I know, I have been TOLD that people are tapping their feet waiting for me to update the goings on around here. Thanksgiving may fall on a Thursday but my ramping up started on Wednesday, when I realized what a toll the ohmygodshouldwemove home improvements and work obligations have taken on my house. Everything was in some state of limbo and even with daily dusting, I could not keep up with whatever the puppy was kicking up. So, on Wednesday I did not touch fiber, except to move it out of the living room and into my office, so that the living room could magically change from the spinning room to a living room/guest room. (It truly IS Cottage Living around here, which is why I love that magazine so much...I digress)
The Son and his Fiancee came by train on Wednesday night and we all joined in on what looks to be the pre-Thanksgiving rituals of a lot of people...going to a Chinese restaurant. Who knew? The place was packed. It was good to look across the table at my son and our new daughter and see a peace there. He told us that he is moving out of the dues paying (literally and figuratively) job that kept him afloat during some hard times and into executive chef coat once again. I can't tell you how happy I am to look into the eyes of my son and see a man who has finally found the piece of the life puzzle that was eluding him...the answer to the question "why do I feel this way"...bi-polar disorder. We say thank you to him and his fiancee and his doctor for figuring this out because with the help of the proper medications he is now the man that he always WAS but could not BE because the color registration of his mental picture was just "off". He is going to go into his life as a married man (April 8) as a new man and his eyes and heart will be open for their adventure of a honeymoon trip to NZ and Tahiti. They deserve this shot, dontcha think? I do. I Am Thankful.
There were only 7 people at our family gathering on Thursday because on Wednesday The Husband had to escort his 88 year old mother and her suitcase to the hospital for a stay that is indeterminate at this point. She has a bone infection in her foot and unfortunately this is a replay of what happened to her a few years ago, which means that the doctors have found that the circulation in this leg is pitiful and she must undergo a bypass operation by a vascular surgeon, as well as the foot surgury to remove yucky stuff (technical medical term). You see, people...this is all because...wait for it...SHE WAS A BIG SMOKER. Yeah, she was always so proud of not getting lung cancer or any of the other bogeyman illnesses caused by smoking (she has been off of the stuff for quite a few years now) but I mean to tell you that this thing with the circulation in her legs is caused by that addictive crap that she took into her body by means of the Delivery System of Choice...Marlboro. I am Thankful That The MIL Is Being Cared For.
This was the first year where I felt that some of the martyr mantle of being the only holiday hostess for 25 years was lifting...my adult children pitched in (The Daughter brought two desserts!) and The future Daughter in Law to be know forever after as The DIL made a delicious and rich butternut squash lasagna. The turkey was fabulous and The Husband and the very pregnant Daughter made the most delicious gravy from my first favorite turkey...I finally just treated it like I would season any other food, instead of an icon that my MIL made in her bland but roost ruling way. I guess that this year, I became Big Mama and THIS Big Mama is thankful for her family.
The Daughter is waiting for her turkey timer button to pop. We headed up there on Saturday to help her with the finishing touches for her nursery and were treated to a lovely lunch with salmon grilled by our SIL on his new state of the art grill station. He is like a kid with a hot rod, I swear. Most of the time, he just sits on his arse waiting for his wife to cook some gourmet meal but now that he has his grill with the built in music and fridge, he is a new man. He has turned into one of those lawn mowing, grill tending suburban men...going back to his Orange County roots, I guess. He is in a quiet competition with the guy across the street, who obviously has The Best Lawn...meanwhile, it must be so hard for him to come here, where there is no lawn, the garden is wild and the house is cluttered. I am Thankful that he will be a great daddy to my new grandson and I am thankful that I do not have to have a lawn.
Now then...I am thankful for some beautiful photos sent to me this weekend by a VERY talented spindle spinner. Julie Sandell ordered several small batches of BFL top over a month or so this summer, focusing on the South Pacific/Deep Sea palette. I just figured that she was making small things and had no idea that she would be spinning this yarn on a drop spindle. I want you to feast your eyes on Julie's beautiful work and to be inspired by what she has accomplished in what I consider to be a pretty short period of time.
