Anyone remember that song? It is stuck in my head right now, for some darned reason or other. I kept thinking that I should write something about wanting to run away with the circus but that is not accurate...I want to pull up my tap root. I want to drag it onto a truck and move it someplace where I can be a cowboy if I wanna. Maybe a Sheep boy...nah, I don't want to give shots and drench and stuff like that. gag. Vicki seems to think that it all sounds like a good idea and I guess that the manic portion of this up and down week makes me think that it is all possible. Of course there are the Widdah Wimmen and THEIR issues...talk about tap roots. Oh my goodness, the joy of being only children...yes, both of us. What were they thinking, these women? Hell, what I want to know is if there are so many of us Only Children in this generation, then how did this get to be such a big ass generation of kids? ( oh, by the way, have you noticed the baby boom going on right NOW??? Howey cwap!)
The Grand-fetus said hello to The Daughter today. Yup...the little thought bubble became the magic butterfly/gas bubble...the quickening. So it begins...the Pooch or Sprout as Angela sez, is coming along nicely.
Ok, so yesterday was kind of crummy but interesting. I kept getting distracted and not doing a lot in the dye room..no new colorway yesterday (it is cooling today) and so spinning and imagining myself out of the Bay Area mania was consuming me. I did manage to finish this.
And I admit that because of the stress, I really did spin it a little bit tighter than I should have and consequently plied it at the same rate. It will be one heck of a sturdy yarn and with a good whacking and manipulating will be fuzzy and non-droopy. Joyce, this is not for you...this was the smallest of my bags and so it will go into stock for Oakland. Yours is next.
I tell you, blue is just so foreign to me, not turquois-y blue but denim/sky that kind of blue. Lisa K had to rattle my cage a couple of years ago, asking me to invent Denim, because it was nowhere to be seen in my palette. Why? I dunno...it doesn't call to ME but it calls to a bunch of OTHER people and so I need to remember that. (especially if I am trying to finance the new lifestyle...cowboy, remember, cowboy.) I dyed this merino a week or so ago and thought that I really liked it in the pot and then when it dried, I was bored silly with it. Now, today, for some reason, seeing it in the bin with all of the little balls of other color, I like it again.
What do you think? (I just hope that I wrote down what I flung into the pot...)
The Blue Faced Leicester came today and all that I can say is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It has been in the pot and on the table today and I love the fact that it truly lives between my other two favorites, Merino and Wensleydale. Gawjus.
I am leaving you with this picture. Freddie The Freeloader, or FT for short, is our free spirit cat friend. He lives at the end of our court, hanging out at my neighbor's house some of the time but at our house most of the time. Some nice stranger altered him years ago and he is who he is. He likes to do the low crawl onto the bed at night, usually once I am sawing logs after a long day. I usually burst into flame some time in the night and of course I have help with the heat, FT on one side of me and Sugar Pie on the other. They seem to LIKE the heat...me? Not so much. Duuuuuuude, go over THERE and bug Daddy!
He is very mellow, this FT and was cool when Tank was his size...just stand there and the rampage and sniffing will go away. NOW, the poor guy, if he stands still Tank will mash him. He just waits until Tank goes to bed and that is when he makes his stealth move up onto the bed. Now, isn't it nice that the cats sit on the table? This is not cool and no one ELSE has this happen in THEIR house, do they? These poor cats NEED the surfaces above the floor to keep out of the line of fire from The Thundering Herd...cats.
Those skeins look wonderful to me, and don't even look overtight. Can you please tell me you didn't spin all those grey skeins in one day????? I have trouble making one skein a day and that's if I keep at it for hours. Could you also share with me the type of wheel you use?
Also I've been reading lots about BFL - it sounds fabulous - and hopefully can get my hands on some in this region!!
From a keen observer in Melbourne, Australia
Lyn
Posted by: Lyn | June 23, 2005 at 04:20 PM
Hi Lyn, I use a Majacraft Rose and I did spin the two bobbins worth of fiber in one day but then decided to do a self/ply (the ball winder ball trick) because I just started spinning out of the bag and did not measure two equal amounts for two bobbins. This fiber is SO soft and I know that the skeins (this is the blackest black) will be really lovely and soft but not as soft as they would have been if I was putting less twist into the fiber. They will, however, be much more durable and will be sutiable for a garment that won't be a saggy as a lot of alpaca.
The Rose is a speedy speedy wheel. As I told someone recently, she is so fast that my WooLee Winder is just too slow on the take-up and so kind of frustrating. I like to spin but need to make it worth my time and the difference between the Rose as she came out of the box and The Suzie Pro with the lace Flyer that cost me quite a bit to add is minimal. I am in love with this wheel, though.
Nice to meet you, Lyn.
Posted by: Lisa S | June 23, 2005 at 04:53 PM
I remember- you can be my cowgirl!Riding on the range.. okay enough of that. We must have seriously similar taste in music. Everything you mention I know-love Robert Cray.
