UM, Not Impressed, and Impressed

This guy looks like he has been to his share of fiber festivals. He took the crowds and cameras in stride. He did not mind our presence, or having to attend the gathering, but he was clearly not impressed by any of us.

Redskins :: Cowboys

Show :: Stopper

Smoker :: Turkey

Bad movie :: Horror

Play :: House

Jaguar :: Wreck

Click :: Through

Production :: Piece

Sand :: Evil

Foreign :: Film

Just to show it is not just about fiber acquisition around here, this is my latest finished spinning. I like the new yarn. For me, it seems like I keep spinning, and suddenly one skein shows my improvement all at once. This is one of those skeins. I keep petting it, and thinking of what I want it to become.

Fiber: Alpaca, KA Solar-dyed by me

Plies: Two
WPI: 19-20
Weight: 5.12 ozs (145.3g)
Yardage: 608 yds (555.9552m)

Loved

I feel so very loved today. It is my birthday. Bruce was sneaky and got me this set of Hiya-Hiya Interchangeables. They are awesome. This set goes from US2 to US8. Those are my sizes. Also, no tool is necessary to attach needles to fabulously flexible cables. The gorgeous bag that holds them is a great size, has little zippered pockets, and is too precious. A new set of needles always makes me want to immediately cast on for something new. It must be lace, I am sure.
I was already flying high about my new needle set when I went to the mailbox. There was a package for me. Inside, I find this t-shirt.
About an hour earlier, I had just been talking about it to friends, and how perfect it was for me. Guess who had sent me the shirt? Yes, my Lizzie is the best. She said it was good that I did not look too closely at her as I described the shirt, as she was about to burst. My heart is still bursting with love, joy, and gratitude.

Wool Weather

After skipping a year, I returned to the Harvest Days and Fiber Festival at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Since other non-fiber folks accompanied me, it was an abbreviated visit. However, the festival is tiny, so I was able to see everything. It seemed to me that there were a few more and different vendors than in years past.

By the time we left, the sun broke through the clouds, brightening and warming the afternoon. However, when we arrived, it was overcast and chilly with intermittent mist. The homemade ice cream vendor looked more than a little glum. Most fiber folks had watched a weather report, understood the situation, sucked it up, and carried on with business. They began their day with a positive attitude, smiled brightly, and proclaimed it perfect wool weather. Then there were the few who allowed the damp, chill, and grey affect them. They remained hunkered down under their blankets in folding chairs, apparently uninterested in making a sale, and sometimes flatly ignoring me when I attempted to engage them in conversation. It was no matter to me, as I just moved on to the next booth.

Oh, and I certainly did find many other booths to enjoy. There were many piles of fluff calling out to me like so many baa-ing sheep. I had formulated potential purchase plans before arriving, and of course, harbored fantasies. I secretly hoped to find a bargain on used books, magazines, and weaving equipment. Yeah, the weaving bug has been trying to infect me lately. Anyway, I wanted to purchase some bamboo fiber, as well as some wool/tencel blend top.

On my first pass through, one bright and beautiful braid caught my eye. My hands were still gloved and mittened, but the fiber felt wonderful against my neck. When I saw that it was a six-ounce bump, I knew for sure that it should come home with me. Chrysalis Fibers superwash merino in Grinchy was my first purchase, as well as one of their dyed silk hankies. Even though I have yet to do anything with it, I find myself wishing I had picked up more. Silk hankies look like they could be addictive.

I was unsuccessful in my tencel acquisition attempts, but found some lovely bamboo. I picked up a little bit of some silky black, and then sifted through the pile of vibrantly dyed bamboo. At first, the vendor thought I was displeased with the similar range of colors, but I assured her that I found them all to be absolutely gorgeous. Choosing amongst the brilliant hues presented a happy dilemma. With an overall fiber gain of less than three-quarters of a pound, I am very happy with my choices for the day.

One Down

No, I am not talking about me, but instead, about a Christmas gift. I am not even looking at the rest of the list, with its chattering stream of to-dos waiting for the needles and hooks. Actually, I am not stressing over it, but I am trying to keep at it. The list merely contains ideas and suggestions, and is a nice place to start. What excites me more than this completed knit is something I picked up at the store while someone else was being a sleepyhead. Shhhh...he cannot stand surprises, or the idea that there is a present here in the house waiting. For the health and sanity of both of us, I hope it remains below his radar.

