A Spinning Disaster

Remember that very pretty red/pink/brown merino I was spinning last post? I kept spinning. Finished it Sunday night after Part 2 of the BBC's "Sense and Sensibility" on PBS. Yay! Then, on Monday, I decided that I would start plying it. No problem. Got it going, Was thinking to myself how much I love the way it's coming out, it's so pretty, and all that kinda stuff. And then, this happened.

Do you see the problem? Yeah, one of the strands tangled all around the other strand, and in the gentle tug/untwist maneuver I was doing, the strand came unspun and therefore broke. Now, the range of emotions that a beginner spinner can feel at this moment is huge. Unable to be certain that I could control my emotions, I quickly put the spindle and yarn down, into a nice plastic box, shut the box, and put the box away. And proceeded to knit on my new Woodland Shawl, occasionally glancing at the box with the spindle and yarn, and fighting the urge to cry.

So, on Tuesday, I take the box with spindle and yarn to SnB, so that Meagan, spinning superhero, can fix it. And she did. But the day hadn't gone well, and I didn't feel like knitting, let alone spinning. But, when I got home, I decided that I calm myself down by plying some more. So I did, and was still having issues with the strands tangling, so I enlisted Mom's help in holding the ball and not letting them tangle. Yay, happiness, all is going well until...

A strand comes undone again. Through no fault of mine or Mom's. It's inexplicable. Boo merino. So once again I quickly shut the yarn up into the box and walked away from it. Eventually went and got some Noro Silk Garden to start a Clapotis for myself. Because, as everyone knows, when you're down, Noro makes everything better.

I mean, how could something that gorgeous not make you happier? And so I was knitting along on the Clapotis, and things got better when Travis Hafner hit a 2-run HR in the top of the 9th to give the Indians the lead, and they eventually won. Yay!

So yesterday, I called Meagan and asked if I could invade on their house after work so that she could fix and then finish plying. At that point I really didn't trust myself not to take scissors to the merino and hack it into tiny little fluff bits. She, being a wonderful friend, consented and did finish plying the evil, but very beautiful, merino for me. So, today, I have a hank of 115 yds of 100% merino from Copperpot Woolies in "Oh Cherry Baby" and I am happy with it. Maybe more happy that it's done and all I have left to do with it is knit.

As for other knitting things, I've given up on the Sock-a-Week. My sock knitting mojo is on hiatus at the moment. And with the way my knitting has been going, I don't want to force myself to knit anything that's not making me happy. And socks aren't happy right now. Oh well. And that Woodland Shawl I mentioned? I'm knitting for the Earth project of Project Spectrum, in a little mini knitalong with some of my SnB buddies. I ripped it out on Tuesday night at SnB. Grrr. I was unhappy with the fact that it wasn't going to be a shawl, more of a wide scarf. So I cast on enough stitches to add 4 more repeats to the original pattern (which is like another half of the width). And I haven't gotten far enough to photograph it yet.

My Log Cabin bag? I took it to show Kate when I went to KotS last, and found that my unfelted piece was the same size as her felted piece. Hmmm. Not good. So I need to restart with bigger needles. Haven't gotten around to that just yet. I spent most of last weekend focused on the Mystic Waters shawl, I'm 4 rows shy of being done with chart C. I'll try to get pics as soon as I finish the chart. It's so pretty. But time and concentration consuming. I also need to take pics of the Pi Shawl that I've started for Mom. It's hopefully going to be done in time for her birthday, and definitely not a surprise, I had her pick the yarn, and I started it while she was in the room with me. I get pics when there's more done.

To distract myself from the disaster the other day, I went outside and took pictures of all the pretty flowers that had magically appeared. So I'll distract you with them.

Snowed In (aka Dude, where's my car?!@$#%)

So we got snowed in, again. The "Major Winter Storm" as the news people have been calling it. All in all, about 2 feet of snow. Plus the drifting. There's no predicting that drifting. And the snow is heavy. And my arms are sore from the shovelling I did yesterday that you can't tell I did today. And I have to go out in a little while and shovel some more. And I'm whining, I know, but I'm particularly annoyed at my sibling right now. The snow blower that was purchased for my dad is in someone else's garage. Why? Because said sibling who will remain anonymous, never went to pick it up at the store. So, I am a snow blower, and my dad is a snow blower, and my mom is a snow blower... you get picture. Maybe putting this out there for all to read, will motivate said sibling to follow through and get the dang thing. That being said, there will be no more snow once snow blower is delivered, because that's just the way my life works.

Alright, whining over, for now. Moving on to knitting. I finished the second Merino Lace sock on Friday.

And then proceeded to finish the first Spiraling Coriolis sock that same night. Isn't it just the most prettiest thing you've ever seen? I love love love the colorway. And I'm just about halfway through the second Coriolis sock due to the inability to do anything but stay inside or shovel yesterday. Happiness.

