Birthday Yarn PrOn

It's been a kick-ass weekend. There was singing and yarn and big, big fun. Sit tight, I'll tell you all about it in a minute. But first, you wanna know who won my Sharing the Love contest, right? Drumroll please....

I gave everyone who entered a number as they commented, (including Phil, who insisted he met all the criteria I had set for entry into the contest), which put it at 8 participants. If you check the comments, you'll see that number 4 is Jennifer! Congratulations Jenn! My my my, the Knitting Goddess certainly is smiling upon you lately, isn't she? :)

My concerts went very well. I had a few solos this year (well actually, I was the only Soprano 1 in a trio, and I was the soloist in another piece), and I think I did fairly well. Of course, there are parts of my solo performance I could have done better (why do we always do our best singing in the shower?), but all in all, I'm happy. (And yes! I got my haircut on Saturday! That's what happens when I don't see the hairdresser for 2 and a half months. I get a little crazy with the scissors. I quite like it, but Phil thinks it's a little short and Émilie ways I look like a boy.)

But I know what you're all really interested in (besides the contest) is the yarny goodness, right? Well, someone was SPOILED, let me tell you! Man!

OK, first off, let me just say that I think I can pretty safely assume that I've got the best knitting friend EVER!!!! Dudes, I'm talking about none other than Kate-the-Enabler, and she totally, completely went overboard (no REALLY). She'd been telling me for weeks how psyched she was about my birthday, and now I know why! If I had gifts that good, I'd be psyched to give them too!

First off, a little back story. Remember a few weeks ago I mentioned listening to She-Knits' podcast and being overcome with the urge to knit a felted handbag, and bemoaning the fact that the pattern I had my heart set on used Lamb's Pride Worsted, of which I had precisely none in the stash, and how I couldn't buy any because of my oath not to spend on yarn until Rhinebeck? Remember????

Well, apparently it didn't fall on deaf ears, because Kate marched herself on down to Ariadne and bought me four balls of Lamb's Pride in the Oregano colourway (she had casually asked me "But if you were to make the bag, what colour would you use?" Sneaky, very sneaky).

But wait! As if that weren't enough, she had none other than the great Maggie of Dyed in the Wool Handmade fame to dye up a one-of-a-kind colourway of roving for yours truly. And the best part? Check out the NAME!!!

It's called Day of Rest, My Arse! DORMA!!!! Is that freakin' awesome, or what???? I don't think this picture is doing it justice (I suck at Photoshoping), but it's rich with purples and greens and just a touch of blue, and sadly, I'm totally unworthy of it. I'm sorry to say that I haven't really touched my spindle since my workshop in early May, but I've become convinced that I'd get a better hang of it if I were spinning on a wheel, so I've set up a "spinning-wheel fund" with some birthday money I've received, so hopefully, one day, I'll have some lovely Day of Rest My Arse socks to show you.

Maggie was also kind enough to send me a mini batt of merino-tencel in a lovely, girly pink shade that Émilie has already called dibs on.


Unbelievable. The woman is clearly a force to be reckoned with. My only regret is that I wasn't able to open my gift with Kate present (I was rushing out the door to a concert, she was dealing with a sick 7 month-old). Man, I've got some catching up to do this year! (Last year, kind of spur of the moment, I told Kate to pick a skein of yarn while at the yarn shop). It's a good thing Rhinebeck is just before Kate's birthday! :)

OK, last but certainly and most definitely not least, my darling, awesome husband bought me... get this: can you say BOHUS, BABY????

He got me the Wild Apple Hat and Scarf Kit (click on Bohus Stickning when you get to the main site, it's the third one down on the left). I'm so excited about this, I can't even tell you. Ever since I bought Poems of Color, I've wanted one of these kits, but have never had the guts to actually BUY one for myself, which makes it the perfect gift in my opinion.

Lastly, my mother, step-father and grand-mother offered me some yarn money (I'm using some for yarn, but most of it will go to the afore-mentioned Spinning-Wheel purchasing fund), and I know she went on a Chapters spree using my wish list, but I don't know what she bought yet (probably in a few days, I'll let you know).

OK! It's now 9 o'clock, I've spent the entire evening on this post. Phil's been playing Guitar Hero all night (if I hear One by Metallica one more time, I think I'll pop a blood vessel), and I just know that the second I sit down to knit (finally!), he'll want to go to bed. Oh well!

Happy Knitting Everyone, and thanks to everyone who participated in my Sharing the Love contest!

Last Day

Tomorrow I go back to work. I have no idea how I'll be able to juggle everything in my responsible, adult life, let alone how I'll manage to make room for blogging, but I'm certain I'll figure something out. I've made some great friends through this blog, some of whom I've been fortunate enough to meet in person, others not (yet). I'm really going to try to make an effort to post at least 3 times a week, but if I don't quite make it, please don't hold it against me.

This weekend it was just me and the kiddies. Phil had a boys weekend at the Pinball Wizards Convention in Allentown, Pennsylvania (you can check out all his pictures here), and had a blast. It's obviously always a little difficult when Phil is away, but it's also kind of nice to spend more time with the kids, and to get to spoil them with junk food that Phil normally frowns upon. Special times and special privileges.

Oh, before I forget, here's a picture of yours truly modeling the lovely Cluaranach.

I really love it a whole lot, and I'm hoping it'll count as appropriate Rhinebeck-wear. You'll notice that Maxime is also covered in handknits in this shot. Tee-Hee!!!

To celebrate my last day at home, I ditched the kids (!) and headed down to Ariadne for a spinning workshop. This was a beginner course, where we learned to spin using a drop spindle, and I really enjoyed it. Here's my first ever handspun:

(By the way, this EXTREME closeup is brought to you courtesy of Phil's brand-new camera, a Sony something or other... hang on, techno-geek that he is, he's pointing out the exact brand-name.... OK, it's a Sony DSC-T300. Roll eyes here.)


Here's a shot of the thinner areas of my yarn compared with the Opal Feelings I purchased before the workshop (WHAT??? It's for Phil!). And oh yeah, the Opal is a FOUR-PLY (as opposed to my 2-ply). So yeah, I've still got a ways to go.

Now obviously it's not perfect (not by any stretch of the imagination), but I think it's pretty good for a first yarn, right? I mean, if you look at some of the stuff that's out there (Ozark, anyone?), I think it's pretty gosh darn nifty.

That being said, I don't know if I've got it in me to really get into it that much. It seems like there's a whole lot to learn in order to really get good (which fibers are best suited for what, draft, crimp, spindles, wheels, etc.), and I don't know if I've got the time or the inclination to learn it all, you know? I mean, when am I going to knit if I'm spinning all the time???

On the other hand, getting into spinning would open a whole new world of possibility as far as stash enhancement is concerned... :P

I'm also pretty sure that the initial fascination with spinning a bland natural colour fiber probably goes away fairly quickly, and that it would be a whole lot more fun to spin some dyed top instead. However, I'm going to hold off on that impulse until I've spun the entire 8 oz of Corriedale that we were allowed to take home with us to practice (20 minutes a day keeps the doctor away, or something to that effect). We'll see if there's sufficient improvement at that time.

OK, I'm off to check the train schedule and make my lunch for tomorrow, then I'll practice my newly acquired spinning skills (Get DOWN with your bad self!) before hitting the sack. After all, I'm a workin' gal now :)

Happy Knitting Everyone!