A Song for Ewe

Rough mix of a silly new song!

OK, this one has been in the works for a long time, but it took me until yesterday to finally record a study copy. I now need to keep working on memorization and playing the guitar part better. There WILL be a more polished version eventually, but for now, enjoy a good chuckle over my knitting and spinning obsession.

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep

But it didn't get no better 'cause all them sheep turned into sweaters

With thousands of twisted stitches

Look real fine with some Harris Tweed britches

Got knittin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And as long as I'm countin' them sheep

I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep...

Knit four, purl four, moss stitch and cable

Oh, Lordy, gotta drink myself under the table

Before I feel better...no more sheep turnin' into sweaters...

Put away my knittin' needles...Tweedle deedle deedle...

And as long as I'm countin' them sheep

I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep

And I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues

Now the hamster's on the wheel and he ain't bein' too genteel

And I'm dumb as a box of rocks

'Cause now I'm thinkin' 'bout knittin' socks

Oh, man, you may be a charmer

But I ain't gonna knit you no willie warmer

No, man, I do not care if you are cold down there

Damn! I'm still countin' them sheep

And I ain't gonna be gettin' me no sleep

'Cause I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues...

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep

Lord, I'm in the grip and posession

Of a mighty fierce wool obsession

With dreams of expandin' my stash if I only had me a little more cash

Got knittin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin' blues...

Yeah, I know I got enough t keep me knittin' for several lifetimes

But passin' by sale bins, Lord, can't do that, what a crime

To walk out on such great deals

And man, just look at them spinnnin' wheels!

Get away with them spindles and silk, and...

Whatcha mean, you can even spin milk?

Now I got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them sheep-countin' wool spinnin' blues...

Went to bed last night and I tried to get me some sleep

Kept a-tossin' and turnin' so I tried countin' sheep...

But man, what's the deal? They're all turnin' into spinnin' wheels

And piles of wooly fiber, enough to bury Lady Godiva

Now I got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them wool-spinnin' yarn-makin' blues...

You realize there's no end to this, every day it's a new obsession...

Merino....Alpaca....Camel....Cashmere...

Oh, man, I'm in trouble

And I better get outta here on the double...

Got spinnin' on the brain and it's drivin' me insane

And I got them sheep-countin' sweater-knittin'

wool-spinnin' yarn-makin' blues...

Happy Birthday, Grant!

51 years beautiful!

God bless you, my friend!

These two songs are from Grant's forthcoming album,

"The Argument."

I have no idea exactly when it's forthcoming,

but maybe within the year?

Fingers crossed...

And please, if you can, help kickstart Every Everything.

Grant's story needs to be told.

Every little bit helps reach the goal!

Finally! Please help if you can!

I just got word on this excellent project this morning, and if there was ever a time when I wished I could WIN BIG in the lottery, this is it. Not for the perks I could get for being a big contributor. I wouldn't care if the director didn't give me a single extra thing for my contribution. Having the project completed would be enough, which is not to say I am ungrateful for the perks I'm being offered for my contribution. Au contraire. I think it's awfully nice that he is offering perks to folks who make a donation, but...

To quote immortal first words ever uttered to me by Grant Hart, albeit in an entirely different context, "It's about f*cking time!"

Director Gorman Bechard's next project is to a be a documentary about the life and times of Grant Hart. And it's about f*cking time the story got told, in my not-so-humble-opinion. A link to the fund-raising site is posted at the end of this entry; at least have a look at the promotional trailer, and if it moves you to part with a few bucks, great! Every little bit will help.

Every Everything

"Fiber Friday" Eye Candy

So much working on the business this week, I didn't accomplish a real lot of knitting or spinning, but at least there are a couple of things to show for another week's passing.

This is "Canyon Sunset," obtained from Heavenly Fiber. I lost the card with the fiber content info, so am waiting to hear back from the seller. I'm pretty sure there's wool (or maybe alpaca?) and some silk, and a couple of colors of glitzy stuff. I loooooove sparkle, and look at all the PURPLE!!!! 2 ply, 1.9 oz, 172 yards, and I still have another equal-size batt to spin and ply!

ETA -- And the fiber content is...Merino, Blue Faced Leicester, milk fiber, faux cashmere, silk, and carbonized bamboo! Yummmmmm...

On the designing front, I wrote up a pattern for this little scarf yesterday, and now am test-knitting it. One, this will give me pictures of a finished item to use in my pattern leaflet. Two, the knitting of it will reveal, and enable me to correct, any and all mistakes I may have made in the writing. So far, so good. I think I have now caught them all.
The roving came from The Knotty Ewe. It's hand dyed Blue Faced Leicester wool. I spun it into a 2 ply yarn a few months ago, and I have a total of 305 yards to use in this project. I don't know what that will translate into, as far as total length of the scarf goes. However, I'm aiming to market the pattern as a "use up your handspun" project. Use any gauge yarn you like, and whatever needles match up with it, and the fabric you hope to produce, and off you go. Knit 'til you a) run out of your chosen yarn, or b) your scarf reaches the desired total length (bearing in mind, of course, that it will stretch and lengthen after washing).
The yarn is really soft and has a nice halo. This is the first time I have tried to use any of my handspun BFL yarns. Needless to say, I'm in love, and think there will be a lot more of this sort of yarn in my future.
Not much else to report, beyond that I now have a singing gig every other week at a local RC parish. I signed up to cantor Mass at 7:30 AM every other Sunday. Am I mad? Well, no. I'm a morning person, and I enjoy the meditative quality of that early Mass. I have not done any solo singing in public for years, and have only been singing alone in my room when no one is home. So, I'm a bit nervous, but also excited. I just hope I do OK and don't get overcome by last-minute stage fright.

