Snugglicious

Is it wrong that I find my kids especially adorable when they are sick? This is just too much:















I swear, I don't have that Munchausen by proxy disorder, really. But sick little boys are so slow and sweet and needy, with the added bonus that I get to stay home and snuggle all day. What's not to love?

Yesterday I should have been able to get lots of olympic knitting done, but instead I snuggled and slept.

I suppose it is now time to reveal my lies: Mouseketeer, Breakin' 2, Electric Boogaloo, Friends, Detroit, Disneyworld, Big Mac, Elann, and Disneyworld. Notice a theme? Lauren identified all of them, so she will be getting something pink, either handspun or sock yarn. Help me decide!

Fleece Fair

Yesterday was the Spinner's Flock Fleece Fair in Chelsea. Here's my haul:














On the left is some wool with cotton and silk slubs from Jane Purcell. On the right is merino and tussah silk from Sandy Griggs. Not sure what these will be, but I am thinking about Mother's Day.

I also picked up another ball of the green stuff so that I can complete my Olympic project. Here's a photo from this morning:


Anne came over to knit this afternoon, so I've completed a couple more repeats since this photo was taken. Still, I am a bit behind schedule to finish in time for the closing ceremonies.

Back to the fleece fair - I dragged Nancy along with me yesterday. She's not even a spinner (yet), but she bought some rovings anyway. It's just a matter of time. She will be assimilated.

Speaking of Nancy, Friday was her birthday. We went to Casey's, where a miracle occurred. I captured it on film:


Yes, that's the image of St. Seraphina in ketchup on her hamburger bun. It's an omen.

because really, it's all about me

Kate tagged me for a meme, and since I have no knitting or spinning adventures to report, I am happy to oblige. Just for fun I am answering each question with four correct answers and one lie. I'll come up with some sort of prize for the first commentor who guesses all my lies.

4 jobs I've had (plus one lie):
- College English instructor
- Actress
- Mousketeer
- Software quality assurance engineer
- Aerobics instructor

4 movies I can watch over and over (plus one lie):
(This is difficult - I don't tend to watch movies multiple times.)
- Bandwagon
- West Side Story
- Singin' in the Rain
- The Sound of Music
- Breakin' 2, Electric Boogaloo

4 TV shows I love to watch (plus one lie):
(Again, not too TV-centric, so these are a stretch.)
- XFiles
- Monk
- Friends
- Lost
- Anything on TCM

4 places I have lived (plus one lie):
- London, between Notting Hill Gate and Queensway
- Cripple Creek, Colorado
- Provo, Utah
- Detroit, Michigan
- Cheney, Washington

4 places I have been on holiday (plus one lie):
- Santorini
- Alta, Utah
- Disneyworld
- North Wales
- Isla Mujeres

4 of my favorite dishes (plus one lie):
- Caprese salad with tomatos and basil from my garden
- Macaroni and cheese made by Nancy
- Sushi
- Big Mac
- Tamales

4 websites I visit daily (plus one lie):
- Google
- Bloglines
- New York Times
- University of Michigan Jobs
- Elann

4 places I would rather be right now (plus one lie):
- New York City
- Somewhere warm
- Somewhere mountainous
- A cozy cafe, reading, knitting, or chatting with friends
- Disneyworld

4 bloggers I am tagging (plus one non-blogger):
- Erin and/or Carma
- Kim
- Lauren
- Jillian
- Nancy (required to either start a blog or answer via comments)

I died and went to heaven

But I am back now.

The lovely and generous Wendy hosted Nancy, Jane, and me for a long, cozy weekend in her northern Michigan paradise. We knit by the fire, cooked, knit, chatted, visited yarn stores, ate, drank, wandered around Petoskey, and knit by the fire some more.

Wendy is my new best friend. I'd better finish her capelet soon.

But distractions abound. For example, on Friday I cast on for the Knitting Olympics. If you haven't figured out from the button on the right sidebar, I am knitting for Team Wales. I met several criteria to qualify for this distinguished team of fiber athletes:

1. My mother's maiden name is Williams.
2. My former married name is Williams, but we're not going to talk about that.
3. My great-great grandfather was a tiny coal miner from Mold, Wales. He immigrated to Utah to become a farmer in the late 1800s.
4. Male acapella choruses bring me to tears.
5. I've been to Wales three times.
6. I can pronounce Llanelli.
7. I have "Do not go gentle into that good night" memorized.

Here's a pic of my progress so far:
A few folks have sneered at my project choice - a scarf? Why not something more challenging? This is plenty challenging for my tiny brain, thank you very much. I've never knit anything with more than a 4 row repeat, and this pattern has a 44 row repeat! To add to the excitement, about halfway through the project I'll run out of yarn and have to spin another couple skeins. In order to do that I'll have to acquire more roving, if Jane Purcell still has any left.

