why you shouldn't knit when you're recovering from pneumonia

I had started this sock (Shadow Ribs Socks from The Little Box of Socks using Socks That Rock mediumweight in colorway Stonewash) before I got sick and worked a few rows on it yesterday before I realized that something didn't look right.

I realized that I had knit a round that should have been patterned so I patiently tinked it back. Then I noticed that while most of the sock looked fine now, there was one section that had been purled instead of ribbed. Now this is a very easy 4 row rib pattern - I had the pattern right in front of me and a counter on the knitting. Normally it would be a pretty mindless knit but I guess my brain was still addled from the whole deathly sick incident.

So, one small section of knitting to fix - it actually was only 2 stitches. No problem, knit to the section, dropped the offending stitches and prepared to pick them up properly. Couldn't do it. First I reknit the wrong row, then ended with each stitch on a different row and no thread behind it. I finally decided to give up and stick to stockinette socks until I could think better.

So last night I picked up the stockinette socks I had on the go in the living room. I had worked a bit on the sock on Thursday. They looked like someone had pulled out all the needles and just stuck them back into the knitting haphazardly. It would be possible that one of the dogs had pulled the needles out but I'm pretty sure that none of them have the dexterity to stick them back in, never mind that some of the needles still had the stitches on the right rows. I had started the heel flap the previous day and it was the instep stitches that were messed up so I tried to tink those stitches back to where they should be. I finally got them back on the needles, counted to make sure I had the right number of stitches, and with a sigh of relief went back to knitting the heel flap. As I did I saw that I had done one slip stitch row around the entire sock instead of just the heel flap. So I just pulled out all the needles and ripped back past that point. Jeesh!

It reminded me of a simple afghan that my grandmother had crocheted for my son. My grandmother was a very accomplished crocheter and had made heirloom quality afghans and doilies in the past. She had just had her leg amputated, was moved into a seniors' home, and was bored. She was delighted to have something to work on and just roared through that afghan. When it was done, it was hourglass shaped. The tension and stitch count varied from row to row. She made a little comment about having trouble keeping the stitch count but she didn't seem to really notice how dreadful it was and we didn't have the heart to tell her. And it still matched Geoff's room and kept him warm on chilly nights.

My advice if you're recovering from an illness: watch TV.

I am finally back

Boy, I have never been that sick for that long before! It wasn't until yesterday that I started to feel like I was back on my way to be with the living. I was even able to pick up my knitting for a little while. Life is starting to look good again. Thank you all for the many well wishes while I was ill; they were very much appreciated!

I finally got around to using the random number generator on the comments and it picked Little Miss S. I have emailed her and the Sea Wool will be winging its way to Denmark soon.

Thanks to all of you who left a "tiny indulgence"comment! They were so much fun to read and I learned that a lot of people have similar ones. Many, many indulgences included time to knit in a favorite spot (no surprise there), hot baths or showers, favorite beverages, chocolate, TV, and warm furry companionship (no, not the husband kind). If you need any ideas for pick-me-ups, go and read all the comments for lots of ideas.

still no contest draw

Sorry folks, the draw is still going to have to wait until I'm feeling better. I went to the dr. today and was diagnosed with pneumonia. I hope the antibiotics work quickly. The contest is still open until I can do the draw.

draw postponed due to flu

Sorry, but I am flattened by the flu. Not your garden variety virus but the real, honest-to-goodness influenza. Until I have the energy to find a random number generator and count comments, the contest is still open to new comments.

tiny indulgences and a contest

I've spent this winter trying to be kind to my ailing body and trying to find ways to nurture my soul. It's been a struggle. Chronic pain and fatigue can take over if you let it. If I stay at home and maintain a slow routine, things aren't too bad. But if I do anything, even fun stuff, I pay. I woke up in the middle of the night after the Jeff Dunham concert with a migraine. I have no idea why. Yesterday, I had to go for fasting bloodwork so I made arrangements to have lunch afterward with a friend that I hadn't seen lately. When I got home I was hit with a brutal bout of Irritable Bowel Syndrome and then my blood sugar crashed to a frightening low. It's very discouraging.

So I was reading Barb's post on her "So, the thing is... blog" today about how we need to make sure we take of ourselves. Barb discusses her battle with chronic pain and I can certainly relate to that. She also makes a very good point that we all need to find what makes us happy and nurture ourselves, even if it's just a tiny indulgence.

