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. 

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. 

We Love Babies

Had a fun day, and it’s about time, too. Leslie, the flesh and blood one, came over and we made earrings and repaired jewelry this afternoon and listened to Outlaw Country. (pronounced outlaaaaawwwww)

I had resigned my heart to sadness, that Brownie had succumbed to the frozen sleep. Boo Boo was sighted on Tuesday at the end of a culvert that must have been her shelter. She was hungry but otherwise, none the worse for wear. She’s been coming to the porch to eat. 

But Brownie. Where was my Brown Baby? (And why do I do this to myself? No more bunnies!) And tonight, there he was, in the back yard. I think I squealed just a little bit. He’s on the back porch with Boo Boo, munching on oats and pellets. The worst of the cold has moved back north and tomorrow should reach 45º. One day, was it Monday?, the high was 0º and the low was -11º. As Rainman would say, "Very cold. Very cold. Yes, very cold."

So. Jewelry and Bunnies. And Weaving. I love the Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom. It’s a thing of beauty and well-designed and a joy to work on.

 My woven fabric from handspun wool filled to 11" wide and about 2.5 yards long. I want to make a medieval hood from it, perhaps lined with linen.

This is the harp in action. In the upper left, you can see a bag of chenille yarn, scraps that I have been toting around forfuckingever. This little bit on the loom is enough for a small pillow or bag. 

Corky loves the cold weather. We've had about 8" of snow and the first day he bulldozed a slug trail right through it that the other two dogs are still using. He's doing great, as well he ought with what his meds cost. What a pretty face.

Head 'em up, move 'em out.

As usual, I am glad for the holidays to be over. The long stretch between mid-November, with its pilgrims and turkeys, through Solstice/Christmas, into the New Year, with its parties, designated drivers and resolutions. This season, the holidays were on Wednesdays and that disrupted the week and weekend separateness. 

I have learned to stay away from family, especially at Christmas. It’s as though I have subconscious memories of some war that haunts me. I tried to recall some happy memories, talking to Sweetie a couple of weeks ago; some present received, anything, that happened at past Christmases. After about two minutes, the few things I was able to recall were replaced with feelings of anxiety and disappointment, and I cried for just a moment. No happy holidays live in my head.

So. Therapy has been good for me, helping me accept and move on and do things that are good for me. I’m sure my brothers don’t understand, and I know I would be welcomed if I visited them November or December. What I want is for mid-January to arrive, to get back to my routine.

On a happier note, the temperature is -10ºF this morning, and the high is forecast to be a chipper zero. We received 6” of snow, and the winds have made drifts a foot high against fences. This little piece of polar weather scoots out of here tomorrow, and I will hope to see signs of Boo Boo and Brownie and know they survived. Like most outdoor animals, I imagine that they have found a safe place to hunker down to wait it out. I see the two of them together, or separately, almost every day. Almost every day that I walk the dogs, I mean. Their range is the back or side yard of five houses, and while Brownie’s brown coat is a quiet whisper, Boo Boo’s whiteness is like a shout. They are not at all like tame rabbits, but neither are they wild - all look and no touch out there. I keep rabbit pellets on the back porch for them, mixed with oats and sunflower seeds, and they come to nibble and both will let me greet and rub their heads, but that’s where it ends. 

Extra Absorbant

Damn it. Rassles says so much of the shit I want to say. Or, I would say it if my fingers could keep up with my brain and I had more talent at writing.

Because Wool.

I used to weave. I once had several looms. I also had tendonitis, and eventually, I had no looms anymore. But I have wanted to weave a little bit, do something with my hand spun besides knit, and so I bought this.

I warped a short cotton warp and I wove some samples using cotton, mohair, wool and chenille as weft and I was well and truly pleased, especially at how gentle it was on my body and how nice the selvedges were. (Someday, I may make a warp weighted loom. Because weaving.

Not smart enough to leave well enough alone, and use commercial warp, I spun 700 yards of a Lincoln cross. It has no give. I am now naturally dyeing it with summer leftover dye and I have washed the brown fleece, double coated and I can't remember the breed, which shall be the weft. The soft undercoat part. I hope to weave 9 feet of fabric, 18" wide, and then felt it, and then make something with it.

It's a happy thing to be doing in December, especially as today brings rain and then snow tonight.

Irony for fun and profit.

The sweater is complete, save for blocking. And maybe some tidying of ends. I am pleased with it and it looks pretty good on me. I have some leftover yarn - actually, a good bit of yarn - so I have cast on for some sort of hat to go with.

I have recently been cleaning my studio and today I have begun preparations for the Ugly Fabric Challenge for the local quilt group. I think I will go with something square and triangley; something traditional. My goal is to get back to Leslie and my art.

I want to spin more, too. I just ordered the Kromski Harp, 22" rigid heddle loom. I'm hoping to weave some scarves from handspun and I'm hoping that this loom won't aggravate my tendonitis. That is what put an end to my past weaving efforts.

Anyway. All is good. I am well. Thanksgiving was swell. Ding dong derry in the dell.