Alpaca Visit, Knitting, Spinning, Stash Arranging, and Hand Issues......

It's been a busy month. Two Saturdays ago, I went to the Spinners Guild meeting and after showing my beautiful Rebel, Rebel batt from Copperpot Woolies was encouraged to start spinning it right then on my empty bobbin. We laughed, talked, and ate goodies as usual.

I had a chance to catch up with Kimberly last Wednesday night at Borders, which was fun.
Last weekend, I had a terrific day with Sandi and Marva. After a delicious lunch in Hope Valley with both of them, Marva and I headed off to the alpaca farm in Westerly. The "boys" greeted us by checking out the car as we drove up. We were also greeted by the 2 dogs, chickens and roosters. After a cup of hot tea and crackers with homemade pepper jelly, and fun conversation, both of us bought some lovely alpaca roving for spinning. Then we got to visit with the newly hatched chicks along with the other creatures.

After leaving the farm, we did a bit of shopping at Job Lot. I finally found a deep fryer I liked and a rug to use when spinning on my new spindle. I was afraid of dropping the spindle and having it break since it is stone/glass. I still haven't had a chance to use it yet. There were several steamers on the shelf as well, so I picked another one up. Someone had mentioned wanting one, but, if she doesn't care to take it now, I will just use it myself. Not a big deal. In the food department were several gluten free mixes, so I got corn bread, chocolate cookies, pancake, and 13 bean mix for Pat. Maybe tomorrow I can make him pancakes before I take off for part of the day. It would be a treat for him since he hasn't had them in a long time.

This Wednesday, I was at Panera with Ceecee, Marva, and Richard (he's from the Spinner's Guild) where we watched Ceecee work her magic with her Cricut machine as the three of us knit on our socks. Richard was knitting with some of his beautiful handspun yarn, Marva was starting a pair with Happy Feet from Plymouth yarn and I was using my Tofutsies from SWTC. As Ceecee created the card characters, it was fascinating to watch them develop as she puts them together. It also takes a lot of time and effort for each one.

This week also saw the treadmill finally moved downstairs and me re-arranging my yarns and fiber stashes in a more orderly manner to go into the craft room. I now have the yarns separated by weights. There's a bin of lace, worsted, dyeables, and three bins of fingering/sock. Then there's the four bins of fibers. I tried to keep them organized by putting fibers from the same person all in the same bin. One is mostly from my WEBS trip Pat took me on last Friday. I did some serious fiber shopping that day. Also, I picked up a couple of books and some hand dyed sock and lace yarns.

My red batt is still half spun. I'll work on it tomorrow at the Sit and Spin at Sue's shop in Chepachet. I'm trying to finish the test knit socks first, so that I can concentrate on my two shawls and the DkKnits KAL I'm in.

On Tuesday, my therapist told me she thinks my hand is as good as it's going to be without surgery. On Thursday, the hand specialist told me he doesn't think I need surgery at this time, but, is sending me to a hand specialty therapist. I stopped there to make the appointment and was lucky to get on for the same day at 3pm. I now have a "tape brace" on my thumb, wrist and arm. I can take a shower and not worry about it getting wet, just pat it dry and let it finish air drying. I'm to keep it on as long as I can and see her on next Tuesday again. I think it will be on until then without a problem unless the glue wears out. For something so minor, it gives a nice support to my thumb and wrist. I also was told to continue with the spinning and knitting, just remember to take a break and stretch the hands about every 20 minutes or so.

I'm heading out now for a bit of grocery shopping. I also feel like having some fish for supper, so that's on the list too. Maybe a piece of salmon with some lemon and a baked potato and salad......Hmmm...sounds good.......

Knit Nights and Spinning Saturday.....KnitPicks Order

This week has become very busy. Last night, Tuesday, was Knitting Night at RI Handspun located across from the Burriville police station. There was much laughter and knitting happening there as well as some fiber/yarn stash enhancements. I finally found a wool blend to ply with my natural/ cream alpaca I've had for a while. That's all I bought. I was very good because just before leaving, in the corner, I spotted some merino/tencel on sale. It's still there ...... until my next visit. I passed the new spindle around and all the spinners tried a bit on it. It spins like a dream.

Tonight is Panera in Cranston, where I am planning to see Caroline who is from New Hampshire, Donna, Marva, and maybe some of the girls from the Craft Night group. I will have to bring my goodies from yesterday to show to a couple of the ladies tonight.