Here's one of my indulgences.
It's a rocker/recliner in my craft room. I crave sunshine these days and it's much too cold to sit in the sun room. The living room is on the north side of the house so it doesn't have any sunbeams. My little bedroom-turned-craft room is on the south side of the house and the light there is lovely. I found this chair at a great clearance price. It fits my body perfectly. Although it wouldn't have been my first choice for color, the craft room is hardly a designer affair anyway so it really didn't matter. I can knit, listen to my ipod, and even spin on the Little Gem. It's lovely! My own little cozy space in the sun.

Now for the fun part:

to celebrate my third blogiversary, leave a comment with your contact information and tell me what your tiny indulgences are. You have until the end of this Saturday, Feb. 21/09, to leave the comment and be eligible for the prize. I will use an online random number generator to pick the winner on Sunday.

And the prize is a nice little indulgence -
this skein of Fleece Artist Sea Wool (merino/seacell) in the Nova Scotia colorway, including a pattern for Bordello Socks. Now that's indulgence!

(Don't forget to include your contact information in your comment! Your comment won't be eligible for the prize if I can't contact you.)

mid-winter pick-me-up

I have been suffering from the winter doldrums. There hasn't been anything exciting happening lately, the weather stinks, and I'm bored but not energized to do much about it. It's a common affliction around here these days. It's been a long time since we've had such a cold winter and everyone is so tired of it.

Today is a provincial holiday but Canada Post is under federal jurisdiction so the mail arrived. It was a lovely surprise - just right for a mid-winter pick-me-up!
There's the new Interweave Knits magazine, several sets of Hiya Hiya double points in fine gauge sock sizes from The Knitting Zone*, and Mini Mochi sock yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool. The rainbow colored yarn is already wound and ready to start a pair of socks. I was craving color and here it is! I really like the colorways of Noro sock yarn but I know that I'd never be able to wear socks made with it because it is scratchy. The Mini Mochi is new from Crystal Palace Yarns. It is washable merino/nylon single ply and is very soft. I don't know how well it will stand up to sock wearing but I will knit it tightly and hope for the best. I'm not very hard on socks so it will probably be fine.

The mailbox also brought a pick-me-up for Dan...

the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Not a lot of knitting/spinning to share. I did finish a pair of Cat Bordhi's Little Coriolis socks for the baby girl that my massage therapist and his wife are expecting in June. I used stashed Patons Decor which is acrylic/wool and is quite nice and soft for a washable yarn.

My third blogiversary is coming up in a few days. Stay tuned for details about a prize to celebrate!

*The Knitting Zone is closing the retail part of their business to concentrate on the wholesale side of supplying Hiya Hiya needles to stores. I stocked up because Hiya Hiyas are my absolute favorite needles.

ice fog

The brutal cold left us last week and we had some nice sunny days. Then there were winter storm warnings yesterday. There was a nasty system that dumped rain and freezing rain to the areas east of us but all we got was this ice fog.

It was pea soup thick all day and hasn't let up at all. It's pretty but I'm glad that I'm not traveling on the highways. The city roads were fine but, according to the news, there were lots of vehicles in ditches between here and the Manitoba border.

housetraining a puppy

Lynne sent me a message asking for information about training a puppy. She's having problems with her six month old Yorkie puppy. I sent her an email but I thought I'd post it here too in case anyone else might be interested.

For some reason, it seems like the smaller the dog the more housetraining issues exist. I would definitely recommend confining the puppy when you can't keep an eye on him, either in a crate or in a small area like a bathroom. Dogs don't like to mess in their sleeping areas so most will try to avoid an accident in their crate. My dogs love their crates and will often crawl into them during the day for a nap or a quiet time. I crate them in my bedroom at night so that I can hear if they need to go outside in the night. I don't usually need to take them out in the night when they're adults but puppies and geriatrics sometimes need to go.

I really believe that it's best to train a puppy by going with him outside whether it's snowing or the middle of the night. It's worth doing in the long run. Praise him like crazy. The neighbors will think you're nuts but it works. Some people use food rewards but I just make a big fuss over successes and it works fine. You can also use a word to label the action. That way you can put the action on cue. This comes in very handy when away from home. My dogs will eliminate on cue when we travel to dog shows. I astounded some people at one show - it was pouring rain and I had my sheltie groomed for the ring when I realized that he needed to go out before being shown. There were people smoking under an umbrella just outside the door of the building when I carried my dog outside. I set him down beside a weed in a tiny dry area of gravel under the building's eaves and told him to piddle. The people started laughing and said that he wasn't going to pee just because I told him to - then he did and they were amazed. I picked up my dog and carried him back into the building and he didn't get muddy at all.

