Time Flies.

Well, how did ten days go by so quickly?  I have played bunko with the ladies of the ‘hood (and brought home some loot), made it to Boulder and back for the last of the spinning classes (where I spun from a ‘silk cap’…oh my!), and attended the weavers/spinners guild meeting (where I signed up for some workshops in the new year!).

I have worked on finishing up holiday shopping, decorated the house (which required buying lights at the last minute which is crazy but now we are all LED lit and green and it’s all good), and the tree and decorations do not seem to hold mysterious appeal to the newest addition to the family.

White enamel seems to be most attractive to Apollo.  He has settled in very well and it has been a great experience to add him to our household.  The only issue has been his need to sit on my lap in the evenings when I am use to knitting.  Often it is…inconvenient, but we are managing workarounds.  By which I mean I work around the cat…

The holiday cactus has been in full splendor, waffling between being a Thanksgiving or a Christmas cactus.  I don’t care.  When it is dark at 5:09 PM (!), I need some hot pink at my dinner table to keep me believing it’s not time for bed.

And the gift knitting proceeds apace.  The vote is still out as to whether all goals will be met, but I believe that most will be, and certainly 95% of all originally planned articles.  Time will tell…it’s hard not to spin…I have so many new skills that I want to practice, you know.

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.