Spring? and the High Fiber Diet

On Wednesday I wasn't feeling very well and so I came home from the shop early and was greeted with this first sign of spring here in Michigan.
I only bring this up becasue today it's snowing. I'm not sure what to say about this other than I sort of expect one more bigish snowfall in early April and though I will be disappointed I will not be surprised.

Let's talk about fun stuff instead. On Saturday the girls from the Podcast called The High Fiber Diet. It was quite fun to have them in the shop. The lovely lady above is Bam. Hilarious and fun and cute. We talked about her hair getting caught in her spinning and knitting. We talked about all the lovely fibers and I'm most definite that she took plenty of raw fleece home with her.

This is Coggie. We could be best friends. The fibers I love she also loves, the ones I hate she also hates and we both agree that we are happy to have others who love to dye since it is not our favorite. We had long discussions about long draw and why it is that she hasn't looked at the Spindlicity Videos.

And this is BethanyG handing over the cold hard cash cause that's how I roll. We discussed silk and silk hankies and ways to spin them or not spin them and knit right from the stretched out hanky.

The High Fiber Diet is avaialble for download from iTunes for free. I do download it from there and then switch it over to my Zune so if you don't have an iPod don' be scared.

This week there will be loom warping and spinning and fun. I'll try to remember to take pictures.

Free Flowing Gall

So almost two weeks ago I had my gall bladder removed. I was not excited about it but, ya know, it was necessary. My surgeon told me I should take 2 weeks off of work but I was determined that 3 days would do it. I was wrong. He was right. Tomorrow will be the two weeks point and I am finally feeling better. Not all the way back with the energy and I still feel a little pain in two of the incisions but holy crap it feels like it's been a long time.
Now I had the surgery on Monday and Tuesday Lousmith had to run to Toronto until Friday. I was sad about it but I did have Ryan to take care of me. The photo above is of my Wednesday breakfast. That is love right there. Notice the 1/3 of a pound of butter spread so nicely on that bread. Love from a five year old. You really can't beat pretzels for breakfast. I have to be honest here. On Wednesday I was feeling a little sick to my stomach and asked for a slice of bread for breakfast. He was just following my requests.

Before I went to the hospital on Monday I thought hard about what I should work on while I was recovering. I knew there would be pain medication and the projects I have in progress wouldn't work. I had just finished spinning some lovely yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts Fiber. It is a blend of merino and mohair. I bought the top from The Fold booth at SOAR last year. I stepped out of my usually box with the colors but I love them.

I found the pattern for this yarn in the 2007 winter issue of Vogue Knitting. It's called Ruffle Scarf. Just some garter stitch and short rows. The yarn was a little finer than what was called for in the pattern and so I added 10 stitches. It wasn't necessary and I see that now but I do love the scarf. I've worn it at least five times already.

The lovely model is the Chelsea who is back at work at the shop and doing a bang up job.

I do love it and though it wasn't the most mind expanding project i am so happy with the final product that I may consider knitting this one again.

I had a skein of Tussah laying around that was spun by Abby - in my signature colors - and since when I grow up I want to be just like Amy Singer - I decided to do the Abby cowl from the Fall 2008 edition of Knittyspin. Here it is with just a couple of rows done. The pattern is very straight forward and very lovely.

Today was Maggie's baptism day. She was baptised along with her BFF McKenna. Look how cute they look. The even sang a song for us. It was a happy day but now I'm pretty tired.

There are several shop things to talk about. Schacht is having a contest called "I Made It On My Schacht". Check out the details on their website or contact me and I'll be happy to send you a brochure about it. This is a very exciting opportunity to win some very valuable tools! You should all go for it. Weave something on your new Cricket even. Make a Youtube video. All great fun. I already know what I'm doing. And if you enter and mention my shop it'll help me win something special for dealers.

They are also having a limited special edition Cherry Matchless available beginning in June. I have ordered a couple of these wheels and will have one available in June and one in September. Let me know if you are interested in more details. Layaway is available and all of the usual bonus stuff will come with these wheels. Let me know if you'd like to reserve one.

Louet is also having some exciting deals right now too! With many of their older style wheels they are including a skein winder with the wheel purchase. This is around $150 value.

If you purchase either a Julia or Victoria you will get a Manufacturer's rebate coupon worth $200. This coupon is redeemable directly to Louet or through the Spinning Loft. If you redeem it through the Spinning Loft I will give you license to choose whatever fiber you'd like in the whole shop. It doesn't have to be only Louet Fiber. Any fiber you want! Really!

So if any of this sounds interesting or exciting to you just let me know and I can give you more information or hook you up with some new loot!

O.K Off to bed. Got a big week ahead.

Birthdays and Trips and Visits

So let's go back in time a little to mid February. There was a party at the shop for my happy birthday. I love throwing parties for myself. Chelsea did the decorating. I bought the snacks.
And then we waited for people to show up.

It was an orange and pink theme and there were discount cards with surprise discounts inside.
Later Evil Michelle brought me a completely home made red velvet cake that was delicious!
It was a great party. People did actually come and share the love and I turned thirty fourteen.

Then there was the trip to PA:-(

When we got back there were some unexpected events and plenty of crap so I needed a mini vacation so I headed south to Ohio.
Abby taught me how to spin.
Ryan played with tiny umbrellas and drank as much root beer and Vernor's as he could.
This is the living room even after we cleaned it up...so imagine how we trashed her house.
And I petted my pretend cat a lot.

There was plenty of spinning and lots of just hanging around. I tried to confiscate some stuff and actually did manage to make it out of the house with some great stuff. The food is always good at Abby's and the feeling is always relaxed. I love to go there.

Ryan and I drove back on Friday and Saturday we were back in the shop.
Poor Sandra came for her second lesson and the shop was full of naughty girls. I did my best to impart the spinning wisdom in the midst of the naughtiness.
Tracey came and so did Karen but I didn't get a good photo of her. They both promised to come back soon...we shall see.
Naughty, Naughty Kat came all the way from Holland because of love. She would kill me if I put the picture of her cause it was terrible. Carla, Erica and the Queen of Moist herself all came as well as Jillian's neighbor Kathy who needs to get together with spinners more often.

Did I forget anyone? it was crowded and naughty and fun and just what I needed.
And there's the Chelsea, looking cute at her perch.

So tomorrow I am going to have a tiny bit of myself removed and I am prepared to feel better and I will have less gall. Just sayin'

For those of you waiting on a shop newsletter, I promise it is coming. There have been too many happenings and I have been overwhelmed. Things will be back to normal soon.