Thursday, November 30, 2006
Brrrrrrrr! It's COLD
Keep your fingers crossed that tomorrow the schools are closed. If they are, I'm not going to work. I'm staying home and I'll have some pictures of the fleece I just got in the mail to show you. This isn't the free one I talked about before, it's a different one. This one is a balck border leicester fleece I got from a lady who lives in Oregon. It's super awesomely pretty, but I can't get a decent pic of it under the craptastic lights in my kitchen.
For now I think I'm gonna go watch tv and knit. Stay warm :)
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Wednesday Is For Bitching
6:45AM - Alarm goes off, I get up, wake Ian, and watch the local weater report which says even though it is 75 degrees today, tonight we will be getting freezing rain, sleet, and snow. This will continue all day tomorrow with highs in the low 30's for the next few days. By the way, we should watch out for "isolated tornadoes" this afternoon.o_O
7:15AM - I have gotten dressed and notice Ian still sitting on the couch much as I left him when I went to take a shower. I ask has he walked the dog and tell him what time it is. He jumps up and runs from
the room. This after me telling him fifteen minutes ago, "Get up as soon as you get your shoes on and walk that dog...don't fall back asleep" which was met with one of those awesome eye rolling "Duh!" things only a 14 year old boy can do. I got to say "I told you so" at least.
7:30AM - We leave the house. The car makes the low fuel noise. I pass up stopping at the nearest gas station because they usually have higher prices than the one down by Ian's school. When we get to the usually cheap station their price is 2 cents higher than the other place. bleh. (I know, it was only 2 cents, but it bugged me)
8AM - I get to work and find out my new boss starts Friday. It's a woman. She looks pretty smart judging by her credentials, but I have about 5 years more experience. We'll see how it goes. I can't pronounce her first name. I think I'll just avoid calling her anything.
9AM - Cell phone rings. I can't understand a thing the woman is saying other than the name of my credit card company. I tell her please call back and leave me a voicemail then I hang up on her. It sounded like she was calling from a fishtank.
9:15AM - I get the voicemail and call back. After waiting around on hold forever, they tell me someone has used my card to charge $240 of "educational materials" and $1 to "yahoo wallet". I used it yesterday on the internet to pay for a magazine subscription and I don't use yahoo wallet. ugh. New card is on it's way, but I guess I need to get a better spyware detector for the stupid computer at home.
Now I feel like I'm getting a sore throat. They're giving out free flu shots on Friday. Hopefully I can still get one and won't be sick or snowed in or hauled off to Oz in a tornado by then. I'm still knitting on the same old boring stuff. Mostly the handspun smooshy scarf which has been ripped out three or four times for various reasons, the black v-neck sweater, and once in a while the baby surprise jacket. I stopped trying to hurry up and finish that last one once I realized unless Teresa's baby comes out really fat there is no way it's gonna fit any time soon. Oh well.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Monday, November 27, 2006
Grumble Grumble Back To Work
nothing too productive all day. I messed around on the computer for a while, watched a couple movies while knitting on the black raglan sweater that will never be big enough, and then got out the spinning. I made it through another ounce or so of the yellow/blue/orange/sparkley stuff I bought on vacation this summer but I had to stop to watch Amazing Race. (I get to spinning too fast...that show makes me tense. haha) When that was over, I tried to start spinning again during Desperate Housewives, but the wheel kept making that damn noise again so I put it away. It was the Kromski Minstrel, and I've had this problem off and on since I got it. Something down there by the treadles makes a vibratey noise that I can feel in my foot. I need to take it apart and rub that metal rod that goes through the foot pedal parts with a silicone gun cleaning cloth thing. I think that will do the trick. Oil doesn't help for long. The weird thing is that if I put it away for a few days the next time I start spinning everything is peachy till about an hour or so into it when the vibration/noise starts up. Maybe it gets tired? I switched back to knitting on the sweater for the rest of the evening. I think it is time to try it on again. Last time I thought it was ready I needed at least another two inches in the chest and another inch or two on the arms before it looked like it'd be safe to split off the body. This is the Glampyre V-Neck by the way...it's one of those off and on projects that I just work on once in a while. I'm thinking I might actually finish it this winter if I don't get bored again and stuff it in a sack.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Weaving Stuff
I just did a 96 inch long warp to start with, so it was pretty easy even though it was time consuming. I think I started at around 9PM and finished at 1AM. Of course, I also did a few other things during that time, but there are some steps where you just can't walk away from it so there were times I was hunched over that thing for about an hour straight. The good news is that no matter how long the warp I make, it'll take about the same amount of effort for the same width piece. That is somewhat comforting. (Ignore the mountain of magazines and catalogs in the background. Those are Steve's. He insists that is the smallest he can weed that pile down to.)
