Expanding my spinning

I am just an intermediate spinner - I'm getting better at being consistent, but I'm not yet able to intentionally choose a particular type of yarn weight I want and then produce it - still in the "let's see how this turns out" stage.

My usual style is sort of a modified short draw as I mainly spin with commercially prepared top, which results in a worsted or semi-worsted yarn. My goal is to learn to do long draw and make woolen fiber, but I'm not there yet.

Lately it has been fun to branch out into new (for me) types of fibers. I've been buying bits here and there and now that I've gotten the sweater yarn long term project finally about wrapped up, and freed up some bobbins, I'm starting to explore these new fibers. Yesterday was so beautifully sunny that I spent some time on the back deck with a bag of llama fiber. I have two colors of top, a cream and a pale tan/cream mix. Just 3.9 ounches, so I plan to spin the colors into separate singles and then ply them together and hope that I'll get enough yarn to knit something real.

The llama staple is longer than the Finn I've been spinning lately, but very soft feeling. It isn't as clean as I'm used to and there are bits of veg. matter in spots, but it is still easy to spin. I've heard that llama can be very dusty and that even pre-cleaned, the resulting yarn can use another bath when it is finished. The single so far is fairly thin, but I'm not managing to get rid of the occasional lumpy spot, which I wasn't getting with the Finn. Pretty sure it is me rather than the fiber, however. It is also a bit - hairy I guess I'd call it. I think this yarn is going to be fuzzier than what I've been spinning.

I've got lots more to play with - some merino/silk, pygora, and some baby camel/merino mix that I bought at the fair. Plus some blue faced leicester in natural and hand painted colors, and also the Jacob roving that I got at the fair. If only the pesky day job didn't get in the way of the spinning!

And then the spinning is getting in the way of the knitting. I'm not making a lot of progress on the many projects I have on the needles. Mom's cardigan is languishing because I'm afraid that it is turning out too big and I don't want to acknowledge the truth of it. My Aeolian shawl is coming along, but it is white and delicate so I couldn't drag it places like camping, which means I now have a camping-knitting lace scarf in a dark color to finish as well. And then there is the cable cardigan with the Roni-created stain that needs to be reknit partially, and the t-shirt strip rug for the bathroom that I'm reknitting in a different stitch, and that red sweater that needs sewing up and . . . and . . . and . . . I need to schedule some enforced project completion soon.

My Aeolian swal in progress. 2/31 yarn, 50% cashmere/50% linen from Colourmart. The thinnest yarn I've ever knit with! It really needs smaller than size 2 needles, but I was afraid that either the shawl would turn out too small, or I'd be knitting extra repeats for the rest of my life. So, it will be very open and airy fabris.

Shepard's Extravaganza

We took a break from our brief camping trip to go to the Spring Fair in Puyallup. This was a carefully crafted plan by me to make sure I got to do a little wool shopping - I picked the camp ground location because of its proximity to the fair, and its advertised Shepard's Extravaganza.

I'd never been to the Spring Fair before - it turned out to be a scaled down version of the Fall, really a perfect size for J & Roni who don't feel the need to look at every cow, every chicken, and every wonder gadget selling booth, which is the tradition in my family.

J's favorite part was the rides, Roni's was the sour dough chili bowl, and mine was the wonderful shopping opportunity in the wool barn. J unexpectedly turned out to be terrified of the tractor moving wood chips into the barn at one end, so Roni had to take our sobbing, clinging boy out to wait, so I rushed a bit, but I still managed to get some fabulous fiber - an emerald green/black romney & alpaca mix, some hand painted BFL, and the softest thing I've ever felt in a fiber, a baby camel blend. I spent some time talking to a woman about her jacob sheep flock, so I got 4 ounces of a soft grey from her sheep as well to try.

I spent some time looking at the fleeces as well that were for sale after the judging, but I'm not prepared yet to try to process a whole fleece, not with my little hand carders. But it was interesting to read the judges' comments to learn what they look for in a fleece, and also to see the completely different types of locks the different breeds have. Someday, when I have a drum carder and I've learned to spin woolen using a long draw instead of my usual short draw, I'll jump into fleece buying. But for now, the fiber storage dresser is going to be hard pressed to fit my already processed purchases as it is.

We came back to the wool barn as our last stop of the day to watch a herding dog demonstration. No sheep to be herded, however, (oddly, sheep were the only animals that we never saw at the fair - horses, cows, multitudes of goats and chickens, even lamas and pheasants, but nary a sheep to be found) so the dogs demonstrated their skills at moving small duck flocks about the pen, through a tunnel and over ramps. The dogs seemed dedicated, but the ducks were very unhappy about their adventure in bridge climbing.

