bag 'n' trash -- home of monster yarn

Spinning Sunday

today, i did some spinning.

i'm an intuitive spinner.  i don't plan ahead, and don't always pre-draft, allowing the fiber to dictate what it wants to be.  what i end up is really a crap shoot and i can't say that i don't wish my spinning were better.  but if i had to think about it too much, i wouldn't spin.  the fiber is a mystery fiber that i jar dyed a couple of weeks ago and i was anxious to see what it would look like spun up. 

**************************
day 93 --  have a good night

WIP Wednesday

just so you don't think it's all about the babette this month, here's a couple of other things that i'm working on.

dyeing my own yarn and fiber made me want to knit and spin them up.  so i did.

my yarn in garter stitch (laceweight on size US 3 needles).

and some of my fiber spun up.

plans for either are still up in the air.

also, a couple of months ago, i joined summer of socks 2008.  unfortunately, this is a far as i've gotten on my first sock.

this is also my only "air" project for project spectrum.  not impressive. 

that's all i've got for now.

**************************
day 89 --  doesn't that sock look like snoopy?  i think so anyway.

A Day in the Life

inspired by michelle and kim...

4:15 am: the alarm goes off.  and i push the snooze button.  this is not my normal waking time but i'm driving j to the airport this morning.  j's already up.  he has trouble sleeping when he's nervous. 
4:30 am: BBK (big black kitty) comes and sniff my face followed by j (well j doesn't sniff my face) who suggests i make the coffee this morning.  (usually j makes coffee on weekdays but we've run out of half 'n' half and he refused to drink coffee with anything but half'n'half.  therefore, if i want coffee, i need to make it.
4:45 am:  i make coffee and check my email/flickr/bloglines.
5:00 am: shower.  while washing my hair i feel a slight pinch in my neck.  it doesn't hurt yet, but it will later.  since when has washing my hair become such a physically demanding exercise?
5:15 am: j is getting twitchy and hasn't had coffee yet and is therefore turning into a monster.  i tell him to settle down, have some coffee without the freakin' half 'n' half.  he doesn't need that crap anyway and that i'll be ready to go in 2 minutes.
5:20 am: i'm ready and out the door.
5:22 am: i forget my glasses, go back inside.
5:26 am:  we pull out of the driveway
5:30 am:  we get coffee at dunkin donuts.  all is well.
6:08 am:  we get to the airport.  the airport is over 40 miles away but at this hour the drive is magical in it's swiftness.  and complain all you want about the big dig, but the mass pike all the way to logan is the best thing ever.  seriously. 
6:15 am: j unloads his bags (he's going to Ohio for 2 weeks for work), we kiss good-bye.  he walks through the departure terminal doors and i get a little verklempt.  proof that i am not dead inside.
6:30 am: after getting back on the pike, i get to work.  it's weird being at work at this hour.  and for a few minutes i consider leaving the house every morning at 5:30 to beat the traffic.
7:30 am: i get a bagel at *$.  i order a multigrain, i get a cinnamon raisin.  i eat it anyway because i don't want to go back to *$.

8:00 am - 12:00: i do some busy work, read bloglines, check email, check flickr, do busy work, read blogines, check email, check flickr, do busy work, etc.  i also think a lot about lunch.

12:00:  it's cinco de mayo today so we're having a little morale boosting shinding in the lunch room that only holds a fraction of all of the people who work here.  so that means that the rest of us poor schmucks end up eating by ourselves in our offices.  but hey, the corn jicama salad is good.  and we get flan!

12:30:  i have a 1 o'clock meeting with my boss halfway across town.  i walk to his office.  i wish i had a camera with me.  i see a turkey in brookline. 

1:00 - 2:30 pm:  i meet with the boss.  my eyes glaze over. 

2:30 - 3:00 pm:  i chat with his assistant, and other coworkers.

3:00pm: i'm done for the day (see the 6:30am start time) and go to wait for the T shuttle.  i get accosted by a cute boy with an australian accent trying to get me to stop so i can listen to him talk about saving whales or children or the environment.   i try to bargain with him.  "cross the street with me, where i have to wait for the shuttle and i'll listen to what you have to say, but over there."  he refuses.  i guess he doesn't care about the whales, children or environment as much as he says he does. 

3:15pm:  waiting for the T

3:30 pm:  get to the hospital where my 12 year old niece K is.  she was born with hydrocephaly (i think) and has a shunt that sometimes acts up.  it acted up earlier in the week so she's had to have surgery to remove it.  she's currently attached to an external shunt and she's being watched.   (she's scheduled to have an internal shunt put back in on wednesday).

3:40-5:20 pm:  sit with her while she watches TV.  we barely talk but that's ok.  she loves her TV.  and i'm proud of her for being such a trooper under these circumstances. 

5:20 pm:  another aunt shows up so i head back to work for my car.

6:00 pm:  i'm in my car, heading home.  it's after 6 so the traffic won't be totally heinous, if i'm lucky.

7:00pm: traffic not heinous so i'm  home by 7.  feed the cats.  make dinner.   just pasta leftovers with carrots.  and leftover strawberry shortcake (yeah i'm not really on the plan these days.  although the cool whip is sugar free.  yes, i like cool whip better than whipped cream. ).  i watch the "young and the restless" on the soap network.

