Spinning

So about the spinning class with Maggie Casey at Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins in Boulder. (that has required me to drive an hour and 10 minutes each way, in the dark, not getting home until almost 11!) (which is really HAAAA-AAAR-RRRD for me!!!)

Maggie has given us homework!  Honest.

Also, the class is almost over. And that makes me really sad, because it has been all sorts of splendid and terrific and excellent.  And I have learned lots and lots and lots.  And I would like for it to go on forever.

Except for the driving….four hours, uphill both ways, barefoot, in the snow…

Skills have been honed and reinforced and reviewed.  I really really think I know the difference AND how to spin woollen (more fun and fluffier) and worsted (harder, but prettier).  For today.  Maybe not for today.  I got it mixed up and had to correct myself while typing that!

I spun fat fluffy yarn – on purpose.  When one starts spinning, it tends to be all thick with the occasional overtwisted skinny place.  With more experience and control, one is able to spin nice, and mostly even, skinny plies.  One takes photos of plies with coins and pencils for reference to show the thinness of the plies. But alas! When one wants to spin some fluffy stuff again, the fluffy mojo is seemingly lost.

Not so for me, not anymore.

We practiced Navajo (chain) plying.  I have all the right moves, although sometimes my moves get a bit confused as to the order in which they should be performed…

New things have been learned.  Maggie showed us how to use scary wool combs, and that made for some sweet fiber with which to spin.  But those things are seriously dangerous, too.

And while we talked all around twists per inch and bumps per inch and wraps per inch, the rubber met the road with the homework, when she assigned to us the task of bringing back to class samples of 6, 14, and 24 wraps per inch. (Failed to produce the 6! Got 26, down to 20, then down to 16 then down to 14…) Next assignment was to bring samples with 3, 6, and 10 bumps per inch. (Success, but at the cost of consistency!)

The classes are two and a half hours long, and the time just flies by. Only one class left, this week.

But on the upside? Maggie is teaching an upcoming workshop at the weavers/spinners guild this spring.

Something to look forward to, then.

Actual Conversation

(between myself and Wonderful Guy, while eating sandwich and watching passers-by walking past the sub shop window in Old Town, this past Saturday.  Temp, 38F or ~3C)

Me: These temps sure bring the knitwear out.

WG: (laughing) I don’t think that is something most people would say.

(few minutes later)

WG: You know, if I were to make a list of things I was looking for in a partner, of all the things I would put on that list, I don’t think knitting would be on it.

Me: I did have a list like that and a guy that rode a motorcycle wasn’t part of my list. But I think of it as a wonderful bonus that brings with it much for me to enjoy. (Snappy repartee is my specialty!)

WG: (smiling) Are you comparing riding a motorcycle to knitting…because one is a...craft and the other is my passion!  I’ve been riding since I was in grade school.

Me: And I learned to knit when I was seven and have been sewing, quilting, knitting, or otherwise CREATING since. So yeah…my passion…and yeah…comparing!

Silly man…

The Holidays

They are upon me.

I have many gifts knitted, and am working tirelessly on more.

This weekend will bring three of five offspring to dinner on the Big Day. Turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie…all the trimmings are the order of the day.

It does portend to be a cold day from the forecast.  No after meal stroll in shirt sleeves this year…

There is the Holiday Lights parade in Estes on Friday, and I try to decorate for the Christmas holiday over this weekend, too.  So…more busy.

Grandbebe Next is still percolating, and scheduled arrival is the end of December.  My plan is to travel to the great state of Utah (yoohoo!  Kate and ~Wunx, if you are reading…) meeting Dearest Sister there for her grand entrance.  How exciting!  Four grandbebe girls.  How did I get so lucky?

I have much to be thankful this season, and am not going to presume to list.  I believe to live where I live, to have the education I have, and the opportunities that surround me wherever I turn bless me in ways that 90% of this earth’s population may never see.

I am grateful for all that I can be grateful for, and know that there is much that I take for granted.

Blog Stats and Commenting

So I have been in a bit of a morass of ‘whatever…’ lately when it comes to certain things.  And in some cases, it’s been very freeing, and in others, a bit guilt-laden.

I seem to have broken free of the need to check my blog stats on a daily basis, or even every few days.  Of, course, when one is not posting every day, it is not necessary, but besides that fact....I check my stats quite infrequently now, and I am not sure why or what the difference is.  It isn’t really like I ever gauged my success (hoo haah!  I use that term quite loosely!) as bloggy person based on my stats.

