Busy busy

It has been a very busy couple of days. So here are the basics. Tuesday night Brian and I watched some TV and I sat and spun and spun and spun until I had finally finished my cotton singles. I was a little sore from spinning for so long but so be it. I don't think I'll be doing cotton again any time soon. I wanted to learn about the fiber but I think I simply enjoy wool more and I don't really like to knit with cotton that much (I make wash rags with it - that's about it). When I got up on Wednesday I Navajo-plyed the singles and got about 57 yards of naturally colored cotton. Then I put a pot of water on the stove to boil and dropped the cotton in to set the twist. I was surprised at how much color was left in the water. I guess I assumed that because it was naturally colored that there would not be any color in the water (then again grass is naturally green and if I boil that the water will turn green too...). Boiling it also darkened the yarn slightly (again that is counter intuitive to the color seeping into the water, but I guess that's the way it works). This will be a washcloth as that is really the only thing I do with cotton.

After doing that Jake and I played for a bit and I got my sewing room cleaned up...I really should have taken before and after pics cuz it was a disaster. I decided to 'go shopping' in my fiber bin to see what I want to spin next. I decided on a pencil roving I bought from the Crown Mountain Farms booth at Madrona. Here is a picture from the web site but mine has more orange in it.I grabbed that, some empty bobbins, my lazy kate and they plying head for the wheel and brought them down. I got the plying head put on so I could ply the singles that I had been working on from the roving that Brian brought home for me one night. Some of you know that story and the rest will just have to wonder. I started plying but was not making a dent at all in the singles bobbins. It was very similar to the knitting black hole in which you measure your knitting and get say, 3 inches and then you knit for an hour and still have 3 inches...yeah, that black hole. Same with the singles: treadle and treadle and treadle and NO progress seems to be made. I gave up for a while to tend to the kids and visit with my friend. We decided to make a run to the store and pick up stuff for dinner. We ended up making a chicken fettuccini with a tomato cream sauce from the Williams-Sonoma cook book. It was simple and fabulous. It didn't hurt that we made fresh pasta for the dish. After the kids were in bed we started watching a movie. 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno.' It was funny and sweet. Very graphic as you might assume from the title (really? there are naked people bumpin' uglies in a movie with a title like that? who would have thunk it?) Anyway while we watched I plyed. and plyed. Then Brian got home and started watching the movie and we started it over for him so he could see the whole thing. I plyed and plyed and plyed. When I finally stood up I thought my legs were going to fall off. I probably should have gotten the clue when I started using the wheel as a single treadle - trading off legs. I still wasn't done yet by the time the movie was over. I think I plyed for 3 hours straight.

Thursday morning Brian got up and went to work early (yes he's ambitious but for 2 reason's besides that 1. We are going on vacation for a week - he needs to be all set to go for that and 2. the real reason - Abby, who I pulled into bed with us when she woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep sometime before the sun was up - kept reacing over at him and her nails were long enough to scratch him. I swear I just cut those. I feel like I cut them twice a week and they just grow like gangbusters). Anyway I was having one of those really rare mornings that I get to sleep in a little then BANG! At first I thought what I heard was a gunshot. Then I looked out my window and couldn't see anything so I looked to see what the time was - No power! Then I knew it was a blown transformer that caused the noise. I got up and called the power company and they sent someone out. I got up and got the kids up (what, you think they were going to sleep through that noise?) and settled in for some milk and grahm crackers (our standard morning fair). Then I plyed and plyed and saw the light at the end of the bobbin. I plyed some more and finished the singles! Yay! I am happy I only had a little bit left over on one of the bobbins. So here are the singles now a 2 ply. I will ply one more time from the inside and outside of a centerpull ball to get a chain plyed yarn.

I was worried that I was not going to have enough room on the bobbin but it fit fine. After breakfast we got dressed and mowed the front and back lawns. That was work but it was also kinda nice too...glad I did it before the sun came out though. When I put the lawnmower away I figured I was in the garage, I may as well haul out the camping gear we are going to need...so I got that all pulled out and into the house. I fed Abby and Jake had a snack and we headed out to WalMart to get a few things for the camping trip. Once we got home we had lunch and Jake had a nap. While I was up in his room I got all of the kids clothed out and dug out the swim diapers, air mattress and other bedding for the trip. I fed Abby again (these kids keep wanting food, like several times a day - sheesh) and then got all of the kids clothes sorted and folded and put into the camping pile. I decided I was exhausted and should rest while the kids were sleeping. So just as I give myself permission to drift off the phone rings. Damn. Good thing I didn't get too far into sleep mode since it was a realtor wanting to show the house - Yay! But now I had to bust my ass to clean not only the standard shit but I had all the camping gear to deal with too. Short version is I tossed most of the camping gear in the car and got my house cleaned up. I had my friend come over and help me move the old mattress out of the hallway and into the garage (yeah, I know we got the new mattress a week ago - what's your point?) I finished with the house about 5 minutes into the window for the agent to show up and headed out with the kids to meet up with Brian at the used bookstore. We wandered there for about a half an hour and then decided to have dinner at the teriyaki joint right next door. Finally home for a little sit down. I was pretty beat by the end of the evening.

Now I still have a buttload of crap to do for the trip. So today I am going to spend the day cleaning out the van (vacuuming and all of that) packing and I think I still have a few things to pick up from the store that I managed to forget. I would like to finish plying my yarn but I don't know if I am going to get to that. Now Jake would like some strawberries, so I am off to cut some up...