Promises, promises

Okay, so last October, I promised there would be more photos, more blogging about Spinzilla, and just plain more posting. We're all going to have to settle for "at least it's not seven years between posts this time."

Another Spinzilla has come and gone. This time I nearly broke the 1,000 yard mark (I need to go back and check my yardage from last year - but I think it was also in the high 900s). Had I not been traveling, I KNOW I would have gotten that extra 20 or so yards. Guess I'll just have to hope for next year to be more accommodating.

Spinzilla - Day Five

What happened to Day Four you ask? Honestly, after the Spinzilla Party, I was TIRED.

So here's what happened on Day Four:

1) spun a little more of the silk brick;
2) spun more of the mango on the dragonfly;
3) and during the party, I spun the last two wild carded batts!!!!! (this makes me very happy)

Day Five has been all golden dragonfly. I now have three cops parked on DP knitting needles, and the fourth is well started.

Two days to go, and I've only used two of the wheels. I really should put something on at least two more of them. And I also want to put a little project on my Jenkins Aegean Turkish.

There will be more photos -- I promise!

Spinzilla - Day Three

Day Three?!?  Already?!?!?!?!?

Okay, so it's day three. Actually the end of day three. I must say, a busy day in the shop, plus cats with cabin fever, does not make for a lot of spinning progress. But here's the breakdown:

a) I'm on the third cop of mango-licious merino/silk on the dragonfly (loving this spindle!!!)

b) I started a bobbin of combed silk brick on a Kromski Minstrel

c) ordered repair parts for an Ashford Kiwi

d) cleared a little more space for tomorrow evening's Spinzilla Spinning Party

e) the wild carded batts took the day off

f) and I got a lovely snap of many of my spindles waiting for their turn(s) --

That's all I've got for today. I can't believe tomorrow is the mid-point of Spinzilla. I have a LOT of fiber that still needs spinning!!

Spinzilla - Day Two

Progress continues.

The second of four batts is now on the bobbin - new bobbin tomorrow!

The dragonfly is almost full for a second time. I only managed a one-third fill last night as my lap was full of cat.

Spinzilla - Day One

Day One of Spinzilla is almost over.

I got a bit of a late start due to weekend plans getting re-arranged, but I feel like I'm on track now. Got my stash photos taken and posted to the team thread on Ravelry; filled my Golding golden dragonfly once (will be twice before sleep); and spun up one of four wild carded batts on the Ashford Joy wheel.

Here's a snap of my "starter" fiber (so very much more in my stash):

And here's why I did NOT go roaming around town today, spindling in random locations:

First week day with slick roads due to the first couple of inches of snow in town? I like to give everyone else a chance to get used to winter driving before I venture out in that.

More tomorrow!

Spooky Fun

Happy Halloween!
I am a moderate Halloween devotee. In large part because we don't get many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, and my favorite part (as an adult) has always been handing out candy and seeing what cute, scary, and/or inventive costumes the little ones wear.
But I do have a "costume" of my own - it's a cat-face headband (ears, nose, whiskers). I put it on when I hear someone coming into the shop (because otherwise the air around my nose gets a little to warm to breathe, and I can't get my soda can anywhere near my mouth).

But this year, we're doing something extra fun! Remember when I mentioned plying the seven seas (one ocean)? Well, the programming faeries/godesses/mavens at YoHoHo Puzzle Pirates have given us a competition. We'll be fighting zombies and skeletons this evening, trying to win fun prizes for our pirates. The competition started about 10 days ago, so tonight will determine who goes home with the "Book of Zombie" (1st place), and who goes home with the "Zombie Chowder" (7th place). If you want to learn more, just click the Puzzle Pirates logo on the right.

Okay, off to hunt the evil undead. Tomorrow: What happened with that event almost two weeks ago? and What kind of trouble did Susan get into shopping at The Needlework Show?

Happy Hauntings!

Can I have a Do-Over?

I'd like a do-over for the last month or so. Not that anything went wrong, it just seemed to go by so fast I feel like I'm missing a month. Actually, I started feeling like this last Christmas (which kind of snuck up on me). But it didn't get to feeling like a month or more until this summer. And September was a pretty good month, so I'd like to pick that one to do over.

So my reason for no blogging in September is that it just swept by too quickly to blog. (That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

This is always a busy time of year for us. The shop gets busier because everyone's thoughts turn to spinning and weaving and knitting and ..... Then there are the yarn reps who come up to tempt me with new yarns. And last (but not least) it is craft show season.

Our first show was this past weekend (Oct. 12-13). While we only do three heavy hitting shows, there's always some drama - like:

- "where did the leftover polymer clay pens from last year get packed?"

- "honey, I just designed something new. how much should we charge? no you can't sell these first two, or you'll have nothing to show people. you have to take orders"

- "what do you mean we ran out of tags? sure, I can print more tonight (I think I have the right labels)"

Now the big question that occurs is why, when I know it's coming, when I know we need more stock, when I know summer would be a great time to be baking polymer clay (because I could do it outside where there's more than enough ventilation), why do we leave it all to the last minute. OK, the DH gets a break on the first piece of drama (see above) - we both thought we knew what box those pens were in, so they were supposed to just be a "grab and go." Turns out we'd taken them over to one of the galleries to bulk out their existing stock of my polymer clay creations. Ooops!

But still, it would be nice to be more on top of this for a change. Well, maybe next year. (Yes, there are still shows left this year. But let's face it, I'm already behind, and I've added an "event" this year that's this coming Saturday, for which I have no prior framework so I'm winging it. The idea of just "catching up" is sounding pretty good. Getting in front of the curve - not likely.)

And before everyone screams about the lack of photos, I'm having downloading problems with the old camera. It's probably time to break down and get a new one, but the one I really want is an SLR digital in the $600-800 range. (sigh)