The Daily Grind

I woke up this morning, feeling pretty great! I got some new pictures on my camera, and I'm prepping them for entry here. I've got a big day ahead, with lots to do. First, though, I thought I might spin some of this 10 pounds of chiengora. Here's a pic of my favorite wheel. It's a Kromski Minstrel, hand made from Poland. It looks old, but really, it's only five this year. I updated it this last Christmas with a Woolie Winder. It draws the spun yarn onto the bobbin very consistently, and I don't have to switch hooks anymore.

Kromski makes great, all natural wood wheels. I have two made by the family. My other is a Symphony, which I use when I want to spin a LOT of wool very fast.

I also have a Roberta Electric wheel, which is currently being used to spin jumperweight shetland for a Fair Isle sweater I plan to knit one day. Ah, so many projects, so little time.

That's when I decided it was time to introduce you to PeeWee and Princess. Here they are in calmer times. Princess seems to have a little bit of a cold, so I'm going to go out and give her some medicine as soon as I'm finished here. (Later, after the medicine.) You really missed a good action shot, too. While using Mandy to corner the sheep in order to give Princess her medicine, Mandy chased Princess around my knees, and when I tried to snag Mandy with the leash, Princess literally tackled me from behind--WHAT A LINEBACKER! I bet she plays for the (pardon the pun) RAMS! I went down like a rock, landing on the back of my left hip. In the meanwhile, PeeWee ran over my foot. Did somebody get the number of that truck? Another Kodak moment missed. Mandy and I both got an impromptu BATH afterward, and Mandy is now out on the deck air-drying. After while, I realized that I couldn't leave her out there while I went to band practice...what if she jumped over the railing and hung herself. Well, I'd never forgive myself. So now, she's in the bathroom on a rug, drying and crying, because she can't come out and chase the cats. Just wait until she's dry. She will come out of the door like a thoroughbred and spin out on all fours on the wood floor we lay down in the hall, but once she hits carpet, she'll be off like a shot. Cats BeWare!

Since I was at the barn, I thought "why not"...so I took a picture of Minkie too. Not a great shot, but she wouldn't stop running up my arm. And the shot is taken inside the barn in very low light.

Then, I realized that I needed to get a picture of the chiengora, so you could see what 10 pounds looks like. Yes, I have to spin up all that. The owner wants his aunt to knit him a blanket out of the yarn, and he's giving me drumming lessons in exchange. The dog hair came from the brushings over 10 years of life that the dog had. She was a white Samoyed. They are lovely dogs, I admit, just from handling the soft roving while I spin; however, they must shed an impossible amount of dog hair.

While retrieving the bag of chiengora, I saw these lonely socks on top of my bureau. So here they are as well. These are the Jeane Townsend Lilac Socks done in Cherry Tree Hill Sock Yarn, in the (what else) purple colorway. Jeane has a group on Yahoo, and many of her own designs for socks are in the files section. The group is GREAT--especially if you like to knit socks.

In a few hours, I will be heading over to Grand Rapids, Michigan to go to band practice. I am a drummer in a Scottish Bagpipe Band. I'm learning to play the bagpipes, too. I don't have any current pictures of me in band regalia, but I've got an older one. This is me, approximately 20 years ago, in a band called the 42nd Highlanders. At that time I was playing snare and tenor drum. They needed a small "bass" sound, so that day, I played tenor ("tenor or eleven miles away"). You can you can check out my current band at http://www.gr-districtpb.org/Home.htm.

In the meantime, while I wait for the pictures to upload, I'm going to spin some. I've demonstrated at various fairs and Scottish games on my wheel, and it's unusual, but the young boys seem much more interested in how it works than the young girls. I'm told it's because they are more mechanically minded--but I'm not sure that's so true.

Today's tarot card is Knight of Swords...well that suits Princess to a tee! This is generally a young man who is dashing, daring, and runs off to slay the dragon without a moment's thought. Also a "bull in the chinashop" type, who charges in to save the day, only to find out that the princess doesn't need saving at all.