Monday, February 24, 2014

Saturday, February 08, 2014

It's Magically Delicious

Cold and snowy here, as it is all over the midwest. Today is expected to reach 32º for the first time in over a week. Bunny Boo Boo and Brownie have put in appearances at the back porch Pellet Depot, and I was glad to see them. Daylight is lengthening.

We are having car woes - one won’t start and the other won’t go in reverse. We go to buy a temporary car today and hope to repair the transmission in the one. The streets are slippery but passable, but still, I haven’t driven in weeks. I will try to take the dogs out for a walk today; I need the exercise, too. And the fresh air. Being cooped up inside with dry and warm air has not helped my sinuses. Yes, I have house plants and pans of water set around.


Finished two pair of socks for Sweetie. Yay me! One pair had been on the needles since June of last year but once those were finished the second pair only took a week. I used the Strong heel for both pair. This is the fourth or fifth pair where I have used this heel, and I may never go back to the heel flap style again. 

Now I’m knitting a little scarf and weaving another with red cotton warp and black cotton chenille weft. Also trying to spin, but the static electricity makes isn’t making that easy. I spritz the wool with water but still.


Revived the Spinners’ portion of the Columbia Weavers’ and Spinners’ Guild with our first meeting last month. Five spinners and one knitter attended; not a bad turn out. 

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Not Tested on Animals.

It rained buckets for a half hour this morning. Which would have been ok if it had been warmer than 27º but it was below freezing and that rain turned into ice. It won’t be above freezing all week.

And so here’s the thing with our cars. We had a very cold spell here last month; about three weeks ago. One car wouldn’t start, and the other one decided that it didn’t want to shift into reverse. And Sweetie rode his bicycle into work one morning when it was 4º. Now, one car will start but is iced over and the other car is iced over and I bet it still won’t shift into reverse. 

I try to put the best face on it - at least we have two cars that start and go forward and stop. Could be worse. But Sweetie is tired and depressed and worried about money and not at all good company. He wants to fix the problems now. Today. At least by Monday. Me, I can do without a car much of the time, and when it is icy, I am perfectly content to watch Netflix and spin and knit. Sweetie could, in fact, ride his bike to work every day if need be; it’s about a mile away. His boss even lent him a car, ‘just in case,’ and it is parked on the street, probably iced over, but Sweetie is loathe to use it. 

Men.

That’s enough of a rant for public consumption. However, the committee in my head want me to yell and scream and point and shout but I tell them it would do more harm than good. Have I finally matured or is it just the medz?

I have finished knitting one pair of socks that had been on the needles since last May, and I straight away cast on another pair. I have been using the Strong Heel and liking it. I spun over a thousand yards of warp, in a dyed reddish-brown, and then decided not to use it. I am now spinning over a thousand yards of warp in a white Lincoln cross, same as last yardage. I have spun one skein of singles so far for weft; it’s a white corriedale cross. I have this idea to weave plain white fabric, then natural dye it next fall. We’ll see. I do want to get something on the rigid heddle, though, before I start that.