Back to the trip report. We spent several blissful days knitting in front of a crackling fire. The knitting was punctuated by quick jaunts to local yarn stores. The Dutch Oven Yarn Store in Alanson is, strangely enough, a yarn store and bakery all rolled into one. You actually have to walk through the bakery to get to the yarn.

At Calico Crafts in Petoskey I found this hanging on the wall:

If you recognize this, you've been reading me for awhile. It is my loopy little bag pattern! Unattributed, of course, but exactly the same in every detail. Attributed or not, I was flabbergasted and thrilled! I felt like a rock star. OK, not really. And I think I embarrassed my cohort by jumping up and down and squealing. But it was cool.

In the not-knitting-related department, here's another find from our weekend trip:












Yes, that's Men's Bread and Women's Bread. What a happy couple. I just want to know - what happens if I eat the Men's Bread by mistake? Inquiring minds want to know.

Fat Singles

No, this is not about some lonely hearts club for unattached chubbyfolk, so hold back on your derisive comments. This is about spinning. Duh.

I now present to you something completely different - Fat Singles!
















My favorite sort of basic commercial yarn is a substantial single with an intense color and a slow twist, ala Lamb's Pride (or if I'm feeling flush, Manos del Uruguay. ) I want to be able to make my own. I've gotten pretty comfortable spinning skinny yarn and plying. Though I think my plies could be tighter, I think I'm doing OK.

If you are a spinner, though, you know that spinning a fatter yarn that can stand alone as a single is a bit tricky. First you have to take special care to predraft to approximately the thickness you want. Then you have to treadle soooo sloooowly, all the while resisting the urge to draft further while you spin. Urge-resisting - always a problem in my world.

Anyway, I am tickled pink (and magenta, and red) with my first effort - it didn't hurt that I had an amazingly colorific Corriedale batt (or is it a rolag?) from Grafton Fibers.

So maybe there is something to that delayed gratification thing.

ho, hum

It's the SUPERBOWL! In Detroit!!!

Yawn.

I should be more excited, I know. Not only is it practically happening in my back yard, but the Seahawks are playing. I spent my teenage years in Washington State, and even worked for the Seahawks for a couple of summers, since their training camp was in my hometown.

But really, double-dog yawn. I just don't get football. I confess I was a high school football cheerleader for one shameful year. I didn't grok what was happening on the field so I cleverly took my cues from the crowd and the other cheerleaders, shaking my pom-poms and yelling insipid chants like "Hold that line!" and "First in 10, do it again!" (what does that mean, anyway?), and almost never cheered at the wrong time. I was sure my secret was safe, until tryouts for the following year. I was the first girl in the history of Cheney High to not make it back on the squad the second season. Oh the shame!

But I'm not bitter.

Anyway, back to Super Bowl XL. Even Dave, who rarely watches sports on TV (an admirable trait in a husband) is watching.

There will be much spinnage of fiber this evening.

Go Hawks!

Fanmail from Some Flounder

Well, walleye, actually. While I worked the winter sale at my local yarn store, Dave was home slaving away on our Chinese New Year feast - Steamed Whole Walleye, Shanghai Style. Behold:



The whole walleye was fabulously fresh, from Monahan's in Kerrytown. They clean your fish after you select it.

Brian and Evan are big fish eaters, and to their delight this fish came complete with eyeballs! I'll spare you the eyeball pics. Dave served the walleye with garlic green beans and sesame noodles.



It was mighty tasty, especially since someone else did the cooking.

Self-medicating with fiber

This has been a rough week - the highs have been high, but the lows, well, you don't want to know. Time for some fiber therapy.

This is what I've been spinning up the last few days:



Singles



Plied



Skeined

This is from a mystery roving I picked up at the Michigan Fiber Fest. It is wool, with at least some mohair and silk. I am not sure what stall I picked it up from - either Homestead Sheep & Fiber, Goat Hill Farm, or Five Sisters Dry Goods. Anyone recognize it?

I've been practicing my long draw technique, in hopes that this yarn will be a bit more woolen and lofty. These fibers are especially long-staple and soft, so it has practically been spinning itself.

This particular skein is going to Nancy, for a sampler afghan she is making for Nate. I sorta want to keep it.

Here's another skein headed for Nancy, for an undetermined project. I haven't set the twist yet, and I've got quite a bit more to spin. It is from this merino and silk roving hand-dyed by Tracy Bunkers, aka Bonkers. I got it at the Michigan Fiber Fest, as a thank-you for hauling my Lendrum back from Milwaukee. It was especially selected for its sunny gaudiness. It makes me happy.