That's a closeup of the warp. It actually tells you in the instructions to tie those bows. Cute. The plastic sacks and the pink yarn are in there as spacers to make the warp even out before I start with the actual weaving. I didn't take any pictures with the piece on the loom cause I'm a goober. Here it is all cut off and with the fringe tied though.
I tied off the fringe while watching Layer Cake, which I tivoed in the middle of the night. Yes, Daniel Craig's eyes are THAT blue. sigh.....oh, where was I? Yeah. That's just a plain kitchen cotton dish towel dealie I made. Ignore the crappy edges. I couldn't figure out the trick to getting them even till about halfway through Zorro.
Note to self: Weaving even edges and watching hot guys leap around fighting with swords do not mix.
Click Here to see Scount's Indie Swag Club's November Swag. I'm making you click in case anyone reading this is a member who hasn't received his or her swag bag yet. So far I'm loving the Indie Swag Club :)
I SWEAR
I finished warping the loom at 1AM this morning. GEEEEZ it takes a long-ass time to do that. Thank goodness the weaving goes MUCH faster. I did the whole sample first project dishcloth thingie while watching Zorro. (Do we buy Sir Anthony Hopkins as an aging Zorro? Not so much, but damn is Antonio Bandaras ever cute.) I'll cut it off the loom tomorrow and wash it.
I got my November Swag from Scout's Indie Swag club. I just realized I failed to blog the October Swag. Oops. November's stuff is totally fab. More about that tomorrow too. Nighty night!
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Happy Thanksgiving
gobble gobble!
I'm off to try to warp that loom.
It's Still Wednesday
I got the loom and the stand for it put together, but warping is gonna have to wait till tomorrow. I'm tired and I have a turkey to thaw.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
SQUEEEEEE!
Monday, November 20, 2006
I'm A Slacker
The movie was pretty ok. It was MUCH better than the last one, and Daniel Craig is totally kick ass in the role. I don't care if he has blue eyes and blonde-ish hair. He was nice to look at shirtless and the action/chase sequences were super fun. The only complaint I have is that the girl playing the female lead was so freaking skinny. Oh, and that they didn't give us M's name even though he found out what it was.
After the movie we went out to eat and then I had a mountain of laundry to catch up on so I never did get around to taking that knitting machine apart. I have a 5 day weekend this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday so maybe I'll take care of that then.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Saturday Stuff
We spent about an hour there at the Folkways building talking to the lady who runs the shop and looking at all the cool stuff they had for sale. Next month I'll take my camera because you guys have so got to see the super cute little gnome woodcarvings. If they hadn't been $57 each I would have snatched them up.(I think Steve would make fun of me forever if I spent $57 on a 2 inch tall gnome.) They also had awesome pottery, baskets, rugs, and even jams/jellies and pickles.
I didn't walk out empty handed. I got this super awesome silver ring.
I also got a soap dish, but I didn't take a picture of it. Oh, here is that red-orange yarn I dyed last weekend that blogger refused to let me post:
I really like how it turned out dark in some places and lighter in others. This is because I left it to sit in the crockpot until all the dye was absorbed without turning it over and without the water covering the entire skien. The lighter parts are where it was sticking up out of the water.
Finally, here is the gray sheepy tape measure that Kristen put in the prize poodle at SNB last week. I won it. This sheepy will join the black one and the white one in my sheepy tape measure flock. haha
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Weaving
KRO-3302 Kromski Harp, 32"
KRO-3232D8 Kromski Harp Heddle, 32", 8-dent
KRO-ST32 Kromski Harp Floor Stand, 32"
I figured I should learn on something more basic and build from there. We'll see how much of my hair falls out from frustration when that thing gets here.