In other happy news, I'm supposed to go over to Meagan's house today to learn how to spin! Very excited. Can't wait to have something to show. Now, I just have to get out of the driveway...Seriously?!?

Snow Day Boredom

Almost all of NE Ohio got a snow day today. Why? Let's see, the 1/2 inch of ice last night might have something to do with it, not to mention the continuing precipitation that occurre dthrough the night that accumulated a few inches of snow, or maybe it was because of the power outages or the amount of spin outs that took place in the early morning hours. Maybe.

So that meant no work today, and no staff meeting. Which gave me an excuse not to leave the house. Which is, normally, fine by me. But today, I'm feeling restless and bored. Not wanting to knit or blog or scrap or anything. Hmmmm. Perplexing. So, after a few hours on the computer (there's really only so much time I can spend on Ravelry, and I spent more time today than ever before) I decided that I needed to do something. So I looked at my current WIP's:

(That's the Merino Lace socks, the Mystic Waters shawl, and a Tomten for Elliott.) And I felt completely uninspired. I was feeling like I could work on the shawl, but really didn't want to have to think and focus as much as it requires, so I thought and I thought and I thought.

And then it hit me... start a new project. What? Like I don't have enough already? I've come to the conclusion that the reason I'm not wanting to work on the sock is because it's boring. I love the color, and the pattern and think they work great together, but the pattern isn't enough to keep me interested. I will finish it this week, of course, but not today.

Now comes the dilemma - what new project can I start that will be entertaining enough, and come from the yarn I have in my possession? Why, another pair of socks of course. I decided that I needed some very gorgeous handpainted yarn to stave off these snow day blues. So I cast on for the Spiraling Coriolis from the New Pathways book, in my Zen String "Mount Monadnock" yarn. No pics because I'm only a few inches into the toe, and it's not that exciting yet.

So it's been a while since my last post, let's get up to speed. Went to see "The Other Boleyn Girl" this weekend with a bunch of pals from SnB and mom. It was good - I feel for it like I feel for the Harry Potter movies, they're good but the book has so much more. Such is the limitation of the movie medium. Have spent several mornings with a new knitting buddy, Meagan, from SnB and am having a lot of fun with her. She's even tempting me into spinning, we'll see how it goes. And I got my haircut yesterday. I don't like it. So don't expect any shots of my that include my head any time soon. And that's about it. My brother and nephews came over on Sunday before the movie and I leave you with some shots from our photo shoot.

Done at Last

Yay - the ribbed socks are done. And on time too. I finished them last night on the bus ride to the girl's basketball tourney game. Sadly, the game did not go well, even though I wore my school spirit socks. We'll see if these can bring better luck to the boys tonight. Here's a pic where the colors are just about right. The 2-at-a-time thing went fine. I'm not going to stop using my DPN's or 2 circ's anytime soon though. But, I think, for socks like these, that are boring and pretty uninspiring, it works really well. Not to mention, easier to get them to come out the same length. So for all my plain stockinette socks (like I ever do those) and easy ribbed socks, this may be the method of choice. And I really like some of the patterns in the book, I think I'll just choose to use yarn that comes in two hanks rather than one ball, it got a bit fiddly now and then.


On to new stuff. I knew that I'd get the ribbed socks done with relative quickness, and so packed the next sock. And lo and behold, we had to sit through a whole game before ours started, so...

Say hello to the "Merino Lace Sock" from Favorite Socks in the oh so pretty "Lava Lipstick" Smooshy yarn. I couldn't help myself. There was so much talk of Smooshy this week at SnB, and people showing off the gorgeous colors that they had bought at KotS, I needed a fix. And as I cannot buy any yarn until the end of March, this was the only way. All my SnB buddies applaud me for my Lenten sacrifice, and asked if maybe I should've made an exception for sock yarn.

But I digress. The Smooshy. Is. So. Beautiful. And I'm not normally a red kinda girl. But everyone needs a little red in their life now and then.

As for the neverending saga of the ND sweater - the collar is attached!. Most of the ends are sewn in. I just have to lay it out so I can attach the sleeves and then sew them on. I say that like it's so easy, when in reality, I'm really horrible at this bit. It usually takes me 4 or 5 tries before I give up and just accept that the sleeves are going to look horrible. So I'm hoping that this time goes a little smoother.It's this fear of the finishing that is the reason this sweater has been languishing for a month in my knitting box. My goal is to finish it this weekend (no, really) so that I can wear it to SnB on Tuesday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.


And to end with some cute photos. Miss Maddie has taken to a new lounge spot. I witnessed the discovery of this new ideal spot late the other night.
Can you guess where it is? It's on top of the TV stand in the family room. Why there you ask? Why is it so new? Normally, you know when the family room isn't being painted, it's pushed back into the corner and there isn't an 8 foot ladder next to it for easy access, and it's covered with picture frames and therefore has no lounge room. She didn't adjust well at first to the re-arranged family room, now I wonder what she'll do now that it's close to being done.