I know I've been quiet. It's amazing how all at one time there can be wonderful things mixed with dreadful things. It's also hard sometimes to know how much to write and how much to keep to myself.
Remember back in January when I mentioned Lou's Dad?
Well, he had the laryngectomy in January after going through chemo and radiation all last summer. Those two things had no effect on the cancer. It continued to grow. So they cut it out. He hasn't had a voice since winter and it's been hard. Two weeks ago the visiting nurse didn't like the looks of things and insisted that Pop go to the doctor. The doctor must not have liked it either because he did a biopsy right there. The cancer is back and growing quickly. Lou left 2 weeks ago and I went with the little kids to visit in Delaware this past week. It's a hard thing to see. This man who I've grown to love. Hospice is coming in now and they've said that their main purpose is pain control.
Here he is with his brothers this past October when we were hopeful that he'd beaten this terrible disease.
I'm here at home. My husband is in Delaware. If it weren't for the shop I'd be there with him doing all I could to help. Here's the part where I'm torn between the shop hours and just running off and doing what I want to be doing, which is to be with my whole family.

Two Hundred and One Days

Got this today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

June 13, 2007

Dear Margaret,

You've been anxiously waiting. The SOAR confirmations are complete! This email is jam packed with the details as well as weblinks for further information.

This year we had an overwhelming response. While we tried to confirm everyone into their first or second choice of workshop we were not able to place everyone due to the number of applicants. While we would love to be able to accommodate all who are interested in attending SOAR, space limitations at Shanty Creek prevent this from being a possibility. You requeststed registration for Workshop&Retreat and have a status of Confirmed.

Your complete registration details are:
Retreat Yes TRUE

First choice workshop confirmed: TRUE, standby number NA
Spinning 201 Rudy Amann, Materials Fee: $30

Yeah, Margaret, that's my name don't wear it out.

Also, got this yesterday!

Hey there,

frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!
"Here you go! Thanks for your interest in our little site.
Let me know if you have any questions or problems!

Jess"

Now, I'm not sure how I'm going to have time to use all of that stuff buuuutttt it sure will be fun trying.

So let's sum up the rest of the year plus a little:

Galina!!!!

Sleepover with new friends!!!!!

SOAR for a whole week!!!! Not only is this 7 days of spinning loveliness but also 7 days that nobody is asking me what's for dinner. (I don't know whay that's been bugging me so much lately.)

Spinning Spider Jenny at my shop!!!!

Christmas!!!!!!

10 Days of Family fun at the Polynesian Hotel on the Monorail line with a Magic Kingdon View in Disney World!!!!!!!!!!!

That is a huge amount of exclamations to look forward to.

The Fiber of my Being

Again with the pictures. This is a shot of the shelves which hold a lot of my "fleece in the grease". Of course they don;t all fit in there but I've made a valiant effort. I came back from Spinner's Flock on Saturday with 9 more! I have absolutely no self control.

This cormo I got a short time ago. I just like it and so I took a picture.

Gotland Lamb!!! MMM Good.

This one I got a couple of months ago. California Red. It's Romney-like but very enjoyable to spin. There are reddish fibers mixed with the white and so it looks a little pinkish. I love it.

This one I did get on Saturday The staple length is sooo long and the luster! I need to wash some of this tomorrow and spin a sample. What kind, you ask? Can't remember. It's too late. I'll remember tomorrow and edit this with the correct info. Coopworth for crying out loud!

Black as night Romeldale. So beautiful and fine.

Rambouillet! How I love you Rambouillet.

This is a new Jacob to replace the prior Jacob which was mysteriously removed from the shop and carefully separated into two colors and washed and placed in storage for an upcoming spinning project. The thief is considering a cardigan with a black stripe around the bust area.

Believe ti or not, this is a WHITE Blue Faced Leicester fleece! I'd better wash this. It's a pretty small fleece so I think I'll wash the whole thing and sell it clean.

