Wednesday, May 28, 2008

icky, but need good thoughts

i could use some good healing vibes from everyone for a dear friend of mine.......

my 'brother' thrall was in a car accident last weekend......luckily, he was the only one involved.

he totalled his van, and almost lost his left index finger, along with the use of his left hand.

they saved the finger, but he's gonna need some more surgery and lots of rehab/PT to get back movement at all; he will prolly never get back a full range of movement in that hand. it will prolly be a year before he can really work again, and at least a year until he is allowed to drive.

on the upside, he is thinking about going back to school to find himself a different career...........

and it scared him straight (mostly)!! it's never good when it takes a catastophic incident to make someone see the light and get smart, but with all too many people, it really does take something that horrid.......and i'm proud of him for setting a reasonable goal, such as safe partying, rather than an improbable one, such as never partying again........

no matter how dumb at times, i still love him dearly........and wish him all the best!!!

and hey, this means he'll prolly be at war for a full two weeks.......and i think i get to drag him to classes!! now, to get more info on his new garb.......barbary corsair!!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

spinning pics

so finally, i've got some pics of my handspun up.......

most of them are absolutely horrid pics.........but what can you do?? my camera is an older digital, i'm not great at photos to start with......and the yarn is typical first yarn, oddly thick/thin, and plied weird.........and it didn't help that i was plying as at artyarn, with crochet cotton thread!!



so there's the roving, with the single and the spindle i spun it on (it's brass and stainless, and i'ts for sale kids!!)

and here is the same stuff plied and skeined, before washing::



but this fuzzball stuff is pretty cool........




............if i do say so myself! and yes, that's from my cat fur; he's a longhair, and it's shed season......i might just start collecting the shed and keeping it, it takes quite a bit to spin up any amount......

and here's my little fiber junkie-in-progress, playing with a spindle for the first time........



........she's using two different colors of yarn together, so she can see the spin.........i think learning to spin is gonna be our next summer project, as well as maybe dyeing with kool aid.......and maybe felting. i got her a lapp (a mill by-product) of wool/silk/rayon blend that evidently spins easily, felts well, and takes dye easily.........so i think that's the start of the summer learning!! now we just hafta figure out what to do, she'll be learning on my plying spindle.......i might hafta alter my other dropspindle (it's set up for bottom whorl, with a notch on the long end of the shaft and a point on the other) and cut off the point and put in a hook, so i can ply with it while she's using my louet student spindle.....

we'll see.

or maybe i'll just get him to make me a heavier one, to ply with!! because i will have more plying to do, hopefully soon......i also picked up two more rovings for me, in "blueberries and cream" and "blue spruce".........the blueberries is for him, they are both superwash, i think he's getting another hat......not sure what to do with mine, we'll hafta see how much yarn i get out of it!!

anyways, that's my latest obsession.......for lots more pics, those of you with ravelry check out my stash page, or those of you without, my flickr account......all the pics are up there!!

Monday, May 5, 2008

steampunk circus

so drogo found me the pic of the guy from the steampunk circus......




he's wearing another of our monocles.........

and here's the website of said circus::

http://zirkubu.com/

all things amusing!! though the website is kinda infuriating to navigate....but this looks like it would be a really fun thing to go see.......

and coming soon:: pics of my spinning.........

we will be in new hope pa for the street ren faire this coming weekend.......wish us luck, or come out and see!!

Thursday, May 1, 2008

spinning

since this is my current latest obsession........

i wanna be as good as this woman!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynrwcqZzlGk

i won't be........i dont' have the patience, and i didn't learn at age 4 and done it every day for years on end.........

but i can covet skills as well as stuff, right???