So much fiber, so little time

The only non-food/shelter/tax things I

The only non-food/shelter/tax things I spend more money on than fiber are books, and I just picked up Indigo Dying by Susan Wittig Albert. This is a mystery from the China Bayles series, which are based around herbs. As the title pun suggests, this one is centered around plant dyeing and a fiber festival. I've always liked this series (hence buying the hardcover), and of course the spinning/weaving/dyeing theme is an extra draw. If only I could read while I spin (and before you suggest it, no, I don't like books on tape! :).

So who's going to write Murder at MDS$W? Claudia could do one on the battle for Ribbie Cardie's fiber.

Finally, I have a car

Finally, I have a car again, mucho bucks later. It's been a real PITA navigating the hind end of nowhere without wheels. And this latest repair bill means I'm seriously considering moving the car replacement up to this year instead of next. Sigh.

At least I did wash another two skeins of alpaca blend last night, for a total of about 2000 yards and 20 ounces. That's probably enough for a sweater, but I think I'll finish spinning all of it before I start knitting. (Well, I may use the first sample skein for swatching just to keep me motivated :)

I just signed up for

I just signed up for Handwoven's reader advisory board, if only to be a forlorn voice against the HYUKification (or HYUWification) of the magazine. Those "HOT TIPS!" are, I fear, the thin end of the wedge ...

Anyway, another skein of alpaca blend is plied, and I should finish off what's left on the bobbins in the morning. I'll have time because I managed to get an appointment for the car, and I can't drop it off until about 8. Hope whatever's making the noise stays attached until I get to the shop!

It's a pity that it's a little late to wash the skein. We had desert weather again today. Very weird - we're not used to 80F with a dew point of 25F around here.

It's obviously Monday. I started

It's obviously Monday. I started driving to work, and the right rear brake was making a Bad Noise. So now I'm home again waiting for our pathetic bus system to start running. The first bus gets me to work over an hour and a half later than I usually do.

But the weekend was productive. I filled one bobbin with the alpaca fiber and got more than halfway through the second. That's more than a pound of fiber spun so far.

Well, I've finally conquered the

Well, I've finally conquered the software bug, so if you're trying to burn a DVD on a Mac and the lips ain't matching the sound, email me before you make a lot of coasters (or spindles - eeeeew, I'm the anti-spindle :). Only one of the suggested bypasses worked for me.

I was showing the lace vest to some co-workers today, and one mentioned that she was sorry I didn't go to (the interminable) staff meetings anymore. My knitting was the only thing keeping her awake. Now a certain blogger has decreed that knitting in meetings is unacceptable, to which the appropriate answer is, I do believe, "bite me". When questioned about knitting in meetings, my responses are a) I'm the only person in the room guaranteed not to be completely wasting my time and b) if my hands are busy, I won't slap the idiots. Shuts them up right away and has done so for twenty years. They're just about bright enough to know the alpha bitch is not joking.

Yesterday's computer work was

Yesterday's computer work was a disaster (including a momentary power outage that crashed several hours of transcoding!), but I got a whole lot of spinning done. Here are two skeins of the alpaca blend hanging out to dry, a total of just over 1000 yards and just under 10 ounces. It was wonderfully soft even before washing, and I'm diving back into spinning it because I really want to knit this up into a cardigan soon.

The shawl eventually sold for $100, although I don't know yet who bought it. I guess I should write up washing and blocking directions, and maybe I'll enclose a little bottle of wool wash too. I make my own scented wool wash now, after realizing that the stuff sold commercially was basically diluted Orvus. I use equal volumes of Orvus and water, plus whichever essential oil I want. That's roughly a tablespoon of lavender (eucalyptus, cedar, patchouli, whatever) per pint of the mix.

And our miserable, snowy weather yesterday put us over 100 inches for the season. I think the weather gremlins just had to go for a round number - OK, they can stop now! Ithaca doesn't get as much snow as Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo, both because we're farther from the big lakes and because the prevailing winds are usually aim more to our east than right on us. Still, although I like winter, even I have had enough.

The circular shawl is up

The circular shawl is up for auction, with about 13 hours to go. Bidding has been fairly quiet, but I'm hoping it will pick up as the deadline approaches. My officemate is bidding - she tried the shawl on and didn't want to give it back :)

I'm working from home today on a hurry-up-and-wait rendering project, so I should be able to get some spinning in while I babysit the computer and watch it snow again. Maybe I'll even start plying the alpaca blend by tonight.

It's always nerve-wracking to mess

It's always nerve-wracking to mess with the blog template, even when you know you have it backed up. But all the javascript seems to be working, and the archives propagated correctly - I think!

Time now to put a DVD in the player and spin some more alpaca/silk/wool. My goal is to finish off what's left on the bump tonight, although I doubt I'll get that far.

No warping this weekend, but

No warping this weekend, but I filled a bobbin with five ounces of the alpaca/silk/wool blend yesterday. The sample skein has been sitting on the table where I could give it a squeeze as I passed. That made up my mind that I wanted the yarn for my next knitting project! All I need to do is spin half a bobbin or so each evening ...-

The lace vest is

The lace vest is finished, except for cutting off the tails of the woven-in ends. I'll have to steam the top a little, since a woolly board isn't ideal for vests, but at least it's drying fast. (And the funky picture angle is because the woolly board is missing one foot and is perched between the beater and front beam of a loom :)

The vest will be warm but very lightweight - about 5 ounces. That leaves me 8 pounds, 11 ounces from the batch. Guess it's time to do some dyeing!

Ah, I can finally get

Ah, I can finally get to my website. My ISP has been under a DDOS attack since yesterday, making access nearly impossible.

And despite drowning in video at work, I've managed to knit up most of the vest, and I'm hoping to finish it by this evening. That will leave me the weekend to warp, if all goes to plan.

Here's about 100 yards

Here's about 100 yards of the red-brown alpaca/silk/Rambouillet blend (2-ply at about 1600 yds/lb). I love this yarn! It's lofty and very, very soft, plus the silk shines very subtly. Because it's so soft, I think it should really become a sweater - probably a cardigan showing off the texture of the yarn.

Ta-da! The circular shawl

Ta-da! The circular shawl is blocked and ready for the auction, which I think begins tomorrow. Amazing what just a little cooperation from the weather can do.

And the alpaca/silk/wool blend came back from Fantasy Fibers today. That was quick! I need to play with it a little to see how it wants to be spun.

The weather fairies have finally

The weather fairies have finally cooperated! It's not raining, and the sparkly Keeshond shawl is blocked and drying outside now. The circle blocked out to 36" in diameter, and the lace is looking good. I hope to have a picture of it later today.

Also, the vest has scallops again. I'm glad I ripped it all out, because it looks much better.

I started the vest, and

I started the vest, and it's clear after 3 pattern repeats that increasing the depth of the garter stitch band (by a mere two rounds!) makes the edge sloppy rather than scalloped. So I'm going to rip it out completely and start with a fresh skein while I re-block the first one. Sigh.