And this lovely thing is a beautiful bat which was carded on the Strauch Petite Carder by my own personal Batt Boy. He is the son of Erika. He spent some hours in my shop a couple of weeks ago and he was getting pretty bored - he's 7 you know. So I have a bag of fiber I keep for when there are odd little bits floating around the shop. I intended to take them to the mill to have a special blend made. I gave the bag of fiber and the carder to the kid and he started carding and processing. Altogether he made 6 batts I think. I kept this one and shipped the others home with him to spin. He spins on his drop spindle but he really wants his own wheel.

I'm waiting for him to come back and make me some more because...

here are my singles and....

here is the finished yarn. This yarn was spun on the Schacht- Reeves 24" Saxony with a short backward draft method. Due to the fact that the batt was only 1oz and that's all I had I plied it with Henry's Attic Cascade Silk - 2000 ypp. I LOVE this yarn. I'm pretty sure it can't be reproduced so I need to figure out what to do with this little bit. I probably should go back and see exactly how many yards I have so the planning can be more intelligent.

In other news, I'm having a sleepover. In August. In celebration of Galina. Erika is coming. Kate is coming. I am typing in short sentences due to hyperventilating. I am so excited I can hardly breath! Am I more excited about Galina or the other girls? I can't tell but I do know that it's going to be a fuuuuuuun breakfast when we all show up to meet George and Galina.

If you were interested in the Galina Workshop call me. Only a couple spots are left. If you have to travel to get here I probably could fit you into the sleepover too. It's gonna be fun. We're gonna have snacks.

O.K. before I start thinking too hard about snacks I'd better go to sleep. I'm hungry and it's too late to eat.

This was my total on Saturday morning. I've got 3 more weeks left on the program so it looks as if I'm not going to reach my goal in the allotted time. The good news is I may continue to lose a little during the stabilization phase. Then I have a year of maintenance where I could go back on the weight loss program and keep losing if I choose.

The other thing I haven't talked about is the 14.5 pounds I lost on Weight Watchers before I started LA Weightloss. Those 14.5 added to the 33.4 bring me to just under 48 altogether in the last 8 months. That's nothing to sneeze at considering when I started I was right at a loose size 20 pants and now I'm in a snug 10 which will be a comfortable 10 in another 5ish pounds.
I haven't worn a size ten pants since I was 25 years old!




Also, this! Disney World here I come! Already started planning the trip. I LOVE Disney World. I would live there if I could afford it. I could be like Eloise only I would be at the Grand Floridian and I wouldn't need a nanny.

Nothing knitting to talk about. Still spinning that support skein and working on the same shawl. More updates later.

Bed of Roses?

I'm trying to not get behind again so here's what I've been doing since Tuesday night. I wound these two balls of Briar Rose yarn. The one on top is Angel Face (2500 yards). It's alpaca. That one took forever to wind but it is a beauty. I need to find an appropriate pattern for it.
The one in the middle is Sea Pearl. 50% Merino and 50% Tencel. (1000 yards) That one took less than half the time to wind. (That was a joke.)
The one on the bottom is just funny and I'm not sure what it's made out of. I think it's pretty fine and strong like silk.

I started this today from the Sea Pearl using the After Hours Shawl Pattern for Briar Rose.
I've had this yarn for a while but I figured I'd better get to work since I'll be needing a shop sample! Yep, I'm going to be carrying the Briar Rose yarns in my shop! Well, I'll have a good selection of the Angel Face and Sea Pearl and then the others I'll have sample skeins and can do special orders.
I love these fibers and can't wait to have them. Don't worry, I'll only think about rolling naked in them - I won't actually do it. What if someone walked in?

There is Beauty All Around

I really am not trying to ignore this blog. I feel overwhelmingly busy with the shop and the two older girls home. My parents are coming and how will I ever get the house clean? So anyway, since I haven't been posting I have a lot to talk about and plenty of pictures. This first picture is of my first lace square I turned in to the lace knitter's group for a project they are working on. I only did one square because I wasn't sure if it was o.k. Faina accepted it but I need to go down a needle size for the next ones. I'm a very loose knitter. This was done with Zephyr on size 2.5mm needles. I actually think I'm going down 2 sizes to a 2.0 mm. I'll report when I get the next one finished.

