suburbs. I've been wanting to hit Michael's Arts and Crafts this week because they had a sale on cotton yarn. I scored 8 skeins. And a skein of purple bamboo yarn (sooooo silky) that I think will be my very first cane cozy. I also found a lovely set of very small alphabet rubber stamps that will be wonderful for "signing" my prints.

And I found some wonderful hiking sandals from Land's End at Sears on sale for $30. My older hiking sandals are nice, but have seen a season in Sudan, a dunking in Lake Michigan, several rain storms, and lots of other miscellaneous wear. They're thus a bit battered. My new ones are super comfy (I wore them the rest of the day) and much better suited to wet conditions. Now I just hope we can fit in a kayaking or canoe trip this summer.

Off to bed now - I think full apartment hunting including call-backs and possible visits commences tomorrow. Or maybe Monday. Sigh. I'll be in the corner, petting my yarn.

Yarn!!!! (And other stuff)

So, no post yesterday. Sorry about that. I overslept. Well, first of all, I couldn't fall asleep Friday night despite being exhausted. And then by the time I finally was able to drift off a huge, loud thunderstorm started, thus scaring Oreo and keeping me awake. Sigh. So, the whole "wake up in the mornings" plan has already been derailed. Yay, delayed sleep phase syndrome strikes again.

Last night I managed to go to sleep fairly early, but I was exhausted and so slept until 1:30 today. And even then I didn't want to get up.

But, hubby took me for lunch. And then I found out about a neighborhood yard sale that included yarn, so we walked over there (about a mile). I scored some excellent yarn - alpaca/wool blend and pure wool. Then we walked back and took a long rest by the botany pond and watched a whole dozen ducks napping on the edge of the pond and some young rats swimming around the lily pads. I am absolutely dragged out though.

So much for the idiots who say things like "well, if you were just more active/exercised more you'd feel better." I'm afraid it doesn't work that way.