Sleeping in a tent

The first camping trip of the year went well. The weather cooperated beautifully and Dash Point State Park turned out to be a lovely location to try out our new gear and J's camping stamina. Not too far, trails through the woods, and a sandy beach at the end of one trail so J could dig for hours.

The tent is very tall, to the point that I think I'd have difficulties putting it up by myself. And 6' 4" Roni can stand up in it without trouble. It is six sided, so lots of room in the corners for each person's bag of clothes and sundries. Our new extra thick sleeping mats were wonderful, and the new bags kept us toasty. We had a little trouble keeping J in his - he didn't like to have it zipped but he thrashes so he kept coming uncovered. Plus, he was so excited about the whole camping experience that when it was his time to go to sleep he meandered in circles around the inside of the tent for over an hour instead, repeatedly coming to the mesh window to check on us and the fire.

The fire was one of the hitches in the trip - the wood wasn't very dry and while it kept going for the most part, it was with more of a smolder than a roar. I also had to take myself for a walk at one point because I was becoming far too controlling of Roni's efforts in fire building. I'm learning, slowly. It did get going enough for smores, which was J's only real concern. He ate his weight in marshmallows and then polished off the rest of the chocolate when I wasn't looking.

Second hitch: despite the mound of belongings we brought with us, we managed to forget the lantern, Roni's glasses (and contact solution) and - the true emergency - coffee makings. So when I got up in the morning, in true car-camping fashion Roni'd already made a Starbucks run, proving we weren't even remotely in the wilderness. But this was just a test camping; we'll get farther out and for longer next time. And we definitely need to pare down our supplies. For a single night's camping we managed to bring enough to fill the Highlander to the roof. That must change.

Off to the wilderness

OK, maybe not wilderness, as we're heading to a state park with all the running water amenities, but we're still all excited about going on our first camping trip of the year. We car campers like to have a little civilization with our wilderness.

And we've upgraded! Here is our new tent:

We needed something bigger as on last year's trip, Roni's head and feet were tucked tightly against the walls of my only-adequate starter tent. Also, due to a mishap with a hot propane lantern that fell outside, the old tent has a round hole melted in it, at perfect height for water and mice to enter the tent.

So, we are now the proud owners of the REI Camp Dome 5 person tent. Very tall and plenty wide, so there should be lots of room for two adults, two kids and all the assorted paraphernalia that car campers require.

Once the online REI shopping spree began, I also added two of these three season sleeping bags, supposedly good to 20+ degrees. I doubt they'll be used much at below freezing temps, but they'll be warmer than the slumber party type we've been using. And Roni's is extra long so he'll fit. And I got 3" self-inflating sleeping pads as well. We will be camping in comfort!

J and (eventually) D will still need new warmer bags, but since this is just a test run camping trip, we'll take enough blankets for J, and he can use my old sleeping pad for his younger and more tolerant bones. He slept on the floor for months, so he'll be happy.

That's the end of the new list, but J and I hit the Goodwill and Fred Meyer to add to our permanent camping kit, so we've pots & pan & mismatched silverware & plastic dishes & cans of propane, so I think we're set. The goal is to have a kit we can just grab and go with any time the camping whim strikes. There is so much of the state that Roni & J have never seen, and many places I haven't been to in years. The boys and I will have the summer to explore, and Roni can join us on the weekend trips.

The weather report is encouraging too, so even though this is a very brief trip, it should be a great start to the summer!

Here we go a WASLing

This is the second day of the WASL testing at our school. There are at least four days to go, plus make-up days, so it makes it a very quiet time in the library. Two classes without standard desks are using the library space, and then at the end of the regular test period all the students who need more time come into the library to finish.

I send out an email that the library has reopened when the final student leaves. Yesterday the email went out at 2:16. Today I don't think we'll be opening before school is out as two students still remain. Poor things! Nearly seven and a half hours they've worked on their reading tests. And towards the end they've dealt with numerous interruptions. Some unavoidable, some very annoying. How are a bright gold "Quiet, Testing" and a bold red "Library CLOSED" signs not enough to keep students from banging through the doors, hollering out their presence? They look so indignant when we shoosh them away.

Here is the library, set up for the students:

Other than a little supervision duties and some test collection from classrooms, I've not been assigned to many WASL duties, so I've been cataloging books and cleaning up catalog records.

