It's Done!!!!!

I just (and I mean just) finished the Good Bias shrug. Much to the dismay of my husband, who had to cook dinner for himself and the boy because I was SO close to finishing. I'll see if I can't get a photo or two, but will have to wait till the weather gets a bit nicer, so you can actually see the pattern.

Whoopie!!!!!!!!!

My new toy!!!!!

This is my new toy!!!! I will be picking it up sometime between now and Sunday.

You probably can imagine just how jazzed I am about this. My very first spinning wheel. OK, maybe not in the traditional sense of the word, but hey. Hubby didn't freak, especially when I told him the size.

For those of you not in the fiber "know" (all 2 of you), this is an Indian 'charkha.' Charkha actually means wheel in (I think) Hindu. It is the size of a small briefcase when closed, so I can tuck it away or tote it with me to events. Granted, it's not medieval by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a wheel and it's mine!

I gave Jody the Soy Silk and the Ingeo. She has tried both, and reports that the Soy Silk gets a bit tacky when handled, but spins like silk otherwise, and no allergic reaction!!! She said that the Ingeo required a really tight spin, and it doesn't draft well. She surmised that since it is a plant fiber, maybe she should wet her fingers like she was spinning with flax, but since it is fluffy like cotton, she didn't know.

In reply to Katy, yes, the angora is drapey, but that is what I was kinda looking for. It will probably double more as a wrap than a shrug.

Thanks for the other comments from Carma and Zarzulea. I know it shouldn't matter whether or not people comment, but I need all the warm fuzzies I can get now. I've been home with a sick kid for the past 2 days, only getting things done when he is asleep. Katy, you jinxed me. He's run at both ends. But, as they say, this, too, shall pass.

And now for something completely different.

WaHoo! Another interesting yet completely useless survey!

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

10% Dixie

10% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I do find the results kind of weird, since I've lived in Indiana all my life. Though, with relatives in West (by God) Virginia, I guess there is a reason for the 10% Dixie.

For those of you who haven't noticed, I've become part of a web-ring. I'm proud of myself, and have noticed that the hits are consistent, though a bit perplexed that nobody comments. Am I that boring???

This past Friday was Sean's first soccer practice. Imagine, if you will, a field full of 3 and 4 year olds, being cheered on by their parents to kick the every-lovin' out of a little ball, when for the majority of their short little lives they have been told to be careful. Sean is the brute squad on his "team" (and I use that term ever so loosely). I almost fell out laughing when I over heard another father on the "team" tell his son "See that kid? He's dribbling the ball! That's what you're supposed to do!" He was refering to Sean, who was doing the usual little kid thing of running after a ball and then kicking it before he can reach down and pick it up. The only thing that kid dribbles is chocolate milk down his chin. I felt sorry for the other little boy, as he was more interested in the playground than the soccer ball.

In knitting news, I have gotten to the increases on the 2nd side of the Good Bias shrug. I hope to be done with it soon. I also have a new toy coming hopefully tomorrow. Don't want to spoil the suprise, but I'll show you pictures as soon as I can.

Time to go upstairs. Despite the fact the weather has warmed up, the basement is still frickin' cold.

Weekends are too short.

S-h-o-pp-i-n-g, we’re shopping, yeah, yeah, we’re shopping.

The second weekend in April has come and gone, and that can only mean one thing: The Greencastle Fleece Fair.

Dr. Evil and Mini-me (DH and son) did the male bonding thing while Mom and I looked at wool, sheep, llamas, angora rabbits, and things fiber related. We met up with my friend Kim and her daughter, and another friend Lisa, who attended the indigo dying class in the morning (and didn't turn blue). Missy Kim caved and she and hubby bought Dd a really pretty smokey gray angora rabbit. We named him "Dusty." For some reason "Hassenpfeffer" didn't go over well.

I had hoped beyond hope that someone would have an inexpensive spinning wheel, like a table-top Babe, or something else like that. It’s not pretty, but function above form in this case. I’d love an Ashford Joy or Kiwi, but they are too small for my long legs to sit at comfortably. And of course, I’ll have to find some roving to go with it. Someone did have a book charkha wheel for sale, but well out of my price range. Sigh.

I did buy some Romney roving to knit up and felt, and some Soy Silk and Ingeo fibers for my friend Jody. She loves to spin, but has developed an allergy to silk. I can't wait to pop this on her.

I’ve started the 2nd half of the Good Bias shrug, and actually dug out and worked on a UFO this last weekend. A pair of stockings for my medieval impression. It’s slow going, as I’ve got big legs, and these need to be done on small needles. Not as small as the needles on my Elenora of Toledo stockings (2-0’s) but still small, when compared to the amount of stitches needed to go around my gam. I actually had these in the car with my on my trip to Muncie on Sunday, which was lucky, because I got stuck in traffic for an hour. A horrible accident on I-69 which killed 2 and injured 6 others. Closed the interstate for 4 hours. My prayers are with the family.

The bruises on my left leg are coming along nicely after my fall, though I have a spot on that leg the vacilates between being numb or burning like the area has been "asleep" and is now waking up. And now I’m getting over a cold. ICK!!!! Sean’s head is almost back to it’s regular color. I can’t say “normal” because, well, no 4 ½ year old is normal. We start soccer Friday. That should make for some blogging goodness.

The sock on the milk carton....

Have you seen this sock????

I'm perturbed. I cannot, for the life of me, find the mate to this. I've looked for a week. I think the house and the appliances are in cahoots and are hiding things from me. ARRRGGHH.

Making Progress on the shrug.....I guess.

First half of the Good Bias shrug. It's not going to be as wavy as those knit with cotton, but I'm using size 10.5 needles so it's a bit more lacy. That, and it will fit over my fat arms better.

Mommy of the Year???

See the reddish mark on his forehead? This is where I drilled my kid with a plastic wiffle ball. Can you say "Mommy of the year?" NOT!!

And if that wasn't bad enough, this morning I (not so gracefully) tripped in the basement, falling hard on my left knee, left hand, and well, the left side in general. I now feel like I've been hit by a car. The bruises should appear tomorrow. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.