I already have the video about how to put it together and warp it and weave a first project. The video that Kromski sends out with their wheels has assembly instructions for every wheel they make plus the harp loom so I've had it since I got the newest wheel. It doesn't look super hard, but I can tell if people talk to me while I'm warping for the first time or if I have to walk away and come back to it I could be in trouble.
Speaking of trouble, the place on my finger that got cut in the last attempt at fixing that 1950's knitting machine is just about healed up. I may be ready for another go at it this weekend. I really want to get that thing working because the sections that aren't all messed up work great.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Bleh!
for me to get it. I have no idea even how to warp the thing and I have
no space to set it up in my house. I am a crazy woman. I should just
stay away from ebay for a while.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
It's A Sickness Here
I was innocently (ok, maybe not so innocently) looking at ebay. I was minding my own business looking at general crap, when what did I find? I found someone within easy driving distance of me selling a used 4-harness floor loom in working condition for the buy it now price of $600. This particular loom retails for about $3500 new.
After I peeled myself off the ceiling, I started rationalizing that even if I couldn't use it right away this is just too good a deal, right? Where can I stash it? damn. The patio room and the garage are totally full of Steve's parents' stuff. Could I stash it over at the rent house? Eventually I realized I just can't get it. Plus, for all I know maybe it is busted. The person listing it isn't a weaver, and it doesn't come with any accessories...not even shuttles. The pictures don't show any good detail, so maybe it is a lemon. I would have no way of knowing since what I know about jack looms could fill the head of a pin.
Oh well...maybe some other time.
Twined Rag Rugs?
go take some classes there, but with work and no vacation till after June, that just isn't possible right now. I did the next best thing and ordered some books. I can't find any decent instructions online, but as soon as I learn how to do this you can bet I'll post some. I firmly believe there should be decent beginner instructions for every crafty thing in the world online. I'd also like to learn to weave on a floor loom, but I'm trying to supress that urge for at least 5 more years so that I can turn the boy's room into my knitting/spinning/weaving palace once he goes off to college.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sunday
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Friday, November 10, 2006
Best Toy EVER & A Scarf
I love the grumpy face. What is this thing? It's a Baa Humbug Jellybean Pooping SHEEP!!
We already have a jellybean pooping holiday deer so now he has a friend. :)
OK, enough with the silly. Here is the pic I promised you earlier of the handspun smooshy scarf.
I have to go watch Dr. Who now.
Customer Service
I'm kinda stuffed up and achey headed today. I ran out of the fabulous miracle allergy pills then forgot to go buy more last night after stitchin and bitchin. I can't get more till at least 5PM today so pray the snot doesn't kill me before then.
I realized yesterday that I have never knit anything out of my own handspun that stayed around the house. I used some super bulky koolaid dyed stuff for my section of an art project thing that then got mailed off to someone else, but that's all I've ever really knit up. So, last night I started a scarf with some of the first of what I'd call usable yarn I produced. It looks pretty decent and feels really smooshy. I'll try to get a pic of it later for today's second post.
Last night at SNB the topic of poor yarn store customer service came up. I seem to get a lot of that. I think it's because I look young, carry a big bag, and sometimes have weird hair colors not found in nature. Store owners in general usually keep an eye on me, and I don't mind as long as they're nice and don't give me attitude.
I'm not a demanding customer. In general, if you aren't busy with another customer say hi to me when I enter the shop, maybe ask if I'm looking for anything in particular, then if I say, "Nope, just looking." you leave me alone unless I ask you a question, don't hover or stare me down, and I'm a happy girl.
The store closest to me (about 50 miles away) has some people working there who are nice as pie, one of the owners is an old biddy, and they don't seem to believe in putting prices on anything. Old Biddy gives the impression that if you have to ask how much something costs then you probably can't afford it, and she doesn't want to speak to you at all if you aren't a regular customer. I rarely buy anything when Old Biddy is working unless it's something I came there specificly to get.
Once I went there to buy Touch Me for the Vintage Velvet scarf from Scarf Style. Old Biddy was working and hovered over the area staring at me but not offering to help or even saying hi the whole time I was trying to pick out a color. Finally she said, "You know that's $16.95 a ball, right?" without me even asking the price. ugh.
