Cath Emery

10:15 am: Citron and the make 1
Did I mention I finished a Citron? I used almost all of my green malabrigo left from making the Beginner's Triangle, so more than a single ball. I think I may be using the wrong strand for my M1s, as I end up with holes. I rather like the way they look, though.

I'm contemplating another using some other yarn I have.

09:20 am: Blue and lizzy Kate
I finished plying and skeining up the blue merino-tencel from Willow Creek Farm this morning. I'm liking the lizzy Kate (yours may be lazy, but none of my Kates are). I wasn't too happy when a strand of skein #2 caught in a screw on the chair and broke when I removed it.

I may want to replace those twirling chairs with a safer skeining system -- or maybe I can use clear tape over the screws at that point. Tacky, of course, but which is more important: how the chairs look in our living room where guests usually sit first, or my newly made yarn?

Lost a lot of my Ravelympics enthusiasm, but that could be due to the headache left over from my flirt with sickiness this weekend.

The kate I purchased is the Ashford Precision tensioned: tensioned was what I wanted, and I chose this one over the other styles because I like that the bobbins have enclosure at both ends. It finished up easily; the wood was well sanded and only needed a little smoothing before stain and during the clear coat process. The hooks for the tensioning didn't have pre-drilled holes but a little stubbornness took care of getting those in (I was too lazy to drill my own starter hole).

I only did one coat of Provincial (from MinWax) so it's easy to tell the new bobbins from the old if I need to. I like Provincial. I used to use it a lot for miniatures, which is why I still had some in a can in the craft room.

08:31 am: *insert whiny tone here*

I've read all my books. And my oatmeal didn't cook right: it looked fine on top but was all runny in the bottom.

And I've read all my books.

*end whine*

What's really amazing about this reaction is that I have had hardly any new books in the last few years. I didn't know I would still feel this way after reading more than one new book. (I was beginning to wonder if I needed to just start reading something totally difference because I wasn't finding anything I liked at the bookstand, but I guess I can spend more time in the used bookstore and see what I've missed.)

This way? Totally deprived, sulky, and miserable, as if no other activity in the world will do as a substitute and why do I not have any existing sequels and everything else by these writers to read RIGHT NOW?

What a spoiled little reader I used to be.

And how I wish I could be that spoiled again.

11:26 am: Mom bought me a book for Christmas and some new books last weekend and I finally got around to reading them.

I read The Demon King by Cinda something. It was ok. Not really a standalone, which it isn't intended to be. I miss standalones.

I read The Black Queen by somebody else. It was fairly absorbing. I would definitely read the sequel, The Black King.

I read Consequences by Kristine K Rusch, which was also absorbing. I have another by her to read and a Sharon Shinn book called, I think, Fame and Fortune. (eta2: Fortunate and Fate. I really *was8 feverish this day.)

I loved Summers at Castle Auburn.

(eta1: Everything from here down needs to be deleted; I must've been feverish yesterday, mixing up Shinn's books with Tepper's.)

The one with the orphan and the angel had some extreme creepiness, but it was fascinating. That's so with more than one of her books for me: they don't quite land in my comfort zone, but I don't want to put them down anyway. I just feel the tiniest bit wary about them. I know the quality will be good, but is that brussel sprouts, which I hate, under that fabulous cheese sauce, or is it broccoli, which I like?

And never mind, just hand me the book and I'll find out for myself. But I reserve the right to say "uck!" over every bite if it's the former. :)

08:02 am: We're supposed to have company for dinner and reruns and last night I developed the sneezes and now I have sniffles. Bad timing. Very bad timing. Stupid sniffles.

So much to do today just in case I'm not sick and they still come over! House cleaning, cooking, shopping. I left it all for today using highly developed procrastinating skills.

11:08 am: spinning and the Ravelympics and stuff
Picked this up to do the second half after five days away from spinning. Am finding it a little hard to get back in the rhythmic groove, but it's coming.

Was chatting with someone this morning via PMs and realized I could do a project for Aunt Valora for the Ravelympics, as a spinning project that turns into a lacy cowl.

I've given up hope on my Koigu order. It still says "Processing" and it's from January 14th.

Today I've got to take pictures and put another coat of poly on my kate and two new bobbins before assembly.

04:04 pm: Catching up after a few days away from the internet. Dad & G went to a race down in the bottom of California, G to drive, Dad to observe. Mom and I did a marathon of Dark Shadows and are almost finished with the first year -- but discovered I forgot to buy the last volume of it.

We couldn't have finished it anyway, because we have disk 4 to go of the previous volume and we finished disk 3 at 1 a.m. yester --er, today? which was just after the men returned home.

It was crazy because the power to their well went out halfway through the weekend, which meant hauling water from other places. Fortunately I had almost a dozen milk jugs with lids in the garage. It takes almost three of them to flush a toilet at the farm, in case you were wondering.

