Tour Training

Well, if by training you mean, looked at fiber, then I have been training. Since spinning is not a requirement for Team CrankyPants, I am pretty sure this really does count. Actually, I have been doing some things to get ready. I sewed an apron to wear while I spin. This should help to keep any loose fibers off my pants, plus if I am spinning dark-colored fibers, they will be easier to see against the white apron. I should sew a darker apron for when I spin light-colored fibers. It should go faster now that I have already sewn one. However, I do not have plans in the immediate future to spin anything white, so maybe the darker apron will wait. 

The other day I took advantage of the heat to dye some silk caps. My nephew helped me, and that made the process even more fun. I have not decided whether I will spin the caps or just knit straight from them. I think they would make great mitts or a nice cowl.

I think I am getting close to having a plan for what I will spin during the tour. I have the pile of mystery fluff that I carded ready to go, and I have my box of Royal BFL/silk Cupcakes. I have plenty of fiber to choose from, but figure getting through all of that will be enough of a challenge for me. That has not stopped me from thinking about other possibilities, just in case. Mostly, though, that is just a distraction and a fantasy that I will have so much time to just spin, and no other drama or trouble will keep me from it. I can dream, right?  

Up On the Roof

We have been very busy, but most of it has been a home maintenance and repair journey, and therefore, not particularly blogworthy. We started out with the task of cleaning the gutters and found a hole in the roof. We have repaired the hole, and are in the process of other roof work. It is not fun, the weather is very hot, and we have both fallen. We are thankful that we were not on ladders or the roof at the time. He fell up the porch and I fell off the porch. I can only laugh at my bruises and scrapes. My unhappy wrist (probably a mild sprain) is super-annoying, as it has slowed me down and prevented me from doing as much. After a couple of days, I struggled to keep to the R portion of the RICE treatment, but I have greatly improved my machete skills (best $3 spent at Harbor Freight, evah).

Anyway, it is very weird around here, and I am so grateful to have people who will answer questions like, "Which is the better gnome?" and, "Which gnome goes with this chicken?" without batting an eye. Those are the kinds of questions I feel up to dealing with, not the question of my Rata Scarf. I did block what I have, and I still do not know, but I kind of feel like just frogging the whole thing, but that is probably the home improvement talking. Of course, I do not have the time or energy to deal with it anyway, so it will wait.

For now, there is tons of laundry to do, missing sleep to locate, and I have to not think about getting up on that roof in the morning so that I can get up on the roof in the morning. In between now and whenever, I hope to catch up on emails, blogs, comments, and maybe get a few packages in the mail, but it seems I am forever in that mode, so there you go.

Previously, Not on the Blog

Just popping in for a minute, because I do not have time for much more than that. Until then, enjoy these pictures of lace I knit for friends but did not show so that they could be surprises, but then never got around to blogging.

Argh! Yarndage!

 
Oh, it is probably my fault, but I still feel as though I have been wronged.  I want to shake my fists, cry, and shout that my 5% more yarn than the pattern lists is a sufficient safety margin.  However, that does not make me any less out of yarn, nor any closer to finishing it. 

I decided to get serious about finishing my Rata scarf, and as I neared the top, I noticed the beginnings of the cone showing through beneath the yarn.  That sinking feeling began to settle in, and I wondered, but kept going.  Well, I made it to the top, and worked the edging almost all the way across before reaching the end of my yarn.  Even if I had made it across the top, there is still the long trek working the edging down the right side of the scarf left undone.  I did entertain the idea of not working the edging on the right side, but that was mostly a bargaining/wishful thinking thing in hopes that the yarn would go further than it did.  

After that disappointment, I moved on to a Team CrankyPants Training Camp task--I finished prepping some fiber.  The task has alternately made me think that I need a drum carder, and that I should never again attempt to prep fiber myself.  It really was not even real fiber prep.  I was just carding together two smaller bumps of combed fiber into one blended bunch of fluff.  Still, it is done, and I am glad.  I have been tossing about several ideas about my spinning for Le Tour, and the craziest of them involves beads and silk.  

Anyway, I have decisions to make in regards to my Rata Scarf.  I guess there are only two--rip, or buy more yarn.  I am loathe to do either, but just letting it sit unfinished indefinitely is not an answer.  I do have a plan, and hope you will weigh in on what you think about it.  I might try blocking what I have to see how well I might like this scarf if I finish it.  If it is so lovely that I must have it, I will buy more yarn.  If I feel meh about it, I will rip.                 

Ten Years is Not Enough

Ah, marriage--it combines the contentedness of being neutered with the occasional sex of being not!  Happy 10th Anniversary, Brucie! 

Why Not? That's Why Not

Clearly, there are many people who would never knit the things I have been knitting from Mochimochi Land, and many of them question my sanity when they see that this is what I have chosen to knit lately.  Some of them even feel the need to ask why I am knitting these, and it catches me off-guard each time I get the question.  I do have answers for the question, but I suppose what stymies me is someone actually asking me.  Of course, I just keep knitting and am not really bothered by the questions, but have a little chuckle as I wonder why they feel compelled to ask.   

I love making and giving away these cute, little creations, and I find the process calming and stress-relieving.  I also come up with weird plans occasionally, but they do not always amount to anything.  I have an idea for next month, but I probably need to get started on it now.  The biggest problem is that it involves getting things in the mail, so the plan has two strikes against it already.  

Speaking of the post office, I need to go there now, as I have something that actually needs to get somewhere soon.  Catch ya later!