Enough about that, let's get to the fo. I made a Misbehaving Moose hat. I really enjoyed knitting it. As a matter of fact, I do have supporting evidence for that claim. I have already begun another. It will be a partner to the first. I think these are fun hats, and I am glad to be able to send them to their recipients, soon. I want to be sure that the presents arrive in a timely manner. You know how I can be with the post office.

Since I gave away mine, I need to get a new fake head for my model. I have learned some things. I should have gone straight back to the store to replace the head after I gave away the first one. I should not have spent all of that time on eBay looking at other possibilities for displaying my knitwear. I do not need a mannequin. I do not need mannequin parts. I would have to knit many more socks to justify buying those legs. Fake hands to model gloves and mittens would be great, but finding a good matching pair is more of a challenge than I would have thought, and also, refer to sock/leg statement above. My neighbors already think I am weird enough when I take pictures of my knits outside without seeing me with fake people and body parts as models to assist me. Spending hour after hour online looking at mannequins, messes with my head. Still, that silver inflatable one is relatively inexpensive, although it is headless, handless, and footless.

UM Puppies?

The fo for the post I had ready to go for Friday was temporarily kidnapped before its photo session, so it will have to wait. Then Blogger ate my UM. So, I give you puppy photos of Poppy and Violet (more of my mom's babies) and redo the Unconscious Mutterings.

My treat :: My Pleasure

Bell :: Jar

Five :: Spot

You’re crazy! :: Yep.

Disgust :: Fat

Tempest :: Teacup

Bummer :: expletive deleted

Brim :: Hat

Hose :: Beast

Lollipop :: sucker

Happy Saturday, and I hope your weekend is great!

He's Not to Blame

However, just in case, I got this brain-munching maniac out of my home. After hearing how much my brother enjoyed Zombieland, making this birthday gift seemed like a--wait for it--no-brainer. I gave him his present Saturday evening at the party. We were hoping for a marshmallow fire, but our abundance of rain put that off for another time.

I am pleased with the finished Corporate Zombie. I took my time and worked a little bit each day. I thought that I had red felt for the dripping blood, but think it turned out for the best that I had to embroider it instead. The assembly and embellishing details took the most time. They are also what made it something I feel good about giving as a gift. It is a painstaking undertaking, but worth it.

Throughout the creation of this creature, I more closely studied the book containing the pattern, Creepy Cute Crochet. It is a good little book, filled with interesting characters to crochet, as well as some helpful information for making them. I also saw that the perhaps the editing process took more from the book than it ought to have. For example, it states on the back cover, "...more than 20 unique patterns for totally loveable zombies, ninjas, Vikings, vampires, aliens, robots, and even Death himself." Well, amongst the 21 patterns, there are no Vikings.

If the author had been allowed perhaps a dozen more pages, this volume would have been outstanding. Still, there are ways to access information that I think should have been in the book. Over on the website, she offers expansion pack patterns that can be made if you already have the book. I think I want to make The Valkyrie. There are also great tutorials, including this one to help with hair. I definitely needed that help. The book could have really used this additional information. I am just glad that I did a little search and ended up at the author's site. It made all the difference, and I finally put that old hairpin lace tool to use.

UMmmm, yeah

I only have UM for today, but I promise an FO for Columbus Day (yeah, I know).

Yacht :: Club

Paula :: Deen

Delete :: Key

Auto :: Harp

Obsolete :: -ly Fabulous

Dedicated :: Determined

Old :: Spice

Convince :: Annoy

Poster :: Child

Erase :: Mistake

She's Not Available Right Now, May I Take a Message?

Am I treading water? No, that involves more movement, coordinated effort, and concentration. It is more like a combination of brain in a dense fog and body suspended in Jell-O. It is difficult to get anything done or know determine which way to go, it is exhausting and confusing, but the Jell-O keeps me from sinking. Overall, I guess that last part makes it a net positive.

I have been reading blogs, but just not been able to coherently comment. That does not usually stop me, but lately, it has. I have been marking everything unread in the feed reader with the idea that I will go back and comment, but I may need to let go of that idea.

While I may not be able to tell you the day of the week, I do know what week it is. It is National Spinning and Weaving Week. I made it out to a kickoff party the other day at Little Barn. Even with my odd state, it was an interesting time.