So much fiber, so little time

OK, so I didn't

OK, so I didn't spin today, but I did finish one sock from the leftover Opal, and judging by weight, I have enough yarn to make the second one. They will definitely be fraternal but at least the same size!

Also I cut the rugs off the loom and hemmed them. Wahoo! Still need to wash them, but I'm trying to figure out what flat, undisturbed surfaces I can come up with for drying.

And could someone tell me what's up with "scrapbooking"? When I went to JoAnn's this afternoon for thread, I wandered into the scrapbooking aisle and almost choked in the land of the twee.

It got to -14F in

It got to -14F in the last hour. No wonder the dogs' feet were bothering them when we went out at 5:30. Fortunately, I'm taking a long weekend (hey, when your birthday falls on a Friday or Monday, why not?) so I didn't have to try to start the car.

Spinning beckons to me on my day of leisure, I think. There's one lonely bobbin of light gray Shetland that would like some friends. I may also package up some fibers to send for carding. My stash produced a pound of cinnamon colored alpaca, a half pound of silk, and about a half pound of fine wool that would make a nice blend.

And while I spin, I'll try to watch The Fast Runner. It's nearly three hours long and subtitled, and it will be easier to read subtitles while spinning than while working on the lace shawl.

I picked up the perpetual

I picked up the perpetual knitting stitch calendar today (as long as I was in the bookstore buying another book anyway). Just flipping through, I didn't see many stitches that were new to me, but it's a nicer desk ornament than most.

I got to play with the skein winder last night. Wow, it's nicely balanced! Just like a good spinning wheel, once it gets going, it doesn't take much effort to keep it in motion. Plus, it's free-standing, which is always a bonus in my clamping-surface-challenged household.

And this week I heard two things which gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. One was from a co-worker for whom I made a (really, really quick) baby blanket last year. The blanket was done in superwash wool left over from an earlier project, which I ball-dyed in turquoise and knit as a square from the center out. This blanket gets used all the time now, especially when the weather is extremely cold. The other was from my four-year-old niece who was gushing, in her tiny drama-queen way, about the silly hat I made out of leftover handspun for her doll.

One of my from-me/to-me presents

One of my from-me/to-me presents arrived today - a Fricke 4-in-1 skein winder. It will certainly make winding off those 1000 yard bobbins much easier. The other, A History of Hand Knitting, is apparently on the way. Fiber books and toys are so much fun!

A data point on the

A data point on the Opal socks: I finished the second one yesterday afternoon, and I have more than 30 grams left from the 100 gram ball. My shoe size is US women's size 9 � (narrow), so I'd say that one ball is indeed enough for a pair of socks. Unless, of course, you're knitting for a pituitary freak basketball player.

The second sock is

The second sock is moving rapidly towards the toe, and the pair is matching up nicely. I'd certainly rather knit these than a solid color crew sock, although Fair Isle socks are my true favorites.

The rugs are still on the loom because I need to get to the fabric store for a matching thread to hem them. I'm leaning towards a dark green thread to match the edge stripes, because it might be less jarring to the eye than a lighter color would be. This, of course, assumes that they'll actually have the color I need :)