Today I am thankful...

• that I have Emma to remind me that I am neither as held-together as the face I present to the world, nor as falling-apart as I seem to myself
• that I have a sister who gets me
• that I have good friends to go knit and spin with every week
• that I have a job
• that I have a roof over my head and food in the fridge
• that cats only require a lap, a food bowl, and a clean litterbox to return copious purring, kneading, and comfort
• that I am crafty and will always have something to amuse myself with, even if I sometimes only feel like surfing the internet about those interests

Today was the kind of day when the question "How's it goin'?", asked just-in-passing in the hallway at work, feels like a trick question.

It's a conversation filler, really, the same as saying "Hey!" or "Good morning!" (another trick question, by the way- maybe your morning is good...), and while I know the socially acceptable response is "Fine", I really struggle with it lately.

Things are so completely Not Fine with me right now that when the "How's it goin'?" is tossed my way I have to stop myself from giving a true answer, which would be Too Much Information and not what the passing coworker wants to know in any case.  They are just saying good morning, not really asking how things in my life are going today.

I suppose I could say something to the effect of "Well, I got out of bed this morning, so I guess that's one point to me."

Instead I just say "Fine."

Lately, this song speaks to me:

"The scars of your love, they leave me breathless..."

Oh yes.

It is almost impossible to remain entirely unhappy when weaving a fancy twill.



This is another warp of bookmarks.  I dyed the warp green and am using straight white for the weft in all the bookmarks.  All I have to think about is the treadling sequence, and that's just enough to keep my mind busy and unwanted thoughts at bay, without taxing it too much.



It's my standard bookmark formula: 20/2 silk, 34 epi, in a twill threading and tie-up, with various treadlings.



I just love watching the pattern emerge, pick by pick.  There's something very satisfying about it.

Everything is very orderly and tidy in a two-color twill.  The lines match up and follow a logical, step by step progression.  Every thread has a place and they all work together to make a harmonious whole.  If you make a mistake, it's easy to see where things went off kilter.  You can go back and fix it and then everything is OK.

My life is not a two-color twill.

Emma and I had a fun day today, in between the normal weekend housecleaning and after a mysterious 103° fever that she developed in the space of 15 minutes yesterday morning. We were at the Farmer's Market, and one minute she was running around with her friends, then she was back sitting with me at my table, then 10 minutes later she was shivering and goosebumpy because she was so cold (it was 90° out), and crying because her head hurt so much. It was very strange. Luckily Shaun stopped by the market and held Emma while she slept until the market was over, then I tucked her into bed when we got home. She was fine by this morning, and was Little Miss Chatty when she crawled into bed with me at 4:00 am. Childhood fevers are strange.

Anyway, she was rarin' to go this morning, so after we did chores, we dyed some wool for her. This was Emma's first time using acid dyes.



She picked out seven colors, and I did the mixing and she did the pouring. I think she did a great job.



Into the microwave for steaming, then out into the hot sunny day to dry by dinnertime.



This is 50 grams of corriedale top, and I love the way it came out. I may have to get her to make a batch for me.



The motivation behind dyeing some wool FOR EMMA was an event yesterday at the market (before the rapid-onset fever...). I bring my wheel to the market since it attracts attention to my table, the kids (and grownups) are fascinated by watching me, and it gives me something to do during slow times. Emma wandered over at one point, plopped herself down on my lap, pushed my feet off the treadle, put her feet on the treadle, took the wool out of my hands, and just started spinning. It was amazing.

She has a drop spindle, but gets frustrated with it easily since it backspins and she finds it awkward to keep it going and draft at the same time. We've done park and draft, but she never really thoroughly got the hang of drafting. She would do OK for a minute or so, but then the twist would get away from her and either run into the fiber mass or the singles would drift apart. She found the spindle very frustrating. She has practiced treadling on my wheel, but has never done drafting at the wheel, and certainly NEVER at the same time as treadling.



The most amazing thing is, I don't think she has even picked up her spindle in over a year, except for one time after I got back from Sock Summit and was so excited about my new spindles. She hasn't tried or even seemed interested in spinning in a year.

Yesterday she just sat down and started spinning. I was flabbergasted. I guess something just clicked after all those years of watching me, and her fits and starts of practicing. Her yarn is lumpy in spots and somewhat overspun, but so is everyone's first yarn. It just amazes me that she sat down and commenced spinning- no fanfare, no struggling, she just did it.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, is Emma spinning on a Schacht wheel:

I'm so proud of her I could burst.

I'm still completely smitten with my Kuchulu.  I started another bundle of Sock Summit fiber yesterday.  It is gorgeous...



This is top from Fiber Optic Yarns, 50% superwash merino / 50% bamboo (rayon).  It's beautiful stuff, that shimmers and sparkles and fairly glows.  It's spinning up wonderfully, and should make beautiful laceweight.  I have 4 ounces (115 grams), so it will also make a LOT of laceweight. 



And also, here's another super happy fun factoid about turkish spindles:  Even the pattern on the underside of the spindle is pretty, especially with color shifts.

Well.

I have something to show you.



That, my friends, is a very full Kuchulu.  Yes, that is my Kuchulu somewhere in that ball of singles.  Yikes!

I may have taken this personal challenge of mine, high yardage on a Kuchulu, just a wee bit far.

This is the last of the Bunny Patch Fibers merino/angora top from New Hues Handspuns.  I was spinning merrily along, and when I paused to evaluate how full the spindle was getting vs. how much fiber remained, I decided that there really wasn't that much left to spin.  So I might as well just carry on and finish it off, right?

Turns out there was a bit more than I thought, but of course once that notion entered my brain it wouldn't leave.  Personal challenge, you know.  Sooooo, I had to see if I could get the rest on the spindle.



I kept wrapping and wrapping, eventually just going around and around when I ran out of room on the arms to do the typical turkish spindle winding pattern.  No arms visible this time!

So how much was it?  I got 725 yards of singles on the Kuchulu!  Great googly moogly...



Those are the three spindlefuls.  Left to right, I had 16 grams (465 yards), 18 grams (524 yards), and 25 grams (725 yards).  The color in the singles was beautifully variegated, ranging from deep forest green through light sage, with occasional patches of greeny-teal and greeny-brown.  These pictures don't do it justice, the color is hard to capture.

I wound a plying ball yesterday,



and finished the plying today.  It took a looooonnnngggg time to ply.  I'm feeling it in my shoulders now.

But then it was done.  And I was sad.  No more spinning to do for this fiber.



The finished yarn is beautiful.  It's 59 grams (2 oz.), and I have 817 yards of lovely soft fine green yarn to play with.