I don't recommend using piddle pads or other means of teaching a dog to eliminate in the house. I did it once and will never do it again. That dog was never fully housetrained because she made the connection that it was okay to pee in the house. If you go outside with the puppy, it only takes a few minutes so the cold weather isn't a problem. Dog coats can be used in extreme weather if necessary.

If you have to leave the puppy for longer than it's reasonable to expect them to hold it, a small room or x-pen (like a metal playpen) can be used with bedding or a crate (without the door) on one side and newspapers at the other. At six months, your puppy should be fine for 4-5 hours as long as he has voided before you go out. If that doesn't seem possible, I would recommend a visit with the vet to rule out physical problems that could be interfering with the training. Females have more urinary tract problems than males, just like in humans.

Be aware of the times when the puppy needs to pee. These include just after waking up, after eating, and after a good play. If you notice the dog sniffing, scoop him up and take him outside. I also recommend set meal times for the dog. I feed my dogs twice a day. With a puppy, I feed three times a day. Free feeding makes housetraining really difficult. If your dog is used to having food down all the time, you can retrain him. Set the food down for ten minutes and pick up what wasn't eaten in that time. He'll figure it out before he starves to death.

I don't wait for the dog to ask to go out but just take them all out regularly. Some will develop ways to ask to go out and that's fine but I don't rely on it. I once tried to use a bell attached to a rope near the door to teach the dog to ask by bumping it with his nose. The dog figured it out really fast. I thought it was working really well until the third or fourth time he did it. I came running to take him out and he thought it was a great game as he walked away. Apparently he was delighted that he could get my attention any time he wanted and was doing it just for kicks. He was smarter than me, obviously. I put the bell away.

If your male puppy is lifting his leg in the house, you might not have a housetraining issue. He could be marking his territory. This isn't usually a problem if the puppy is neutered before 7 or 8 months of age. It is an issue with a couple of my dogs. Show dogs must be intact so my dogs don't get neutered until their show career is over. That can go on for a few years so hormones are involved and marking happens. This issue is breed-specific to some extent. My shelties are rarely a problem but the Bichon and Dachshund are spritzers and they can be sneaky about it. So they wear belly bands in the house. It just makes my life easier and keeps the carpets cleaner. You can see examples of belly bands on this Etsy site. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5746691 I have ordered several from Patrice and they are beautifully sewn and affordable. I could sew them myself but haven't bothered. I put a sanitary pad in them so it's like having a kid in diapers but much easier than being stressed out about accidents in the house all the time.

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

Hope that helps!

I wish

Son Geoff emailed us this picture of him today. He is in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for two weeks with his birth father Glenn and family. Doesn't that look hard to take?

Je Fuh Fuh Dun HAM (dot com)

We had fuh fuhn tonight!

I gave Dan tickets to Jeff Dunham for Christmas. We went with our good friends, Rhonda and Al. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Jeff Dunham, you can check out some of his silliness on You Tube. He's a ventriloquist/comedian and I defy you to not laugh when he gets on a roll! In fact, I laughed so hard this evening that I got my asthma worked up. But it was worth it.

Guitar Guy did the warm-up act. Unlike on the DVDs, Guitar Guy gets to talk in the stage shows. He's a great musician and comedian on his own but most people think he is Jeff Dunham's brother. He's not. He's also not gay or a druggie (inside jokes). After a short intermission, Jeff did a comedy monologue and then brought out the real stars of the show.

I took my camera and got some pretty good photos. Here's Walter. Walter did a lot of material about Regina, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and Winnipeg. It was naughty (make up your own Regina jokes here as I'm not going to give away any punchlines).

My favorite - Achmed (that's Achhhhh med, spoken with phlegm) the dead terrorist. Silence! I keel you!

Achmed and Jeff get carried away and start improvising to make Guitar Guy crack up.

The irrepressible Peanut.

Peanut and Jose Jalapeno (on a steek).

For the encore, Bubba J made an appearance. Bubba J wasn't really supposed to be part of the act on this tour so Jeff had to have crib notes to remember Bubba J's jokes. Things got a little out of hand when the audience yelled out Bubba J's dialogue before Bubba J and Jeff cracked up! Let's just say that Regina loves Jeff Dunham and the crowd had seen the You Tubes and DVDs enough to have the punchlines memorized.

At the end of the show, Jeff got out some air shooters and sent t-shirts flying through the air into the audience. The crowd had people from about 10 years and up and everyone left laughing! It was great!