Go figure. I used to perform a LOT, semi-professionally, and I sang in choirs in Providence and Boston with no fear at all. But too much negative input and petty jealousy and the tangled web of group politics left me feeling like there was nothing in the world I could do right, so bit by bit, I gave up the whole business. Something that should have been beautiful and uplifting quickly became exhausting and depressing. Enough was enough.

Part of me thinks I'm out of my mind for even thinking about doing this. But it has, after all, been nearly 10 years since The Great Praise Band Debacle/Crucifixion. I would like to think that the sense of security I've been lulled into is not false this time.

Excited-scared-excited-scared-excited...oh, help!

The Serbian Spindle

I think it was just about a month ago, when I stumbled across a lady on Ravelry, who happens to live in Serbia, and happens to buy hand made spindles from the local purveyors of such things. She had a bunch on hand that she was hoping to sell, so I wrote to her and learned I could have one for a mere $5.00, plus $10.00 for shipping. Well! What a deal! So, I ordered one and, not knowing how long it might take for the spindle to arrive on my doorstep, I sort of forgot about it.

Today, there was a package in the mailbox, and the return address said Serbia. It took me a minute to remember having ordered the spindle, and I gleefully tore of the package and went to find the perfect fiber for my first try.

I had some lovely pin-drafted roving I scored at the Happy Hands Yankee Swap around Christmastime, and that seemed perfect: a pretty color, and properly rustic.

It took me quite awhile to get the hang of it, and while I am getting a pretty sturdy thick-and-thin single for my trouble, I probably am not spinning EXACTLY like a Serbian lady would.

It's not a supported spindle, nor is it a drop spindle. It's somewhere in between, and you spin off the point, as one would do with a Navajo spindle. One flicks the tip of the spindle between thumb and forefinger, and if it's being done properly, there will be a little "pop" sound on each spin. It's actually quite a cheerful sound, and made me think of "Pop Goes the Weasel."

So, as you can see, this spindle is rather plain and simple. Nothing ornate about it. It's a basic tool: a workhorse. I think it's quite elegant in its austerity.

For something so light weight, it spins a rather heavy yarn, and it reminds me a lot of the skein Grant bought me in Serbia a couple of years ago. Based on the way my yarn is spinning up, I'm beginning to wonder if perhaps that beautiful skein of handspun was actually spindle spun rather than wheel spun. I suppose I'll never know, but that does not stop me wondering!

New Creations

Being an avid spindler with a vast collection of spindles and multiple projects-in-progress, it really was sort of shocking that I only possessed one wrist distaff. So, a couple of weeks ago, I made one for myself, then made another, just for a lark, and listed it in my store. I figured it would sit there a long time, so imagine my surprise when it sold with an hour!

So, I made a second one, and it sold very quickly, too, and then I got a request for a custom one, and then a request to barter a distaff and some yarn for some luscious spinning fibers!

I made a bunch more. This one is one of my favorites so far. It lives in Minnesota now, with a very happy owner who says she wonders how she ever managed to spindle without one. Well!

This next one was a custom order. The lady wanted a chartreuse sort of mix, and that's exactly what she got! I love this one, too.

And here's a custom one I just made today. Could I stand to make it with supplies I already hand on hand? Of course not! The good news is, I have enough of the yarn and beads to make a couple more, so I'll cover my costs and make a wee profit, too. I love making these things, even though they are a bit time-consuming. (It takes me about an hour, if I don't have any interruptions).

Now, because I can't show this off on Ravelry until I've mailed my samples, let me introduce my "Blinded by Science" hand-blended, hand-pulled, hand chained roving, "Curie." Unfortunately, the picture doesn't quite capture the vivid lime green of the Angelina Glitz I blended in with the Merino wool. But I was thinking of Marie Curie, and her tons of pitchblende, and her Radium. This fiber puts me in mind of Marie walking into that shed and seeing the glow of radium for the first time. Wild. Not fully isolated yet. Just...glowing in the dark from piles and piles of pitchblende.

OK, maybe it wasn't really quite like that, but permit me to hang on to my romantic notions....

It's Not About the Haircut...

I can't argue with success. As of this morning, I was down a total of 17 lbs. When I started Weight Watchers on January 3rd, I weighed 212.8 lbs. Around the holidays, which is when the picture on the left was taken, I would guess I weighed a bit more than that.

If this keeps up, I am going to need to make a trip to Sallie's Boutique and see if I can find some smaller pants, cheap. Even the smaller size pants I have now, from my last go-round with Weight Watchers, are fitting me like clown pants!

What amazes me is I can already see a BIG difference in my face, especially in my nose and chin. Who would ever think of someone's NOSE getting fat? But it was definitely looking more bulbous than pointy.

I celebrated by dusting off the hair clippers and mowing my head, and now I feel more like myself again.

I also have a new song in the works...a blues tune about my wool obsession...and I know a bunch of knitting and spinning folks who will just about die laughing when they hear it. I just need to be absolutely certain of how I intend to perform it before I make a recording. Once it's set and uploaded, I'll post a link here.

Yesterday was a marathon day of working on my shop, so today I have not really done anything with wool, beyond a little bit of knitting on a hat I am test-knitting for a designing friend. It's coming out nicely, but I am taking my time and enjoying the process, and using the "Space Jazz" yarn I posted pictures of earlier in the week. It's wonderful yarn to work with, even if I do say so myself. :-)

Edited to Add -- Adorable teapot earrings by Cofanetto! People, this woman absolutely SINGS with fimo clay creations! I have a pair of her blue-flowered teapots, too -- a present she sent me when I was having a bad time and feeling, very, very down. Let me tell you, it is IMPOSSIBLE to feel "down" when I look at these little teapots, and I really treasure them!