Busy, busy, busy

No, not really, but time has gotten away from me, and I’ve been playing catch-up like mad. I was way behind on my bloglines. I finally managed to skim my way through. I wasn’t able to leave comments. I can see that a wonderful time was had at Rhinebeck, and fabulous fiber acquisitions were made. Part of me wishes that I could have attended, but another part tells me that I’m not quite ready for such a huge and overwhelming experience. Still, I am in need of a fabulous, fiber-filled event, and there’s something a bit closer to home that will fit the bill nicely. Saturday, October 28th, I will be attending the Harvest Days and Fiber Festival (last entry of the page) at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I believe this is their 30th Anniversary. I look forward to a great time. This is only my second time attending, and indeed, it is just my second time at a fiber festival. I have tried to save some money to maybe do a little shopping. I will pick out my birthday prizes that day, as my birthday is the 29th. I really hope to find a new spindle and some new fiber, and maybe a niddy noddy. Yes, I know I can construct a pvc one, and perhaps I will, but I still would like a nice wooden one. I suppose it’ll be one of those things where if I am trying to make a decision between a niddy noddy and some other fiber or spindle, the niddy noddy will wait.

In other spinning news, I finished plying what I have spun. The plying took longer than what I thought it would. I am glad to have received my copy of Spinning in the Old Way, to help guide me in my spinning adventures. I had finished the spinning and was ready to ply when it arrived. I set the spindle aside and read. I knew that my spinning could be improved, but I wasn’t quite sure how to improve it besides putting in the time. I have made my way through the book and have learned bunches. It is a wonderful resource. I also have Evelyn and Annette as wonderful resources. Evelyn may be slowing down, but she’s still going. She knits and spins on a budget, and has been great letting me in on little bits to keep doing the crafts we love when the dollars are quite limited. She has been my constant encourager to spin everyday. She says that she spends some time on the wheel, spindle, charkha, and with the needles each day. Annette has the information you need in one of her bags, if only she could find it. It’s written down in one of her notebooks or scribbled in the margins of a newsletter from spinning guilds both near and far away. Consequently, she might arrive to a knitting meet-up late and keep you yakking away afterwards, and I suspect she has purchased book duplicates because she doesn’t quite remember what all her library contains. They are great. I hope to be able to calm my nerves enough to spin around others. When I have tried to spin around others I get nervous, my hands sweat (not conducive to spinning), the spindle drops, and I just end up sitting quietly or go back to knitting. Also, the local spinning get together is on the second Monday night of the month at the library. I’ve been advised that I might want to avoid that area at night, and Monday nights are Skanky Knit nights, and I really hate to miss those. Anyway, as I discussed spinning with Annette and Evelyn a couple of months ago, they told me about the magic of washing the handspun. It’s like blocking. I’ve just done it, and I now have this new skein of my handspun. Not bad, eh? Yeah, I know that my spindling still needs improvement, but this is about 203 yards by my calculations. I could make something with that. I think I’ll try and spin and ply some more and turn this into the Swallowtail Shawl, or maybe I’ll just knit this into a scarf. We shall see.

So, the drop spindle is empty. I’ve got the itch. On the one hand, I want to spin up more like what I’ve already made and make it a shawl. I confess that I had an unrealistic fantasy that I would have enough to knit the Swallowtail Shawl and wear it on Saturday. The fantasy goes on in my head, and I am nonchalant as I announce that not only did I knit the shawl, but also spun the yarn, too. People are awe-struck, and I am cool. Then I step in a pile of sheep poo, and I know that the fantasy has ended. But I digress. On the other hand, I want to keep the spindle empty in case I don’t get a new spindle, but only fiber, and then I long for a cleared spindle to use the new fiber. Who knows what I will do. Until I decide, I’ve got plenty of knitting, and it’s time to exercise.