Little Gem

The Majacraft Little Gem came today from Shuttleworks. Great price and fast shipping as usual! Cal is so helpful.

I researched and debated for some time before deciding to buy it. I wanted a travel wheel and I love my Majacraft Rose but some people seem to hate treadling the Little Gem. After spinning on it today I can say that I'm very glad I decided to go for it! I didn't have any trouble treadling it; in fact, I thought it was very easy and smooth. It comes apart and the wheel folds over the treadles to pack it up in its padded travel bag. Some people on Ravelry don't like the bag either because of the color but I think it's fine. It has handles and a shoulder strap and has roomy pockets for fiber, etc. The Little Gem feels sturdy to me but is light to carry. I'm happy!

When I unpacked the box that it came in, I looked at the newspaper that was used for protecting the wheel. I knew it was from New Zealand and it's always fun to see newspapers from other places. I saw this page about carding the colorful roving to knit these fun hats.

Then I turned it over and saw this:

It's an Ashford (also in New Zealand) flyer! I'm not the only one that finds this hilarious, am I?

Good Grief!

I found the link to this story on Ravelry. Unbelievable! Watch out for those knitting needles.

I've fallen but I can get up

Both of my resolutions fell by the wayside last week.

When I was lifting the boxed Joy wheel to take it to the post office I pulled a muscle in my right arm. It's not too painful if I keep it close to my body and not ask it to lift anything. That's hard to do. I am very right hand dominant so the injury is pretty much cutting out most things that I can do. (I can still knit socks - yay!) I keep hoping that I'll wake up and it will be all better but it's not happening. Dan thinks it might take a few weeks (ack!). I haven't been to the doctor because I don't think anything is torn; I think it's just a sprain. Anyway, the exercise resolution has been blown because I'm afraid of making the injury worse. I guess I should go downstairs and get the on the recumbent bike. I could do that.

I definitely can not groom my dogs. Thankfully I did everyone's nails and feet last weekend and brushed everyone but Robbie before the injury. I really wish I had done Robbie because his coat is a lot of work! Now it's just going to get worse and be harder to get through by the time I can wield a brush. If this arm thing keeps up I may have to start phoning groomers to do the job.

I made the mistake of going to my LYS, Golden Willow. I was going that way anyway so it seemed like a good idea. I adore Golden Willow and the people that work there! Apparently I am totally incapable of just window shopping and visiting while I'm there so another resolution took a hit. I know that I would be more than welcome to pop in and not buy anything but I can't. There are just too many beautiful things!

Behold!

A beautiful glass orifice hook made by Amy Spiers. I've ordered a Majacraft Little Gem wheel from Cal at Shuttleworks. That doesn't count against my resolutions because I sold the Ashford Joy to free up the funds for the new wheel. I also ordered a fine flyer with a round orifice. The Majacraft wheels come with a standard delta orifice that I like for some spinning. But for the really fine yarns, I like the round orifice. So I needed a new orifice hook.

Doesn't the orifice hook match the Indiecita Malabrigo sock yarn perfectly? The yarn was purchased before New Year so it doesn't count as a strike against my resolutions. I did, however, buy some Trekking XXL sock yarn at Golden Willow and that does count. As the kids would say, my bad.

My arm is telling me that I must get off the computer. Now.

Sold!

Wow, that was quick! The Joy is already winging her way to a new home with Jane in Illinois. I hope that Jane enjoys her as much as I have!

Speaking of Illinois, what a wonderful celebration in Washington D.C. yesterday! I think that the world is suddenly filled with an optimism that didn't exist before the inauguration. Barack Obama is a talented orator and it's apparent that he has a very good head on his shoulders. But what strikes me the most is that he seems to be a genuinely good man, a man that will lead with intelligence and compassion in difficult times. And it is truly humbling to think that we are only a generation away from segregation. While Canada is, in many ways, a culturally diverse and accepting nation, I would only hope that we can learn from the U.S. and grow forward in acceptance of the equality of all Canadians. We have a long way to go with respect to First Nations and Metis people especially. I'm not naive and I realize that the States still has huge racial problems but yesterday Americans seemed to take a giant step forward in this respect.