I bought 5 balls anyway, but I was mad the whole rest of the day and still haven't knit the scarf because I get annoyed all over again just picking up the yarn. I've heard similar stories from other local knitters.
The thing is, she knows they're the only game in town. The next yarn store is a two hour drive away. She doesn't have to give good customer service if she doesn't feel like it or if you aren't the kind of person she likes. You're an addict and she knows you'll be back anyway. I do go back once in a while, but more often than not anymore it's just to look at colors and feel things in person so I can run home and order it from the internet. pthhhh!!
Disclaimer: There are also tons of local people who swear this lady is super nice to them and they've never had a problem. I think it's mostly because these people are either regulars (in which case she knows how much they usually spend) or they just look to her like they probably have a fat wallet.
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Pictures Of Fibery Things
What's inside?
That's the in-progress Baby Surprise Jacket. I tried to take pictures of it all stretched out on the counter, but it just looked like a big square nothing so you'll have to wait till it's off the needles.
Meanwhile, my fingernail papercut thingie is better so I've been spinning some of that roving from Lambspun in Colorado.
Isn't that awesome? I have about 4 ounces. I hope it'll be enough for a decently long scarf. I'm shooting for light worsted weight, but I'm afraid it is coming out a little smaller in places.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Boo!
I'm not getting much knitting or spinning done today. The weird reason why is that this morning when I got to work I reached into my bag to get the key to the desk and jammed the corner of an envelope under my fingernail not just once, but TWICE. I got a huge paper cut UNDER my fingernail on my right hand. All day long it kept bleeding on my keyboard :( I'm typing all hunt and peckish, and forget knitting or spinning for today. I tried to spin some of the merino/silk roving I got in Colorado, but it hurt too much so I gave up.
Maybe it'll be better tomorrow.
Monday, November 06, 2006
No Fiber Content - In More Ways Than One
One of the doctor guys who wrote the new book "You: On A Diet" (they
have a series of You: books) were the guests and they had some pretty
gross visual aids. I'm talking body parts from dead people: a fatty
liver, an enlarged heart, a tongue, fatty omentum, a giant, clogged
aorta. ewww! The show reminded me that I'm still about 30lbs
overweight and that last time they checked it my bad cholesterol level
was inching up into the not so good range. I should really do
something about that. So I went over to Amazon and ordered their book.
I'm going to try to eat more healthy stuff and less not so healthy
stuff like the partially hydrogenated, enriched, corn syrup filled
junk I eat now. The husbeast and I grew up in the 60's and 70's -
otherwise known as the era of tv dinners, kool aid with so much sugar
in it that it made your teeth ache, and Wonder Bread full of so many
preservatives that it would keep on the shelf for a month without ever
growing mold. I ate "Sugar Frosted Flakes" and "Super Sugar Crisp" all
the time! (YES kids, the makers of breakfast cereal used to actually
promote the sugar content right there in the name of the food!) Back
then you never heard of any kids getting hyper from eating too much
sugar either. Hell, there was no such thing as too much sugar as long
as you remembered to brush your teeth. Dinner wasn't complete without
some red meat or SPAM or something, and partially hydrogenated
vegetable oil spread was considered good for you. We hadn't heard of
cholesterol or trans fats or any of that stuff, and Mom put a big
spoon of bacon grease or margarine in the canned veggies to add some
flavor. Oddly, there weren't any really fat kids running around either
because I guess everyone was so hyped up on the sugar that we
literally DID run around a lot. We just ran around outside so the
adults didn't notice and label us hyperactive I guess. haha Kids today
spend most of their time indoors sitting in front of the tv or the
computer or the video games. Maybe that's why they get noticed when
they twitch.
So anyway, neither one of us grew up with much of a taste for healthy
goodness. I haven't really been making sure Ian develops any healthy
habits either. We get pizza once a week and I let him eat an entire
medium if he wants. (He's 14! Try to take a pizza away from a 14 year
old boy and you'll pull back a bloody stump cause he'll eat your
hand.) The rest of the week he pretty much lives on enriched white
flour bread, peanut butter with added sugar and partially hydrogenated
oil, cholesterol filled cheese, chocolate milk, and soda pop. He
sometimes eats oatmeal, but he puts about half a cup of sugar and a
tablespoon of butter in it. geez.