Fortunately, because I would not be marked as a success! But I did get a glimpse as to where my readers…and I do have a few…came from.  Which was sort of…you know…bonding…at least from this end.

Anyway, that just sort of fell away a few months ago.  Along with my commenting on other blogs.

Have you noticed?  I am blaming it on the season.  Or something.  It’s not that I am not reading your posts, my peeps.  And it is not that I am not finding your escapades interesting, your efforts amazing, your photographs evocative, your insights astounding.

I just do not have the wherewithal to say boo once I get home from work.  So there’s my mea culpa.  (And I have no idea if that is the correct use of that term.)

So here’s hoping you are all bearing with me.  I hope to have the time with the energy to get some things updated on the blog here in a few.  Dearest Sister was good enough to point out there was no photo of the Boy Kitty.  (She’s kind that way.)  And that book?  I have read two or three since.  And that header?  Aspen leaves are looo-oon-ng gone around here.

I am approaching my blog-iversary come the first of the year.  I began January 1, 2008, so 3 years later, I can say I am mostly still doing this reasonably and regularly, and I am still mostly pleased with the effort.  And I shall celebrate the occasion with a give-away, so consider yourself forewarned.

Random Firings

So here’s the scoop…

I have had a blog post written and waiting for photos of finished pieces for about four days.

I now have taken the photos, but they remain unedited.

Therefore, I submit some meanderings instead of a well thought through and illustrated missive.

Spinning class started last week and the only event of the commute was a stunning sunset.  Today it is snowing.  Right now, I think the class is worth it.  Ask me at 10PM tonight on my way home…in the cold…and dark…by my lonesome…

Handsome Kitty Boy is settling in ever so well.  He does so want to friends with all.  He is rambunctious, however, and that leads Best Dog Ever to believe he sometimes needs to be rousted out of the room.  And The Cat Who Still Is Queen is still making sure the pecking order is understood. I have not had to fight a kitty for my yarn for many many years.  There is a learning curve for everyone.

I recently found out that the CSU mascot, CAM the ram, is not a big horn sheep but a Rambouillet.  Which, in my mind, begs the question, who gets his fleece when he is sheared?

This morning I unloaded my refrigerator in preparation for the delivery of a new one.  Last night I thought surely that 2 coolers and a couple of Styrofoam containers would do the trick.  While I was filling the third container, I thought of the square footage of the refrigerator and looked again at my coolers.  The complexities of the math were not beyond me, but fortunately (see Spinning and snowing) it is a chilly day, and the back patio will keep what doesn’t fit in a cooler nicely cold.

Now that our unusually long and warm fall has come crashing to a close, I am so glad that I put ‘knitting socks’ on my list of goals for the year.  My toes have stayed toasty in their hand knit goodness.

Stay tuned.  I have been knitting, carding wool, and spinning.  And there might be photos.

Or I might spend the next few days staring at my new fridge.

Another Oklahoma Thing

There is an event, both Fall and Spring in Oklahoma City called ‘An Affair of the Heart’.  It is one big old craft/antique/got all the sparkly/cutie pie stuff you ever hope to find event that takes up five (5!) buildings at the Fairgrounds.

Yep.  It’s quite an Event.

This was the second time we had the chance to see what there was to see, and really, we did manage to find a few things to store away in the ‘Christmas Closet’.  There was a lot that we passed by, but almost without fail, my SIL and I gravitated towards the booths with antiques.

When my MIL had decided it was time for sitting a spell, and Wonderful Guy had gone to fetch the car for us, SIL and I dashed into ‘one last building’ for ‘just few more booths’.

  And there I found this.

A quilt backed with flour sacks.

Pieces….pieced.

Really fun patterns.

I had to leave it with SIL along with the postage to ship it to me.  We flew and had packed to the max for the weekend.  It will be a special treat when it arrives, all delayed gratification, and all.

Spinning (and A Small World) (But Not Really..)

25 % of my drives so far to Boulder for spinning with Maggie Casey have been uneventful except for a gorgeous sunset.

My first class was Thursday night, and I got home late, after getting home late the night before after playing bunko.  My life is a swirl of activity, I swear!

My bunko-mates have spoken to me about the possibility of becoming a regular regular as opposed to a regular sub.  That comes with the responsibilities of possibly hosting! I don’t know…I might just prefer remaining a temp…all the fun but none of the work.

So back to the spinning class.  Oh, it’s serious, all right. Maggie gave us homework.  That’s exactly how serious.