I recently finished reading "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd. The setting is the American South in 1964 and racial relations are an integral part of the plot. I really love this book and highly recommend it! It is beautifully written and I couldn't put it down. I haven't seen the movie yet. I'm a little scared to, in case it doesn't live up to the book. I always like to read a book before seeing the movie. I like to get the chance to let my imagination experience it the way the author intended before I watch actors and a director interpret the story for me.

selling my Ashford Joy

Since getting the Majacraft Rose, I'm finding I can spin on it longer and more comfortably than on my beloved Ashford Joy. Don't get me wrong - the Joy is a very easy wheel to spin on. There's just something about the angle that I sit at it that triggers my TMJ/fibromyalgia problems. I think it's the angle of the treadles. For me, the tiniest shift in body alignment can make a huge difference while other people wouldn't even notice or be affected by it. So the Joy has been languishing while I spin on the Rose and it really needs a new home.

Here's a pic of the complete package: the Joy double treadle with the padded carrying bag, WooLee Winder with six bobbins, the regular flyer with seven bobbins, and the paperwork for the Joy and the WooLee Winder. Everything is in like-new condition; it has been loved and maintained extremely well.

This pic shows it with the Ashford flyer.

All of the flyers and bobbins.

The wheel folds up...

and tucks neatly and compactly into the bag.
The bag has one large pocket inside the flap and two on the outside so there's lots of room to tuck in fiber and accessories.

I'd like $600 US for the wheel, bag, regular flyer and bobbins, and $300 US for the WooLee Winder and bobbins. If you take all of it, I'll take off an additional $50. Shipping extra. (I just scanned through the Blogger policies and I couldn't find anything against advertising on the blog. I hope I didn't miss something.)

pretty, pretty, pretty

I washed and dried the Lisa Souza blend of Spanish Moss BFL and Shave Ice Merino/Silk. It's just lovely! I got 2 skeins, each about 4 oz. (100 g) and 340 yds. I'm not sure what will be knit with it yet. I was stash diving with Darcie* the other day when she brought her wheel over and found more of each of these fibers in my stash. I had no idea that I had more of them so I guess it's a good thing to stash dive once in a while.

Well, our deep freeze weather finally let up and we are enjoying the mild weather immensely! I guess when you are forced to deal with weeks of bitter cold it makes you appreciate the normal temps that you might take for granted otherwise. Kind of like that old adage about hitting your thumb with a hammer to take away the pain of a headache.

Speaking of headaches, I've got one today. I think it was my own fault. I porked out on BBQ chips last night before going to bed and then I couldn't sleep for hours. I don't handle MSG well so that could have been it. Or I might have had really high blood sugar from the pig out. Or both. Anyway, the headache is my penance for gluttony, I think. That'll teach me.

* Follow the link to Darcie's blog and see her first handspun yarn knit up into a hat. My first yarn wasn't nearly as nice.

honkin' big socks - another Epilogue

Remember these?

They're Dan's Honkin' Big Socks which were completed less than a year ago. Dan only wore them in the house, mostly while watching TV, and only when it was cold outside.

This is what they look like now.
(Note to self: Don't knit socks for Dan unless the yarn has nylon in it.)

They are past the point of no return. I will use Yarn Harlot's method of darning socks and say "Darn!" loudly while dropping them into the trash.

Now I will continue to be a good girl and not go looking on the internet for sturdy sock yarn to make new socks for Dan. I will stash-dive for something suitable, likely a couple of skeins of Opal or Regia that can be doubled in nice co-ordinating shades. I'm not crazy enough to commit to knitting socks for those honkin' big feet with one strand of fingering weight yarn. Double-stranded will be enough work.

Wii (not so) Fit

So I've been a very, very good girl. I haven't bought anything yarny since the New Year - although I still got stuff in the mail from what I ordered before then, so it hasn't exactly been dry in that respect - and I have been trying to get to the Wii Fit as much as possible. Turns out that I'm pretty flexible and can hold poses quite well so I'm doing okay at yoga but, in every other Wii Fit venue, I Suck. Yes, with a capital Suck! I've never been an athletic person so this is not exactly the most exciting news around. But, turns out the Wii has a mean streak. If you suck, it tells you so. In fact, it asked me if I fall down a lot. Mean, I tell you. However, the meanness stays within the walls of my house so it's not too embarrassing and, frankly, it's pretty funny as long as I take it with a grain of salt. The last time something that derogatory was mentioned about my personal fitness, I was in high school gym class. Gym class in the '70s was not all about personal fitness for life the way it's supposed to be now. It was about the teachers focusing all their attention on the jocks and pretty much having to put up with the rest of us. Me, I faked injuries and skipped out of a few classes and don't feel in the least bit sorry that I did even though I never would have skipped classes in any other subject. I was straight-laced even in my teens.