This square was done by another lady in the group - can't recall her name, starts with an A - It's beautiful. She is very prolific and has at least 4 squares done for every meeting. Her knitting is beautiful and even.

Here's Sharon Winsauer with her Pegasus Shawl. She knit this test shawl and I think she's waiting for one other test and then it will be available for sale. I'm sure she used Alpaca With a Twist Fino for this. It is so beautiful. Have I used that word too much yet?

Also from the lace knitters group. This shawl was given by Evelyn Clark - yeah, that one. It uses Estonian Lace patterns for the center and the edging.

Here's a close up view. Beautiful, no?

O.K. not so beautiful. Not the magnets, my photo. These are in my shop for sale. Made by Shannah. She also has these for sale in her Etsy shop so if you want some go check it out. Free shipping!

Also available are these beautiful note cards. Lovely photography and the subject of the photographs are the cutest ever sheep, Llamas, chickens and raccoons. All tied with a pretty ribbon for a really great price. And free shipping.

On to more beauty. this week I got Fancy Kitty products into my shop. If you are a spinner or process wool and love beautiful tools. This is a great company for you. Here are just two examples of the wraps per inch gauges they make. The one with the swirly handle is mine so don;t even think about it. They come in those charming little red velvet bags.

This is an Hourglass Spinner from Fancy Kitty. All the stuff is made from beautiful and exotic woods with fantastic finishes. This particular spinner is from Leopard Wood and Ebony. I need to remember to bring one home today because I think Maggie could spin with this thing very easily.

And finally, a BEAUTIFUL Fancy Kitty Drum Carder. Holy Crap! I can't say any more about it.

Here's an update on my support spindle skein for the COE. There is approximately 1 ounce on there. I want to spin another o.2 ounce to be sure before I wind the skein off and wash it. Hopefully this week. I can't believe I've been doing this skein for 2 months now and I finally got to an ounce. In the mean time I did finish my Navajo Spindle skein. I forgot to take a picture. I did it from English Herdwick. Very rough but it would make a great and long lasting woven rug.

I got a new desk for the shop. Things are slowly coming along and looking like MY shop. I have some pictures in my head but I need to keep going slowly so that the final product is ....beautiful.

Here's the business side of the desk. Plenty of storage and also lovely to look at . See, I've only had it for a few days and it's already got junk all over it.

I also bought these other two pieces. Now I feel like I have a nice little office area where I can do that loathsome paperwork and feel halfway fine about it. Hm, maybe I should put that fleece away.

Here are the skeins for the HGA Learning Exchange. They are all Wensleydale. The black one I carded on the drum carder and spun woolen and the white ones I combed, pulled through the diz and spun worsted. I need to finish the wrap cards and break the plied skeins down into 5 yard lengths for all the participants. It all needs to be at the coordinator's house by June 30th.

We will have the evaluations as well as samples of everyone else's skeins in early September.

How abut this for beautiful. I got it on Ebay from Lithuania. It works too. I just need to put a more suitable drive band on the thing.

Here she is in all her glory. I'm looking for a name so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Pretty soon it will be time to find out if I can go to SOAR. It's taking a long time! I hope I got in. It is really expensive but it will be worth it. I will have a whole week of not having to think about what's for dinner - or even anybody asking me what's for dinner. Just spinning, spinning, spinning.

Holy cow, almost 9AM and I'm still in my jammies and have to leave in an hour. Gotta go and I'll try not to be so neglectful this week.

I got nuthin

Ok. That's not completely true but I'm still sans pictures and all I can think of is my darlin' who just got home from being away for what feels like 10 years. But that's that Pirate movie invading my thoughts again.

That's us. Well, in my dreams I look like that in a dress.

I got a new spinning wheel from ebay.

I have some new stuff coming from Fancy Kitty.

Brittney and I went to the movies and to the Melting Pot on Thursday.

I have been spinning up a storm and started some new socks.

Well, I guess I do have stuff to talk about, but no patience for it right now.

I'm off to listen to some mood music. Gwen Stephani and They Might Be Giants.

What? Aren't they on your mood music list?

I guess it depends on what kind of mood you're talking about. Hee.