Other library news: a little while ago my aide and I decided that we'd switch out our plain office chairs for something more challenging. My back has felt better, and the balancing is fun. The kids also find it quite entertaining.

Here is my L.U. (loyal underling - she named herself) on her new "chair."

Celebrating Spring

We had a great time on Saturday coloring the eggs. J. took great care and pride in his coloring, and the shrink wrap sleeves amazed and delighted him. He's getting pretty good with his balance, so with a little mom help he got to pour the boiling water on some of them to shrink the sleeves.

We only broke two eggs, and we split the damage between us, so it was a success! The eggs won't be very edible as I forgot them while boiling and some of them boiled for over 15 minutes (oops) but how many hard boiled eggs could we eat, anyway?

I'm puzzled by the inclusion of a brown dye pellet. Wouldn't people who wanted brown eggs just buy brown ones?

Sunday we went for brunch to my aunt's house, who had the usual fabulous feast, including a special lamb dish for Roni, who couldn't eat the ham. He brought along matzabrai (sp?) for his bread since all the flour products were also off limits until Pesach ends next week.

J is still a little confused about why a bunny hides his eggs, but he enjoyed finding them, and his slightly older cousin was good about leaving some of them for him - his detection skills mean that the eggs needed to be in pretty obvious spots!

The brunch timing meant no nap - he held up well, but was asleep in the car on the way home before we got to the first traffic light.

Also, to show that all the holidays were covered, on Wednesday we had our Pesach Seder. It was just the three of us, and J's attention span was sorely tested, but it was a moderate success. We remembered all the items for the Seder plate this year! And although J's mini-meltdown left Roni alone at the table at one point, reading the prayers alone, J did last long enough to open the door for Elijah and to hunt down the hidden matzah cracker. And really, considering it is all in Hebrew, and J is only three and had been sick all week, it went as well as could be expected!

Working day

So, it is another working day. I feel so good here, it seems like everybody is sick all the time maybe it is our company but it is kind of amazing.

I am looking at my computer and thinking "NOT ANOTHER DAY !!!". I believe I will be a great rich person just traveling the world and seeing great places but not me I am here down town well, not really but very close.

I added another story: http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE5305VQ20090401
which explains what drinking is doing to you.

Anyway, I will keep with that later. Got to go back to work.

- Roni

It is a quiet day here at the library, as well. Tomorrow the state testing begins, so all the classes are coming in to get books to read after the test, should they finish early. But they don't need me for the physical check out, though I try to roam and offer suggestions for choices. So I've been behind the counter cataloguing and sticking labels in books, and it isn't very exciting. But it will be worse tomorrow. Once the testing starts, all talking ceases and for two weeks it is as if the energy has been drained from the building. I wish I dared get out my knitting then . . .

And, honey, remember that you are a relatively wealthy person, traveling the world. You live in a foreign land! You get to go camping in a new tent this weekend! In a month or two you get to go to Taiwan! But I agree that we do need to figure out where we're heading in the next few years - not locations, but purpose seems to be a bit lacking for us lately.

Re: the drinking story. Is there a worry there? The one bottle of wine a month is too extreme?

- Johnna

Spinning my wheels

I've been working off and on to spin enough wool for a sweater - time to break out of hat sized amounts of yarn! I was very happy with some goldish yarn that I'd made, so I tried to dye a big batch of Finn wool the same colors, but ended up with more and darker brown patches than I meant to have.

I've spun and spun and spun over the last few months, if we take that to mean every once in a while I got a chance to spin a little while J. was otherwise occupied. So the time span was long, but the spinning time was sparse! But now I have plied seven skeins of what seems to be sport weight wool.

And I don't like it.

I had almost convinced myself that I liked it and then a knitting friend visited and commented that it looked like 70s appliance colors. Harvest gold, wasn't it?

And now I know I don't like it.

Luckily, there is more brown dye in the world, and it will be going back into the pot. A more solid color will open up options for patterns anyway as I won't have to worry about the effects of variegated on the pattern.

But it seems like a lot of work to have done to make sort of ugly yarn!

These are the singles - I like them much better than the plied yarn. The gold stands out more than the brown in the singles. I still need to take a picture of the plied yarn.

Our new experiment

Roni has finally talked me into trying a blog, nervous as I am about
- family privacy
- being to boring to post about
- our already obsessive computer use

But it could be fun, so we're going to give it a try. At least Savta Tova and Grandma Sue will have a new source of grandson news.

- Johnna

We need this blog because in a few years, we'll want to go back and stare at our previous lives.

- Roni