I Can Breathe Again!

Took my last final today, and my first semester of grad school is now history! I'm just glad that I can relax for a couple of weeks, do a little knitting (still have a mitten to finish before Christmas, a scarf to finish for my husband's aunt before January, and a second sock for myself that I started back in September), read a few trashy novels, and maybe organize some bookshelves. Not too ambitious. Oh, and put together my clinical portfolio. Can't forget that.

I'm not even going to stress over grades (although I do know that I did not 4.0 this semester - I have at least one B+. I'll live.

I think I want to make some cashew brittle tonight, after the boy and I decorate the Christmas tree (which we still have to buy). And I need to make sure that his big gift actually works. (Don't tell him, but his cousin in Phoenix sent us his Wii, because he never uses it anymore, so that's the boy's big gift this year and I didn't have to spend $200. My nephew totally rocks!) Other than that, Christmas will be light this year.

Another school year, another head bump...

At least this year's call wasn't nearly as bad as last year's! There I was, sitting in the basement of the Rackham building with my group, working on our presentation for our Neuroscience class next week, when my phone rang and an unfamiliar number popped up. Turns out it was the school nurse at my son's school, calling from the clinic where the boy was sitting with ice on his head. Apparently, his head collided with another student's knee while the class was gathering for reading time. Tears ensued, as did a trip to the clinic for ice and the requisite call to Mom.

I told the nurse that it was much better than the call I received from school the previous fall, when the boy couldn't stop in time while playing freeze-tag in gym, and crashed face-first into a light switch. That time there was a nosebleed, and a light switch-shaped cut on his forehead, and bruises. He has a sort of mini-Harry Potter scar now, only it isn't quite shaped like a lightning bolt - more like an upside-down T right in the middle of his forehead.

This is a tradition I can do without!

Yes, that light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train...

Okay, it's been a couple of months since my last post (again!). I finished Tour de Fleece pretty well, with 5 finished skeins of yarn:

That's two skeins of BFL on the right, spun on my wheel; the pink Romney next to them is my first-skein of spindle-spun, so I am inordinately proud of it, even though I find it a bit scratchy; next to that is another skein of spindle-spun from a mixed batt of Falkland, merino, alpaca, and mohair - it was a bear to keep even, but turned out really pretty. The last one is a skein of Lisa Souza Wensleydale that I spun on the wheel, and it is lovely (maybe a tad overspun, but lovely nonetheless) and almost laceweight. Here's one more picture collage of all of them:

In other news, the boy and I drove to Grand Rapids a couple of weeks ago to visit Fredrick Meijer Gardens with my mom. It's a pretty cool place, and if you live within reasonable driving distance of Grand Rapids, Michigan, it's well worth the trip - especially if you have kids. The children's garden is really cool, and the other item well worth seeing is the Da Vinci Horse. The boy loves it.

They also had an exhibit of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly while we were there (that was actually the primary reason I wanted to go - we've seen the horse before, but the glass was a limited time exhibit). It's there through the end of September, 2010. Very cool.

Close-up of that towering thing up above.

These reminded me of pitcher plants

. . . . like these.

Also, since it's September, my son started 5th grade last week, and I started my master's program the week before that, and I already feel like I've been hit by that train! I shouldn't even be taking the time to post this, but I needed the break from studying and reading and taking notes and filling out forms, and the semester is only two weeks old.

Whine, whine, why yes, I would love some cheese to go with it.

And yet, I know I will really enjoy it, once I get the time management thing down. I've never been very good at that.

Just needed to vent for a minute. I'm okay now - going back to studying, since I have two quizzes this week and I still need to make a grocery list to go shopping tomorrow and do laundry. G'night.

Tour de Fleece 2010

I've decided to participate in the Tour de Fleece - yeah, it's a last minute thing. I'm all about the last minute. Anyway, my goals for the Tour are pretty modest, but I think they're attainable

• Finish a couple of spinning WIPs I have going


• Get more consistent with my drop spindle


• Finish my first skein of spindled yarn (2-ply)

And that's all of them! I would have added one about spinning the dog fluff I have from last spring when my niece's dogs were staying with us, but I don't have any carders to process it yet.

So, here is my first progress picture:

I've been working on that pink Romney batt since last August, when I got my first drop spindle in a swap. It's been sitting for months, and I hardly ever pull it out because I'm so comfortable on the wheel that I almost always turn to it when I want to spin. But I can take the drop spindle with me, so I really want to get comfortable on it as well for traveling.

I got 4 oz. of the undyed BFL in a swap last summer sometime, and I just started spinning it up last month, but its been sitting for a couple of weeks and I don't want to let it sit too long. So this is 2 oz of it (I think - I didn't weigh it before I started, but there are about 2 oz left). I'm going to spin the last 2 oz on another bobbin and see how close I can get to even with them.