Thursday night is the Knitting/Crochet Guild meeting. Always a good time there, too.

Saturday is to be the shearing demo and then Spinners Guild meeting.

I don't plan to buy anything else in the fiber/yarn area for a while, now. I am still looking for that cabinet to help house some of my eye candy already residing here..........

My Knit Picks order arrived a couple of days ago. There are all my new needles, Harmony DPNs and Options fixed circs, as well as a couple of tool containers, the Hippo and the Dolphin, to accommodate my sundry of tools. There is some lovely Bare in the Merino/Silk blend for me to try with the "Lily of the Valley" sock pattern I also bought. I am in a mood to make a sweater, so there is also enough of another yarn to make one. Some lace weight was on sale, so that's there, too. Oh my, I did make quite a big order, didn't I???????

What Deborah Means

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

What's" Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

New Fiber Snuggles and Yarn Cuddles

Recently, I have been finding some irresistible fiber and yarns online, especially at copperpotwoolies which is one of my favorites places now. The fibers are breathtakingly lovely and the service in phenomenal. Delivery is super-fast. I fell in love with so many of her fiber mixes, they just fell into my shopping cart and begged to come home with me. I ended up with several including "Rebel, Rebel" and "Sultry Shadows" which are special blends. Out of her regular rovings I picked up"Mango Berry", "Shooting Star", "Pixie Dust" which is full of sparkly bling, and some white in both Merino and Blue Face Leister. There was also a "Mystery Blend"ordered of which she sent me two. I now have the decision of which to spin first.

Over on another etsy site, butterflygirldesigns I found handmade spindles and more fiber. I chose a "Pink Opalite" spindle, along with fibers in "Strawberry Swirl", "Citrus Fizzi", and "New Fallen Snow II" to accompany it.

Then I headed over to dkknits , where I bought a huge amount of sock yarn. She has theme collections and I fell in love with the "Franks Fem Fatales" which is based on Wizard of Oz. Then between that visit and another one, I managed to pick up another 9 skeins of sock love. One was "Ruby Slippers" which is merino and tencel, has a soft gleam to them.

After all that Etsy shopping, I dropped in at spunkyeclectic and picked up the color of the month, "Walking in the Sun" in BFL roving and sock yarn. A second recent visit found this month's color, "Neopolitan", along with "Thin Ice" and "Mountain Majesty", all in BFL roving in my basket crying to come home with me. These three arrived yesterday.

On top of all this fiber goodness, I bought some more yarn from MomSue84 on Ravelry.

On a shopping trip to Walmart, I picked up two more big clear plastic bins to house all the new additions. Unfortunately, I need another bin because I found some "missing" fiber packages that were in the bedroom. These were items I had bought a while ago and put away until I was ready to spin them up. I did such a great job of this, I completely forgot about them until going through some things in that room. It was a nice surprise to find them, and was like buying them all over again.

My husband is promising to get my treadmill downstairs in the basement and to build me a nice, big bookcase for my craft room so I can organize all my books in one spot instead of two smaller bookcases. This will free up a bin which is presently full of fiber books, and floor space, as well as create a better looking room. Sadly, I will have to fill up the space with all the bins presently stored in the bedroom and living room. I think he has started to question the size of the stashes as the bins keep arriving and filling. There must be a way to camouflage them somehow.........

I'm off to look for a big cabinet to hide yarn/fiber in and to buy another bin...........

I've been Meme tagged!!

I've been tagged by Sherill, at http://nowandthen.blogspot.com/ with this meme. Here's what you do:

Post the rules on your blog. Link to the person who tagged you. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. Let’s go:

1. I love thunderstorms, even the day ones.
2. I rarely go to bed before midnight or 1 a.m.
3. Waffles with peanut butter and jelly are tasty.
4. I need to face the door to fall asleep at night.
5. My favorite books to read are romances, especially historicals.
6. I love ice coffee, but am allergic to the flavor shot used in most coffee shops, so I have to drink it plain. The beans are o.k.

O.K. Now here's my links:

AnnaMarie at http://www.princessofpink.net/

Donna at http://knit1spin2.blogspot.com/

Lisa at http://www.nativeknits.com/

Sarah at http://sarahmackenzie.wordpress.com/

Anne at http://carpoolknitter.wordpress.com/

Caroline at http://dipndip.blogspot.com/