03:34 pm: Lizzy's not lazy
Kate and I made our jaunt down to Pacific Wool and Fiber today to get our lizzy Kates (I am not going to call mine lazy before it's even had a chance to impress me with its usefulness). I was taken aback--- and amused at myself for being surprised about it ---that we have to build them ourselves.

Of course I didn't get *just* a Kate.



And two more bobbins, though they are made differently than the ones I have. Interesting.

02:47 pm: color like rain
I'm knitting with some store-bought yarn.

Grape Juice is finished plyed, est. 96 yards squooshy two py.



Wishful Thinking is over half done, spun counterclockwise with the idea that if it holds up, it'll make a nice single.

12:28 pm: Gambling on Gammelserie
Kate brought over a magazine last week to show me a pattern for some mitts called offering mitts. She really wants to make them, so we went in on an order of yarn.

It came today, having been shipped very promptly. I got three: dark blue, medium blue, and off-white. On the label it says Rauma 2tr. Gammelserie strikkegarn.

I like the look of it. It feels a little rough, but I think it will work up nicely.

12:18 pm: Seeing purple
Yesterday I spun the first and today I spun the second half of Grape Juice, the purple Corriedale that was one of two purchased with my first spindle. My left thumb and forefinger are feeling it a bit. Half is not accurate, as one bobbin is more full than the other.

I ordered some Koigu, to make a present for a certain person, and after a week the order on their site is listed as "still processing". I find that a little disturbing in this day and age. It isn't marked as "dyed to order" so I didn't expect a delay.

09:34 pm: I a-plyed myself
to the Ocean singles and have a skein almost dry and another soaking. I've started spinning the last of it onto the bobbin that had the least amount left.

The gray chairs make fairly long skeins. Their only drawback as substitute swifts is that if the yarn shrinks during finishing, you can't put the skein back on the chair without winding it on again.

And oh, do I want a tensioned lazy Kate. I'm considering rigging a string on the bobbins that sit on the wheel in the built-in Kate to see if that helps prevent snarly excess.

My last fiber arrived, and it has an odor. I've been airing it out to see if it goes away.

And I need to call a certain someone to see if she wants help with a hat, and then surprise her with the offer of a spinning lesson.

09:03 pm: grumble
whew. I ordered a fiber in case G's cousin wants to learn to spin, and one for me, and they came today. The seller didn't warn me they were going to smell. I can't tell what it is, but I don't like it. :(

I actually hung them out on the deck till I realized it was getting dark, then I tossed them downstairs on the theory that I have been upstairs lately and the hope that the smell isn't likely to be strong enough to get me from down there.

Also, I ordered two spindles suitable for learning (from a different place), and one has a damaged shaft. Rats.

08:42 am: Up too late with guest.

So many people suffering.

Almost out of chocolate.

G is having popcorn for breakfast-- ewww--- and the smell makes me feel queasy and hungry at the same time. I think hungry is winning, though.

08:46 am: Every day I have been going and looking at an etsy shop that has two fibers I like, one for the cousin I might be trying to teach to spin and one er two er three possibles for me. And that seller had the nerve to add two more gorgeous colors! argh!

Luckily the other shop I am going to look at has not added any more yummies.

06:40 pm: I had something to say earlier.

Or maybe that was yesterday.

I took a nap today.

05:49 pm: Puddle of Ocean
I'm spinning my 8 oz of Ocean-colored superwash. While it lay in a tumbled mound on the floor, it did look more like a puddle than an ocean. It's spinning fairly fine, smooth, nice. I'm trying to spin a bit thicker than a thread. It's so hard to join when it's thread-thin, and even as a two-ply would make a finer yarn than I really want at this point.

The photo is a few hours old; I've done a good layer more and am heading back the other direction.

11:57 am: They couldn't find anything actually *wrong* with my teeth today, so they looked hopefully at my back pockets and even though I'm not carrying anything back there and they've been there for ages, the dentist suggested I start going in for a deep cleaning with a fancy name that means they will spend 20 more minutes digging sharp tools into the gums around my teeth.

ok, maybe that isn't really the cause-and-effect truth, but they did sound excessively smiley and upbeat about the idea.

mmm.

Not planning to schedule that right away, no.

11:42 am: A little colder out this morning than yesterday. Drier, in that it was not sprinkling, but it felt damper because of the chill.

Yesterday I took off all the tree ornaments. Sometime today, the lights. Then we'll dispose of the carcass and I'll clean the floor.

My Hoop Earrings yarn bled pink. Twice, so far.

07:17 am: I found two windows full of garland after I put away two boxes of garland and jingle wreaths. This doesn't bode well for the "oh, look, a Christmas decoration still hanging there in July" syndrome. ;) At mom's house it was usually an elf perched on a piece of furniture or a picture frame.