One of the nice things about doing spinning demos over at Stone Mountain is that you get to meet and know the workers and the regular visitors. One of the regulars that I always enjoy chatting with is Richard, who's also a good photographer. Sometimes he sends me pictures he's taken there, like this one, where I'm almost surrounded. You can just see the top of my head. (Pictures used with Richard's permission.)
And other times I'm just spinnin' and grinnin'.
Today was a good demo day at Stone Mtn. There were lots of interesting people and the weather was great -- cool and dry, though the day started out drizzly. It was one of those days I was really delighted to be able to sit outside and work.
And one lady told me a funny. People often come up and just bluntly ask "What are you doing?" I normally answer patiently, just saying "I'm spinning yarn out of wool on a spinning wheel," because honey, you wouldn't BELIEVE what people come up with on their own:
"Look, she's sewing!"
"Look, she's weaving yarn!"
"Look, she's weaving cotton on her sewing machine!"
Seriously.
But this lady today told me that her grandmother had a phrase that she'd use when someone asked her what she was doing when she was doing something that should be fairly obvious.
"I'm sewing buttons on ice cream."
I laughed for 5 minutes. I swear. The lady walked away while I was still laughing. Hell, I'm STILL laughing.
I told her her grandmother was a genius.
New pictures of Snowflakes on Cedars tomorrow. I'm up to the trees now, after recovering from an "oh shit" moment when I realized I'd hosed up one of the corners. But laddering down (NOT frogging, yay!) let me fix it, after I thought overnight on how I'd tackle the fix.
No, I didn't take pictures. I didn't want to jinx myself. :)
This was my view yesterday, captured on my crappy cellphone camera.
On the far left is a dogwood tree in flower. Then there's a big pine tree, then a couple of magnolia trees all bedecked in wisteria. Trust me, it's much prettier in person. :) There were more folks coming by on Sunday than there were on damp, rainy Saturday, but still not too many. I really wonder how attendance at the park will be affected by the rising gas prices.
For a poem for today, go over to this entry at Bedlam Farm Journal and read "The Road to Life". I've read several of Jon Katz's books, but I just started reading his blog. He's doing some nice photography and some nice work in other parts of his life. And there's often good dog eye candy. :)
Whew. Second day in a row for a 4-hour spinning session out at Stone Mtn. I don't usually like to double-up like this, because it totally wears me out. But I gotta go back to work sometime, so I might as well start here.
BTW, that bobbin I spun at retreat? About 1000 yds of laceweight. I was pleased with the amount.
Here's more Ogden Nash. I love the line at the end and quote it often.
Taboo to Boot
One bliss for which
there is no match
Is when you itch
to up and scratch.
Yet doctors and dowagers deprecate scratching,
Society ranks it with spitting and snatching,
And medical circles consistently hold
That scratching's as wicked as feeding a cold.
Hell's flame burns unquenched 'neath how many a stocking
On account of to scratch in a salon is shocking!
'Neath tile or thatch
That man is rich
Who has a scratch
For every itch.
Ho, squirmers and writhers, how long will ye suffer
The medical tyrant, the social rebuffer!
On the edge of the door let our shoulder blades rub,
Let the drawing room now be as free as the tub!
I'm greatly attached
To Barbara Frietchie.
I bet she scratched
When she was itchy.
I spent last weekend at the spring spinning guild retreat. We had cool weather, good food (and plenty of it!) and lots of silly laughs and giggles. I actually spun up all the fiber I'd brought with me. (I didn't bring all that much, but I usually WAY over-estimate how much I can do.)
Here's my bobbin:
I also FINALLY had time to use my Tabacheck Tibetan Spindle with the spindle bowl I got from Knitwitch.
Top view:
Side view:
As you can see, it has a little foot on the bottom. This GREATLY increases the stability of the bowl. I've spun with spindle bowls that lacked this feature, and lemme tell you, it can be a challenge. There's also some non-slip stuff on the bottom, which also helps keep the bowl in place.
It's a little harder to see the indentation in the center of the bowl for the point of your spindle -- another EXCELLENT idea! My previous spindle bowls also lacked this feature. If you've been itching to try a supported spindle, you couldn't do better than to put one of these little bowls under it. My spindle spun like a dream with it. Thanks to KnitWitch for a great product! Highly recommended.
I do have dog news. My dad had a dog named Lucky. Lucky kept Dad company for most of the last 9 years. When my dad died, it pretty much fell on me to take Lucky in, since I'm the dog person in the family.
Lucky was both spoiled and fat. And when I say fat, I mean FAAAAAAAAATTT. According to Dad's vet, Lucky weighed 70 lbs. at one point. And Lucky is smaller than Jasper or Bouncer. Jeezopete.
So Lucky's been on a strict diet. He's losing weight, and honestly, he's fitting into the pack here pretty well considering he's never lived with anyone other than my dad, and never had to get along with other dogs before. He's a bit of a resource guarder, but we're working on that.
So here's my pack as it stands right now. L - R: Lucky, Bouncer, and Jasper. I am WAY outnumbered by the males in my household.