A couple days ago I read this blog post by the Yarn Harlot, about her time at SOAR (Spin-Off’s Autumn Retreat), and about how enchanting was Margaret Stove.  I long to go to SOAR one day, but I think I would be so intimidated by those I read about attending, I would probably not be able to spin a lick, and would be looked upon as a rank amateur. Which, of course, I might be.

Back to Margaret Stove.  She has a wonderful new book, Wrapped In Lace, and following the Yarn Harlot’s post, Spin-Off put out another SOAR update, and the fact that the Interweave folks had ‘whisked’ her off from SOAR’s location in Wisconsin to Loveland for, filming a DVD to go with her book.  Knitting Daily had a wonderful story from her, too, this past week.

It always gives me a buzz to think of such heady folk so close by to where I live and work and breath. And once again, I digress.

I was the first to arrive last night, and as Maggie finished her preparations, and I got myself situated, she asked me if I knit lace.  I replied that I liked to think I knit lace, and related my recent three attempts at the Swallowtail shawl before cashing it in and putting it aside for Christmas knitting.

And she told me about Margaret Stove, who she was with at SOAR the past week, and has a wonderful new book on lace knitting.  Maggie said she discovered that Margaret was supposed to stay in a hotel while in our area, but Maggie picked her up from the airport and that she stayed with her.  And that’s she’s just a delightful person.  And also Margaret gave Maggie some 16 micron count merino…which is really fine stuff for those readers (and I know I am assuming here) who don’t know fibery stuff.

Then Maggie taught me spinning.

In my mind…somehow…I see a connection…tenuous….like a fiber…of 16 micron merino perhaps…

The bottom line is this.  I am very privileged to have the opportunity to learn spinning from Maggie Casey.

Now I am off to do my homework.

King Tut, Andre’s, and Grown-Up Time

Twice in one month I have eaten at Andre’s in Denver.  What a treat for me!  The occasion for this last opportunity was the King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

After hearing the exhibit was going to be in Denver, I determined to go.  In my life, many of these kinds of opportunities have presented themselves nearby to where I lived, and I have let circumstances persuade me from taking advantage.

Not so much now.  I try to seize the day when I can, and see what I can see, sometimes to The Guy’s chagrin.  BodyWorld, Titanic, if they come to town, I am likely to follow the hordes.  As a matter of fact, we saw those, too….the Mongol Hordes…  Anyway, the Guy was going to let me go with Youngest, until SonInLaw said he wouldn’t mind seeing the gold.  Not to be outdone, The Guy chose to come along.

And therefore the menfolk endured Andre’s with us wimmin.  Because.  If we are Denvering during the day, we are goin’ to Andre’s.  Just how it is with us.  I say endured because one is served ‘European portions’ there.  Suffice it to say after the museum, we stopped for a snack on the way home.  But still.  Youngest and I surely did enjoy ourselves there, and established that the last time we ate together at Andre’s was with ‘everyone’ back in KC.

Tut was interesting, and the crowds not overwhelming.  None of us had been to the Denver Art Museum before and it might be worth a trip back.  So good.

An afternoon with offspring and spouse?  Absolutely delightful.  I am fortunate indeed to have the relationships I have with my kids (all five!) and their various and sundry significant others.

Some Things HAVE To Be Mentioned

So we traveled to Oklahoma for an extended weekend visit with my MIL and SIL.

As previously mentioned, Wonderful Guy’s sister works at the local animal shelter (as one of her two jobs).  It is a job that she is well-suited for, and for which I admire her.  Our visits always include a trip to the shelter to see the current residents, and some of her stories amaze me.  While my heart would be broken, hers fills up for these furry guys.  I leave there amazed at her capabilities and effectiveness at the job she does.

Also, I leave trying to figure out how I can get some of those kitties home with me.

And this time?  While I am usually passing over the dogs pretty quickly, this time one struck me pretty good.  I kept thinking about this guy, and talking to the Guy about how ‘we could manage’.

Except we really couldn’t.  But Montana sure did get into my head.  And frankly, is still there.

85%  Timberwolf/dog mix

Five Orange Felines

Posing Puppies

Friendly Ferrets

Whatcha’ doin’ with that camera??

The shelter is not the only local happening place.  There is also the  Toy and Action Figure Museum.

Oh, yes there is!  Thousands upon thousands of larger and smaller toys and posable action figures, in various scenarios, displays cases, and dioramas.  It was truly…interesting.

Also, it made me want to watch Star Wars and Lord of the Rings again.