m.i.a.

I'm not exactly sure why I haven't posted in almost a month.  I guess I kind of got lethargic when I ran out of Puerto Vallarta pics.  Anyway, I'm back and my apologies for the extended absence.

At any rate, the past month hasn't been lacking activity or interest, just lacking photos to go with them.  Our big news is that Geoff and Carmen are expecting a baby in December!  Dan and I will be first-time grandparents and I'm so excited!  I've been spending an indecent amount of time on Ravelry looking at baby patterns and have got a wee sweater on the needles.  I'll post pics when it is finished.  We don't know the baby's gender yet so the little sweater is white.  I'm anxiously waiting for the first ultrasound so that I can decide on patterns and colors for either a boy or a girl.

I've been going to a yoga class once a week and helping teach two spinning classes each week.  Both have been great!  I love spinning classes, both taking them and teaching them.  It's wonderful to share my passion with like-minded people.  Deb is the other instructor and it's great to work together because we do so many things differently.  We certainly prove a point that spinning can be approached successfully in a myriad of ways.  Deb is also responsible for introducing me to the yoga classes at Bodhi Tree Yoga.  At first, yoga was painful and it was a good thing that my friend Rhonda was also going or I might have dropped out but it is gradually getting better so I guess my body is starting to respond.  It helps that the Yoga for Backs class is individualized treatment and I'm understanding my alignment and pain triggers better.  Sarah, the instructor, is a wealth of knowledge!  I should have been doing this years ago.

A few weeks ago I did a dyeing experiment for my own interest.  I dyed four fingering weight skeins of different fiber and twist combinations in the same dye pot to see how each took the dye.  I knew that they would be different but was fascinated by how different they turned out.

Left to right:  55% BFL/45% silk, 80% BFL/20% bamboo, 80% high-twist BFL/20% nylon, and 75% lower-twist BFL/25% nylon.

I also finished spinning up some merino/bamboo from Spinning Awesome Good in the 'Ghosts and Gremlins' club colorway.

 118 g, 484 yds., chain plied

I wasn't really excited by the color while I was spinning it but after chain plying and finishing the skein, I like it.  I'm thinking socks and wondering whether the yarn would self-stripe but sock knitting has been shelved while I knit for baby.