So much fiber, so little time

Disappointing

From glancing at fiber blogs and the very few email lists I still read, I'm getting the distinct feeling that the fiber world is filling up with "math is hard" Barbies. How sad!

I sorted through my linen stash this weekend to see how much 40/2 I had (a fair amount - stocked up at a Webs sale some years ago) and discovered that I also had two tubes of 20/2. That's enough for a few quick-drying towels.

Self-portrait

OK, so I lemminged at the self-portrait site. It's more evocative than accurate, since I'm nowhere near as perky.

On the knitting side, I moved the shawl to a 100 cm needle yesterday. I'll definitely need it when the stitch count gets over 1000.

Gift certificate used - finally!

I finally used the Webs certificate my sister gave me for Christmas by ordering two new stainless steel reeds for the big loom. Eventually, I'd like to replace all the carbon steel reeds, but I decided on 6 and 10 dent 50" reeds. I already have a 10, but it has rusted more than I feel like cleaning, and I could use a 6. The other carbon steel reeds (both 22" and 50") aren't too bad, so I'll swing by Home Despot for a fine wire brush, rust remover and sealant. We're supposed to have sunny and cool weather over the weekend, which sounds like ideal reed-scrubbing time.

The 6 dent reed will be handy for my sister's long-neglected bath mat. While the locker hooking experiment was disappointing, the washed poppana was not. Because it's cut on the bias, it fringes pleasantly but doesn't disintegrate. So I'll weave a plain rag rug with doubled 8/4 rug warp and multiple strands of poppana, which will allow me to vary the color a la corduroy.

Off now to check the rising loaf of bread!

Pretty good day

The interview went well. I liked the professor, and it seemed like a relaxed place. I also got good news on the freelance front: the videographer I'ved worked with has recommended me to a local corporation for DVD design. If they're interested, it could be a fairly steady extra income.

Chocolate yarn

I combed a bit of Darci's fleece and spun it up this afternoon. It's very nice to work with, and I love the color.

And I have an interview tomorrow. Toes crossed this time!

Darci a-dryin'

The humidity is fairly low today, and it's also breezy, so I washed Darci, the last of the Shetland fleeces. The mesh bags obscure its really dark brown color.

And I'm still knitting the infinite shawl. I must be making progress, because I joined the fourth skein of yarn today.

Crossing fingers

A new job posting showed up today for which I am eminently qualified. Here's hoping it's a possibility.

Bear is feeling better, but I'll know more next week when we test his urine. With luck, that will rule out bladder stones/bladder cancer.

And I'm still knitting away at the shawl. It's almost four feet square now, but it needs to be bigger.

Happy Bloomsday!

It's the 100th anniversary of that fictional stroll. Mine hasn't started too well, though. I've been up through the night with Bear who appears to have a bladder infection. He has drugs now, and I hope that's that. (There is the possibility of bladder cancer too, so fingers crossed it isn't.)

D.O.F. weekend

Not having been on campus this week, I had forgotten it was D.O.F. weekend (Drunken Old Fart, aka alumni weekend) until I had to stop at the store this morning and was overrun by elderly people in red shirts and straw hats. Yikes! I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere else today.

The shawl/blanket grows, although it's hard to notice since each repeat has over 8000 stitches (and ever increasing!). I did a full repeat yesterday and hope to get through another today. I'm guessing this sucker will have more than 1200 stitches on the needle when I start the edging ...

Bread day

With the return of tolerable weather comes the return of bread baking. This is a cooling loaf of mostly white whole wheat, and there's a soda bread in the oven now.

Combed samples

I combed a bit of the two washed fleeces. (I haven't washed the third yet, because it looked as if the rain would start much earlier in the day. Friday, probably.) As you can see, the moorit fleece has lighter and darker shades, so I'll probably sort first and then blend on the combs proportionately to get a heathered brown.

Obviously, I got the grease out of the fleece, because I was having trouble with static - on a day with a dewpoint over 70F! When I'm doing a lot of combing, I spray the fiber with a non-silicone grooming solution, like Showprep or Cowboy Magic. Either of these stop the static, help loosen any remaining dirt and don't get nasty or sticky if the fiber sits for a while.

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Cane's fleece (the white one) is nearly dry, and Bonnie's (the moorit) is on its first soak in the washer. I'll wash Darci (dark chocolate brown) early tomorrow in hopes of getting it mostly dry before thunderstorms in the afternoon.

The first serger class was useful, covering the finer points of adjusting stitches plus a couple of techniques it was helpful to see and do. Next week's will cover 3-thread and decorative work (today was all 4-thread).

Plans

Free! I spent most of the weekend and a good part of today working on the commencement DVD (for the videographer who shot it, not the jerks at the school), and it looks pretty slick, if I do say so myself. Tomorrow, I have the first of two twice-postponed serger classes, so I brushed up on the machine today by making a half dozen fleece bags from nylon mesh. I'm planning to start bagging and washing the Shetland fleeces in the morning. The weather is supposed to be 'ot and 'orrible for the next two days, and it might as well dry wool.

Hey, maybe my luck is changing

I had a $1 coupon towards the price of a scratch-off lottery ticket, so yesterday I bought a Bingo ticket. To my surprise, I won three times on the card for a total of $9. This morning I plowed the $9 into two Win for Lifes and a Moo-La. That got me $20 on the Moo-La and $40 on one of the Win for Lifes. Woo!

I think I'll take $5 of the winnings and buy a Set for Life ticket. Grand prize on that is $5000 a week for life, and hey, I might as well try it while I'm on a tiny streak :)

Corduroy

Here's an oldie but goodie: a handwoven corduroy rug that has been a wall hanging in my last two offices. It's at least 10 years old and possibly older. I washed it this afternoon, and given the surprisingly low humidity, it's very nearly dry.

The warp and ground weft are single strands of Harrisville Highland, sett at 8 epi. The pile weft is four strands of yarn, mostly Highland but with some handspun in the natural areas. I varied the shading by changing one color in the pile weft at intervals. In the process, I used up nearly all my odds and ends of Highland. Corduroy is fun to weave, as long as you're very careful cutting the floats.

And I removed everything from my office and turned in my keys. While I won't technically be what the Wall Street Journal editors call a "lucky ducky" until July 1, I don't have to go in for the rest of the month. No word on the application I submitted - I'm always tempted to put "the courtesy of a fuck you would be appreciated" at the end of the cover letter.