Another Happy Weekend

And, a bit of randomness.

First, spinning. I bought some cotton fiber a while back to try to learn to spin it. My first effort was with a very lightweight drop spindle, and it was a total disaster. Cotton fiber has a very short staple length, less than an inch, so unless you get a ton of twist into it very quickly, it just drifts apart. I’m not easily discouraged, however. After a bit of research, I found an Akha spindle. It sat here for the past few weeks, staring at me, and yesterday I decided to try to conquer it.

Here were my first few attempts at cotton yarn.

Um, yes, I know. That didn’t go so well. I downloaded an “e-book” from the Bellwether, and in no time, I had progressed to this.

Still a little uneven, but much better. It doesn’t look quite so much like dryer lint at this point. I’ll keep working on it.

Next up, knitting. I’m still working on that big-ass cabled sweater project. I’ve done more rows, but the photos don’t really look like it. I have started another mystery project that will take up all my knitting time until it’s done. Unfortunately, since it’s sort of a surprise, I can’t show photos here. Remember this? That was the very pink Wallaby for my niece Angie’s first baby, Riley. After I sent her that, Angie asked for the rest of the yarn, since she wanted to learn to knit, and loved the color. Off it went to her. Apparently it’s been marinating as stash for the past few years. Angie is now expecting their second baby, another daughter. I got an email from her a few weeks ago. She asked very plaintively if I’d knit something for the new baby if she mailed the yarn back. Here it is.

The Pepto Pink Cotton Ease is very happy to be back in my stash. I have an unreasonable love for the old colors of this stuff. The newer colors are OK, but just not as screamingly vivid as the original colors. You’ll just have to wait and see what this becomes. I will say it won’t be another Wallaby. That’s all I’m spilling for now.

Here’s another random photo.

My Christmas cacti are clearly confused again.

Last, but certainly not least, today is a very special day. Somebody in my house might just be having a very significant birthday. John and I went shopping yesterday, and came home with a cool present for him to celebrate. It came in this box.

The television that came in this box replaced an ancient TV that was so old I’m surprised it had color. The birthday boy is very happy. We’re doing up the day properly. We’re off to Seattle today. We have tickets to the symphony tonight after a swell dinner here. Tomorrow we’re going out for brunch, then we have tickets to see the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum. He definitely deserves a special celebration. It’s not every day, after all, that you qualify for Medicare. 😉

Wish him a happy birthday, we’re off for the party!

Author: Lorette

My name is Lorette. I learned to knit in 1999, and took up spinning in 2009. I'm a physician specializing in internal medicine, and live in the Pacific Northwest. Enjoy my blog! View all posts by Lorette