SO, starting right now no more regular sodas for me. I'm going to
start weeding out the really horrible foods (goodbye Doritos! I'll
miss you!) while I wait for the book to get here. I'm hoping the
recipes in the book aren't horrible and aren't full of fish cause eww
I totally am not down with eating any fish or fish products no matter
how good for me they are. Sadly, I also have to stop eating Campbell's
Tomato Soup for lunch every day because holy crap, the 4th ingredient
listed is high fructose corn syrup! Who knew? I'm also replacing Ian's
bread and pasta with whole wheat versions and no more pizza from the
delivery place. He's so gonna hate me.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Rainy Blah Day
After the movie, I went to the grocery store and the post office in the rain. Bleh. Then I plied the last of the Sparkle Shawl yarn. I think I'm about ready to start weaving on it again now. I watched Desperate Housewives and Dexter while plying. (Housewives - Once I saw who all was in that grocery store it was pretty easy to figure out who was gonna get shot. It was too easy.)
I'm STILL waiting for that WooLee Winder for the Kromski wheel to get here. I ordered the damn thing on Sept. 22nd. Nathan Lee has told me twice that he'll send it out "this weekend" or "monday". I wish he'd just tell the truth - he doesn't have any idea when he'll be able to get it finished and sent out. He says he has been sick, and I understand that but dang! Don't tell people you'll do something on a certain day if you're not 100% sure you'll be able to do it. At least send a person an email when you realize you're not going to make it. geez.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Dirty Stuff (literally)
I haven't taken it apart again to try to get that spring connected yet because I cut my finger on it last night and I don't want the filth to make my finger rot off. I'll give it another try maybe later in the week or maybe next weekend. For now that thing is in time out in the yarn room. I need to figure out a good way to put it back together easier than I did it the last time cause that was a total pain in the ass.
In happier news, my new sink is all hooked up and ready to go!
There will be some wool washing in there tomorrow. :)
Also, last weekend my friend Elissa gave me some cuttings from her Night Blooming Cereus plant. You're supposed to let it sit for a week before you pot the cuttings up to root so today I put most of them in a pot.
I'm going to give the four or five leaves I have left over to my Mom. I'm keeping mine in the hall bathroom until it gets established, and then it'll probably get moved to the yarn room. These things get HUGE, so I hope by the time size becomes an issue we'll have most of Steve's parents' stuff cleared out of the patio room. It could stay there most of the year and out back in the Summer. I can't wait to see it bloom for the first time! These things just bloom once a year and the bloom only lasts one night. The flower is as big as a dinner plate sometimes.
I Know It's After Midnight...
I have a good excuse. The knitting machine from ebay arrived today. I took some pictures and tried to knit some swatches, but then I noticed this one needle kept not keeping it's stitch. I investigated and discovered the sinker thingie doesn't have a spring on that hook so I took the machine apart and tried to fix it. Of course as soon as I got all the little millions of screws back in and flipped the machine over I heard the stupid spring fall back out. ugh. So that is what I've been doing all night...taking apart a knitting machine made in 1954. whoop dee doo! The excitement over here just never stops.
Now I have to go to bed because I have no idea what time the plumber is going to show up in the morning to install my laundry sink. It could be any time after 8AM, so guess who gets to wake up early to wait on him? Yep.
Pictures of the knitting machine and maybe the plumber, but for sure pictures of the fabulous sink tomorrow.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Migraine, Crankiness, & Fall Colors
I thought I'd probably still be able to make it to Stitch N Bitch, and I have Kristen's sweater pieces that she accidently left last week so I had to, right? Well, when it got dark and I was looking out there seeing double sets of headlights I realized nope, not gonna happen. I sent her an email, and I think she's gonna come by on Saturday to pick them up. I'll be home because that's when the plumber is gonna come hook up my new laundry sink. It is mostly for washing fleece/yarn/handwash wool things. I'm very excited. I know, it's kinda sad I'm this excited about a sink.
Last weekend we drove around looking at the fall colors and taking pictures. Here are some of the pics I took. I need to dye some yarn these colors.
Click any picture to see it larger on flickr or to see more in my flickr photostream.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Big News
Today's other big news is that my new, amazingly tiny metalic i-pod shuffle with the built-in clippy thing arrived. I have to go load it up now. Bye!