I've mentioned to a couple of folks here and there that we haven't turned our heat on yet. That's not actually a problem temperature-wise for me. In these latter hormone-deprived days, cool temps are more welcome than not. If I get chilly, I put on a sweater or a sweatshirt. I wear pulse-warmers or fingerless mitts, and I pretend I'm living in the 19th century, before central heating was an everyday reality.
But you know what? A cold house isn't welcoming.
In the course of my pet-sitting duties, I go into lots of peoples' houses. Many houses are kept warmer than ours would be even if we turned on the heat! And there's just something about a warm house that's more "homey." Even when nobody's home. Very vexing.
At least Dear Robert is feeling better today. He thinks he just ate something that disagreed with him.
Anyway, here's the bobbin of fuzzy yarn I spun up at Stone Mountain yesterday. Fleece from Ebay, don't remember the breed, but it's about Romney texture -- not real fine, not real coarse.
Yesterday was all hand carding and spinning. Oh, and I got to explain to a kid who'd picked up a spindle kit how to do the park and draft bit with a handspindle. Looks of comprehension dawned on faces all around.
When I do demos out there, there's usually at least one person who just makes my day. That boy and his family did it for me yesterday.
Off to make a cup of hot tea and watch a dvd and knit.
Oh, and vanilla wafers with peanut butter? Best. Snack. EVAR.
I got to spin at Stone Mountain today. Outside.
Yeah, they offered to let me go into one of the houses, but by that time, I'd already been there for 1.5 hrs and was determined to stick it out just out of sheer bloody-mindedness.
I did try to be prepared. I had my bike tights on under my dress, as well as an undershirt. I had my fingerless mitts. I had TWO shawls on. (I felt very much like a Dickens character, a little old lady wrapped in a bird's nest of shawls. Except that I'm not all that little, or all that old.
However, here's a newsflash:
Cast iron chairs NEVER warm up under your butt. Ask me how I know this.
I finally gave in and sat on my SAFF sweater. That helped a LOT. And one of the park employees brought me hot chocolate. That helped too.
If I get sick, I got nobody to blame but myself. And maybe Dear Robert, who's in bed now, not feeling well. (He NEVER gets sick. That worries me.)
I'm warm now, though. :)
Ok, today I got pictures! Here's my swag from the spinning guild yesterday. They were having a members' sale day. Folks were getting rid of stash yarn and other goodies.
First, I got some classic yarn -- 7 skeins of Brunswick Ballybrae, at 190 yards/skein. 1330 yards should be enough to make SOMETHING with, right?
Next, some of Tina Evans' cotswold/mohair roving. This was a sentimental favorite, because one of the components of the
yarn came from a sheep named Jasper. And here's MY Jasper checking it
out.
The guild has a raffle they call Surprise Ewe. Members bring in stuff to donate, you buy tickets to put in a cup in front of the item you want. At the end of the meeting, a ticket is drawn from each cup, and a winner is announced. The winners bring in something for the NEXT Surprise Ewe raffle.
I usually buy just one ticket. Yesterday I bought 6. This is what I won. It's a complete setup for learning bobbin lace, including book, homemade lace pillow, 4 cones of 20/2 thread (I think it's cotton, but not positive), wooden clothespins for bobbins, non-rusting pins. Dude:
I was mostly in it for the yarn, but I've always been a little curious about bobbin lace. I think I've passed the time where I actually want to LEARN how to do it, but now I've got the resources if I DO want to try it. For $3. That rocks.
And I didn't get this yesterday, but it's worth mentioning:
2000+ yards of hand-dyed 10/2 tencel. Mmmmm, tencel.
I don't expect to have any serious amount of disposable income for the rest of the year, so I won't be buying much of anything for a while. But I think I'm set for a while, I think. :)
Now I have to go back to cleaning and rearranging the bedroom. Yuck.
I just want to say how much I love my local spinning guild. Of course, I've know many of those ladies for many years, and it's always good to see them. It's also good to see new spinners coming into the group and sharing their ideas and excitement.
Today was the guild's Flea Market Day. I got some swag I'll post pictures of Real Soon Now.
BTW, apologies for the low numbers of pictures lately. I'll see if I can do better in the last half of the month. :)
Tonight we go to celebrate my brother's MIL's 80th birthday. Hooray for 80!
The Oops:
Remember the other day when I walked 8.5 miles and said my boots were good? Maybe not so much, considering my left big toe:
I knew it was a little sore, but I actually didn't, you know, LOOK at it till last night. It's bruised. Maybe the nail was a little long, and the pressure of all that walking bruised it. It's not horrible, and not really painful, just a little annoying. I wonder if I'll lose the toenail, though. I guess it depends on how bruised it actually is.
I usually have a little more soreness in my 4th toes, the ones that kinda roll over. Oh well.
The Ah:
I got a new spindle from The Bellwether. It's a Tabachek Tibetan Spindle. The design was based on the spindle used in a YouTube video. (Apologies --- I don't yet have the knack for embedding videos in my blog.) It's a supported spindle, and it came with a nifty little pouf of alpaca/shetland blend fiber. The whorl is walnut, and it spins very nicely, though I haven't spun much yarn on it yet.
Here it is in my hand, for scale:
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