Ft is too cute.
The blues are very beautiful(roving I mean).
Posted by: elizabeth | June 23, 2005 at 06:17 PM
Thanks for that info Lisa. I was just looking back through your posts to look for and explanation of "self/ply (the ball winder ball trick)" and discovered that you have a Wee Peggy, which is what I'm using at the moment, and which might explain to you why my spinning takes so long. It's a great little wheel, which I bought in NZ about 24 years ago. It's still giving me great service, but its little wheel has to go around heaps of times to equal a large wheel's spinning time. I've never worked out how to use the smaller whorl either (unless with Scotch tension), so just stick with the larger whorl. Maybe it's time I upgraded to a larger size - she says, filled with envy at your output!
Lyn
Posted by: Lyn | June 23, 2005 at 07:08 PM
cats on the table. yep, you'll feel right at home when you come up.
Posted by: kim | June 24, 2005 at 12:22 AM
Love the blues! Cats on the table, cats on the refrigerator - we have cats everywhere! So who sings the song? My brains are fried this week! Must go spin more...
Posted by: Sam | June 24, 2005 at 01:45 AM
I like the blue wool but then I rarely meet a blue I don't like. And cats on the table? Yeah. My cat goes wherever she pleases, and she's enough of a little lady that she's never in the way. If she tries to pay too close attention to my dinner I blow in her face.
Posted by: CarolineF | June 24, 2005 at 05:14 AM
A few years ago a color expert told me that I should be wearing the true blues rather than the autumn colors I am drawn to. I reacted in dismay, frankly--always feeling that blue is, well, dull. But I have come to love the sky blues/French blues/cowboy blues and snap them up whenever I can find a good one because they are darned hard to find. I like the look of yours! Indeed, well enough to ask you to dye more for my little credit card!
Posted by: Janine | June 24, 2005 at 06:29 AM
Ohhhh Lisa.......what a wonderful blue color......!! Yummy!! A picture may cheat, but i could have wish for that the pale blue, was a bit brighter........hehe......i know, me and my colors!*Grin* What kind of wool is this dyed with?? And those OTHER people......hmmm, why do i feel, that you are pointing a finger on me!*LOL* Im on the rollercoaster today....just got a letter from the social office, that the Goverment have approved, that i get early retirement.....but have to look at my case again in 3 years. I have no idea how much money i have per month now.....but it cannot be less that i have now. Im thrilled, but again....a lot of questions pops up in me head, and I cannot find out, until Monday!!:-)
Posted by: Helle From Denmark | June 24, 2005 at 06:57 AM
I can see that you have moved the link to your shop in top of your blog........but the link doesn't work Lisa......at least not here, right now. Thought that i want to point it out to you.....don't want you to miss a good deal!:-)
Posted by: Helle From Denmark | June 24, 2005 at 07:00 AM
Oh, thank you for checking, Helle. I fixed it. Whew. Now, I just have to figure out how to turn that stuff into the cool button that Brenda designed for me. I am such a DORK with this stuff!
Posted by: Lisa S | June 24, 2005 at 07:15 AM
Ohhh, you cannot be that bad...i'll promise you, that im worse than you are with such thing. I can do anything with my computer, fixing problems and so on.....but i don't understand this HTML-launguage....!:-)
Posted by: Helle From Denmark | June 24, 2005 at 07:26 AM
OH man, Blue :) My all-time favourite colour. I sure hope you remember what you did as it's Doug's favourite as well... hint, hint.
Posted by: Angela | June 24, 2005 at 11:31 AM
Hey Lisa, love the cats, but show us your red mixer!
Posted by: Joan M-M | June 26, 2005 at 11:23 AM
Joan, Joan, Joan...that red mixer is sitting idle these days and Sasha is mighty sad about that, I'll tell you. She always looked forward to me making cookies and would end up with a ring of cookie dough clean-out around her head. Of course, now...she has competition for every pan pre-wash. Can you believe that that big dog is the little puppy that you met so many years ago?
With the coming grandchild, I will be able to sling the carbs and calories again...to my heart's delight. :o)
Posted by: Lisa S | June 26, 2005 at 12:04 PM
Hi
Loved your website. Your yarns are beautiful.
I think I met you many years ago thru traveling with Nancy Finn. I still live in Willits. I have all 4 breeds of angoras, 4 llamas and a few cats & dogs. Sold my colored sheep & colored Angora goats due to lack of time.
I have worked as a rural letter carrier for USPS for 10 years. Where does the time go?
Do you still have angora bunnies? Are you ever in search of raw fiber for resale?
Hopefully you are the same Lisa Souza I remember from some time ago.
Best wishes on your new place.
Sincerely,
Denise
Posted by: Denise Ford | July 04, 2005 at 08:30 PM