I'm really enjoying spinning both these fibers - when they are going well, they go really well! And the BFL is especially nice!

I Think I Forgot to Post These!

I finished my Olympic socks back in April, while I was house/dog sitting for my sister-in-law and her husband. I believe I've mentioned them a couple of times - back in February when I started them (here), and a couple of weeks later when I failed to finish them by closing ceremonies.


Anyway, I finally did finish them, and they are every bit as cool as I thought they'd be:

And look at the nifty way the heel works up (not a great pic, but it was a very awkward angle, considering I was taking the pictures of the socks on my own feet!)

Tonight, I'm dying some yarn for a swap I'm doing on Ravelry. I'll post pics of that when I see how it turns out.

Pattern posted on Rav

I got the distaff pattern typed up last night, and posted the PDF to Ravelry this morning. It's a free download, for anyone who is interested, and you can find it here.

A New Pattern

Not too much going on right now - I'm taking a couple of summer classes, which are not completely overwhelming, and I'm finally finding some time to do a little knitting a spinning again. Which is what led me to this new pattern, because it has been hot and awful already this spring (it won't even be summer for another week and a half!), and the wool roving was sticking to me and making me miserable. So I made myself a wrist distaff. I've been wanting one anyway, and I had looked at a couple of patterns on the web for beaded ones, but they always seemed so heavy and overly busy, so I just took the tail end of a ball of kitchen cotton and a crochet hook and made one that seemed practical to me.

Then I made another, to make sure I remembered what I did and could be consistent with it. I could, so I wrote it all down and then made one more following my written directions, and it looked just like the first two (but a different color). So, I now present to you the Mayday wrist distaff (yes, that's "Mayday" from "M'aidez" - French for "Help me." Did you know that was where the word came from?). I'm working on getting a PDF of the pattern typed up and posted to my Ravelry designer page, but that will have to wait until I have a couple more pictures.


Mayday Wrist Distaff

Materials:

• Approximately 24 yards worsted-weight cotton yarn (I used Lily's "Sugar 'n Cream")
• US G/4.25 mm crochet hook (yes, it's a little small for this yarn, but you want your gauge tight, or the distaff will be too floppy)
• Scissors
• Yarn needle

Abbreviations:

• ch - chain
• sc - single crochet
• sl st - slip stitch
• dec - decrease
• rnd(s) - round(s)
• yo - yarn over

Wrist Strap:

Chain 5, turn.

Foundation Row: Sc in second ch from hook, sc across row, ch 1, turn (4 sc).

Row 2: Sc in each sc across, ch 1, turn (4 sc).

Repeat Row 2 until wrist strap is long enough to make a loop that slips comfortably over your hand (approx. 9 3/4 ")

When wrist strap is the right length, fold it in half, keeping the foundation chain to the back of the work, and keeping your working loop to the right. Insert your hook through the top of the 1st sc, then through the 1st st of the foundation chain.

Here is a picture to make this clear:

Draw up a loop and complete the 1st sc. Repeat this across the row, making a closed loop of the wrist strap. Ch 1, turn.

Next Row: Sc across row, ch 1, turn.

Spindle:

Increase Row: 2 sc in each sc across the row (8 sc). Do not turn. At this point, you will begin working in the round. The spindle and button are worked in a spiral.

Closure Rnd: Sc in the sc farthest from the hook, then sc in each sc across the rnd (8 sc).

Rnd 2: Sc around (8 sc).

Rnd 3-5: Repeat Rnd 2.

Rnd 6: (Dec rnd) Work dec by inserting hook into 1st sc and drawing up a loop, then insert hook into 2nd sc and draw up a loop (3 loops are on the hook), yo and draw loop through all 3 loops. Sc in next 2 sc, work dec, sc in next 2 sc (6 sc).

Rnd 7: Sc around (6 sc).

Rnd 8: (Inc rnd) *2 sc in next sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc; repeat from * once more (8 sc).

Repeat rnds 2-8 once more, then rnds 2-7 once (ending with 6 sc).

Button:

Rnd 1: 2 sc in each sc around (12 sc).

Rnd 2: *2 sc in 1st sc, 1 sc in next sc; repeat from * around (18 sc).

Rnd 3: *2 sc in 1st sc, 1 sc in next 2 sc; repeat from * around (24 sc).

Rnd 4: *2 sc in 1st sc, 1 sc in next 3 sc; repeat from * around (30 sc).

Sl st in next 2 sc, cut yarn and finish off. Weave in ends.

So that's it - Happy Spinning!