Thursday, October 18, 2007
"Jane, Get Me Off This Crazy Thing!!"
Remember back in the day when your mom or dad would take you to the park and you'd get on the merry-go-round and they would push it and you would spin and laugh and yell "MORE, MORE, Love.To.Spin!" then you'd get off and your parents would laugh cuz you'd be walking around like a drunken sailor just off the bar stool. Well, this has been my life for the last 2 weeks. But without the merry-go-round and without the alcohol. Apparently I have some kind of middle ear infection or some crap, that causes me to be dizzy and stumble and fall over, for no apparent reason. Even laying in bed causes the room to spin uncontrollably. And not in a fun way. I even went and got a brain scan last week, and shocker of all things, I actually have one up there, but nothing else was wrong so they're still considering it to be a middle ear infection. Today I finished my 10 days of antibiotics and I still feel like crap. They switched my motion sickness medicine from Antivert to Valium which means I can't take them during the day unless my boss doesn't mind me napping at my desk, which I can't see him accepting, so no remedies for me during the day. And all the Valium really does is make me sleep, which I did ALL weekend, last weekend except for a few hours here and there, so other than feeling well rested the symptoms are not gone and we're going on two weeks here. Total DRAG!!
It's October, and they're swimming!
I did manage to get some knitting and some spinning done, and I actually have some pictures to document the fruits of my labor.
Way back, for some holiday (I suck at remembering stuff) Amby got me silk hankies. And no, these aren't the dainty kind you blow your nose with and then pray they come clean in the laundry. These are the awesome hand dyed silk cocoon kind that you have to delicately peel apart (after exfoliating the hell out of your hands cuz even air causes it to snag) and then pre-draft and then spin. I started spinning this on my drop spindle but because the staple length of silk is so incredibly long and because this fiber is so intensely strong it was really taking its toll on my wrist. So this past weekend I peeled every single layer apart, 
pre-drafted each one and then spun it all up on Ms. Ashley. Then I plied it, steamed it and voila!! Gorgeous, 125 yards worth of spun silk! 
Whaddya think?
I also finished the boot socks for my mechanic friend, I just need him to try them on before I kitchener the toe.
These were a pretty quick knit, considering that I didn't work on them every day, but doing both at the same time was really nice as to avoid SSS. 
The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Superwash, and I really really like this yarn. I'm anxious to wash these and see how they look after a good washing.
pre-drafted each one and then spun it all up on Ms. Ashley. Then I plied it, steamed it and voila!! Gorgeous, 125 yards worth of spun silk! 
Whaddya think?
I also finished the boot socks for my mechanic friend, I just need him to try them on before I kitchener the toe.
These were a pretty quick knit, considering that I didn't work on them every day, but doing both at the same time was really nice as to avoid SSS. 
The yarn is Knit Picks Swish Superwash, and I really really like this yarn. I'm anxious to wash these and see how they look after a good washing.I had posted previously about my silk dyeing class I took at Mt. Bruce a few weeks back and teased you with this photo. Well, I unwrapped it and took a few pictures and this is what I got: 
It was Rit dye so the colors aren't super vibrant, and I'm kinda on the fence about the fold lines, but the pleats are super cool for sure. I need to order some blanks and try some different dye and some kool-aid too, for some super bright colors!! I think these would make cool gifts, so I need to get my booty in gear if I'm going to get any done for Christmas.
I also finally started the Touch Me gloves for a friend of mine, and since I was in the 2 socks.at.the.same.time mode, I thought hey, genius (this is how I refer to myself of course) why not do two gloves at once, at least until you get to the tricky part. Great idea!!
One small problem though. Since I am not really following a true pattern, and I winged it on the first pair, I was guessing on a few things, like needle size, since I failed to make note of that on my "pattern". I only just checked back thru my blog archives TODAY and discovered I had used size 2 Addi's, and these gloves were cast on to size 4 Addi's. CRAP! Oh well, it was a good practice run, but I thought they felt kinda loose. This frees up my 4's for some socks for me, and now I just have to find my 2's. I must get thru these gloves first though, before I start socks for me! Crap, I hate these kinds of obligations. But cold weather is coming, and I promised these gloves quite some time ago.
One small problem though. Since I am not really following a true pattern, and I winged it on the first pair, I was guessing on a few things, like needle size, since I failed to make note of that on my "pattern". I only just checked back thru my blog archives TODAY and discovered I had used size 2 Addi's, and these gloves were cast on to size 4 Addi's. CRAP! Oh well, it was a good practice run, but I thought they felt kinda loose. This frees up my 4's for some socks for me, and now I just have to find my 2's. I must get thru these gloves first though, before I start socks for me! Crap, I hate these kinds of obligations. But cold weather is coming, and I promised these gloves quite some time ago. That's all I have for now. I'll leave you with these great pictures from 2 weekends ago up north. The colors are changing and it's really hard to come home with such beautiful surroundings. (click any to make them bigger)
The riding gang!
I love rainbows!
It's October, and they're swimming!
Labels: Hunter Socks, Shibori, Spinning, Touch Me gloves, Up North
// posted by Dana @ 10:34 AM 
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The silk is gorgeous-- if only I was that good on a spindle. Feel better lady! (I had to get a brain scan once, and if you're anything like me being trapped in a tube for an hour is no fun).
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