In fibery news, I plied the Lisa Souza BFL in the Spanish Moss colorway with the Shave Ice silk/merino. It's so pretty!
I have two full bobbins of it - about 8 oz.
I gave the Rose a real workout plying these bobbins without a break. It's such a delightful wheel! I think I could spin anything on it with ease. My sister Darcie got her first wheel last week. I recommended the Majacraft Pioneer and it's a wonderful little wheel! It feels very much like treadling the Rose and all of the Majacraft flyers, bobbins, and accessories fit on it. She has a picture of it on her blog. She reports that she is spinning like mad and getting pretty good at it!

eau de canine?

Lynn left a new comment on the post "'Pet the Puppy' hooded scarf":

Very nice!!! But i have to ask, does it smell like dog?

This topic keeps popping up in Ravelry too. The answer: no.

I store the sheltie undercoat in a Rubbermaid bin with a bar of Irish Spring soap. Even though my dogs are very clean and live in the house, there is a bit of a doggy aroma in the undercoat by the time I get to spinning it. When I set the twist in the yarn, I skein it off of the wheel's bobbin, then drop it into a laundry tub of hot water (as hot as my water heater provides) and Eucalan, NO agitation. When the water cools off, I spin out the excess water in a salad spinner and hang the skein to dry. I've asked dogless friends to sniff the yarn and knitted garments, just in case I'm desensitized to the smell, and no one can smell dog.

I've been wearing the hooded scarf in this cold weather. Sometimes, when it's really cold, I wear the hood of my coat and wrap the doggy scarf over my face. The scarf gets wet from my breath and I still don't smell dog.

Maybe if you're spinning dog hair from outside dogs or really dirty dogs it might be an issue but I don't have a problem at all.

resolutions

So it's the New Year, 2009. Is it just me or do other people feel like all the brouhaha surrounding New Year 2000 couldn't possibly have happened nine years ago? That's almost a decade ago, for heaven's sake! I'm not exactly sure where the last few days went, never mind nine years.

We didn't seem to do much during the two weeks of holidays but the days flew by. Dan's back to school today so life will settle into the January blahs now. It's been freakishy cold here and we're all getting very tired of it. It's not unusual for it to be cold here in the winter but we don't usually get such a long spell of really, really cold weather. The temperature got up to -15 C (5 F) and it felt so much warmer than it's been; it's all relative I guess.

I'm not a big maker of New Year's Resolutions but I'm going to make a couple this year. You will be my witnesses and keep me accountable, I hope.

First, I will get more exercise. I'm not an active person by nature so it's really easy for me to entertain myself while being physically passive (knitting, spinning, reading, etc.). A new Wii Fit made its way to our house over the holidays and I'm going to use it.

Second, I'm going to drastically reduce my on-line shopping. I have a lovely big stash, 3 wheels, many spindles, full sets of knitting needles, lots of fibery books, and a knitting machine. There is no good reason to keep buying more of them; it's gotten totally out of hand. I'm not foolish enough to say that I will not buy anything more but I'm going to reduce my spending considerably. There, I said it.

So, here are pics of things that are new to me. I will enjoy them but will not let them spawn more of the same. These pictures will be the last to share for quite a while if I can stick to my resolution.

This is lovely merino silk from Zebisis Designs. It's such a pretty color!

I ordered this spindle from Zebisis too. It came with this wisp of silk. Both are very pretty.

This merino roving is from Sheepish Creations. Again, beautiful colors!

It came with these two samples: the left one is Romney and the right one is merino.

I bought this as a destash on Ravelry. It is Abby's Batt Club First Frost. I have never seen such beautiful batts before! It's merino, baby alpaca, and silk with a touch of firestar. Gorgeous!

I haven't accomplished much in spinning or knitting over the holidays but here are some update photos.

I'm almost done spinning the Lisa Souza merino/silk.

This sock has been my carry-along project in my purse for a while. It's almost done.

I'm dithering about the best use of the Buffalo Gold sock yarn. As you can see, I'm finishing up the gusset decreases on the sock on the left. Then I thought that I might rather have a pair of gloves. I have some problems with a Raynaud's Syndrome sort of hand issue and was thinking that really warm gloves might help. So I dug out the Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. I don't have enough yarn to do both socks and gloves so will have to decided which one to finish at some point. I'm not sure why I'm having so many second thoughts about how best to use the yarn.

Please send positive vibes our way for warmer weather soon!