JaymeKnits

Monday, February 27, 2006

I got linked!!!

Ok, I know I may be a bit crazy here but this has me all excited Ryan over at Mossy Cottage is the first non family member to link to my site in a post (sorry Jen, family has obligations so I wasn't so excited about you linking to me). Ok I'm a geek. I freely admit that.

Cats don't belong in the ceiling

My cats have shared a room with my stash since we first got them about 6 months ago. I minimized havoc by keeping the stash in dressers and the closet but they still caused some mess. Every now and then they would get into the hutch on my desk and pull out a skein. They only once caused any real damage to the stash and that was because Oni was sick. Unfortunately though kitty litter and carpet are not a good combination. So the cats got moved downstairs.

They adapted very well to the change. This change includes allowing them into the previously off limits laundry room, since that is where the litter box is. It was off limits since they were young and the room is unfinished with exposed pipes and wiring. They are old enough now and have never shown an interest in chewing on wires. What I did not forsee is that they would find a way to get into the ceiling of the rest of the basemet. They had a lot of fun and came out absolutely filthy. I had a lot of thoughts of all the things that could happen (cat stuck in ceiling, cat pee in ceiling, dead cat in ceiling, and where else can thy get to from in there?).

Do you know what it takes to seal off the joist openings in a laundry room? I do. 1 trip to Lowes, 1 staple gun, 35' of plastic mesh, a LOT of staples, some Duct tape, 8 hours, a very sore neck and arms, and 2 allegra for the allergies.

Monday, February 13, 2006

I can see!

It's been almost a week since my surgery. At my 1 day follow up I had 20/20 in my left, 20/25 in my right eye, and 20/20 with them together. I'm loving it. I still wake up in the morning and rach for the glasses that aren't there. I'll be donating those glasses when I go in for my 1 week appointment this afternoon.

There hasn't been much knitting or spinning this week. Instead I got out my sewing machine and got a bunch of things done that I've been neglecting for a while. I turned the curtains in the kitchen into Roman Shades, hemmed some pants, made a new liner for my knitting basket and covered the case for my Gem. I took some pictures and I'll post them later.

I guess I've been JaymeDoesEverythingButKnits lately. I don't want to start any new projects until I finish my sisters mitten and I haven't had a chance to do anything that takes that much attention for a while. I've decided it will be finished and sent by the end of the month (assumiung she sends me my shrug by then too).

Monday, February 06, 2006

My weekend:

OK so I couldn't figure out how to delay a post on Blogger (can I even do that?) So you get 2 posts in one day again.

This weekend I group of friends and I went down to Stony Mountian fibers:

This is a little shop that is much more than a yarn store and definitely not local to me but was very worth the trip. Barbara stocks supplies for knitting, spinning, weaving and dying. She also has a small flock of cormo sheep whose fleece is so soft and buttery, and they are so cute. It was a rainy, dreary day and they were huddled together out in the field.

But you probably didn't come here to look at the sheep. I actually didn't get much of their wool. The reason we went down there was to try wheels and one of them followed me home:

Say hello to Gemma. She is a Majacraft Little Gem II. She is so tiny and so well engineered I don't think I will ever need a third wheel (note for possible future reference that I didn't say I would never get a third wheel). She is ultra portable and folds down small enough to carry on the airplane as carry-on luggage. I can even put her in my small suitcase and still have enough room for enough other things that I still wouldn't have to check any luggage for a weekend trip.

I immediately sat down and started spinning. After an hour I had this:


I know it doesn't look like much but it will be a 2 ply lace weight so it doesn't take up much space on the bobbin. You may notice that I also got the lace kit which has a smaller flyer and fat core bobbins. The fiber is Louet's Dark Blue Faced Liecester top. It is effortless to spin and this wheel makes it even easier. I continued spinning almost the rest of the weekend and this bobbin is almost full. I'm amazed at how much fiber fits on these tiny little bobbins. I don't know if it is because of the sliding flyer hook or the lace weight spinning. My guess is it is a combination of reasons.

Probably no posts until next week so I'll let you know how my Lasik went and we may even have some knitting content by then.

Pictures!!!

I finally got the camera out and took some pictures this weekend. I was motivated by a big purchase this weekend but you will have to wait until at least tomorrow for a picture of it. I feel morally obligated to show you this first:


This is my first wheel. She doesn't have a name yet. I got her in October as a very early Christmas present. She usually lives in my living room but has been visiting the basement due to the construction upstairs. She is a Kromski Minstel with a mahogany finish.

I am currently spinning some Alpaca/Tussah Silk that I got at the Virginia Fall Fiber festival.

This will hopefully become a lace weight 2 ply. I say hopefully for many reasons. First, is that this is my first time spinning lace weight so it may be more like fingering weight. Second and worst is that I only have 2.4 ounces of this fiber. I thought when I started that I had 4 ounces, enough for a small shawl, but I don't. If I can't get more of the same blend I'll settle for a pure alpaca for the second ply and it should work out fine.

I took some other pictures of the great weekend I had but you'll have to wait until I reveal them later this week. I'm going to have my Lasik tomorrow and I still don't have a working computer at home so I'm going to try o set up a time released post. If it doesn't work you may even have to wait until next week.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Out of the closet

Ok twice in one day, scary isn't it. I just want to say "hi" to any visitors that may stumble in here. I let it slip the other day that I sort of have a blog and now I know at least 2 or 3 of them have come by. I even decided to include the link in my KR signature. So I'm officially out of the blogging closet. Sorry about the lack of pictures, I'm taking baby steps here.

Ramblings (as if I don't always ramble)

Reading blogs at work is not always a good thing. I currently don't have a computer at home (long story about hubby upgrading it, while tired, getting over zealous, and a resulting puff of smoke from the motherboard) so I don't have a choice other than to not read them and that isn't really a choice for me.

So back on track here... I was going through my blog-lines and saw my sister posted and I opened it up to find this. J is such a smart kid. I feel guilty for not knitting K. a blanket, maybe it isn't too late.

I haven't been doing a whole lot of knitting in the past week. I finished my lace socks and I've started a new pair. I've learned that plain socks are too boring too keep my attention long enough to have a pair. I think all future socks will be more interesting to knit which means I'll probably stay away from self patterning socks and go more toward variegated and hand paints that look good with patterns.

I found out the amount of my end of year bonus. I won't have it until next week but that doesn't mean I can't spend it now, right? I don't like things like that getting lost in the general funds pot so I usually pick a slight luxury to spend it on. So the plan was that I'd use it for my Lasik. And I'm still doing that. But this was a record smashing year for my department and I have money leftover. So, I'm getting a new wheel. Those non spinners out there might not understand this. There is nothing wrong with my "old" (4 months) wheel. I love it and it spins beautifully. It can fit in my car to take to retreats and friend's houses but it takes a bit of yoga to get it in and out without damaging it or the car. So I'm getting an ultra portable wheel. The options are either the Ashford Joy or the Majacraft Gem II. I've tried and really liked the Joy but I think I'm leaning toward the Gem, as long as I like how it spins. This weekend a small group of friends and I are going on a spinning frolic into southern Virginia to try wheels, pet sheep, buy fiber and have fun. I'll try to remember to take some pictures.

On the kitchen front the floor is over half finished and we're going to finish it on Friday. The counters will be here next week and then we will have our kitchen (and living room, and dining room) back. It is really starting to take shape and look like a kitchen instead of a minefield.