8:00-9:00pm: i check email, bloglines, flickr while half watching that show before "how i met your mother" that is sometimes kind of funny but who's title i can never remember.   i also half watch "how i met your mother" while winding some freshly plied yarn onto a niddy noddy. 

9:00pm: get ready for bed, planning on watching "two and a half men" and "terms of engagement"  in bed, knowing though that i will fall asleep within minutes.

Sometimes after 9:05pm: i fall asleep.

**************************
day 20 -- when stuck for something to blog about, steal from others.

 

WIP Wednesday

i've been having internet problems all evening so i'm getting this in before my connection disappears again.  just a couple of things that i've been working on.

**************************
day 14 -- almost didn't happen.

Earth, Wind, Fire

a few days late, but that's ok, since i'm setting the rules here.  the project spectrum months of february and march were busy ones for me.  in those two months i managed to knit 3 scarves, 1 cowl, 2 pairs of socks, 1 hat and spin some fire-y colored fiber.

since my last update, i finished a pair of monkey socks.

i made a few modifications such as adding extra stitches to accommodate my giant peds, and changing the heel and toe.  details are raveled.

then because i had some fire-y colored colinette point 5 in the stash and i hadn't knit anything in pink, i whipped up  two  quickie projects:  a simple garter stitch scarf out of point 5 in berry. 

and a cowl out of point 5 in cezanne.   is it cheating knitting on size 17  needles?  because it certainly feels like it.

the next element is earth with greens, browns and metallics. 

god this post is lame.  sorry.

 

Back to Work

and i was just getting used to being a "kept woman."

it's bad enough having to get up at the crack ass of dawn to go back to work after almost 2 weeks off.  but when it's barely 5 degrees out, minus 14 with the windchill, that's just mean.  hey god.  come over here.  lean in, so i can poke you in the eye.  closer.  there you go.  *boink*  how's that feel?! 

on a positive note, being back at work means i have more time for blogging.  HA!

anyway, just a little housekeeping today, kind of related to my january 1 post.  but with much less navel-gazing.

first of all, a group of us have gotten together to encourage each other to get healthier this year.  i've created a group on ravelry called "less w8 in 08."  (again, i'm cracking myself up here.)  if you're in ravelry and would like to join, please do.  it's awkward to "invite"someone to the group because it's a little like saying "hey, you're fat.  want to join our group?"  which is not the intent at all, especially since i'm the only fat person in the group.   if you aren't in ravelry, i'm sorry, you're on your own. 

also, i've joined two other groups:  the NaSpinMoFo whatever it's called and the 2008 version of ABC.

if you recall, i played along in 2006 without officially joining.  but this year, it's official.  anyway, for more information on both these groups, just go see carole.  i'm too lazy to go into the details and she's done a wonderful job explaining.

that's all i've got for today.  oh... one more thing.  don't forget:

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Snow!

today was a good day.  i didn't have to go to work and we had our first snow of the season. 

i did some spinning, and i dyed some yarn (it's drying and it kind of looks ugly, but whatever) and a little knitting and ran some errands.  i watched my soap.  went to the store.  made a good dinner.  and took pictures of yarn.

by the way, just so you know.  this is NOT me.  just in case you were wondering.

To the Rescue!

about 3 weeks ago, i was working at the shop and my co-volunteer, M, suggested i go check out the big bags of "giant yarn balls" in the office.   

giant yarn balls indeed.  they were huge, styrofoam balls, wrapped in a fiber of some sort, made to look like massive balls of yarn.  and in the bags were a couple of pairs of 2 foot long knitting "needles."  hmmmm. 

the story behind these balls was this.  a fancy store at the local mall had been using these balls and needles as part of their store display.  rather than throw them out, the kind folks at "very fancy store" donated everything to the shop.  a couple of the balls and needles were used in our own shop displays, and what was left to get pitched were these two giant bags.

giant bags of CASHMERE!  or so i've been told.  (i do know it's animal in origin and amazingly soft but i'm finding it hard to believe that people would just so casually throw the stuff out like that). 

after sorting and removing pins and styrofoam there is close to 10lbs of the stuff.  10lbs of cashmere!

...that kind of just fell from the sky so that i could save it from the trash. 

i spun this up before i knew what i had. 

A Very Project Spectrumy Post

hi! 

so i noticed that my blog stats indicate a distinct drop-off in the viewings per day.  makes sense.  my posts have been erratic.  my projects a little lame.  pictures thrown in nilly-willy just because i've got nothing else.

see?  nothing's changed.

i kicked ass on my exam wednesday night.  thanks for the good luck wishes. 

i am not in love with this sock, and even less so with what the second sock is looking like.  there will be some frogging. 

oh, finally some sale news. Graceful Stitches is having it's Fall Sale, today and tomorrow.  10% off all yarns, 50% off novelties.   I'll be there tomorrow from 10-1. 

Transformation

one of the things i like best about spinning is watching a big pile of prepared wool  ...

get transformed through spinning ....

into yarn ....

that i then knit up ...

into a lacy scarf.  i still need to block.

the wool is coopworth sliver in nightshade by spunky eclectic.  it's a gorgeous mix of dark grays, rust, burgundy and lavender.

the scarf pattern is branching out from knitty.