Here is her close-up of the spinning and knitting.
It is interesting getting back to my spinning assignment after days of holiday shenanigans and of course I am finishing up that two pound lot of Deep Sea Biffle to accompany the two pounds of Petroglyph Merino that is sitting in its bag waiting to go home to New Jersey. The ironic thing is that I get a picture of some handspun Biffle in the inbox on the day that I am getting back to it. Here is Mis Julie, spindling this beautiful yarn while I am roaring my fiber along on the Spin-tech. As I tell people at shows, it is just technology and skill...tools that all get the job done. For my spindle friends, Sam, Jan, Julie, Sheila and now Tom...hats off and I am Thankful for you!
Lisa, I am thoroughly enjoying the process photographs and honorable mentions of the Deep Sea BFL and Petroglyph Merino, but please send them to Illinois.
Posted by: Josie | November 28, 2005 at 09:07 AM
OK, Julie has inspired me to get back on my butt and spin the rest of my Deep Sea biffle. I got sidetracked, but her sweater is just beautiful and I want to make one for me.
Posted by: Kerry | November 28, 2005 at 09:09 AM
Josie...Illinois, New Jersey... Poor Nancy heard me transpose VA for PA and set me straight. My computer has it all correct...my brain is in "waiting for the baby land". I spun your Biffle through a marathon of the last three TIVO'd episodes of Rome...not to worry, I kept it far far away from all of the blood spatter. :o)
Posted by: Lisa S | November 28, 2005 at 09:17 AM
Lisa, I'm thrilled for your son and for your whole family. What a wonderful holiday it must have been in so many significant ways, though I'm awfully sorry to hear about MIL - glad she's gettng good care, though! Julie's sweater is amazing! I hope mine turns out half as well! Hang in there - turkey timer will be popping any time now, and all best vibes are headed your family's way. :-)
Posted by: Sam | November 28, 2005 at 09:39 AM
Amazing handspindling with amazing fiber. It all works together. You two are a team for sure!
Posted by: Jan Clark | November 28, 2005 at 11:27 AM
Ok, Jan. You're next! I can't wait to see what comes off of those beautiful Bosworth's! :o)
Posted by: Lisa S | November 28, 2005 at 12:23 PM
I know I am not alone in feeling thankful for you, for sharing your gift for colour and for the generous way you share your experience to help all the Lisa wannabes. Julie's spindling is an inspiration and her sweater is a beauty. I wish your DD a speedy delivery.
Posted by: Melanie | November 29, 2005 at 08:01 AM
Love Julie's sweater! Melanie is right, we're all Thankful for your wonderful colors, they make the world go round.
Posted by: CarolineF | November 29, 2005 at 09:06 AM
It's absolutely true - it is the beautiful colors that "make" the sweater! I'm a novice spindler and my yarn looked pretty darn "rustic" when I started, but the fabulous colors looked great when I started to knit it up. As soon as I made a swatch I realized that the bulkiness of the yarn would work to my advantage because the colors were so great. Every inch on the sweater made me want to spin more with my trusty Bosworth :)
Posted by: Julie | November 29, 2005 at 10:01 AM
Oh Julie, you should be so proud of your work. I think that you will inspire a lot of others to do this. I feel the same way about serendipity dyeing and spinning because it is never boring...I can either let the color roll on as it came out of the dyepot OR one of my favorite things to do is to divide the top up into lots and lots of balls of thin strips that I can pull from, at random or on purpose. It is faster and fun. You have your own page, the first "look what spinners did" page that I asked Brenda to put up in the fiber section. Go here http://www.lisaknit.com/site/fibers.html and click on the customer gallery. The rest of you lot might like to have your own page...just send me a picture and I will have the Canadian Queen sling it up there.
Posted by: Lisa S | November 29, 2005 at 10:13 AM
Lisa, I'm thankful for you - your humour, energy, caring, and talent - Thank you sweetie!
Posted by: Angela | November 29, 2005 at 01:41 PM